?? In NBA history, as of the 2013 season, three of the 15 teams in the West have not made it to the division finals.

They are the Los Angeles Clippers, the New Orleans Pelicans (Hornets) and the Memphis Grizzlies.

In fact, if it weren't for Li Liang's arrival to change the trajectory of history, the Grizzlies would have made history by reaching the Western Conference finals in the 2013 season.

There are actually only two teams that haven't really made it to the Western Conference finals, the Clippers and the Pelicans.

Coincidentally, the former boss of these two teams was Chris Paul.

He once led the team to the Western Conference semifinals, but in the end they all came back with a feather, and his luck was really bad.

But Paul is still young, at the peak of a player, and the possibilities are endless.

After the press day, the Clippers took a bus to the University of San Diego gymnasium.

On the way, Chris Paul finally felt a bit boss, standing at the front to give a speech to the players.

“…… A brand new season, from the first training session, we started at the University of San Diego, and this season, we will definitely make breakthroughs and get what we want, definitely! ”

Paul was small, but he had a big heart.

On the basketball court, he is very competitive and will do anything to win.

So although Paul is very popular on the court, there are also endless comments about his dirty play.

Li Liang has an understanding of this, this little man really dares to play black hands when defending.

Hearing Paul's encouragement to the whole team and looking forward to the new season, Li Liang said directly: "This season, our goal is to win the championship, not to go further. One step is not enough. “

Li Liang's words are simple, and far less impassioned than Paul's words.

But his words were even more shocking, pointing to the championship, which not every player has the courage to say.

Li Liang has the courage to do this, because he already has a championship trophy.

Members who win the championship can each keep this trophy for a week.

Li Liang put the trophy in his home for a week.

Neither brought him back home to show off, nor did he take him around to participate in events.

Because Li Liang feels that the trophy he has obtained has lost its greatest significance as a trophy.

It's like a wife who is always ...... No, like Pele said, the best goal is always next.

Li Liang's goal is to win the next championship, not to reminisce about the previous one.

When Paul heard Li Liang's words, he joked, "We're going to win the championship, but you're not going to get the FMVP again." ”

What Paul means is that when I win a championship, I'm the MVP.

This confidence is really incomparable, and it really looks like Kobe.

Li Liang just chuckled and said, "Are you better than Kobe?" ”

As soon as he said this, Paul was speechless.

Paul is awesome, but can he be as awesome as Kobe?

In the direct conversation between the two in the regular season MVP in '08, Paul lost to Kobe.

Now Kobe Bryant has performed well in the finals, although he lost the opportunity to win FMVP because of a ruptured Achilles tendon, but to be honest, Li Liang's 60-point performance in a single game cannot be grabbed by Kobe.

The car drove for a while and arrived at the University of San Diego in the afternoon.

San Diego, also known as San Diego, is home to the Clippers in the past.

The Clippers were formerly known as the Buffalo Braves, but after moving to San Diego, they were named the Clippers because it is a famous seaside resort in California, where a large number of yachts are moored in the bay all year round.

In 1981, after Sterling bought the Clippers, he moved the team to Los Angeles.

That didn't bring much luck to the Clippers, though.

Instead, the Clippers decided to practice in San Diego, hoping to get a touch of the blessings of their former home city.

The University of San Diego is located in the northwest precinct of the city of San Diego, near the San Diego Marine Park.

There is a large sports center in the school, which looks like a swept wing airplane when viewed from above.

There is also a large swimming pool, four tennis courts, and a large football pitch outside the sports center.

Here, Clippers players can get more comprehensive and rich training to prepare for the new season.

Upon arrival, the players changed their clothes and warmed up on the field.

This is not only Li Liang's first training session with the Clippers, but also the first training session for head coach Rivers to his new team.

Compared with Li Liang's mouth for the championship, he quarreled with Paul on the first day, and Rivers was much nervous.

He was silent all the way, you must know that he still talks a lot on weekdays.

As a player-oriented coach, Rivers has always been known as a "player-oriented coach" in the league.

The so-called player-type coach is to coach in the team, be able to get along with the players, and gain the respect and love of the players.

As opposed to a player-type coach, there is a managerial coach, which is more like a manager of the players.

Of course, some of the great coaches in the NBA have both.

Rivers himself is a player, and when it comes to tactics, he doesn't have any particularly high attainments.

But when it comes to pinching players, gaining the love of players, and building confidence in the team, Rivers is a good player.

Leading the Celtics to a championship in '08 was the masterpiece of his career.

