warrior godfather

Chapter 742 You Are Already Great
On October 10, the Warriors' trip to China ended and they returned to the United States.

After playing the second preseason game with the Timberwolves, the Warriors participated in several more activities, including a commercial event held in Qidu, Qilu Province.

This is a special request made by Zhang Yu. His hometown is in Qidu. Taking the Warriors home this time is a return home, and it is also a chance for the Warriors fans in his hometown to meet their idols.

Qidu was originally a well-known industrial city in China, but after the arrival of the new century, traditional industries have declined, and Qidu has gradually declined. Now it is just an unknown third-tier city.

This time, Zhang Yu came back with the Warriors, letting all the Warriors fans in China know the name of Qidu, and many people came to Qidu to participate in the Warriors' activities.

It's a pity that Qidu has no tourist resources, and it is impossible for the Warriors to come to this small town again in the future. After a short period of enthusiasm, it will still slowly die down.

Zhang Yu also didn't have the ability to revitalize a city, so he took this opportunity to invite the entire Warriors team to eat Qidu's special barbecue, which was completely different from American barbecue, and was unanimously appreciated by everyone.

Just to take care of Jaylen Brown's beliefs, everyone ate beef and mutton, and it was a pity that they couldn't taste the very special pork belly.

……

After the Warriors returned to the United States, they participated in two more preseason games, against the Nuggets and the Kings at home.

For the teams participating in the international competition, the league takes care of them. The preseason games are two fewer than other teams, and the schedule is easier, so there is no need to travel back and forth in the away game.

For these two preseason games, Zhang Yu is not as concerned as he was in China.

He drastically adjusted the rotation. The main players were not satisfied with half of the game, and the rest of the time they were all substitute players. He kept changing players and tried various lineup combinations.

Such a random rotation made it impossible for the Warriors to show their full strength. Many of the players in the rotation were newcomers who had no tacit understanding with others, couldn't play decent cooperation, and made frequent mistakes.

Both the Nuggets and the Kings regard the match against the Warriors as a good opportunity to train their troops. They will play with all their main players and the rotation is also at the regular season level.

The Nuggets have the increasingly mature Jokic. After a rookie season, Murray has also matured a lot. Gary Harris, Will Barton, and Millsap are very strong.

Curry, Antetokounmpo, and Wiggins only played for about 20 minutes. After establishing a lead of more than ten points, the rest of the time was played by rookies and substitutes. The Nuggets slowly caught up with the point difference. Go-ahead score, and finally defeated the Warriors 115:104.

The strength of the Kings is not as good as that of the Nuggets, and they fought fiercely with the Warriors' second team until the last moment, before they narrowly beat the Warriors by 108 point 107:1.

Jaylen Brown had a chance to save the team at the last moment, but under the interference of his opponent, he made a mid-range shot and missed the lore, which made him very upset.

他在这场比赛中承担了重任，出场35分钟，19投9中，三分8中3，罚球4中4，砍下25分6篮板3助攻1抢断1封盖的全面数据，但也送出了5次失误。

上一场打掘金，杰伦-布朗的上场时间也达到了34分钟，19投8中，三分9中3，罚球3中3，砍下22分8篮板4助攻2抢断，送出了4次失误。

In these two games, Zhang Yu can increase Jaylen Brown's playing time, give him the ball, and let him adapt to the starting position in advance. It is also to examine his current strength and prepare for the regular season.

The result made Zhang Yu very satisfied. In extreme cases, Jaylen Brown is capable of digesting the ball. Although his efficiency is not high and he is prone to mistakes, for a second-year rookie, he can still play under targeted defense. Maintaining scoring, even if it is not stable, is a very rare thing.

And Jaylen Brown is still a player with a big heart, and he has the courage to take responsibility. In the game against the Nuggets and Kings, the more he falls behind, the more he dares to attack. When his teammates are at a loss, he will come forward , to take over the game.

On the contrary, when the Warriors were leading, Jaylen Brown's desire to attack was not particularly violent, and his teammates passed when they had the opportunity, but his passing was not accurate enough and needed to be polished, and the tacit understanding with his teammates was not enough, and he needed to continue to adapt.

