Chapter 994: Chapter 414: Pumpkin Jack
After the ga, Bickerstaff finished handling the team’s operational affairs and prepared to go ho when he saw the light still on in the general manager’s office.
He knocked on the door and said to Carlisle, “Rick, don’t work too hard, go ho and rest. The new season has already started, and there will be plenty to keep you busy later.”
Carlisle replied, “I’m almost done. Didn’t we just finish the first ga? Getting the start right makes everything smoother going forward.”
Bickerstaff: “You don’t have to rush. Your coaching last season was already very successful. The managent, fans, all have enough patience with you, so there’s no need to put so much pressure on yourself.”
Carlisle: “I expected the first ga to be rough. This ti, creating a complete system is the most challenging I’ve faced in my tenure with three teams, and I understand that. I’m ntally prepared. Actually, tonight’s performance didn’t make anxious; it surprised . The kids are actively adjusting, and I need to keep up with them.”
Bickerstaff: “That’s what I’m talking about. You shouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself in this regard. Incorporating defense into offensive basketball is challenging. So many teams failed 20 years ago. I believe you can do it, but you also need to know it’s a long process.”
Carlisle: “I understand, so I’m ready to lower my expectations on defensive performance. However, the preparation as a coach and training requirents for the players cannot be reduced… But Bernie, in tonight’s second half, I used Paul, Eka, and Serge in an interior rotation, which significantly impacted Turkoglu and Nelson’s passing. Do you think we should adjust our defensive approach?”
Bickerstaff thought for a mont, his eyes brightened, and ideas started racing through his mind, saying, “I think we can do…”
Then, the sixty-year-old followed the forty-year-old to work overti…
For the next two weeks, the Bobcats’ coaching staff and players were at maximum work intensity every day.
However, unlike during training camp when players constantly complained, getting beat badly by the Magic at the start instead fired up their competitive spirit. Feeling humiliated, they actively cooperated with Carlisle’s training adjustnts and ga plan revisions.
Ti flew to October 25th. The Bobcats finished all seven preseason gas. After a day off on the 26th, they started preparing for the season opener on the 27th.
Training ended at 4 PM.
Zhang Yang stayed back to practice his post-play. Specifically, under conditions of no advantage in confrontation, utilizing post-play rhythm to avoid being blocked at the lower position, completing a high-position one-on-one shot. The training aid to reduce the number of break-throughs during mismatches against opponent point guards and minimize double-teams.
The only training partner in the team who could assist him with this was the chubby Boss.
After a set of training, Felton asked, “Jack, is it necessary for you to practice this? It’s rare for a point guard shorter than you to still be able to stick to your legs and limit your jump, right?”
Zhang Yang: “This situation is quite extre, but it’s still worth practicing. It would be regrettable to miss such a scoring opportunity if it arises… Boss, you volunteered to be a sparring partner, not that I asked you, and yet you complain so much.”
Felton: “I’m just saying, look how worked up you get. I never said I wouldn’t be your sparring partner… Today’s training volu suddenly dropped. We used to train from 9 to 5, but today we started at 10, ended before 11:30, began again at 1:30 PM, and finished by 4 PM. With breaks in between, it’s less than 4 hours of training in a day. It’s a bit of an adjustnt.”
Zhang Yang: “The regular season is about to start, so we need to slow down our pace. Previous training focused on volu, but now we must focus on quality, reduce training volu, and ensure enough stamina for the 82-ga season.”
Felton: “I understand that, which is why I stayed back not to train more but to kill so ti by being your sparring partner on the court… Hey Jack, do you think choosing to strengthen our defense, instead of capitalizing on the Suns’ collapse to beco the league’s top offensive team, was the right choice?”
Zhang Yang puzzled, “Boss, why are you suddenly caught up in this question?”
Felton: “Since the start of preseason, this topic has been hot. Haven’t you noticed? Mainly because our preseason gas really didn’t go well. We lost both gas against the Magic, lost to the 76ers, Hawks, and Bucks, and only won against the Wizards without Arenas and the rebuilding Pistons. In preseason, our average score per ga was just 102 points…”
Zhang Yang pondered and responded, “Indeed, our preseason wasn’t great, but it’s mainly related to the coaching staff’s strategic plan and rotations. If we were focused on winning regardless of defensive cooperation, I think we could have won. Also, the overall strength of our division is stronger than previous years. So news even reported that if Arenas weren’t injured and Marion hadn’t collapsed, all five teams in our Southeast Division might make the playoffs this season.”
