First in scoring

Chapter 519 517. The strongest youth army again?
We had a great day at the Little Giant’s birthday party, took a day off on the 13th, and on the 14th, the ‘Iron King Training Camp’ continued.

On the 8th, Zhang Yang and Kobe had already finished teaching each other. In the next two days, they would occasionally ask each other some questions that arose during their own training, but they mainly practiced on their own.

After two days of rest, the mutual teaching was completely over, mainly because Kobe didn't want to pay attention to Zhang Yang now, and also because someone was too talkative. Before Yao Ming's birthday party was over, he went to ask how to cooperate with O'Neal... Both of them entered the intensive training stage at the end of their respective offseasons.

Kidd and Ariza also made adjustments in their training. Kidd reduced the amount of basic training and started physical training; Ariza increased the amount of shooting training. He made 50 of 18 shots in the finals. As the season was about to start, he was again criticized by the Los Angeles media.

There is a reason why Ariza's admiration for Kobe is getting stronger and stronger. From being forced to train under the power of his idol, to realizing the benefits of hard work, to the external voices that strengthened his motivation...but he is still afraid of trouble and only chooses simple things to train, this bad habit he still can't change. However, he is already 24 years old, and it is very suitable for him not to mess around with other skills or be regarded as the core and bear too much responsibility.

In addition to training, Zhang Yang also paid attention to the situation after the five-party transaction.

Public opinion generally believes that O'Neal can no longer change the league's landscape.

The first time O'Neal changed teams, the OK dynasty was born; the second time he changed teams, the Heat, which was on the edge of the playoffs, became a top team and won the championship; the third time he changed teams, Nash, who was at the peak of his form, was ruined and the Suns collapsed.

The most obvious benefit of this team change is that it gives the Bobcats an extra center who can attack for more than ten minutes in each game.

This is a big improvement for the Bobcats' inside offensive capabilities. Before, only Okafor had offensive capabilities, Millsap was still a half-baked player, Perkins was a pure blue-collar player, and Brad Miller could only receive and shoot.

In terms of rim protection, when he has enough physical strength, he is no worse than Perkins. The improvement on the defensive end in the regular season may not be significant, but in the playoffs, when a big center is needed to protect the rim for a long time, the improvement will be significant.

But it also left the Bobcats without an inside support point. Millsap must shoulder the burden in the playoffs without the big white bear to help him.

The Bobcats' already relatively weak small forward position, after losing Mike Miller, now has no pure small forward. As for the swingmen, they only have rookie Cunningham, Marion who has been in a bad state for a year and a half and whose condition is unknown, and Hill who is one year older.

If they encounter agile forwards, such as Skinny, Maggette, Kevin Martin, etc., the shooting guard has to switch defense. Although Zhang Yang and Afflalo have strong defensive abilities, they are still a little small at the small forward position, which will put them at a disadvantage.

Zhang Yang looked through the analysis of a circle of professionals and felt that most of their comments were reliable. Of course, he felt that there were some aspects that were not analyzed, such as the mentality of veterans. When those experts analyzed Brad Miller, they used the big white bear who fought desperately for the ring in the finals as a reference.

As for the media, like a small number of fans, they only look at the names of the players in the roster and don't care about age or anything like that. Some even said that if the Bulls had traded Pippen for McGrady in 97, they could have won more consecutive championships and just treated the rookie McGrady as the 03 McGrady.

The Suns were described as 'finally free'.

It's not that O'Neal was not good enough last season. In the Western Conference last season, if Duncan, Stoudemire, and Gasol were all regarded as power forwards, O'Neal's performance would be only slightly inferior to Bynum. It's just that he was completely unsuitable for the Suns. Without considering the team doctor's factor, both sides were delaying each other.

The hidden danger is that Nash will be 2 years old in February next year. If his playing style had not been interrupted in the past year and a half, there would not be many doubts. After all, he is a technical guard. The key is that he played positional warfare with O'Neal for a year and a half...

The Clippers are still criticized for being stingy.

Al Thornton averaged 16.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season. He has two years left on his rookie contract. He is a bit old, having entered the NBA at the age of 23 and a half, and will be 26 soon. But even so, he is still a high-quality asset and will definitely be a member of the main rotation if he goes to a strong team. However, in order to exchange Camby's long-term garbage contract for LaFrentz's expiring garbage contract, a high-quality player with two years left on a cheap contract was given to the Suns.

