Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 102 Is Durant going to be an All-Star?O'Neill: If there is a chance, I am willing to cooperate with Lu
After defeating the Magic, the Sonics were given two days to rest.

The next few games will be played at home, and the players don't have to worry about being too tired flying back and forth.

Lu Yong simply announced a day off to help the players recover their physical strength, and the remaining day will be for shooting training.

In the apartment, Lu Yong received a call from general manager Sam Presti. "Lu, the good news is that Kevin is very likely to be selected for the All-Star this year. His current All-Star votes are ranked fourth in the frontcourt of the Western Conference. If there is no accident, he may become the first player selected for the All-Star in his rookie season after China Yao .”

It is extremely difficult to be selected as an All-Star in his rookie season. Once Durant achieves this goal, his worth and popularity will skyrocket in a short period of time.

The popularity of the players is high, and the team naturally follows suit.

Whether it is home attendance or the degree of attention in the league will be greatly improved.

This is also the reason why general manager Presti looks excited. After all, his position is more like the steward of the Supersonics team. It is not enough to achieve results alone. The last word is to help the boss earn money.

Durant currently has a total of 92 votes, second only to Anthony, Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki in the striker position.

Considering that Anthony and Duncan are definitely starting, as long as Durant can stabilize the ranking in the next week, he can finally be selected as the Western All-Star substitute together with Nowitzki.

The status of an All-Star is a layer of gold-plated coat. The news that Durant is expected to be selected as an All-Star is a kind of motivation for the whole Seattle, which can greatly boost the morale of the team's young players.

"This is what Kevin deserves, he deserves the status of an All-Star." Lu Yong laughed.

Durant has personal statistics, and the Sonics have team records. If you have to choose the 12 best players in the West, the rookie Durant will definitely lose.But the All-Stars are not a stage to compete for personal ability, popularity and popularity with fans are the most important.

The supersonic league's first offensive firepower is full of appreciation. This season's style of play has already attracted countless fans. It is not surprising that Durant can be selected as an All-Star Lu Yong.

What really surprised him was that Dayao didn't even make it to the top three in this year's All-Star vote. It can only be said that this year's domestic fans are not very strong.

At present, the number of votes is far ahead of Celtics star Kevin Garnett. As of the week before the closing of the voting channel, he has received a total of 203 million votes and is expected to stay at around 230 million.

LeBron James ranked second with 197 million votes, and Kobe Bryant ranked third with 195 million votes. On the other hand, Dayao, who is sitting on the domestic market, only won 150 million votes this year, which is obviously abnormal.

Yao Ming also received 245 million votes last season, ranking second in the league after LeBron James.

Lu Yong felt that Yao Ming's lack of votes was related to his injury at the beginning of the season. His attendance rate this year was too low, and he was able to secure the No. [-] midfielder in the Western Conference without playing a few games.

"Great. If Kevin is selected as an All-Star, the team's home attendance will definitely increase. I hope he can be stable in the last week and don't be overtaken." Presti said excitedly and worriedly.

"Don't worry, Sam, I will arrange for Kevin to take more shots recently and help him get the best player of the week. This year's All-Star position will definitely be won."

Lu Yong, the duck on his lips, definitely can't let it fly. As long as Durant can play good numbers this week, it will be easy to lock in the All-Star substitute.

Lu Yong is good at helping players to collect stats. It is easy for the team to win, and it is not difficult for him.

On February 2, the Sonics played against the Suns at home.

Both sides are ranked among the top three teams in the Western Conference. The previous record of one win and one loss is the focus of this round, which will be broadcast live on ESPN across the United States.

Before the game, the media predicted that the two teams would still score as high as the All-Star Game. They were teams that relied on offense to win.

Most of the media are optimistic about the Sonics' victory. The reason is that the Suns seem to have committed a Mercury retrograde recently. They have lost four of the last five games, and their state is not as good as it was at the beginning of the season.

The running and bombing tactics of the Suns' 7-second offense is a test for the physical fitness of the players. The head coach D'Antoni does not arrange rotations like Lu Yong. After a long time, the players can't bear it.

The two-time MVP Steve Nash is okay, he has already adapted to this kind of game rhythm, but the "big shark" O'Neal who just traded from the Heat is miserable, with a weight of 147 kg flying with the sun, even if the He only played 28.7 minutes on average, and this guy couldn't hold on, and almost died of exhaustion on the court several times.

