First in scoring

Chapter 525 524. The world's number one, aspirational
After Zhang Yang made that three-pointer, the cheers from the fans never stopped. When the final whistle sounded, the fans cheered at the top of their lungs, pushing the cheers to a climax.

I don't know where it started, but shouts of "Knicks Dynasty" and "Saint Jack" were heard in a small area, and then quickly spread. All the fans in the stadium were shouting these two short sentences, from messy to neat, shouting Knicks Dynasty and Saint Jack alternately.

Zhang Yang couldn't help but walk to the center circle, closed his eyes, raised his head, opened his arms, and listened to the fans' cheers.

The Big Apple, this stadium is really a little different...

Feeling the irresistible sleepiness coming over him, Zhang San said: Okay, I still want to experience the Dynasty.

He turned around and looked at the man gritting his teeth near the baseline. The Jordan here should not be able to retire with the words "I have won all the honors and have no more pursuits", right?

In the next finals, the opponent was the third-best shooting guard in the league.

The essence of the human movie has collapsed, and the flying man has been killed again. If the 'he' here can successfully kill the glider, then... the world's number one? No, 5 championships + three consecutive championships, the number one in modern basketball!
...

At around 2009 o'clock in the morning on October 10, 30, Zhang Yang woke up from a deep sleep and felt refreshed.

At this moment, his memory of 'last night' was that he went home to have dinner with his parents, and then went home and went to bed at around 9 o'clock to start the training... Thinking of this, his mind moved, and the 'door' appeared in his sight. At the same time, the memory of the '92 Eastern Conference Finals Game ' flooded into his mind.

However, he only has the memory of the game itself, and the rest still needs him to "actively recall".

He is just a few days away from turning 29, and his physical fitness and skills are at their peak. His basic skills have almost reached the upper limit of his talent, and his supporting skills are also extremely mature. Facing the 29-year-old Jordan, the only difference is his physical fitness... Zhang Yang is full of yearning for the feeling of being truly omnipotent on the court, the best in the world...

But he believed that by the time he was 28 or 29 years old, he would definitely be stronger than that!

He looked at the task on the door. This experience was perfect.

On the 80 line, Jordan's single-game 86+ in the 60 playoffs was broken by him, but this time he scored 65 points, setting a new record in playoff history; 31 points in the final quarter surpassed Floyd's 87 points in the 29 playoffs, the only quarter in the playoffs with 30+.

But the task was not completed perfectly. The basic task 'You are against God' was completed by winning the game.

In 'Dancing with the Gods', he scored 65 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, while Jordan scored 55 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. In terms of points and assists, he scored higher than Jordan and got a random shooting talent point, but his rebounds, steals and blocks were not higher than Jordan's. His physical talent points were gone. In other words, except for scoring, he was suppressed in all others. Fortunately, the game was about scoring!

He said "Get the reward" in his mind, and the content on the door changed.

"You have received the rewards for this training mission. You have obtained 1 jumping talent point, 1 layup talent point, and 1 random shooting talent point. They have been used automatically. You have obtained 1 three-point talent point.

Three-pointer 94 (upper limit 96), mid-range shot 93 (upper limit 95), layup 94 (upper limit 96), ball control 91, passing 87, speed 94, strength 87 (upper limit 89), jumping 90 (upper limit 91), physical strength 94 (upper limit 96)..."

Good luck! I got the three-pointer closest to the upper limit!
He only got 1 talent point for layup, but the upper limit was raised from 94 to 96. Zhang Yang already knew what this meant after many experiences. At the age of 80, when he was at his peak on the 29 line, his layup had reached 95, which meant that his talent had already reached 95 before he got this layup talent point.

However, according to past experience, even if the upper limit is updated, he may not be able to break through in the short term, let alone increase it to 96. The possibility of breaking through to 95, a historical level of attacking the frame, is not high. That tiny distance should be naturally improved by strength to the peak level, and the ability to attack the frame will be enhanced accordingly. This is estimated to take a relatively long time.

Of course, there are ways to do this. For example, if you get two or three layup talent points, you can directly improve your skill talent, which will give you more room for improvement and a faster improvement speed if you have better talent.