But the Clippers' move was the least surprising. They have always been like this, with Odom, Big Q, and Andre Miller. The Clippers did not renew their rookie contracts when they expired. This time, at least it came in handy and saved money. Although they were ridiculed for being stingy, they received much more "praise" than their previous moves on rookie contracts.

The Trail Blazers were rated - another big gamble by the Microsoft tycoon.

Betting that Oden can recover and play well, betting that Mike Miller will not leave when his contract expires, betting on Andre Miller's condition, betting that Batum can grow smoothly... For this, the salary space for the next few years was lost.

Aldridge and Roy have both renewed their contracts in advance, and their big contracts will start to take effect next summer. Andre Miller and Camby's contracts will expire in 2012. It is foreseeable that the Trail Blazers will once again be blocked for space, just like their space was blocked by the big contracts of Ratliff, Francis, LaFrentz and others in previous years.

When the five-party trade took place, the hottest topic focused on O'Neal, after all, it was O'Neal, but in subsequent reports, the hottest topic was - the Bulls.

On September 9, Rasheed Wallace, who had watched opera and listened to concerts in Chicago for a summer, officially signed a 15+1 full mid-level contract with the Bulls.

The Little Giant, the Heavenly Master, the Big White Bear, plus Tim Thomas, Tyrus Thomas, and Taj Gibson, the Bulls' inside group is full of expectations.

Some media revealed that if the Bobcats had not suddenly intervened, the Bulls would have formed an inside combination of the Little Giant, the Big Shark, the Tianzun, and Tyrus Thomas, plus Taj Gibson who showed good combat effectiveness in the summer league, and an outside group consisting of three second-defense players. The terrifying Bulls team in the 3-07 season might reappear!

The Chicago Union-Times revealed that when O'Neal expressed his unwillingness to be a substitute for Yao Ming and the Bobcats intervened and O'Neal actively wanted to join the Bobcats, the Bulls once considered withdrawing from the deal and letting O'Neal rot in Kerr's hands.

But after calming down, the Bulls management felt that Kerr was a former player with whom they had a good relationship, so they had to help him. After all, they were mentally prepared when they made a defensive effort in 07. Regardless of whether they won the championship in the 07-08 season, they would have to pay off the debt of overdrawing the future to get Yao Ming in the next two seasons.

By doing this deal, Kerr can owe him a favor, and he can also save nearly 300 million in salary expenses by replacing Big Ben with Brad Miller. Including the luxury tax, that is more than 500 million. And no matter what Brad Miller does, he should have more oil left than Big Ben. You can't do business on impulse. The profit is not as much as if he directly traded for the Sharks, but it is still a profit.

The money the Bulls saved, and the money the Clippers will save in the future, will all be paid for by owner Allen...

...

Time flies and it is September 9rd, when the 'Iron King Training Camp' ends.

Although Kobe has ignored Zhang Yang for more than ten days because of the question "Kobe, how do you pass the ball to O'Neal?"

But the old blacksmith was a man who attached great importance to etiquette after all. At noon on the 24th, when he held the "Iron King Banquet", he still invited Zhang San and the little bitch. No matter how jealous he was, he could not lose basic etiquette.

In the afternoon, Zhang Yang and Emma Roberts came to the airport. After sending the little bitch on the flight to New York, he also boarded the flight back to Charlotte.

After takeoff, looking at the white clouds outside the window, he truly emerged from the "training camp" state. His body was fine, the intensity of training was well controlled, the trainer was professional, and Kobe arranged the physical therapy and diet well, but he was inevitably tired mentally.

In the past two months, except for a few days of rest from August 8rd to 23th, he practiced for 28 days and rested for 6 day, almost without interruption. In order to improve his skills, he was highly concentrated. If it weren't for the competition with Ke, he would not have been able to stand the second training camp even if he was as hardworking as he was. It was much more boring than playing in a competition. In previous years, he would have taken a few days to go fishing.

But the rewards are also great!
Before the start of the two training camps, the improvements in technology and skills in the playoffs were the result of his own hard work. His training was not professional enough and his control of details was not good. With the help of Grove and Englander, he truly turned what he learned into a part of his own skills. The next step is practice and actual combat.

