"Be careful, OKC's Lightning Rising!"

This is the cover title of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, and the cover photo is naturally a photo of the Thunder and Ibaka and Morris. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Durant and Westbrook sat in the front row with basketballs, while the three interior linemen stood in the back with their hands on their chests. On the cover of the new season, the Thunder became the team that Sports Illustrated decided to focus on.

"Last season's 47-win record put them just one step away from the playoffs. This year, Presti has strengthened the Thunder's weak interior line, and they will have a more mature Durant and Westbrook, and the playoffs seem to have opened the door to them. Sports Illustrated did a special column for the Thunder to talk about their team structure and strengths and weaknesses.

"While the chances of making the playoffs are great, the Thunder's young people seem to have to stop there. Trying to squeeze into the second round or better is almost impossible for the Thunder right now. None of the Thunder's three have playoff experience, and the competition in the West is as great as ever. Therefore, Thunder fans should not have too much hope for the three young men's playoff journey. ”

Sports Illustrated's analysis is very pertinent, neither belittled nor over-hyped by the Thunder's strength this season. But Jeff. Van Gundy was still very unconvinced after seeing this column, and it was not impossible for the Thunder to break through the first round.

On October 5th, a confident Van Gundy and his Thunder team played their first preseason warm-up game under the spotlight.

The Golden State Warriors, led by Coach Nelson Sr., will test the depth of the Thunder's strength in the new season.

Van Gundy was still mainly working on the bench in the preseason, so Anjie only played 18 minutes in this game, and he and Morris always staggered playing time, because Van Gundy still continued to play Morris as center and Ibaka as power forward.

Therefore, when Anjie is off, it is when Morris comes on. The two did not have a chance to partner on the inside throughout the game.

Ibaka and Morris, the two rookies, are the two players who have played the most minutes for the Thunder, but the Warriors' scouting has single-handedly covered up their excellent performances.

Steve. Curry, this guy Morris is all too familiar. In the NCAA 32 round, the Whirlwinds' opponent, Davidson College, was led by Curry.

The NCAA has a shorter three-point line than the NBA, so Curry wasn't favored by many people in college. They think that when the NBA faces a farther three-point line, Curry, a skinny guy who can only shoot threes, will be at a loss.

When the Warriors decided to select Curry with a third pick, many fans expressed disappointment. In the third pick, they can pick Tyreck. Evans, choose Hassim. Thabit, the choice of "Spanish Golden Boy" Ricky. Rubio, but the Warriors brought this small guard who can only shoot to Oakland.

However, in his first official appearance, Curry's performance made everyone shut their mouths.

He shot 5-of-6 from three-point range and assisted Ellis multiple times to get open shots. Ibaka and Morris beat the Warriors to the ground on the inside, while Stephen Brown. Curry, on the outside, helped the team take control.

In the end, Ibaka and Morris failed to lead the Thunder to victory, 99-87, and the much-anticipated Thunder lost the first game of the preseason to the Warriors who had a poor record last season.

For the loss of this game, the Thunder players and Van Gundy did not pay attention to it, after all, most of the game was played by the team's second or even third team, and the Thunder team did not show real skills at all.

But how could those critics who were idle and had nothing to talk about give up this opportunity, after the game, they criticized the Thunder team as worthless, and even some articles analyzed the reasons for the Thunder team's defeat in detail.

"Shit." Van Gundy just picked up the newspaper and looked at it before throwing it in the trash. What is the state and prospects of the Thunder, he Van Gundy knows best.

However, on October 11, the Thunder lost their second preseason game.

The Thunder only played fifteen minutes in this game, and Van Gundy saw that the three were in good shape, so he did not continue to use them.

Unexpectedly, the plans of the Hawks and the Thunder are diametrically opposed, the Eagles started five tigers for a long time in this game, and the main players are the purpose of the Hawks' training in this game.

Using his own bench to play against someone else's strongest lineup, it would be a bit of a fantasy for the Thunder to still win.

82-103, the Thunder lost by a large score. Although An Jie has not been on the game for a long time, he has also made a lot of money.