Felton: “True, the Magic’s offensive firepower is stronger than last season, the Hawks brought in Murray (Ronald) and Evans (Morris), filling the depth in the periter rotation, and Horford looks like he’s improved a lot. Facing them in the playoffs will be tougher. The Wizards are really unfortunate. How did Arenas get injured again? With Jamison and Butler being so strong, I was hoping we’d take them down together. Now, beating them doesn’t feel as rewarding. The Heat is the sa; once Marion faltered, he was out, Beasley is disappointing too. Riley’s tanking and robbing the Suns has left the Heat with just Wade.”
Zhang Yang: “Look on the bright side, we get to see Wade showcase his full capabilities. I’m really looking forward to the opener against the Heat. Don’t you, Boss, want a matchup against Wade?”
Felton’s eyes lit up but quickly turned resigned, “Of course, I want to, but he’s definitely going to guard you, and likely neither of us will guard him. Michael (Pietrus) and Aaron (Afflalo) are Rick’s preferred single defenders on the periter…”
Zhang Yang comforted, “That’s basketball for you. Everyone plays to their strengths.”
Felton: “True, having such talented backups like Michael and Aaron should make happy!”
The court next to them had Okafor practicing free throws in silence. He was curious. The conversation had clearly started off in a negative direction, so how did these two end up getting excited?
Another season has arrived. Little Duncan has transford from a young talent to a mainstay in the league. The problem of Xiao Fei and Zhang San’s topic deviation not only remained unsolved but also got worse…
…
It’s October 31st, Friday, and Halloween has arrived. The first ga day of the 2008-2009 regular season is here.
A little after 7 AM, Zhang Yang left ho for the stadium. By 8, the Big Brother Group had a pre-team eting before the team’s pre-ga eting.
It had been a while since they had such a formal pre-ga preparation. He was a bit excited; the new season was about to officially begin.
When he arrived at the stadium parking lot, Zhang Yang ran into Hill pushing a cart. After parking his car, he went to help push and asked, “What’s this? Grant, is it a gift for the season opener?”
Hill: “Hey, Jack, you guessed it. It’s exactly an opener gift, but I didn’t prepare it. My son and his classmates did…”
Hill said as he opened the lid of a box on the cart, and continued, “Today is Halloween. The team arranged a Halloween performance before the ga. I knew about this on the 26th. I talked with Michael and my son’s teachers, and we’re joining in. The kids made headpieces in craft class for us.
Don’t worry; we don’t have to perform. Once the team’s performance is over, we’ll just put on the headpieces and enter with the kids.”
Zhang Yang: “Now I rember. Yesterday, Michael seed to ntion this. You’re quite the competent father.”
Hill: “We athletes are always away from ho, paying too little attention to our kids. Whenever we have ti, we try to play with them more, sort of making up for it.”
They pushed several boxes into the locker room. Zhang Yang opened them and counted, more than 20 in total. Each player would get one with so left over, so he said to Hill, “Let’s include the bosses and coaches, too!”
Hill: “That’s what I thought. Initially, I planned to choose the best 15 for us, but when I went to my son’s school yesterday, every kid hoped I would pick theirs, so I brought them all… But, honestly, so are better than others since they made them with their parents. Let’s pick first. I’m definitely choosing my son’s. Which one do you want, Jack?”
Zhang Yang looked through them all and found one he liked, saying, “This one.”
Hill: “A pumpkin? Fits the Halloween the well… But Jack, a pumpkin, you really are a naughty kid!”
Zhang Yang: “Huh?”
They put their chosen headpieces in their lockers and went to Room 3 for the eting.
Due to the opponent’s relative strength tonight, the eting didn’t decide much; they just needed to set a good tone for the first day of the new season.
At 9, the Bobcats’ team eting also had little targeted arrangent. They truly didn’t know what form the Miami Heat would take in the regular season. If they, as predicted during the offseason, rose strongly, they’d prepare even more comprehensively as opponents.
By noon, after the Bobcats finished their pre-ga preparation, Zhang Yang, Felton, and a few players gathered in the lounge to watch major dia ranking announcents.
Since the preseason started, major dia outlets were announcing their own team and player rankings. They followed ESPN’s suite, revealing one team or a few players each day, really keeping fans on their toes and sparking continuous discussion.
Today, the much-anticipated player league top ten and team league top five rankings were released.
The first thing Zhang Yang checked, of course, was the highly controversial ESPN website… The headline startled him!
“Jack NO.1, the era of the bad kid has arrived, are you ready?”
…
…
Writing this little with a foggy mind on a big weekend, I couldn’t even et the minimum update. I feel like strangling myself to apologize…
Reviews
All reviews (0)