In the second training camp, he asked Grove and Kobe to help him review the techniques he learned from 35 Ke and 40 Na. For 35 Ke's session, it was 31 Ke who reviewed and demonstrated it himself. He also practiced it again from the beginning and gained a lot... Kidd, who watched his one-on-one training with Kobe and Ariza, commented that his technical movements were more "natural".

He also learned Kobe's post-up play. As for the technique itself, he felt that it was not very suitable for him, and was not even as suitable as what Jordan taught him.

Sometimes, the stream-of-consciousness teaching of Jordan and Bird does have its advantages. The two will not "stipulate" what you must learn. On the contrary, they don't have so many rules and regulations, and they won't nitpick your details. They have only one goal in teaching, which is to teach you how to play... Of course, this kind of stream-of-consciousness teaching is far less universal than Kobe's teaching.

Big Bird taught it, Zhang Yang learned it; Jordan taught it, and he just remembered it.

Even though Kobe's teaching method of focusing on details bit by bit was not suitable for him, he managed to learn it by force. Although it might not be used in actual combat, he was able to better integrate some useful technical details into his back-to-the-basket tactics.

Finally, both training camps are over!

After returning to Charlotte's home, he first stayed at home for a day and two nights, playing games, watching Dragon Ball, and doing whatever he could to relax. On the 26th and 27th, he went back to his parents' house and played baseball with Little Goku for two days. After a few days of relaxation, he finally recovered his energy.

At 28:6 in the morning on the 6th, as soon as the alarm rang, Zhang Yang got out of bed, rinsed his mouth, drank water, worked on the elliptical machine for 20 minutes, and punched the sandbag for 10 minutes, and finally woke up completely.

The season is about to begin, and he has to get into the state of the season in progress. He has to do his best from the first day of the team gathering. He can't just do it "almost is fine". He doesn't have a good uncle.

This year's gathering day will be a few days later than in previous years and will be limited to the eight 'old' players who remain on the team.

The team system has been built, and the subsequent improvements and adjustments after the lineup changes do not matter. Last season, these veteran players played a maximum of 102 games, so they can have as many extra rest as possible.

But the day of assembly has come, and Zhang Yang has to continue to carry forward his good habit of leading by example. On non-match days, he arrives at the home team locker room just after 8 o'clock. When he changes into training clothes and arrives at the training ground... Zhang San: Damn! Someone is here earlier than me!
No. 60 pick, Matthews!

Matthews, who had already finished warming up and started early training, also noticed someone watching and looked over.

The two looked at each other for more than ten seconds, and Matthews couldn't bear it anymore and greeted him first: "Hi, bad boy."

Zhang Yang nodded with satisfaction and said, "Good morning, newcomer, good morning, Wesley." Matthews also realized that he seemed a little rude, but he couldn't open his mouth. When he finally suppressed the inexplicable shame and was about to speak, Zhang Yang had already called Jarrett Young to go to the gym to warm up...

Iron Man: I fuck you!

Matthews didn't know why. He hadn't even had a complete conversation with Zhang Yang, but he was so angry!
Zhang Yang, while warming up, sighed to his old friend: "Wesley is just like the legend says, he works a little too hard."

Jarrett Young agreed: "Yes, he starts training on time at 8 o'clock every morning, but his habits are not very good. He starts training without warming up, which makes him very easy to get injured. After Chip (England) reminded him several times, he came earlier and arrived at the gym to warm up at 7:... What, is he competitive again? Do you want to compete with him to see who can come to training earlier?"

Zhang Yang quickly waved his hands: "Forget it, forget it. I can't mess with people like him. To prove myself, if I come at 4 a.m., he might be here by 3: a.m..."

How hard does Matthews work? Zhang Yang learned from Tellem that on August 8, after the second summer league that their summer league team registered for, the Las Vegas league, was over, Matthews followed the coaching staff back to Charlotte and started training the next afternoon. Even though there were no professional trainers, only ordinary staff who received overtime pay, he never stopped training.

This level of hard work fully deserves the nickname he got in college - Iron Man.

However, Zhang Yang estimated that there were still some realistic factors that had an impact - no money. It was said that Matthews was still sleeping on the sofa in Afflaro's house.

After signing fixed contracts as first-round picks, Collison and Cunningham received 60% of their rookie year salary in advance and went home to take care of their mothers after the summer league.