Or you can get a few strength talent points, which will greatly increase your strength potential and help you improve your strength quickly, thereby improving your ability to attack the basket.

After getting up, washing, and having breakfast, Zhang Yang went to the Turkish Airlines Arena early to practice before the team training began.

Although his memory of the experience was sealed after he exited 'active recall', the experience of that game was still there. His basic skills were much more solid than his current ones, his techniques were more sophisticated, and his performance was able to go head-to-head with Jordan at his peak... He couldn't wait to be stronger than that 'him'!
Just like the day before, he changed into training clothes and walked out of the locker room. Two minutes before 8 o'clock, Matthews was already training.

He worked really hard, that's right. He heard from Jarrett Young that this rookie practiced alone for a whole summer...

Noticing Zhang Yang coming, Matthews stopped training, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Good morning, Jack."

Wow, your manners have improved after not seeing you for a day. Zhang Yang responded, "Good morning, Wesley."

After thinking for a while, Zhang Yang continued, "Why don't you call Chip to practice shooting? Don't worry about disturbing his sleep. The season has started, and this is what he should do. He is the best shooting coach in the NBA and even in the world. He can help you develop a more professional training plan and adjust your shooting movements and habits better.

There are also Sam (Vincent), Paul (Silas), and Randy (Brown). They are not only assistant coaches, but also former athletes. They have rich experience in playing and coaching games. We can communicate with them more and understand in advance how NBA games are played so that we can prepare better.

Don't feel embarrassed, the team paid them, that's what they should do, get the necessary help from the coach, it's what we should do as written in our contract."

Matthews was stunned when he heard this, and then responded with a slightly awkward or unaccustomed tone: "Thank you."

Zhang Yang waved his hand and followed Jarrett Young to the gym to warm up.

Seeing this childhood playmate, Zhang Yang understood a little why the Trail Blazers' team medical team has such a solid position. In just over a year, Jarrett Young went from being an intern trainer to a supervisor, responsible for the personnel arrangements for basic training. Although he is still doing miscellaneous work, he is responsible for arranging training appointments for the players, and he works longer hours than ordinary trainers, leaving home early and coming back late, but the work is not as tiring, and it sounds better than ordinary trainers, and the salary is higher.

As for reminding Matthews, it was purely a spur-of-the-moment thought. If Matthews hadn't taken the initiative to say hello, he would have just said hello like he would any other teammate he met, and there would have been no follow-up. He just felt that Matthews was much more pleasing to the eye at that moment.

He doesn't care whether Matthews can change in this regard. After all, he is just a shooting guard candidate selected with the 60th pick. Shooting guard must be his first choice and senior Afflalo's second choice.

If Marion is not in good form at the beginning and is slow to integrate, he may play as a small forward, and Afflalo will start as a shooting guard like in last year's playoffs. In that case, Matthews may have more opportunities, but they must give priority to Marion and give Marion time to adapt, even if he does not play well.

After warming up, Zhang Yang practiced a few more sets of three-pointers and attacking the basket. His talent has just improved, so he needs to practice more.

At 9 o'clock, teammates arrived at the gym one after another. After Carlisle made the training arrangements, the Bobcats' training camp officially began under the leadership of Vincent, and Zhang Yang also devoted himself to it.

Zhang Yang is already familiar with the work in the training camp. The team is led by Felton, Hill, and Millsap, who will definitely take on the heavy responsibility and actively participate in the team work this year. He, Zhang San, only needs to do his own thing and set a good example in every tactical training session in which he participates.

Time passed day by day, and on October 10, the preseason began. The Bobcats were killing it all in the preseason. This situation has not been seen for two years, the last time was in the 10-06 season.

Zhang Yang, Felton and Okafor did not exert their strength in the preseason. They mainly cooperated with their teammates to allow new teammates and teammates on training camp contracts during the tryout period to better adapt to the team's tactical system.

The one who led the team to win all the way was Millsap, who played as the core of the team. Seeing Millsap's all-out effort, Zhang Yang remembered his sophomore year. The four young players didn't know how to lead the team at that time. They didn't consider role players and teammates too much in the preseason. After all, they were still in the training stage at that time. They just worked hard on the court, and the effort in the preseason was the same as that in the regular season... Millsap now looks similar.

