warrior godfather

Chapter 579 Historic Talent

In Zhang Yu's office, Larry Riley and Cole sat on the sofa, waiting for Zhang Yu's answer.

Cole, as the chief assistant coach, also participated in the Warriors' draft. He was also curious about which of the three new stars this year, Zhang Yu took a fancy to.

However, Zhang Yu did not give his own answer immediately, but instead smiled and asked:

"Who do you think should be selected with this No. [-] pick? Tell me, and I will refer to it."

Larry Riley and Cole looked at each other, Cole made a gesture of please, Larry Riley nodded and said:

"I think our best option is Joel Embiid."

"Oh? Why?" Zhang Yu asked curiously.

Larry Riley explained it carefully:

"Tyson is one of the best defensive centers in the league, but in the past few seasons, we have played too many playoffs, and his consumption is very high. This season, there was one major injury and two minor injuries. The state has also declined a lot, the defensive performance is not as good as before, Kelly's defense is not good, he is only suitable for the backup center, so we need a center who can protect the frame, and Joel Embiid is a very good candidate."

"But you know, we would have picked a center this year," Zhang Yu said.

"That's right, that Nikola Jokic, the scouting department has been following him closely for three months according to your request..." Larry Riley hesitated before saying, "Ronan, I know You have always been very accurate in seeing people, but I watched his videos, and I didn’t see any talent in him. The physical talent is average, the defense is not good, and the scoring ability is lacking. The only advantage is that he passes the ball well. In Serbia The performance in the league is relatively average, you want him to replace Tyson as the starting center?"

Zhang Yu nodded and said with a smile:
"I do have this idea. Jokic is only 18 years old, very young, and has a lot of room for improvement. Of course he doesn't have the strength of a starting center right now, but give him two or three years, and his growth will definitely exceed yours. Imagine."

"But his physical talent is too bad, his explosive power is very poor, he hardly bounces, his speed is very slow, and his body fat percentage is very high, which is not what a player should have at all...I still think you should think again" Larry Riley advised.

"It doesn't matter. It's just a second-round lottery. It's a lottery ticket. We have the number one lottery now. What's the second-round lottery?"

"Okay." Larry Riley said helplessly, "Fortunately, other teams didn't notice him. If our scouts didn't invite him to participate in the draft, he wouldn't even participate in the draft. A second-round pick is definitely enough. gone."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and reminded:

"Pay attention to confidentiality measures, and don't disclose the news that we are interested in Jokic, so as not to attract competitors."

Larry Riley agreed, and Cole, who hadn't spoken all this time, spoke. He said with a smile:

"Ronan, it seems that you don't want to use the No. [-] pick to draft Embiid?"

"Yes, Embiid's talent is unquestionable, but he has a serious back injury hidden danger. It is too risky to draft him with the No. [-] pick. Our goal in the next ten years is to compete for the championship. There is no time to wait for him to recover. Injury, training for a few more years, and we're about to face a new round of contract extensions, and every dollar of cap space is precious and cannot be wasted on a potential injury."

"Then only Andrew Wiggins is the candidate. Jabari Parker is a power forward and overlaps with Giannis. There is no room for him in the team." Cole said firmly.

"Yes, Wiggins is the best choice." Zhang Yu said.

Larry Riley frowned slightly:

"But we already have Kawhi at the small forward position. Wouldn't it be a waste of his talent to put Andrew Wiggins on the bench?"

At this time, the whole world recognized that Wiggins was the most talented rookie in this draft year.

There is a widely circulated saying that if all the players who have entered the league in the past ten years are re-drafted, only Oden will be selected before Wiggins, and Durant is likely to be selected after Wiggins. The talents of Rose, Griffin, Howard, and Irving are simply not comparable to Wiggins.

After Wiggins entered college, people were keen to find draft templates for him. From Jordan to Pippen, from James to Carter, the top strikers in league history have become Wiggins' templates.