This is a special case in American sports, and it can be considered "humane". As early as 99, Stern took the lead and the owners of each team passed a "rookie benefit" that allowed rookies who signed guaranteed contracts to withdraw part of their salary in advance.

In the 90s, as NBA salaries soared, many rookies, after signing their contracts, went directly to financial institutions to borrow money to live comfortably. The interest rates were ridiculously high, and most rookies could not stay in the NBA after their first contract. As soon as they retired, they were chased by financial institutions for debt and went bankrupt.

If it were just this, the Jewish guy wouldn't care, but a large number of these people embarked on the road of crime after leaving the NBA. In those years, we often saw "players from a certain NBA team" robbing, stealing, and killing people... The Jewish guy couldn't stand it. The public image of the NBA that he had worked so hard to improve for so many years was ruined in a few seconds.

So after the lockout, Stern introduced this "welfare clause", which worked quite well.

Contracts with salaries already paid out are worthless in large financial companies with better risk control, which effectively curbs the situation where rookie players turn to crime after losing their jobs. Of course, it is impossible to completely eliminate the problem. Large companies will not accept contracts with salaries already paid out, but small companies with lax risk control or no risk control at all will still accept them. However, this is already a very successful operation, and the other three major North American leagues have also followed suit and introduced similar clauses.

Later, Stern took the lead in establishing the NBDL and invested in low-level basketball leagues such as the American Continental League to absorb those players who could not stay in the NBA. He even took the initiative to communicate with European leagues to attract talents there, further reducing the probability of NBA players becoming criminals after retirement...

Later, Stern extended the "humane benefits" to all new contracts, because most of the old players were not much better than the rookies.

As the last pick, Matthews only received a partially guaranteed contract of $42 and could not withdraw his salary in advance as per the regulations.

Going back to Charlotte with the team, with summer league leader Afflalo providing accommodation, the team providing food, training facilities and trainers, is definitely better than going back to the slums.

Of course, Zhang Yang felt that even if Matthews really returned to his hometown, he would definitely find a park to train every day and would not slack off.

Although Collison and Cunningham are not as hard-working as Matthews, they also have good professionalism. The coaching staff notified the three rookies that they would return on September 3, and the two brothers returned on time and received three weeks of special training. They are better than Millsap and Ibaka who had just entered the NBA. After all, they are mature players who graduated from their senior year.

...

After warming up, Zhang Yang came to the training ground. He hadn't trained for a few days and his hands were itching. He couldn't wait to practice three sets of fixed-angle catching and three-point shooting.

It felt good. I only made 91 three-pointers in the first group, but I made % of them in the second and third groups!

The iron man who was watching on the side opened his mouth wide: I thought the elementary school student was accurate enough, but the bad boy is even more powerful!
At the Las Vegas Summer League, Matthews faced off against the No. 5 pick from the Knicks. His proud long-range shooting looked so clumsy in front of the guy who looked extremely thin but could make three-pointers no matter how strong the competition was.

However, when playing against Curry, Matthews only saw what the "shooting ceiling" among rookies was, but by watching Zhang Yang's training, just from training, he understood what an "epoch-making three-point shooter" was.

Not only accurate! Zhang Yang entered the state as soon as he got the ball, ignored external objects, and focused on shooting... He was completely free and easy, which gave Matthews a little shock.

After the shock, Matthews was not discouraged and he immediately got back to training.

Even though it was difficult, so difficult that he himself felt it was impossible, he just wanted to set such a goal - to grab the starting shooting guard position!

Just the three-point shot alone, the gap is like a chasm... Iron Man: Then practice! As long as you don't die from practicing, practice until you die!
As for Zhang Yang, of course, he didn't know that he just had a good touch and made two perfect shots, which made the already paranoid Matthews even more radical. He also entered the training state, warmed up his hands with fixed-spot shooting, and then began to practice running, catching the ball and long-range shooting. He didn't have a fixed position, he just threw the ball as soon as he received it.

When it was 9 o'clock, coaches and teammates arrived at the training ground one after another.

There are not only 13 players who already have contracts, but also 7 players on training camp contracts. Without exception, they are all veteran point guards and young small forwards who are about to retire. In the past week, the coaching staff has invited tryout candidates and accepted tryout applications for these two types of players, with a clear goal.