After three years of laying the foundation, Millsap is in his fourth year, three months away from turning 3. Compared with the beginning of last season, the changes are very obvious, and he has even grown in size.

Zhang Yang saw that Millsap's physical test showed that his weight reached 116 kilograms, which was almost the same weight as Okafor. You should know that Millsap's barefoot height is about 7 centimeters shorter than Okafor, less than two meters.

But this also shows Millsap's physical talent. He is only 201 cm tall with shoes on. With such weight, his movement speed is only slightly inferior to Okafor. After gaining more than 5 kg, his speed is still top-notch at the power forward position. Of course, no one on the Bobcats can compare with Ibaka in terms of athleticism.

In the preseason game against the Hawks, Millsap was still as mobile as Horford, who is 208 cm tall and weighs 110 kg, and had the advantage in confrontation.

However, Horford is only in his third year, having played one year less than Millsap and is nearly a year and a half younger. However, his strength is more than half a level stronger than Millsap, and he has made significant progress compared to the latter part of last season. He is already a true All-Star level player. If Millsap wants to be selected for the All-Star game, he will probably have to wait until his peak years.

There was no other way. Millsap was really unlucky in college. He wanted to stay in his hometown to study in college. As the 66th high school student in the United States, he joined the terrible Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. As of this year, this team has not made it to the Mad Three for 17 consecutive years. Since he relied purely on physical fitness to play in high school, Keith Richard, the head coach of the Bulldogs at the time, used him as a pure blue-collar worker. He discovered his offensive talent for three years, but did not give him a tactical position on the offensive end. Naturally, he did not develop his offense. He did not have that independent consciousness, and there was no need to develop it because he could not use it in the game...

But Horford is different. In 04, he joined Florida State University, one of the strongest teams in the NCAA in the past decade. The head coach is Billy Donovan, one of the most capable young coaches in the NCAA, a top college coach that even Carlisle praises. His talent was quickly developed when he entered college, and he won the championship with the team in his freshman year. After three years, he had a very solid offensive basics. Halfway through his second year in the NBA, he had already reached the All-Star threshold.

Of course, Millsap has his advantages against Horford - one-on-one defense and rushing ability, so his college years were not completely wasted.

Millsap's contract is in its final year, and the media's offer for a contract extension is a middle-class starting salary, based on his performance last season. However, even if he makes a lot of progress this season, his starting salary is estimated to be only seven or eight million.

As for Horford, at the end of his sophomore season last season, the market value of his early contract extension was over 10 million.

Zhang Yang did feel it was a pity that the two people, who seemed to have similar talents, had such a big difference in their early performances, but if it were not for this, they would not have been selected.

The Bobcats won both preseason games against the Hawks under the leadership of Millsap, because the three outside superstars on the opponent's line did not play much, and it was mainly Crawford and Horford who were on the court.

This is very unfavorable for Crawford and Horford. The Hawks' offensive style is based on the one-on-one ability of outside stars and the support of Horford. Crawford alone is not enough to support the entire team. Millsap has a system with him as the core of the inside tactics, and his conditions for leading the team are better than Horford.

However, Crawford's playing as the sixth man was indeed a bit of a cheat. There was no suspense at all about this year's best sixth man award. In the 07-08 season, Crawford averaged 21 points per game for the Knicks.

If they meet the Hawks again in the playoffs, they will have another headache, as the Hawks have four stars on the perimeter who can average 20+ points per game.

Averaging 20+ points per game is not something that can be achieved by just taking shots. Take the example of Tieza in the original time and space...

On the Bobcats' side, the situation is similar to what Zhang Yang expected. They have a complete tactical system and all they need to do is insert suitable players into it.

Collison and Cunningham, two 23-year-old rookies who graduated from their senior year, performed as expected, with the former being active and energetic and the latter as steady as an old dog.

