84. The team's hidden crisis
As time entered January, the team's head coach Yang Fan recalled Dragic from the Development League as soon as possible.
Because during this period, Dragic's performance in the Development League was excellent.
During the period of training in the Development League, Dragic averaged 33.7 minutes per game, while individuals contributed 21.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 8.3 assists.
Although this data may seem a bit terrifying at first glance, for a player who is capable of being respected in the NBA, it will be a complete killing in the NCAA.
After all, even Joe Johnson at the end of his career could not play in the NBA, but after entering the Development League, he could easily contribute 20 per game.
However, even if the overall level of the Development Alliance is low, it will definitely play a very good role in training.
Especially for a newcomer like Dragic who has good personal abilities but is difficult to have too much playing time in the team.
With Dragic's return, after time entered January, the Thunder encountered some trouble.
Just when people think that the Thunder will be out of the way this season, the Thunder was the first to suffer three consecutive losses in January.
The entire team has a trend of opening high and closing low.
Faced with this situation, many media outside the world naturally began to take advantage of the situation. After all, the Thunder's rise this season was too sudden, which obviously exceeded many people's expectations.
So at this time, when the Thunder was in trouble with losing streak, people naturally began to stand up and analyze it continuously, especially those so-called basketball experts.
In addition, although Thunder fans have continued to support the team, the Thunder's consecutive defeat after January has undoubtedly made many fans feel worried.
After all, the unstable foundations and the fact that the basketball experts at this time have been revealed, and the fact that the running-in period has been revealed sounds quite reasonable.
Although fans are reluctant to believe these fictitious analysis, the Thunder's consecutive defeats in the new year are truly in front of people.
And just as many people were looking forward to it, the Thunder, who lost three consecutive times, lost to the New Orleans Hornets led by "Queen Bee" Paul soon after.
In addition to letting the Thunder not win after entering January, this loss also caused the Thunder to suffer four consecutive losses.
In addition, the team's overall ranking in the West also dropped to sixth in the West.
Even Dragic, who was recalled by head coach Yang Fan to the NBA in these games, has scored several good goals.
But while the team's overall performance is struggling, the Thunder still cannot stop the momentum of losing streak.
Faced with this situation, not to mention being a Thunder fan, even the general manager of the team, Prosty began to sit still.
The whole person immediately found Yang Fan to find out what the team was doing recently.
Even though the team's results this season have already satisfied Prostie, it even exceeded his expectations before the start of the new season.
However, as the team performs better and better in the new season, this undoubtedly makes Prostie's ambitions become bigger and bigger.
Even though he is very satisfied with Yang Fan's coaching ability, the team's recent consecutive losses still makes him feel tremendous pressure.
Because the Thunder this season has never suffered four consecutive losses since the beginning of the season, everyone is already very optimistic about the Thunder, and this series of losses is obviously not a good thing.
"Yang, what's wrong with the team? Why does the team's momentum seem to decline after January."
"You should know that this year's Western Conference playoffs are very fierce. If we lose, we may fall out of the top eight."
Looking at Yang Fan, who was also frowning on the sofa opposite, although Prosti didn't want to put too much pressure on him, he could no longer tolerate the two of them being careless at this time.
"The team is indeed in some trouble. In fact, the players' performance has been relatively normal recently. However, as the new season deepens, all teams have already been running-in and getting more done."
"The main thing is that after entering January, our schedule is very unfriendly."
"In these games, our opponents are some strong teams at the playoff level, and the Hornets who lost in the last game are already the weakest teams we have encountered in recent teams."
"But even so, the Hornets are ranked fifth in the West at this time, and they are still ahead of us in terms of team rankings."
"Hey, I know you're very anxious, but some things are hard to hurry. Although the players' performance is already very good, our flaws are also quite obvious at this time."
"That's the overall age of the team is too young, so you can clearly see that you are unable to succeed when fighting some tough battles."
After a brief pause, Yang Fan, who was frowning, picked up the coffee on the table and drank it all, and then added another sentence to Prostie.
"For example, the opponents we have encountered recently are all teams that are better than us, so in this level of confrontation, our disadvantages will be more obvious."
When he heard the statement of head coach Yang Fan, Prostie, who was sitting in the main seat at this time, was obviously a little upset, even though what Yang Fan said was true.
Because no matter how great the potential this Thunder team players have, it takes time to hone their potential into strength after all.
And in this process, what head coach Yang Fan has done is actually very outstanding.
It's no exaggeration to say that if the Thunder hadn't had Jamison and Hamilton this season.
Then, let alone entering the playoffs, it is probably not impossible for the Thunder to rank at the bottom of the West by then.
"There's no other way, Yang, you know, the boss is very satisfied with the team's performance this year, especially for you, he has praised it more than once."
"Although the boss hasn't said anything in recent games, I believe the boss still hopes that the team can enter the playoffs."
"Because we haven't experienced the playoffs for a long time, and this year is the first year the team moved to Oxford City, so if the team can enter the playoffs, it will be a good thing for you and me."
"On the contrary, although the boss cannot blame us, the benefits we can get will definitely be greatly reduced."
As Prosti sat in the seat and sucked a few sips of cigarettes unwillingly, Yang Fan on the sofa was frowning tightly, as if thinking about something.
After a long time, when the room was quiet and there was only Prostie smoking, Yang Fan, who had taken a sip of coffee, said with great concern:
"As a solution..., it's not impossible. It seems that we can only find a way to continue seeking a transaction this time..."
Chapter completed!