Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 240 Future and Present

If there is no Doncic, who is the strongest rookie?

That Griffin is undoubtedly that guy.

Griffin's growth trajectory is closely related to his injury history. From only being able to do fast break dunks and hard drives under the basket in college, to having turnaround rebounds and small jump shots after rolling down the court in the NBA, these are all because his frequent lower limb injuries forced him to constantly add various techniques to his arsenal.

In his third year in the NBA (his first year as a rookie was written off so that can be ignored), Paul's arrival put the Clippers on the path to championship contention.

The term "Alley-Ob Army" was also blurted out by Griffin when he heard Paul coming to the locker room and faced the interviewing reporters.

Griffin and Paul had a very close relationship because of their natural positions. The offensive threat posed by his and Paul's pick-and-roll at the top of the arc and on the wings was unique in the league at the time. The Clippers' regular season record never fell out of the top four in the Western Conference.

At that time, Griffin played 4 and Paul played 1. The pick-and-roll cooperation of 14, plus the league's top three-point shooter Redick and alley-oop center Jordan, the scoring efficiency formed by these four people ranked third in the league at the time.

As Paul and Griffin continued to get injured in the playoffs, Griffin worked hard to increase his arsenal every offseason, and he gradually moved from a single power forward to an all-around player.

In the 16-17 season, he has transformed into a ball-control power forward who can face the basket for jump shots, drive to the basket with the ball, and make passes and alley-oops.

As for his conflict with Paul, according to later biographies and interviews by teammates, it was not because Griffin became a point forward and squeezed out Paul's ball possession, but because of the two men's personalities.

Paul is the kind of black man who talks incessantly, is very competitive, and will not tolerate any injustice. Whether on the court or after the game, he will find your problem and keep pestering you. Griffin, on the other hand, is a person who doesn't like to argue and speaks calmly. Every time Paul argues with him, Griffin will give in or avoid.

This resulted in Griffin staying in the locker room for a very short time after the game, and his communication with Paul naturally became less and less.

As for why Jordan Jr.'s relationship with Paul is getting better and better, it is also due to personality. Jordan Jr. is the type of person who likes to taunt and scold others and regards it as fun. In fact, Paul scolds Jordan Jr. more times, but Jordan Jr. will scold back one by one. As time goes by, the relationship between the two of them is getting better and better.

It can also be seen from here that Paul is actually the kind of big brother who likes to discipline and preach. His way of expression is to curse people and he is very selective about his friends.

This is also why Paul has grievances with many point guards in the league, such as Rondo. They are all of the same character, and they don't allow you to say anything bad about me. On the court, Paul just keeps talking. (Even now in the Spurs, he still keeps talking, and his biggest target is Wenban.)
Chen Fang is not that kind of person. When problems arise during a game, he is often the type who comes up to comfort and cheer his teammates, telling them that things will be better next time.

You can say that this is not domineering, but in Chen Fang's mind, there is no problem. Competition is already very stressful, so why should he put pressure on his teammates? Letting his teammates release the pressure and fully demonstrate their strength is what a point guard should do.

The biggest highlight of this training camp is actually Chen Fang + Griffin, and what kind of sparks this combination can produce.

Therefore, in the afternoon training, the competition arranged by Rivers and the selection of players for the ABC groups were very obvious.

Group A: Chen Fang, Griffin, Zubac, Samwell, Wesley.

Group B: Teodosic, Gallinari, Jordan, Kuzma, Rivers.

Group C: Evans, Bryce, Nance Jr., Williams, Wallace.

The remaining undrafted players are used as substitutes and are randomly allocated to coaches.

The competition is decided by 20 points, the loser stays and the winner rests.

In the confrontation between Group A and Group B, Chen Fang's performance caught people's attention from the very beginning.

Chen Fang advanced with the ball and faced Teodosic's interception when passing the center circle. He did not dodge by turning at high speed as he did before. Instead, he slightly changed hands and dribbled to the other side, then pushed the opponent away and went straight to the three-point line.

He saw Griffin walking side by side with him four meters away. He paused, used a double hip kick to draw out Gallinari who was retreating, and threw a half-high ball towards the basket.

Griffin jumped high and dribbled the ball into the rim.

This is the Clippers' regular offensive and defensive quick transition operation, which feels very familiar both on and off the court. But in the past, it was Paul who could pass the ball like this, and now it has been replaced by a Chinese who just turned 19.

But there is a difference. Because of his height, Paul often has to move outward and make more fake moves. He will not have a single fixed passer, but will evaluate who is more suitable to pass to based on the situation on the court.

But Chen Fang didn't. He ignored Wesley who was following him, didn't consider Zubac beside him, and turned a blind eye to Thornwell who had just landed on the wing.

The purpose of his move was to get Gallinari out so that he and Griffin had an angled distance and were fully prepared for the alley-oop.

From the moment he broke through Teodosic, he had already thought about how to play, so visually, it was a very clean transition offense.

Not many people thought deeply about it, but Rivers did.

He was completely clear about who he wanted to cooperate with and what the significance of this competition was.

In terms of attack and defense transition, Teodosic is a typical European defender. He doesn’t stick to the ball much, but it is based on the positioning of his teammates. Therefore, when competing against European defenders, the first thing you need to solve is to delay positioning.

This was the suggestion given by Black Brain. Chen Fang asked Sanwell to interfere with Doncic, and he went to Kuzma.

