First in scoring

Chapter 535 534. ‘Details’ are online!
"Kobe is really old. Has his metabolism slowed down? Why is he so fat?"

"Yes, yes. He is totally different from the Kobe in my mind. Jack, let's change the training venue. He affects my mood too much. I don't want the image of Kobe Bryant in my mind to be ruined."

Listening to Zhang Yang and Harden chirping loudly, DeRozan smiled at Kobe.

Kobe Bryant had a dark face. It has been almost a year since he retired, and he rarely contacts his old club and teammates.

Gasol, along with Leonard, Aldridge, Parker, and Ginobili, played well;

Zhang Yang's team is even more amazing. Like the Warriors, they have two true MVP-level players and an All-NBA guard. They have won the first place in the league that Zhang Ke and the Big Three have not been able to get...

Kobe was really afraid that he would not be able to resist coming back and signing a minimum salary contract to play as a sixth man or something. He really had that ability earlier.

He has played for 20 years, 10 years as No. 8, 10 years as No. 24, won 8 championships, had dynasties in both stages, and ended his career perfectly... He has obsessive-compulsive disorder and doesn't want to ruin such a perfect moment.

And signing a minimum salary contract is too shameless... Although it's been less than a year, he is already a player of the previous era, the 'modern basketball era'. Although the three years with the highest salary in his career are not as high as Zhang Yang's starting salary in the first year after entering the small ball era, in the modern basketball era, he is a player who is in a class apart from other players together with Jordan.

In the previous seven or eight months, he took his wife and daughter to travel around the world, do charity work, and promote basketball. He had completely accepted retirement in his heart... After his body also accepted retirement, he started to watch the Lakers' playoffs in person, and happened to see the game in which Zhang Yang and DeRozan scored 81 points together.

His old club and teammates are about to play against the Warriors. Being good at analyzing opponents, he wanted to come and help. Who would have thought that Zhang Yang and Harden "disdained" him so much!

Old Blacksmith: Am I fat? Not so fat! Not as fat as Boss Joe? Not as fat as Fat Shark, right?

When they first gathered, Zhang San and Erha were very disgusted with the old blacksmith, but when it came to the team meeting, the two of them became good boys and sat in the front row.

Kobe couldn't help but complain: "Don't you think I'm fat now?"

Zhang Yang was speechless and said, "Kobe, you've only been retired for a year, how come you've become so petty? Isn't it just saying bad things about you behind your back?"

Harden said weakly: "I think we said it face to face."

Zhang Yang said confidently: "That's it! We didn't even say bad things about him behind his back!"

Kobe was so angry that he wanted to pinch his philtrum.

Old Blacksmith: This is not the Zhang San I know! Give me back the arrogant Zhang San!
But you have to say, Kobe really likes the current atmosphere of the Lakers, which is completely different from when he was there.

The atmosphere was very relaxed with the Compton Three leading the way!

The rookies were at a loss when they didn't see the superstars, and the veterans didn't put on airs.

If he had just retired and was the one to guide the youngsters in training, he might not be used to the relaxed atmosphere in the team and would always find trouble to put pressure on everyone. It might be because he has been retired for nearly a year and got used to the relaxed and ordinary life. Now he feels pretty good.

...

This Lakers meeting was led by retired star Kobe.

Head coach Budenholzer assisted and learned the wisdom of the veteran.

After the meeting, Budenholzer praised: "Kobe, are you really not going to be a coach? With your analysis, it's a bit exaggerated to say that the chances of winning have increased by half, but I think it's at least 10, no, at least 20 percentage points more likely to win!"

During the Lakers' game preparation meeting, Kobe demonstrated a new skill he developed a year after his retirement - detail analysis.

He actually has always had this ability. He has been able to instinctively notice those "details" for a long time, and he himself has also realized the benefits of doing so.