Everyone is amazed at Wiggins' talent. With a height of 2 meters and a wingspan of 03 meters, he is only slightly inferior to McGrady, surpassing Jordan, Kobe, and Carter. His explosive power and jumping are also comparable to Jordan and Carter. , Surpassing Kobe and Tracy McGrady, the speed of the first step is extremely fast, not even inferior to Wade, the confrontation is extremely good, the time spent in the air is super long, it is definitely a historical level of physical talent.

The outside world generally believes that although Wiggins is still a semi-finished product, he has shortcomings such as low shooting efficiency and rough control skills, but with his historical talent, his rookie season is very strong.

Larry Riley thinks this way too, or rather, everyone thinks this way.

Cole suddenly interjected:
"Ronan, it took us three years to initially train Kawhi. This summer we can renew the contract in advance. The contract will definitely not be small. If we use the No. Substitute?"

Larry Riley echoed:

"This is also a problem. Two strikers of the same level, one starter and one substitute, will definitely have conflicts, and Wiggins is likely to surpass Kawhi soon. Are we going to send Kawhi away? It's not that the three years of training him were wasted..."

The two began to worry about the various problems that would arise after the Warriors selected Wiggins. They both looked at Zhang Yu and waited for his answer.

In their view, these are all unsolvable problems. A peerless genius like Wiggins cannot be willing to play as a substitute, and it is impossible for Leonard to return to the bench after starting the game. The Warriors either choose Wiggins Si, or send Leonard away, the two cannot coexist.

But Zhang Yu didn't mean to be embarrassed at all, he said very firmly:

"You don't have to worry about these issues. Wiggins' talent is indeed outstanding, but it will take a long time for him to grow into a real top striker. This period of time is much longer than you think... and his character is more than yours. Much milder than imagined, definitely not going to cause trouble in the locker room, and you're going to love him—if you get him competitive."

Cole and Larry Riley looked at each other when they heard the words, and saw doubts and incomprehension in each other's eyes. Zhang Yu then explained:

"Wiggins' physical talent is excellent, but it can be seen from the scouting report that he still has many shortcomings in other areas."

"His touch is a bit stiff, and his three-pointers and free throws are average, or even a little poor. It takes a long time to hone."

"Wiggins also has a relatively narrow field of vision and limited passing ability. He can only be used as an end point, and it is difficult to become a playmaker."

"The most important thing is that his dribbling is very average, and he is only threatening when he goes to the right side. He can only break through with his body. He is often stuck in the position and can only be forced to shoot inefficiently for two points. It also makes his first step, jumping ability, and explosive power unusable."

"So, Wiggins' talent is actually not as outstanding as people think. He only has physical talent, but his physical talent is really outstanding... This is also destined to take a long time for him to grow. As for Wiggins' character, you will know when the time comes, what I said is true."

Zhang Yu couldn't explain why he knew Wiggins' character well, so he could only vaguely explain it. Fortunately, Cole and Larry Riley focused on Zhang Yu's analysis of Wiggins' talent and didn't care. at this point.

Cole asked:

"But all of these can be practiced, right? Wiggins does have a lot of shortcomings, but Jimmy and Kawhi were only 3D engineers at the beginning, and later they developed their scoring ability. Wiggins is so talented, it should not be better than them Bad?"

"It's because of Jimmy and Kawhi's ability to learn, which is also a talent, but Wiggins doesn't have that talent."

"He has only played in the NCAA for one year, is it too early for you to make such a judgment?" Larry Riley wondered.

"Uh, this is my judgment based on intuition. I'm not sure what the situation will be, but I think it should be close to ten." Zhang Yu could only vaguely say again.

"Well, you're right. I trust your intuition more than those scouts' flattery. Who told you to be Coach Z?" Cole shrugged.

Zhang Yu smiled and said:

"That's it, Larry, you invite Wiggins to try out, don't invite Embiid and Parker to try out, we won't choose anyway, our own first and second round picks, or According to the original plan, the focus is on training Spencer Dinwiddie, who is from Butler University, and we will pick him, and other teams will not think too much about it."

