Training the Rookies

Coach Casey stood on the sideline, frowning with some irritation.

Although he'd prepared himself to some extent, the situation was still giving him a headache.

It wasn't that his team had lost by so many points to the Thunder, nor that a few role players had gone cold from outside.

It was that his two highly touted stars hadn't put on any particularly eye-catching performances against the Thunder's defense.

Yes, he really was using this game to train his players.

He was using the Thunder to train them.

The outcome of this game didn't matter that much to him.

Winning would be great, but losing was no big deal.

For now, the team still had a certain level of faith in his coaching.

After all, the Pistons' front office might not have been especially capable, but they weren't stupid.

What they wanted to see wasn't the team suddenly rising to prominence this year, cruising into the Playoffs, reaching the second round, or even making the Eastern Conference Finals...

They wanted to see LaMelo Ball and Donovan Mitchell become a better fit. They wanted to see the long-term potential of this backcourt duo and know the team could remain competitive for at least the next five years.

But... judging by the situation so far, that future still seemed a long way off.

And on the court right now, their already shaky chemistry had been completely torn apart by the defense Chen Xi and Westbrook had built together~~

Worse still...

The game's tempo had fallen completely into the Thunder's hands.

Trying to change their style now, lower the intensity, and recover the fairly smooth offense they'd had at the start was no longer up to them.

They had to play at the Thunder's mercy.

So, would the Thunder voluntarily ease up, show