This combination of selflessness and self-confidence allowed Jaylen Brown to impress the fans in the Bay Area, and it also allowed him to gain the trust of his teammates in just two games.

Although he didn't make a lore in the game against the Kings, none of the players blamed him. Instead, they all rushed to comfort him. The fans also gave Jaylen Brown a warm applause and cheered him on.

Before this lore hit the iron, it was Jaylen Brown who made two mid-range shots, scored 4 points in a row, and clung to the score to have the last-minute lore chance.

When Zhang Yu finally arranged the tactics, he also handed the ball to Jaylen Brown, but the king also expected Zhang Yu's arrangement and strictly defended Jaylen Brown. Under serious interference, he missed the shot and missed the lore. Opportunity.

But give Zhang Yu another hundred timeouts, and he will make the same choice.

At the critical moment, the personal ability and psychological quality of the star are far more important than the rationality of tactics, so the best player should make the key shots, and the head coach cannot steal the show.

Jaylen Brown can choose to pass the ball by himself, but Zhang Yu will not take the initiative to arrange for him to pass the ball. At this time, a qualified head coach should not have a sense of presence. The tactics he should arrange are how to smoothly send the ball to the stars. , and then let the stars decide the game.

It's a pity that Jaylen Brown is not a real star after all, and lacks the ability to make a final decision.

After the game, he came to Zhang Yu, lowered his head, and said with guilt on his face:
"I'm sorry, boss, I didn't take my chances..."

Zhang Yu gave him the starting position and tactical position he dreamed of, and pinned his hopes on him at the critical moment, but he failed Zhang Yu's trust and felt extremely guilty.

Zhang Yu hugged him, and comforted him with gentle words:
"It doesn't matter, you are already great. Missing shots is the only way for every superstar. Stephen has missed shots more than once. You don't need to blame yourself. Go back and watch the video of this game and learn from it. Experience, if there is such an opportunity in the future, I hope you can seize it..."

The guilt on Jaylen Brown's face eased a lot, he nodded heavily, and said harshly:
"I will definitely practice shooting hard. Next time, I will definitely not miss another chance!"

"Haha, okay, I'm waiting for that day..."

Zhang Yu comforted Jaylen Brown in a low voice, patted him on the shoulder, and then came to Markkanen and hugged him.

Markkanen also looked depressed, and said in English with a slight accent:

"I'm sorry, boss, I didn't play very well today, if only I could make that three-pointer..."

Zhang Yu showed a gentle smile and comforted:
"Laurie, you are already great. Missing key shots is a must for every superstar. Stephen has missed key three-pointers more than once. You don't need to blame yourself. Go back and watch the video of this game carefully. , learn from experience, if you have such an opportunity in the future, I hope you can seize it..."

The depressed look on Markkanen's face was slightly reduced, but he was still a little sullen.

他今天的表现其实非常不错，17投9中，三分9中5，罚球4中3，砍下26分6篮板3助攻1封盖，得分比杰伦-布朗都多。

But he missed the most critical open three-pointer, causing the Warriors to enter the last minute with a 4-point deficit. Fortunately, Jaylen Brown stepped forward and scored consecutively, which brought the game back to suspense.

Zhang Yu didn't mean to blame Markkanen at all, he was just a rookie, and it was already very good to be able to play such a performance.

Instability at critical moments is a mistake every rookie makes. Both Jaylen Brown and Markkanen missed crucial goals at critical moments, but they must also experience such moments so that they can learn from their failures , grow up.

In the last game against the Nuggets, Markkanen also performed very well. He made 4 three-pointers and scored 18 points. The long-range threat was great.

In the first two preseason games, Markkanen didn't play much time and his performance was not very conspicuous, but he had a very high grasp of open three-pointers, and he was able to make two three-pointers in each game.

After returning to the Bay Area, Zhang Yu gave Markkanen a lot of playing time, 32 minutes in the last game and 33 minutes in this game, and his scoring also skyrocketed.

What many people don't expect is that Markkanen, who is obviously only a freshman, is actually a very good immediate combat ability, with a high ball quotient, accurate shooting, delicate finishing at the basket, and a good sense of running without the ball. Well, the scoring ability is very strong.

As long as he is given enough playing time, he can contribute more than ten points in a stable output, and he can also open up space. He is the most suitable space-type insider for modern basketball.

