The godfather of basketball started from conquering the NBA

"Guys, are you holding on to this game?" Xu Xiao asked his players worriedly in the locker room.

"It's okay, coach, where are we going, we're fine."

"Yeah, coach, we're young people, that's fine for us."

Josh and Westbrook responded.

And Xu Xiao asked this because he shortened the rotation in this game.

Westbrook and Josh played almost the entire first half. Westbrook only rested for 44 seconds, and Josh rested for less than 2 minutes. After all, their roles on the court are too important.

The organization and defense of the two of them is the biggest reliance of the Timberwolves.

Although the newcomers of the Timberwolves this year are also very strong, Matthews, Ibaka, Gibson and last year's Dragic have all performed well this season.

But now, Xu Xiao has no other choice.

"Hey, back then I always scolded the coach for not giving newcomers a chance, but now, I've become the kind of person I hate the most."

Xu Xiao also sighed to himself, this is indeed the biggest problem faced by the coaches, training newcomers and ensuring the record cannot have the best of both worlds.

Even for the Warriors back then, Cole could only shrink the rotation at a critical moment.

"Matthews, Ibaka, Gibson and Dragic, you have to know that it's not that you are not good enough, but that I am a coach who is not qualified and not good enough, whether you can understand the decision I made, But now I have to tell you guys that I'm going to cut your minutes, like I told you before."

In the locker room, Xu Xiao tried his best to calm the emotions of these rookies. After all, they have worked hard for a season. Who wouldn't want to show their abilities on a stage like the playoffs?

"Coach, you don't need to say that we all understand. It's our own lack of skill, not your problem." It was Gibson who spoke first.

Gibson, who graduated from the famous basketball school University of Southern California, has long been used to this kind of thing. Although he is a little disappointed, as an athlete, he still knows the rules of competition on the field. All he can do is to continue to work hard and become stronger.

Ibaka also has no complaints. He was like this when he played in Spain. The coach there will not calm their emotions like Xu Xiao. For him, this is normal, but he did not expect Xu Xiao to be like this Take care of their clarity.

In contrast, Matthews and Della couldn't hide their disappointment.

Dragic still had good playing time last year, and his performance was remarkable, and he was worthy of being a substitute. He also showed his scoring ability in this year's regular season, but now his time is still shortened. How could there be no complaints.

And Matthews is even more arrogant. Although he is the person with the lowest pick here, it does not prevent him from having a heart to earn a starter. Even if he is not a starter, he does not think he will be inferior to Mike Miller. .

Of course, Xu Xiao could see their performance.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, Xu Xiao continued to ruthlessly attack the main players.

The efficiency of the starting five is also surprisingly high. Although Durant and Adelaide found a touch in the second half, Josh is not like Hayes. Josh also played the fourth position in the Hawks before.

Nowadays, Paul's ability to fight big is frequently used to train Adelaide in the military. Although he is not easy to defend, Adelaide is even more uncomfortable on the defensive end.

And Durant was also consumed a lot of physical strength by Outlaw, and the Blazers wanted to take advantage of the rotation time to chase points.

But I didn't expect Westbrook to be so physically fit. The rotation lineup Westbrook is like an iron man, and it is a shock to the right substitute lineup.

最终威少上场42分钟，拿下27分10篮板11次助攻的三双数据，约什上场39分钟拿下19分9篮板8助攻的准三双的数据，差一点就成为首位季后赛同场三双的组合了。

In the end, the Timberwolves also defeated the Trail Blazers 99 to 88 in the away game, successfully renewing their lives.

But Xu Xiao's method of shortening the rotation was also criticized.

"Although the Timberwolves won this game, I still have to say that shortening the rotation is the last fig leaf for a coach. This proves that he has no other options and can only rely on the personal abilities of the main players."

Commentator Steve Kerr also commented on Xu Xiao in the post-match interview.

"So where do you think the Timberwolves will go this year?" The host wanted to stir up the heat and continued to ask.

"To be honest, the Timberwolves have a good lineup this year, but the players are too young, and what's more fatal, their coach is too young. Facts have proved that Xu Xiao was a bit of a flash in the pan last year. Now that he has been thoroughly studied, there is no better way to get out of the predicament. So I think this year's Timberwolves may not make it past the first round."

Cole's speech seemed objective and fair, and it was also in line with the inner voice of most people.

But Xu Xiao didn't care for a long time. He has been questioned too many times, and he has been questioned and never favored.

After Cole's remarks, the entire Timberwolves team is like a chicken blood.

Game [-] was still in the Rose Garden, home of the Trail Blazers.

This time Roy, the former master of the Rose Garden, ruled the Rose Garden again. He scored 38 points and the Timberwolves also defeated the Trail Blazers 110-101.

