Why is it that at a young age, the physical fitness can't keep up

If you want to find one of the main reasons for the loss of Thunder G3, it is actually two words: physical fitness.

Alexander was exhausted in 42 minutes before entering the fourth quarter, scoring only 3 points in the entire fourth quarter; Jay and Dort are both 36 minutes and Chet is 35 minutes. The two cores of the Thunder's interior and exterior lines, Alexander and Chet, both have fitness problems in the final quarter.

Alexander's 3 points in the final quarter and Chet's 2 points in the final quarter caused the Thunder to score only 18 points in the final quarter. With a full two-day break between Game 2 and Game 3 of the Finals, Alexander should have plenty of fitness, but he played as if he had just finished back-to-back overtime in the final quarter.

And with Harden only playing 18 minutes, Chet had to stay on the court more to protect the basket. Chet played very well in the first quarter of this ball, pulled his hip in the second three quarters, and finally blocked by Turner The three points and breakthroughs are the most intuitive embodiment of physical fitness.

Daigneault's hiring yesterday was a fight with Thibodeau, and although there were five substitutes, it looked like a 10-man rotation. But Kenway only had 2 minutes to play, Isaiah Joe who was 2-of-2 from three-point range only 4 minutes, and Wiggins only 10 minutes. In the second half, the Thunder basically had the starting five + Caruso on the court, squeezing out the energy of these people before the decisive battle.

Many people may wonder if those stars in the previous playoffs have played more than 40 minutes is commonplace, and James has played an average of 41.3 minutes per game throughout his playoff career. Why is the Thunder, whose average age is only 24 years old, and the Thunder, whose core lineup is even younger, especially Alexander, who is in the prime of life, can't stand it so quickly.

Of course, in the current NBA, the number of rounds has increased significantly compared to the past, and the physical consumption of players will be greater. Especially for a team with a high intensity of defense like the Thunder, it consumes more physical energy on the defensive end, which is something that fans tend to ignore.

In addition, the Pacers' set-up for Alexander is also the reason for the latter's rapid loss of energy. From the Thunder's backcourt serve, the Pacers pressed all over the court, so they had McConnell's three baseline steals.

Alexander dribbled the ball to the front court, and the lead defender harassed him all the time, without giving him any respite. On the offensive end, the Pacers are also going all out to name Alexander and continue to wear him down. It's not that Alexander can't defend, but even if he can't score, the cost to you is real.

Cut Alexander's ties with his teammates, you like singles and have the ability to beat me to death like you did in the second game. Alexander's singles are actually one of the most physically demanding forms of attack. Alexander doesn't have absolute speed and absolute power, so his singles basically rely on "grinding", and the longer he grinds with defenders, the faster his fitness bar will slide.

So in order to save Alexander's physical energy, you can't let Alexander be targeted by the Pacers on the defensive end, and you have to protect Alexander. If the opponent intends to name names, there must be teammates who anticipate the intention to change the defense in advance, or they can be pinched when it is time to attack, strengthen the speed of other people's defensive rotation, and would rather sacrifice other people's physical strength to keep Alexander's trump card.

The Thunder played too smoothly in the regular season this season, averaging a whopping 12.87 points per game, the highest in a single season in the league's 79-year history. In winning games, the Thunder were able to settle the game before the last five minutes for most of the games, and did not enter the critical moment.

They'll put a lot of energy into the early stages of the game, scrambling on the defensive end and trying to break down their opponents. And once they get to the crunch time, their physical disadvantage is reflected, and Alexander has failed to shoot a single ball in key moments more than once in the playoffs this year.

To improve this, in addition to protecting Alexander from being consumed, you have to put more trust in the role players. Wiggins and Joe both deserve more playing time, and Kenway is obviously good on the court, but I don't know why he only played 2 minutes in the last game.

The Twin Towers in the second game were also good on the field, but in the third game, Dagneault cut the time of the Twin Towers again. From the first game, Dagneault took Harden as the starter and replaced him with a small lineup to fight for speed, and such an active change of formation seems to be blind at present.

The Thunder is the dominant side, and there is no need to take the initiative to change the formation, even if Harden is defeated on the court and then change the formation. Now that three games have been played, the 1-2 situation has led to almost no room for the Thunder to continue to make mistakes, and every game is a battle of life and death.

Young teams make mistakes, young coaches make mistakes, and it depends on whether Dagneault has the courage to admit his mistakes and stop losses in time. A champion-level team certainly can't just play the tailwind and paint the undertone of the championship trophy in the face of adversity.

Don't be fooled by the phrase "you are still young", no one can guarantee that this Thunder will have another chance.