As for small forwards, except for Adam Morrison who was cut by the Celtics, Zhang Yang couldn't remember the names of the other three. He only knew that they were all players who had played in the NBA but failed to gain a foothold and ended up playing in the Development League.

There are three point guards, all of whom have names. Jason Hart from the 3 class, had no ball to play last season and went to the Japanese J League to play for a year; Bobby Jackson, once the best sixth man of the Kings' Big Five, returned to the Kings last season and had a good season. He was outplayed by Rondo with an average of 00 points per game and was the strongest player under contract in the training camp; the last one is an old acquaintance - Coach Lue.

Zhang Yang doesn't care who the team will sign. He may fill two vacancies at once, or he may not sign anyone. When Tyronn Lue came, he stopped training and chatted with Lu Sir, mainly because Lu Sir spoke well.

The team's two most important signings this summer, the Hacker and the Shark, finally arrived at the arena.

However, the reasons for their lateness were completely different.

Marion was ordered by Carlisle not to come too early or train too long, and O'Neal...

After Marion signed the contract at the end of July, he couldn't wait to start training, as if he wanted to make up for all the training he had missed in the past year and a half.

Marion has indeed deteriorated seriously. Not to mention his physical fitness, as for three-point shooting, the former hacker is not a first-class shooter, but he is definitely not a drag. Alongside Kidd, Marbury and Nash, he averaged more than 7 three-pointer per game for seven consecutive seasons. In his best season, he averaged 1 three-pointers per game with a hit rate of 38.7%.

But during his time with the Heat, his three-point shooting percentage dropped to 25%, but he had to shoot 3-4 times per game. At that time, his ability definitely had not deteriorated, and he was just shooting randomly. When he joined the Raptors, he had lost his three-point shooting ability. Last season, he only shot 0.5 three-pointers per game, making less than 0.1 three-pointers per game, with a shooting percentage of 15.4%.

After Marion worked hard for a few days... Bickerstaff called the psychologist again. Even if this girl isn't bipolar yet, she'll eventually become bipolar if she keeps doing this.

It's a good thing to be respected, join a strong team, and rekindle passion, but just like his emotional breakdown immediately after being 'abandoned' before, Marion's emotions were a little too fierce.

At the suggestion of the psychiatrist, Marion moved out of the hotel and settled down near Freedom Park in the southern suburbs, where the environment was good...mainly because the nursing home was right there, so it was convenient for the doctor to talk to Marion every day.

After communicating with Marion, psychologists, Bickerstaff, Jordan and others, Thomas Carter, a consultant for the team's medical team, made arrangements for Marion to limit his training time, limit his arrival time at the stadium, and so on.

As for O'Neal, he was taken back to Charlotte by Boss Joe on the 14th after attending Yao Ming's birthday party. No one else could have been called back except Jordan, but the effect... Zhang Yang heard that, on the 16th, Jordan took O'Neal to training together, and that night they went to Chapel Hill for fun, and he stayed at Jordan's house ever since. The strongest player in history and the most dominant center in history, really got to hang out together.

After all members gathered, they began the routine work of the training camp, including physical tests, physical examinations, ability tests... The three bald men looked at Zhang Yang's steadily rising indicators and had become numb. They would only be surprised if they didn't rise one day.

In addition to testing, Zhang Yang and Felton observed new and old teammates.

The three rookies all worked very hard, because they had a good rebounder in Matthews.

The Sharks look good overall. At least they are healthy after playing for the Suns for a year and a half, and they are still under the care of Thomas Carter.

Hill is what the two guns are more worried about, that is, the motivation problem after getting the coveted championship ring.

However, Hill doesn't seem to be much different from last season. He is in good shape and his performance during the test was also good, but he looks more casual.

This veteran can't control both the guns, and even someone as reckless as Felton won't say anything to Hill. It would be best if Hill continues to maintain his previous efforts in the new season. If not, it would also be good for him to be a locker room leader.

After everyone's basic skills and technical tests were completed, Zhang Yang went to the head coach's office to look through the test reports. Overall, he was very satisfied. It was hard to say for the rookies because there was no reference, but their three young teammates, Millsap, Afflalo and Ibaka, had improved significantly compared to last season when they returned to the team for the test, especially Ibaka who had the lowest starting point.

After reading the test report, Zhang Yang discovered something incredible. He counted on his fingers... their team currently had 13 members, with an average age of 26! They were a young team again!
(End of this chapter)