Subsequent Timberwolves also fought more and more courageously. In the fifth game, they returned to their home court. The Timberwolves directly bloodbathed the Blazers.

With a 123-94 victory over Pioneer, the game had no suspense in the third quarter. In this game, Dragic, who had shortened the time before, ushered in an explosion. He scored 21 points in a single quarter and 26 points in the game. 6 assists, seems to be telling Xu Xiao that he has the ability to shine on the stage of the playoffs.

Back to Portland for the sixth game. After the revelation of the previous game, Xu Xiao expanded his rotation a little more in this game.

That's the beauty of young coaches.

As long as you perform well, Xu Xiao is still willing to give you a chance.

But in this game, the Blazers will not give the opportunity so easily, after all, this has reached the edge of life and death.

杜兰特21投14中，罚球12罚10中狂砍41分，另外还有9篮板6助攻，阿德17投11中，拿下26分11篮板，并且在终场前1.9秒抢下了关键的前场篮板助攻杜兰特命中扳平比分的三分。

But Durant was exhausted in overtime, and the Timberwolves...

"Oh my god, this is simply not human. Russell grabbed the rebound from the backcourt, pushed straight to the frontcourt, and completed a layup."

"It's Russell again, another one-stop fast break wow~ direct dunks, he has been on the court for 50 minutes, and he still has the physical strength to complete one-stop dunks, this physical fitness is too strong."

"Roy made a mistake, it was Westbrook again, and he flew directly to save the ball and got the ball back. Josh got the ball strong and directly assisted Oden to score the ball. The Timberwolves have established a 7-point lead Now, it looks like it's time for Portland to say goodbye to the playoffs."

Westbrook in overtime fully demonstrated his physical fitness and enviable physical fitness to people.

全场比赛拿下23分10篮板12次助攻3抢断2盖帽的全能数据，其中加时赛拿下9分2次助攻还有一次抢断。

He also sent away his big brother Durant from his previous life with his own hands.

Xu Xiao was also very angry when Durant left the Thunder before, but maybe no one would be more sad than Westbrook, that's why there was such a big smell of gunpowder when the two met again later.

Now in this life, Xu Xiao can be regarded as helping Westbrook, but he doesn't know if Durant will come to join Westbrook in the future.

In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Trail Blazers 114 to 109, and finally eliminated the Trail Blazers with a big score of 4 to 2, and advanced to the second round. After the game, Durant went directly to Westbrook, and the two still hugged friendly.

"If in this life, because of my relationship, I can maintain that kind of friendship with the former Lei Ting three young masters, it will be considered a great achievement for me." Xu Xiao said silently in his heart.

And their opponent in the second round is the old rival Spurs.

Prior to this, the Spurs had just completed the Black 7 and eliminated the second-ranked Mavericks in the Western Conference.

Although this year's Spurs are not in good shape in the regular season, the playoffs are still very stable. Facing the Mavericks, the Spurs basically did not give the Mavericks any chance.

Compared with last year, the Spurs this year's offense is smoother. It is no longer the dead Cao gdp of last year. This year's Batum and Afflalo have grown up, and they can average 10+ points per game.

And this year, the Spurs missed Westbrook's college teammate Darren Collison, which is also a good reinforcement for them, which makes the second team more impactful.

However, with the improvement of offense, the defensive problems brought about cannot be ignored. The first thing to bear the brunt is the defense of the inside.

The departure of Kurt Thomas made the team's interior defense decline, and the newcomer McDyess is not a player who is good at defense, and he still relies on Duncan's frame protection more often.

But against the Spurs, Xu Xiao seemed to be a little more comfortable.

After all, the Spurs don't have the height of the inside line like the Blazers, and the monster like Durant. Without such a striker group, the Timberwolves' offense can completely start the rhythm.

And this round of the series does not need to shorten the rotation. It's not that the Spurs will be weaker than the Blazers, but the Spurs' lineup is really not as restrained as the Blazers, so this round of the series Xu Xiao switched to Ibaka to start.

Although Outlaw was a little bit disappointed, Xu Xiao found him in time and gave him psychological counseling, which made him feel better.

And this game was just as he expected. In the first game, Westbrook continued his strong performance and scored 29 points, almost smashing the Spurs' defense.

Without Duncan's defense again and again, it is estimated that Westbrook can go for 40 points in this game.

And Josh didn't have to face monsters like Durant, and he was more comfortable controlling the game. He scored a triple-double of 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the game, and also had 4 steals and 3 blocks.

In the first game, the Timberwolves beat the Spurs 109 to 95, making a good start for themselves in the second round.

The Timberwolves still won the second game easily. The Timberwolves came to San Antonio with a total score of 2-0 to continue their playoff journey.