This is one of the reasons why Paul is attracted to hope that the team must get Rivers.

Back in June, Paul reached out to Rivers hoping he would come to the Clippers.

Rivers is very tempted, because the Celtics are about to enter a rebuilding period, and Rivers does not want to accompany the Celtics to rebuild.

And the Clippers are undoubtedly a good place for him to shine.

There is no heavy history, there is no strong management, and he will have more power when he comes.

More critically, the Clippers have a good roster with a lot of potential.

The arrival of Rivers is just the right time to give the Clippers an upgrade.

Therefore, Rivers was full of confidence before he came, but he didn't expect Li Liang to suddenly join.

Li Liang's joining is of course a good thing, when he was in the Celtics, Rivers was very covetous of Li Liang and felt that this kid was too useful.

As a result, the operation of the finals shocked Rivers' jaw.

Then he came to the Clippers, and Rivers was pleasantly surprised, then annoyed.

Originally, Rivers had thought about it, and the Clippers completely followed Paul as the core to build the team's tactics.

That's what any coach in his right mind would do.

But Li Liang joined, and Rivers was hesitating all summer, what kind of tactical position should Li Liang give?

According to common sense, Paul continues to be the core, and Li Liang is the second master, which is an obvious and reasonable configuration.

Although Griffin is the champion and has played longer, he and Li Liang are stronger or weaker, and the playoffs have already been clear.

Moreover, Li Liang has a ballless style of play, and he is quite versatile on the defensive end, which is a perfect match for Paul's ball-holding play.

But in several exchanges with Li Liang, Rivers faintly noticed - well, no need to be faintly aware, Li Liang made it clear that he wanted to gain the right to attack with the ball.

"I developed my own ball-handling attack in the summer and hopefully got some possession."

Li Liang said it to Rivers so simply and straightforwardly.

Rivers, he's not Mike Brown, and if Mike Brown had heard it, he would have believed it.

Rivers doesn't believe that Li Liang, who had almost no offensive ability with the ball last season, and later had a little pull-up jump shooting ability, could practice the offensive with the ball in one summer.

But Rivers didn't dare to say no, a player-type coach, he had to coax the players.

Besides, Li Liang, you have to coax, the owner of the team is Li Liang's fans, Li Liang said that he wants to play with the ball, do you dare to design tactics for him?

So, that's where Rivers feels a headache.

Judging from the situation on the media day and the bus in the morning, Li Liang and Paul are both hard-tempered guys, and they are not very convinced by each other.

After all, the Lakers and Clippers were still fighting to the death last season, and they were rivals in the playoffs.

Li Liang is a special player, he is not black, he is not white, he is a Chinese.

If it is a black brother, no matter what grudges there were before, as long as it is not a contradiction off the field, in the new season, there is a team on the left, a "brother" on the left, and a "Nigo", and then go to the night game to play around, it will be like a family.

It's just that Li Liang is completely different from black players culturally, and it is not a system.

Therefore, if there is a barrier, it cannot be eliminated in a few words.

You have to fight side by side on the court to slowly become comrades-in-arms.

Rivers is worried that in the past, Paul, as the absolute boss, came to a guy who was culturally incompatible, very shallow in qualifications, but very strong, and had more honors than everyone else, how should the team be built.

Thinking of these problems, Rivers, who was already not a small head, suddenly became bigger.

Rivers watched the players warm up on the court while discussing the team's training policy with assistant coaches Gentry and Hill.

In fact, the specific policy has been formulated a long time ago, but there are still some problems in the details.

Gentry was the head coach of the Suns from 2009 to 2013 and was an offensive player, leading the Suns to the 2010 Western Conference Finals.

It can be said that he is quite a luxury to be the chief assistant coach of Rivers.

Of course, Gentry is primarily responsible for the offense, and the defense is currently in charge of Armond Hill.

Hill is a graduate of Princeton University and is a disciple of Pete Carell.

But what he excels at is not Princeton offense, but defense.

When he was head coach at Columbia, he led a team that was able to limit opponents to 57 points per game, the best in the country.

After entering the NBA, he worked as an assistant coach with the Celtics, and this season followed Rivers to the Clippers.

With two strong right-hand men like that, Rivers' job with the Clippers will be a lot easier.

The premise is that he must first deal with the previous relationship between Paul and Li Liang.

Now the other players are in a wait-and-see state, who is the boss of the team and who should be listened to?

"Beep!"

Rivers blew the whistle and motioned for the players to assemble.

The first tactical lesson is about to begin.