Billups's straightforwardness is something the players have never seen before, but this sentence also sends a signal that he is different from Walton, and he fully trusts Tang Shuai.

"Tang is the core of this team. I believe this is not just for me. Each of you should clearly realize that I will design tactics around Tang. If you really want to win this game, then follow my tactics and run into the position. Can you do it?" Billups glanced at the players and said.

"Yes!" the team members shouted.

The two short dialogues have already shown Billups' attitude. From this moment on, the Lakers have officially clarified the team with Tang Shuai as the core.

In the following time, Billups instilled his tactical system into the Lakers team in front of him.

This is very similar to the tactics that Larry Brown set for Iverson when he was 76ers, because Tang Shuai did a very good job in both breaking, passing and shooting, so as long as he makes full use of his threat on the offensive end, the team's offensive efficiency can be qualitatively improved.

Walton was obsessed with small ball tactics at the time, and he didn't notice it at all. Billups is a top player in the football business and does not advocate any tactics. His tactical philosophy is what he said, which is what kind of people you give him, and he exerts these people to the greatest extent.

On February 2018, US time, after a 3-day rest, the Lakers boarded a plane to Oakland, where they were about to challenge the invincible Warriors this season.

This is also the first appearance of the new Lakers coach Billups this season. With the outside world's doubts due to contract issues, the performance of his debut is particularly eye-catching.

The Oakland football market has been so popular this season. Curry's rise has already made the Aucklanders taste the taste of becoming a strong team and winning the championship. Durant's joining further made them experience the unstoppable and invincible feeling. An hour before the game began, a large number of fans had already gathered around the Oracle Arena.

Although it was just an ordinary regular season game, no local fans wanted to miss even a minute. Those who grabbed the tickets had already entered the stadium to watch the Warriors' training, and those who did not have tickets had already gathered outside the venue to seize a favorable position.

In the stadium, Curry and Durant are having an interesting shooting game, and the two start from the three-point line and shoot further and further.

At the beginning, Durant was equal to Curry, but as the distance grew, his shooting percentage was no longer on the same level as Curry. When he arrived in the middle circle, Curry scored three in a row, but he didn't even make any of them. The short game ended and Curry finally won.

There was a burst of cheers for Curry on the spot, but Curry smiled and went to take pictures of Durant. The two of them were talking and laughing, and no one cared about the result.

Winning can make the team's atmosphere better, and after the Warriors keep winning and even almost never loses, the atmosphere is naturally good and can't be better.

From a certain perspective, this is almost a victorious army that will not be defeated.

The Lakers only made their debut fifteen minutes before the start of the game. At the time before, Billups chose to emphasize the points that need to be paid attention to when playing on the court later.

The Lakers' appearance did not attract much attention. Except for Tang Shuai's fans who saw Tang Shuai screaming a few times, the home fans' attention was all on the home team.

The commentary of this game is Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Barry.

"Jeff, the media are now discussing whether the Warriors will break the regular season record that they just set last season, or that record in a few games before, what do you think about this?" Barry said with a smile at Van Gundy.

"It's obvious that this seems inevitable. Although you may encounter many snipers in the second half of the season, their strength this season is much greater than other teams. The only variable is themselves." Van Gundy took the lead in following the convention and took advantage of the situation.

Barry nodded with a big laugh, then said with a hint of contempt: "Do you think the Lakers may be the team that sniper Warriors?"

"It's not difficult. The Lakers have just made multiple trades on the trading deadline. Now Changxi has just joined the team again. They want to win the Warriors..." Van Gundy said and shook his head.

Barry took advantage of the situation and said: "To be honest, the Lakers' All-Star performance before the game is still good compared to previous years, but the team traded potential star Harrison Barnes on the trading deadline. With Luke's resignation, I think they will fall into a relatively struggling performance in the second half of the season."

"That's true. If Paul Gasol can play, I believe the Lakers still have the power to play, but now, with Don alone, they can't win this game." Van Gundy continued.

The two commentators in the commentary seat were talking freely. At this time, the Lakers players had finished warming up. After hearing this content, their brows frowned unconsciously.