But in the early stage of his career, he did not accumulate enough experience; in the middle stage, he had experience and ability, but the team's strength plummeted in those years, and he had to focus on winning the pitiful 40-plus games to enter the playoffs; in the later stage, the team had everything it wanted, but he was also old, and he had tried his best to maintain his form, and he did not have the extra time and energy to study this in depth.

It was different after he retired. His enormous energy was inexhaustible after he left the court. In less than a year, he not only held five or six training camps, participated in seven or eight basketball promotion activities, visited more than ten countries, and had a fourth daughter... he also developed the skill of "details".

Kobe shook his head: "No, I'm worried that the players won't understand what I said, and I'll be very angry. Just like just now, maybe only Jack, James, DeMar, Jose (Calderon), David (West) and a few of them understood. I'm not sure if the team I coach will have so many outstanding players. By the way, the rookie named Bojan (Bogdanovic) also understood and asked me questions, which is great."

Budenholzer: "Bojan is really great. I think he can replace Louis and become our sixth man next season. Unfortunately, his athletic ability is not good enough. He needs to rely on weight to enhance stability. His size is not good either. Fortunately, he has a high basketball IQ and has played in the European youth training team and the main team for more than ten years. His basic skills and techniques are very good, and he has enough experience. His offense and defense are very balanced. In his rookie year, he became an important member of our main rotation.

I really can’t bear to let go of Luis, he is so good and is willing to be a substitute…”

Kobe also felt regretful: "With Louis' performance, he would definitely have no problem getting 31 million now, but unfortunately we don't have his Bird Rights. He joined us for a very low salary in order to win a championship, and now his two-year contract is about to expire. He is already years old, so he must pursue a big contract."

Budenholzer: "I understand. After all, young players are the key to success. Jim and Mitch both support him in pursuing a big contract... But I think Louis joined not only for the championship, but more likely because of you.

By the way, Kobe, are you really not going to be a coach? That would be a waste of your ability. "

Budenholzer was really obsessed with Kobe. He chose the Lakers from many teams including the Knicks, Hawks, Lakers, Cavaliers, etc. 30% of the reason was that it was the Lakers and in Los Angeles, the main factor was Zhang Yang, and it was actually Kobe who made him make up his mind.

This was influenced by Popovich. All the coaches in his group really wanted to coach Kobe.

In recent years, Budenholzer was so proud when he got together with his old colleagues. He was coaching the best outside lineman Popovich had ever coached, and he also coached the man of his dreams that Popovich had never coached.

Kobe smiled and said, "It won't be wasted. I have already negotiated a cooperation with Time Warner Sports. Originally, we were going to launch a monthly program called 'Details' during the playoffs this season to analyze the tactics and playing styles of each team and provide support to each team. However, I postponed it to next season's training camp on the pretext of doing some preparation work."

Budenholzer: "Oh? Is it specifically to help the old team delay the start of the new job? We are so lucky."

Kobe: "Why not? When the Warriors only had Curry, Thompson, Green, and Iguodala, we were almost broken. They were strong, selfless, and had strong beliefs. Now they have Durant who is in his prime. It's scary to think about it.
The Spurs can actually play 6 games with them. Leonard is better than I thought. If Ginobili was two or three years younger and had better physical strength, the Spurs might be able to drag the game into a seventh game. The result would be hard to predict... But we are not bad either." Kobe said, looking at the three idiots who were discussing together. In his opinion, these three brothers were even more outrageous than the three brothers of the Warriors.

Budenholzer: "In terms of fit, Curry, Durant and Thompson are better, but our three superstars have stronger individual abilities. Jack and James are the real strongest players, and the three of them have such a good relationship that it can almost be said that DeMar brought Jack and James onto the court. They can make up for the lack of fit with their individual abilities, and their fit is just a little worse than those three. In fact, their best playing styles are also very compatible."

Kobe: "Yes, Jack and James, both are super scorers who can score 60 points in a single game. Especially Jack, he scored 75 points in Madison Square Garden. I still remember every one of his goals."