Matthews does have many shortcomings. He is not good at controlling the ball, has bad receiving habits, is easily dribbled into when cutting in, and likes to get aggressive in the high post on defense, which leads to a lot of fouls. However, his strengths are also outstanding. It can be seen in the preseason that he is completely accustomed to the three-point distance in the NBA, unlike Collison, who tried to imitate Zhang San's chase three-pointer but missed all three shots, making the fans at the scene laugh.

There is also Matthews' "autistic" attribute. After Zhang Yang's reminder, he occasionally paid attention to the training situation of this rookie teammate. At first, there was no change and he was speechless. It was not until the second quarter of the first preseason game that he had 7 fouls in 3 minutes that Matthews began to communicate with the assistant coach.

But at least there has been some change, right?

Marion and Hill, two veterans, gave "surprises" during the training camp and preseason because Zhang Yang had very low expectations for them.

Hill is very professional. Although Zhang Yang no longer heard his teammate express his desire for the championship after winning the championship, Hill is still very active in training, competition, or assisting Felton in leading the team. He gives people the feeling that he enjoys it and really enjoys being in the professional arena.

In terms of form, Hill is in very good shape and there is not much difference from last season. With Ibaka in his second year and just 20 years old still a rookie who can only run, jump and block, it is very crucial that Hill can maintain his form.

Marion's condition is worse, and his performance is not as good as rookie Cunningham, but he is very active in training, and he is not in the mood to play like he was in the Heat and Raptors when he stepped onto the court. Instead, he tried very hard to do well... This is enough for Zhang Yang. Marion's static physical condition, defensive awareness, and not too old age, as long as he is given enough opportunities to survive this period of "rehabilitation" and adjustment, will definitely be a strong helper for them on the road to defending the title.

Felton and Okafor, who are over 25 years old, have passed the period of rapid improvement. Their skills have not improved much, but their shooting stability has improved, which is pretty good.

Afflalo has improved his ball control this summer, and his breakthrough performance in the preseason has improved significantly. After improving his ball handling, he has also shown a certain ability to initiate offense. Although it is not strong yet, Carlisle may have another option in initiating offense in the future. He is also stronger and weighs 98 kilograms. Although he could not withstand Pierce, he did not get knocked off his feet when defending Joe Johnson like he did in last season's playoffs.

In terms of receiving three-pointers, his stability has also improved. In last year's playoffs, Afflalo faced the Bulls' three outside defenders and the Lakers' three outside defenders. He dared to shoot and had good accuracy, which left a deep impression on the team and the outside world.

Zhang Yang feels that his senior wants to seize the opportunities left by the departure of Jack, Pietrus, Mike Miller and others. With the ceiling of a single line not high, he strives to make himself more comprehensive and is very motivated.

What is more interesting is that O'Neal was a substitute in all seven preseason games, and Carlisle has publicly stated more than once that Millsap is the starter and the new tactical core.

During the training camp stage, the media predicted that their starting inside players would be Okafor and O'Neal. After all, that was O'Neal, and he also had the highest salary at the center position.

But Carlisle said no, he just wanted to keep the 2000 million 'giant' on the bench!

Zhang Yang could see that O'Neal was unhappy about this, and his relationship with Carlisle became a little strained. The frequency of their communication dropped sharply, but he did not get angry.

Zhang Yang speculated that O'Neal's ability to suppress his temper and Carlisle's confidence came from the same thing - 70 wins and the championship last season.

There may be another reason - O'Neal didn't want to miss the opportunity to beat Kobe head-on in the finals.

Zhang Yang remembered that in the original time and space, in order to defeat Kobe head-on in the playoffs, O'Neal joined the Celtics, his former arch-rival, in the summer of 10.

Kerr didn't dare to fire O'Neal directly, he had to take off his pants and fart, trade O'Neal for Ben Wallace, and then fire Ben Wallace.

Jordan is different. If O'Neal's starting position really affects the team's defense process, he will lay off players without any hesitation.

Regarding this matter, Zhang Yang, Felton, Okafor, and Millsap all stood on Carlisle's side, making their coach feel supported.

Now that you have pressed it, you have to hold it!
Don't be as indecisive as D'Antoni and Gentry. The Suns' lineup didn't even make the playoffs, and they don't want to repeat the Suns' mistakes.

(End of this chapter)