To borrow O'Neill's words in an interview. "I thought it would be a relief to leave Miami where the devils practiced every day. I didn't expect that I just jumped from one fire pit to another fire pit. After every game, I had to eat eight burgers in a row. Playing for the Suns is really true. It's not easy."

In this match, the Suns' offensive firepower dropped significantly, and they were overwhelmed by the Supersonics from the beginning.

O'Neal's personal strength is good, but his playing style is not compatible with this Suns pursuit of extreme running and bombing.

In order to accommodate O'Neal, Nash often had to slow down the pace, waiting for O'Neal to launch an offense after running through the half, and the frequency of falling into positional battles began to increase.

The Suns, who can't play run-and-gun tactics, are also very good, but the offensive threat has been greatly reduced, because this is not D'Antoni's field of expertise, and a deal made the players and the coaching staff very uncomfortable.

The most helpless thing is that O'Neal is extremely popular in the league, and D'Antoni can't let him play as a substitute, so he can only rebuild the offensive system around O'Neal.

This is the reason why the Suns have lost consecutive games in recent games. The players have re-tuned their tactics and adapted to the new style of play, and their offensive efficiency has naturally declined.

The Supersonics were able to face the Suns in their heyday without losing the whole game. The pressure on the Suns who were in the running-in period of this matchup dropped sharply, and they led by 15 points after three quarters.

In the final quarter, Lu Yong left Durant on the court to collect statistics, and launched an attack with Durant as the core on the offensive end. He did not replace Adu until 3 minutes before the end of the game.

杜兰特今晚出战37分钟，22投11中，三分球7中3，罚球6中6，砍下31分7篮板4助攻2抢断1盖帽，帮助超音速124比107轻松取胜。

After the game, Lu Yong commented on O'Neal's mediocre performance. "Shaq is a great player. The team with him will definitely become the favorite to win the championship. I don't think he is responsible for the Suns' loss. The mid-season trade should take risks, and the players need time to adapt. I believe that Shaq finds a way to run in with his teammates, and he will definitely be able to regain dominance."

On the side of the sun, when O'Neill heard Lu Yong's evaluation from the reporter, he laughed happily. "The outside world has always questioned that my joining has destroyed the Suns' offensive system. I am very happy that Lu can make such an evaluation. No wonder the rookies of the Supersonics kept praising the coach in interviews. I now believe that Lu is a genius. Not only his coaching ability, but also his emotional intelligence that makes people feel good."

The reporter asked: "Will you consider playing for Lu Shuai in the future?"

"I just put on the Suns jersey. Honestly, man, I don't want to be wandering around so early. The only thing I want now is to help the team win. But if there is a chance in the future, I would love to play with Lue for a season. Hmm... maybe before retiring?" O'Neal laughed.

No one knows whether what he said is true or not. This guy is a well-known living treasure in the league. Even if he said that he will join the Supersonics next season, the media will not believe it.

On the 7th, the Sonics defeated the Warriors 121 to 113 back to back.

This was another passionate game on the offensive end. From the first quarter, the two teams ignored defense and floated outside whenever they got a chance. Neither of them wanted to admit defeat.

However, relying on the crushing of overall strength, the Sonics still had the last laugh, double-killing the Warriors this season and winning 5 consecutive victories.

After a day off, the Sonics defeated two underdogs in succession, extending the winning streak to 7 games.

Durant has scored 25+ points in the last three games. Even if the shooting percentage is not high, Lu Yong just used his shots to feed him with beautiful scoring data, completely locking the All-Stars.

After 7 consecutive victories, the Sonics not only secured the second place in the Western Conference, but also narrowed the gap with the top Spurs to 1 win, and they are expected to counterattack and overtake before the All-Star Weekend.

The media praised the Sonics almost to the point of exhaustion. Lu Yong's reputation in the NBA is getting bigger and bigger. Everyone knows that the rise of the Sonics depends on the coach.

This is a team that is too young from the general manager to the coach to the players, and they are creating miracles unique to Seattle.

　It's the third update today, and there's another chapter to add tonight, and it's finally almost finished.

　　But the next update time may be later, around 12 o'clock, brothers who don't stay up late, don't wait, you can watch it tomorrow when you wake up.

　　Finally, ask for a monthly ticket, brothers, today's ticket is a bit bleak, and I need your support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)