Budenholzer laughed when he heard this: "Haha, Kobe, do you still remember that he stole the limelight from your tour?"

On January 2016, 1, the Lakers played the Knicks away. The Knicks held a farewell party for Kobe during the halftime break, played a documentary, and presented Knicks No. 16 and No. 8 commemorative jerseys. That night, Zhang Yang made 24 of 40 shots, 26 three-pointers, and 9 of 15 free throws to score 14 points.

Kobe refused to answer and said, "Only Curry on the Warriors can possibly explode like Jack and James. Durant must have top teammates to support him, otherwise his physical strength won't be able to support a team to the end. He can score 30 points per game, but it's hard to score too high... But I think the most difficult player on the Warriors is actually Thompson."

Budenholzer smiled and did not continue the previous question. He responded: "Thompson is a pure shooter. His shooting ability is not weaker than Jack and Curry, and he absolutely does not need the ball. I remember in the 15 Western Conference Finals, Thompson scored 35 points against us, dribbled the ball only 6 times, played for 35 minutes, and had the ball in his hands for only 3 minutes, less than 10% of the time. He is the most special player I have ever seen, and it may be difficult for him to appear again in the future."

Kobe: "That's your headache. I've done everything I can. I have to work overtime now. My God, I should have recorded a video for you guys. As soon as I came back, the damn Jack gave me trouble. Everyone asked how to deal with a certain player, but Jack said, 'Wow, that guy is so good, Kobe, can you learn this trick? Go learn it and teach me.' Is there anyone who orders people around like this?"

Budenholzer: "Hahahaha... Isn't it always like this? Every time you develop a new technique, Jack will pester you to learn it. This time you analyzed Curry and Thompson's running and receiving so thoroughly, he must think you can help him come up with a training method."

Kobe: "Is it always right? Tell Jim I want overtime pay!"

...

Meetings, discussions, watching videos... lasted for the entire morning. In the afternoon, Zhang Yang finally touched the ball and started training with his teammates.

Zhang Yang mainly watched videos of the Lakers' bloodbaths against the Trail Blazers and Clippers in the first two rounds this morning. When he first arrived at the stadium, he flipped through the tactical manual. The Lakers' tactics this season were not complicated, at least for him. They were based on the interlaced running of outside ball-handlers and supporting points, and were still Popovich's style. Budenholzer made adaptive improvements.

There is still an axis in the interior, but it is not as important as Duncan and Gasol. It mainly plays a connecting and transitional role, which is completed by David West, Nance Jr., and Zubac, a veteran who gave up 1200 million to pursue the championship dream, a sophomore, and a rookie.

Thinking of Zubac, Zhang Yang was speechless about Magic Johnson and Luke Walton. He remembered that Zubac had no place under Luke Walton, and was then sold cheaply to the Clippers next door by Magic Johnson. Zubac, who could not play in the rotation of the fishing team Lakers, was pushed into the starting lineup after playing one game for the championship team Clippers, and remained in the starting lineup for many years to come...

Zubac here played 74 games in his rookie season, mainly serving as a substitute for Tarik Blake, playing 20 minutes per game, two minutes more than the starting players, and averaging 9.5 points, 6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, the highest in the interior. His biggest advantage is that he is strong. Even when squeezed by the center, he can maintain stability in his movements to complete passes or shots. His shortcomings are also very obvious. He lacks lateral movement ability and has a slow bounce speed, so he can only stand still to protect the rim, which was abolished by Silver a long time ago. However, in the small ball era, you can do without anything, but you must be good at offense, and in this regard, Zubac is the best center on the team.

队内最好的内线是二年级的小南斯，场均7.6分5板2.2助攻1抢断1盖帽，挡拆出色、快下能力强、切入犀利、防守玩儿命……啥啥都有。

The key point is that Little Nance is a black fan of the old blacksmith, which is something that Zhang Yang really likes.