"Don't care about other people's opinions. We play all the performances we can play. Just leave them to God." Billups said directly when he noticed the emotional changes of the players.

The team members retracted their attention and nodded.

Billups then took out the tactical board and started laying it out.

At this moment, the lineup of both sides was released on the LED screen on the scene.

There was a burst of cheers suddenly at the scene.

This list alone is enough to make Aucklanders feel proud and excited.

The Warriors have five and four All-Stars, Curry, Thompson, Durant, and Green are in the list, and the center position is Pachuria, who has excellent offense and defense.

In contrast, the Lakers seem much shabby because of Gasol's injury, and the team only has Tang Shuai, the All-Star.

However, the Lakers' experience is still a bit surprising.

When the deal happened, Tang Shuai and Duffy also discussed whether Mike Dermot had the potential to become the team, but now, Billups has arranged him directly, and he will form a starting backcourt partner with Tang Shuai.

On the front line, Batum and Ruhr Deng appeared together, while the center is Noel.

Just from this arrangement of troops, we can see that Billups' coaching style will not be arranged to play because of the players' salary or fame, but will make targeted arrangements based on the opponent.

Batum and Deng are both defensive players, just against Durant and Green. Although Mike Dermott's defense is relatively poor, he can just match the tall Thompson with the top.

"beep!"

The whistle sounded on the sidelines and the game between the two sides was about to begin.

After Billups gave Tang Shuai a while in the end, he signaled the players to play.

Both sides walked to the center of the field, and Nol and Pachulia jumped.

Although the overall strength is quite different, Noel is still much better than Pachuria in terms of the center position. When the referee threw the ball forward, he pushed the ball back from Pachuria's head to the Lakers' half.

The Lakers attack first.

Tang Shuai held the ball and his teammates quickly landed.

As soon as he reached the three-point line, Batum and Mike Dermott made two-way pick-and-rolls from both sides.

Tang Shuai was a fake and then walked towards the pick-and-roll position of Mike Dermot.

In the next second, Deng also lifted the pick-and-roll from the inside to block Thompson who was resting the defense.

From these tactical trends, the Lakers' offensive focus was immediately highlighted, which was to create opportunities for Tang Shuai.

Tang Shuai was particularly relaxed at this time, and his teammates took the initiative to pick-and-roll, and his physical energy was much less than before.

Green quickly made up for defense, and Tang Shuai saw the opportunity and hit the earth and returned the ball and broke the ball and walked out.

This is a pretty good opportunity, but the new Lakers team members have only been training with the team for two days, and there is a problem with their tacit understanding.

Mike Dermott thought Tang Shuai was going to attack by himself, but he didn't expect that he would come back from passing the ball. When he realized it, he was too late and was blocked by Curry. The receiving action was slower. The ball flew directly past him and flew out of the field.

There was a lot of cheers at the scene.

"Observation is the way for the team to win the game, but perhaps many people didn't notice that the Warriors' defense is also top-notch, and they are definitely the best that all teams have done this season in assisting the defense rotation." Barry couldn't help but blow again when he saw this performance.

"Yes, Kevin's assisted defense area is much stronger than Harris Barnes on the team last season," Van Gundy said in agreement.

Just as they were talking, Curry recommended to the frontcourt with the ball, Green made a pick-and-roll for Durant, Durant ran out of the position, received Curry's pass and raised his hand and shot.

Deng's assisted defense was already timely, but Durant's long arm directly ignored the defense and faced Deng's defense directly.

"Swish!"

With two points accurately putting the bag, Durant felt very excited from the beginning.

A deafening cheer suddenly broke out at the scene. In Auckland, in Oracle Arena, they were enjoying the feeling of the ocean of baskets every night.

The Lakers' offense, Tang Shuai and Deng's pick-and-roll team made another mistake. Deng's running slowed down and the ball was once again pushed out of the field by Durant's long arm.

Billups reached out and called for a pause.

The pause was shouting very quickly, which caused an uproar among the fans at the scene.

Van Gundy couldn't help but shake his head after watching it: "Changsey has not shown us enough ability yet. In fact, it takes a long way to go from a successful player to a successful coach."
Chapter completed!