"No problem." Larry Riley agreed, and then left Zhang Yu's office.

Cole didn't go with Larry Riley. Tomorrow is the Warriors and Thunder's Western Conference Finals G1. He and Zhang Yu will discuss tactics and contingencies at the end.

Cole said solemnly:
"Ronan, after I went back yesterday, I thought about it for a long time. I still feel that we can't match the Thunder's offense. We need to play five small lineups, even in the first quarter, otherwise we really can't stand it."

"Fifth Junior..." Zhang Yu pondered for a moment, then nodded, "That's the only way to go. The chances of defeating Thunder with conventional play are very slim, so we can only give it a go."

The Warriors coaching staff has been studying the video of the Thunder playoffs. The more they study, the more frightened they become.

The Thunder's state this season is very good. Durant has reached the peak, scoring champion + MVP in hand, and is the top three superstars in the league.

威少常规赛因伤只打了46场，21.8分6.9助攻5.7篮板的数据相较前两个赛季有所下滑，但他到了季后赛，状态就完全复苏了，在前两轮场均可以砍下26.7分8.1助攻7.3篮板2.2抢断。

Although Westbrook's shooting rate is not high, only 42%, but there are 8.6 free throws per game, which caused huge damage to the inside of the Spurs and Blazers. His breakthrough points are the Thunder's most important offensive means. one.

Shuang Shao is responsible for offense, and the others are responsible for defense.

Ibaka maintained a level of defense for a while, and his mid-range shots became more accurate. He averaged 15.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, making him the Thunder's third-leading scorer.

Tony Allen has strengthened the Thunder's backcourt defense. Gobert's confrontation is still a problem, but his frame protection is very good, averaging 1.7 blocks per game, and he and Ibaka teamed up to build an insurmountable barrier in the Thunder penalty area. The iron wall.

The third-year Reggie Jackson got plenty of exercise during Westbrook's injury. He played 80 games for the Thunder and averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, enough to lead the team at this stage.

In addition, Sefolosha, Jeremy Lamb, veteran Nick Collison, and Caron Butler can all come off the bench and contribute to the team.

After the tie-break reversed the Clippers,
However, although the Thunder are strong, they are not without weaknesses. Gobert and Durant are both over 2 meters tall, and their ability to switch defenses to the outside line is very poor. Although Ibaka can switch defenses, it is also the average level of the league. On top of that, his strongest point is still protecting the frame and assisting defense.

If Curry can play, his little hitter will be the sharpest weapon of the Warriors. Zhang Yu will never forget Gobert's gorgeous waltz and Durant's embarrassing appearance in the 2016 Western Conference Finals. not here.

The playoffs only pay attention to two things, one is the star level, and the other is matchup.

The Warriors don’t suffer from defensive matchups. Leonard certainly can’t defend Durant, but he can limit his scoring. It also has the upper hand against Gobert, which can limit Westbrook's offensive frame.

Green's help defense and switch defense are far stronger than Ibaka's, but the frame change is not as good. Ibaka can make a mid-range shot and he can deal cards. Overall, Green's role is still stronger than Ibaka's.

But no matter how good the Warriors' defense is, Durant and Westbrook can still score, but in turn, no one in the Warriors can score stably. Zhang Yu can only look forward to Clay's touch breaking out again, or the Thunder's defensive strategy makes mistakes, allowing the Warriors The passing system worked.

It's just that after the series between the Warriors and the Clippers is over, will the Thunder still give the Warriors this chance?
In order to win the Western Conference semifinals, Zhang Yu has tried his best, without reservation, and all kinds of tactics and cards have been exposed. As long as Brooks is not stupid, he will definitely study these seven games carefully and make full preparations for the Warriors. After all, not every head coach is named Rivers.

Zhang Yu thought about it and couldn't think of any other way to break the situation. He could only look forward to Curry's return as soon as possible. A warrior without Curry will never be a real warrior.

　Xiaonian went out yesterday and came back a bit late. I forgot to update the words after typing. I woke up this morning and looked at it and found it. Sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)