After an afternoon of training against the Warriors, Zhang Yang was almost familiar with the Lakers' tactics. It was indeed not difficult for him. Most of the tactics were built around creating shooting opportunities for him and his coordination, including the tactics around Harden's singles and passing the ball, which were also developed around his offensive characteristics.

Others may have forgotten his passing talent in the past few years, but Budenholzer, who served as an assistant coach for the Spurs for many years, certainly did not forget it.

I became familiar with the skills during the training, and my technical playing style is as seamless as before, but it feels very different from the previous training. In the earliest training, the gap between the training mode and my own strength was huge. Now the gap has become smaller and smaller, and I can feel a lot of different details.

For example, the three-point shot here is more accurate than ever before! It is even more accurate than the 80-degree line!
This is purely a basic skill standard.

Just as he thought, the 'he' here can become an epic three-point shooter on par with Curry and Thompson, not only relying on rule changes, the rules are not only valid for the three of them, but they really have opened up a level gap with other players.

However, the rough positioning and melee defense were restricted, and the assistant coach Zoran Planinic, who was in charge of the team, reminded them many times during training.

This Planinic is called "brother" by Zubac. Zhang Yang guessed that they are cousins. They are both Serbian. After checking online, it was true. Planinic was a first-round pick in 03, but he was not used to the NBA's game style. He returned to Europe after playing for three years. After retiring a few years ago, he served as an assistant coach for CSKA Moscow. In recent years, there are more and more European players in the NBA, and more and more European coaches have been hired.

The rookie named Bojan, who has excellent combat effectiveness, also has a very good relationship with Zubac. He searched online and found out that both of them are former South United players and knew each other in the youth training team in their early years.

However, his teammates did not find his rough actions strange. They just thought that he was too excited about the upcoming match against the Warriors.

Moreover, he is not the only one in the team who came from the "modern basketball era". At that time, this kind of offensive and defensive confrontation was still allowed, and the change only occurred three years ago.

After the training, Zhang Yang played one-on-one with Harden, DeRozan, Louis Williams, Clarkson, Nick Young and others, and felt pretty good. In terms of face-to-face breakthrough strength, he was not as good as the 80th line, but he was still ahead of himself in almost every ability.

In the next two days, Zhang Yang devoted himself to training and watching videos. Soon, on May 5, the first game day of the Western Conference Finals arrived.

He suppressed his excitement and patiently completed the necessary pre-match preparations. At 7: in the evening, he and his teammates arrived at the home team's player tunnel.

After the interview before entering the venue, the lights dimmed and the DJ called out the names of the Warriors' starting players in a very inflammatory tone, causing the fans to boo loudly.

The fans of Lakers are very noble. When Zhang Yang watched the video of the second round, Paul and Griffin appeared and the fans were all happy.

Because that is not their opponent, and the Warriors in front of them have been facing each other in the Western Conference Finals for the third consecutive year, and have long become mortal enemies. As always, the Warriors have become the most hated team for Lakers fans besides the Celtics.

And this year's Warriors are stronger than ever!

In particular, Durant, who was the third to enter the court after Draymond Green and Thompson, was booed.

However, there were fewer boos when Curry entered the stadium last. When Zhang Yang was checking the news and current affairs these days, he also found that Lakers fans only hate Draymond Green and Durant of the Warriors, especially Durant. They have more praise for Thompson and still like Curry a little. There is a saying that some of Kobe's fans who were not interested in him mostly supported Curry after Kobe retired. After all, they are both superstars of the California team.

When it was the home team's turn to enter, Curry also stared at the home team's player entrance. He stared at Harden, who entered first, for a while. He took a look at DeRozan, and when the next two players entered, Curry didn't move his eyes at all, staring at the player entrance until another player from the same class ran out with his usual smile...

Primary school student: This time, I will not lose!
Durant is here, he can't afford to lose anymore!

(End of this chapter)