Using the low-post skills learned from Olajuwon, Anjie was able to play a role in the Al Ace. Horford made five shots in front of him and didn't miss.

Morris and Serge Ibaka are still at the core, but the young duo don't seem to have adapted to the NBA's fast pace.

After two consecutive defeats in the preseason, Van Gundy's training goal has been achieved. Morris and Serge Ibaka were given plenty of playing time to avoid having to wait until the regular season started to get the two newcomers to settle in.

Originally, the reason why these two were favored by Presti and Van Gundy was because of their immediate combat power. If you can't play a role on the field, then how can you play the advantage that a combat power role should have?

Although the purpose of training is achieved, if the team continues to lose, the morale of the players will inevitably fluctuate. Van Gundy has been a coach for 14 years and naturally understands this.

So in the Thunder's third warm-up game, Van Gundy used the normal rotation for the first time. It is worth mentioning that the person who sits in the starting power forward position and partners with An Jie on the inside is still Sergi. Ibaka.

Morris did very well in pre-season, but unfortunately his performance was not reflected in the statistics.

On the offensive end, he has obviously not adapted to the NBA-level confrontation, and although the defensive end can frequently force the opponent to play iron, there are few blocks. Compared to Sergi, who is known for his caps. Serge Ibaka and Morris have received a lot less attention.

When Ibaka and An Jie partnered on the inside, An Jie instantly felt a lot easier than last season.

Sergi. Although Ibaka is strong and athletic, his hand is surprisingly soft.

He has a longer range than Kostic and a greater grasp of his shots than Kostic. On the offensive end, he can help Anjie open up more space, and his eye-catching blocks on the defensive end also add another layer of barrier to the Thunder's three-second zone.

So the New York Knicks, who are the Thunder's third opponent in the preseason, are not as lucky as the first two teams.

David. Although Lee is a regular in the 20+10 club, in the face of the hospitality of the Thunder's three-way interior giants, David . Lee's performance was unconvincing.

97 to 88, in the case that the Thunder and Knicks are playing according to the normal rotation, the Thunder, who are more powerful, have the last laugh.

The first time he played all his cards, Van Gundy led his team to a big victory. This is also the first time that the Thunder have exposed their true strength to others.

In the final preseason game on October 20, the Thunder's opponent was Charlotte Bobcats, who were rising in the East.

The same rise, the Bobcats paid several times as much time as the Thunder. However, judging from the performance of this game, their slow work did not produce "fine work".

The Thunder fired in unison, which dealt a serious blow to Charlotte's pre-game optimism.

"Elvis" Gerald. Wallace and Raymond. Felton performed well, but unfortunately, when the Thunder's three few points exceeded 20, they almost rarely lost.

Full game Anjie put Tyrus. Thomas eats to death, he won't give Thomas a chance to rush up on the defensive end, and on the offensive end, Anjie uses his strength and technical advantages to play like a fish in water.

With 21 points and 13 rebounds, this is the first time in the preseason that Anjie has scored more than 20 points and scored a double-double for the first time.

99 to 93, although the score difference is not large, but the Thunder team has always taken the initiative on the field. At this point, Van Gundy arranged for the team to arrange four preseason games are all over, with 2 wins and 2 losses, such a result will definitely make many other team's scouts unpredictable and unable to see the true strength of the Thunder team.

Four games is enough for all members of the Thunder team to activate their competitive state. When a group of young people returned to Oklahoma full of enthusiasm, there were only eight days left before the start of the first game of the regular season.

The NBA opener will be played on Oct. 27, but the Thunder won't play until the 28th.

A year ago, Anjie was just starting out, and people said that being able to establish himself in the NBA was already his greatest success. But he not only gained a foothold in the NBA, but was also selected as an All-Star, won the best rookie, and was selected to the rookie first team.

A year later, Anjie has experienced 82 NBA games, and playing is no longer the goal he is pursuing. Playoffs, second rounds, division finals, and even finals. And who would dare to stand up and pack the ticket and say that none of this can happen?

Another October, another season. The difference is that the Thunder Three are less immature and more threatening!

Perhaps, as the cover of Sports Illustrated says, blue and white lightning is rising! (To be continued.) )