But Markkanen's defense is relatively average, and he has a strong instinct to shrink the frame. He can often send out blocks, but he has no sense of defense, but the opponent can stun him with a single screen. It's just that if you jump too hard, you will either be passed by the defender, or you will give the opponent a chance to attack the frame.

But this is also a mistake that every rookie insider will make. Only after constantly experiencing the game and accumulating more defensive experience can this problem be corrected.

In Zhang Yu's previous life, Markkanen had been in the Bulls for four seasons. His scoring ability has been very good, and his defense has continued to improve. It's just that the Bulls have been playing poorly, lacking discipline, and the coaching staff has not paid enough attention to Markkanen. Played out, and even reduced to a substitute.

Zhang Yu is very optimistic about Markkanen. Among the new generation insiders in the league, he is the best insider except for Downs. He is very suitable for modern basketball, and he has the ability to cut off the ball that Towns does not have. Excellent athletic ability , The defensive conditions are also very good, as long as you accumulate enough experience, you will be a super insider with both offense and defense.

Although Markkanen's offense with the ball is relatively average and he cannot grow into a superstar like Dirk Nowitzki, but with his shooting ability without dead ends and excellent cutting ability, he can play a "space version of the off-ball offensive core" similar to thick eyebrows. , Very suitable for the Warriors' lineup.

Antetokounmpo lacks an inside partner who can open up space, protect the frame, and help defend. The pick-and-roll combination of Curry and Markanen is also infinitely powerful. Markanen is also good at covering for his teammates. It's a match made in heaven.

It's just that the training time of insiders is very long. Antetokounmpo is very talented and it took three seasons to grow into a star. Markkanen needs to accumulate experience and improve his skills, which will inevitably take longer.

However, the Warriors don't need Markkanen to make contributions now. He is the future insider core of the Warriors in Zhang Yu's mind, and Zhang Yu has great patience with him.

And only relying on three-pointers and off-ball cuts, Markkanen can also make great contributions on the bench, and even play a greater role at certain moments.

After these two preseason games, the outside world has much less doubts about Markkanen.

In the preseason game between the 76ers and the Lakers, the No. [-] pick Fultz and No. [-] Tatum performed far worse than Markanen, attracting more firepower.

Zhang Yu knows Markkanen's technical characteristics and is willing to arrange tactics for him. The Warriors' execution is strong enough, but Fultz and Tatum are not so lucky.

Tatum was thrown onto the field by Wharton. He grew wildly and was in a daze. His teammates didn't want to help him, and they fought on their own.

Fultz was plagued by injuries, his condition was very bad, and his performance was completely incompatible with the status of the champion.

Markkanen is the luckiest one, and people once again lamented that he is worthy of coach Z, who can always find the best rookies and never misses it.

……

Zhang Yu comforted Markkanen again. After Markkanen left, Curry walked over from the side and said depressedly:
"Boss, you can comfort them next time, can you not use me as an example? What do you mean I missed a lot of lore shots and key three-pointers? I haven't shot lore shots for a long time, and I haven't shot many key three-pointers. Well, it's all three quarters!"

He was standing in front of the bench and heard Zhang Yu's conversation with Jaylen Brown and Markkanen.

Zhang Yu laughed:
"You are the superstar closest to them. If I don't use you as an example, who can I use as an example? When they heard that you came here in the same way, they felt much better, and the effect was quite good."

"Hehe..." Curry twitched the corners of his mouth and stopped arguing with Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu put his arms around Curry's shoulders, walked towards the player tunnel, and said seriously:

"In the past few seasons, we really haven't played much at critical moments, but next season, you have to be prepared, we can't win so easily again. Except for you and Giannis, the team lacks offensive starting points. The two must take on heavier tasks. The Rockets, Trail Blazers, Thunder, Celtics, and Bulls are also stronger, and there are more and more strong dialogues. At that time, it will also depend on the performance of the two of you, and the chance to check in in the third quarter , no more."

With braces in his mouth, Curry smiled, and his eyes shone with excitement:
"This is the best way. I have been abusing food all the time. I am not interested in the game. The stronger the opponent, the more interesting it is to win!"

(End of this chapter)