This was the first time the two had confronted each other. Kuzma did not have much desire to confront and was blocked by Chen Fang one meter outside the wing.

The same is true for others. Doncic saw that his teammates were not in a good position and dribbled to the top of the arc. This is a common measure taken by guards. Once they find that there are too few passing routes, they will choose a more advantageous area and reorganize their positions.

He waved to Gallinari to come out and set a screen for him, but Chen Fang had communicated with Griffin at the beginning that the Italian had a basket and could not let go.

Griffin followed out, and Gallinari's confrontation was definitely not as good as the latter. The two of them were entangled and neither of them could do a good job of pick-and-roll.

Time was running out quickly, and in the end, Doncic could only rely on himself. He changed direction and slightly dodged Sanwell, accelerating from the outside of the arc to the basket. He planned to solve it with a small jump shot, but Sanwell had been warned by Chen Fang at the beginning.

Whatever happens, you have to bite the Sevillans to death.

Doncic's jump shot was interfered. Chen Fang had already left Kuzma behind and came to the front of the penalty area. This was the guard experience taught by Rondo.

The guard should take the initiative to grab the rebound, which saves the hand-off with the inside player after grabbing the rebound, and can initiate the offense and defense transition at the first time. However, the disadvantage of the guard grabbing the rebound is that he is defending the outside and is far away from the basket, so there are two tricks.

1. After confirming the ball handler's intention to attack, quickly give up your defender in his blind spot and retreat inward.

2. Don't squeeze the center's traditional rebounding area. This is not the correct operation. You have to go to a place that the center cannot reach, preferably an area three meters in front of the basket, because the center and power forward often stand in the left and right short corners, and the area they control is within three meters on the left and right of the basket.

When Doncic's shot hit the front of the basket and flew out, a figure jumped up one step earlier than anyone else, grabbed the rebound with one hand, and pulled the ball out of mid-air.

The basketball was still bouncing upwards and had no signs of falling when Chen Fang grabbed it. The height and speed of the bounce gave people an amazing visual effect.

Assistant coach Brian even uttered an "oh" to express his inner astonishment.

Chen Fang started to accelerate from the moment he landed to half-turning, took a step forward, adjusted his posture to face the front, and pushed off the ground with all his strength in the second step. Team B was still retreating, but Chen Fang had already overtaken two of them and rushed to the front.

Rivers' eyes widened. Chen Fang's super explosive acceleration was displayed for the first time in the Clippers training center, instantly capturing everyone's attention.

After crossing the three-point line, Chen Fang raised the basketball high, took another step forward and leaped up. After two months of physical improvement, Chen Fang has reached a higher level in speed and explosiveness.

This is not only reflected in the speed, but also in the control of inertia. It is not the kind of fast that leaves an afterimage, but gives people a full-frame feeling of gliding and diving.

What is a full frame? Anyone who has studied editing knows that broken frames are like teleportation, which is unreal. It is fast, but it is still a human being. The huge inertia brought by touching the basket and landing will cause the ankles and knees to collapse sooner or later if this continues for a long time.

What Mary taught Chen Fang was to control his core power, allowing his body to manage the inertial energy released after the burst, and to quickly release and cushion the impact upon contact with the rim and landing. (James is the best at this. His seemingly powerful dunks land like a feather, leaving no trace of dust. After his serious injury, Durant also began to learn this landing technique, which is the key to his continued high performance.)
Chen Fang was still under control, but that didn't prevent him from completing this gliding dunk.

After landing, Chen Fang took a few steps forward to offset the inertia. Instead of accelerating, he slowly turned around and jogged.

This is also what Mary warned. After each burst, the lower limb muscles must be given a buffer time to return blood, and the muscles cannot be continuously given contraction commands. As we all know, when muscles contract, blood is squeezed out, and continuous bursts will cause the muscles to be hypoxic, and the capillaries will be damaged.

These are the principles of kinematics. If you follow them, your sports career will be longer. If you act willfully, you will not have many glorious years.

Griffin was very excited to see this goal. He has always wanted a strong outside player who can rush and pass. In his understanding, Paul can't do it.

Seeing Chen Fang coming back, Griffin took the initiative to high-five him. He was not a person who liked to talk during the game, but at this moment he shouted to Chen Fang: "If you need me, just tell me loudly."

"Don't worry, our eye contact is faster!" Chen Fang's answer made Griffin smile.

Paul likes to shout loudly. As an inside player, Griffin has always been passively called and ordered around, so he told Chen Fang that you can shout at me.

This is actually an expression of recognition and respect for Chen Fang, but Chen Fang's answer made Griffin feel comfortable. Eye contact is tacit and mutual, which is far more equal than calling you up to play tactics.

Griffin is a person with a very strong self-esteem and he values face above all else. This is why after being traded by Ballmer, he did not give his former boss any chance to make amends.

As Chen Fang and Griffin developed a chemical reaction, Team A began to suppress Team B. Although Jordan could control Zubac, Gallinari could not stop Griffin. This year, Griffin has added mid-range pull-up shots to his arsenal. This small forward technique allows him to have more deterrence within the three-point line, provided that someone supports him.

Before, Paul preferred Griffin to be a rim-attacker in the pick-and-roll rather than finish with a jump shot.

But Chen Fang didn't. He gave Griffin more hints, asking him to run to the open space, while he kept a close eye on Griffin's whereabouts and would pass the ball whenever he had the chance.

Even though this neglects others, the point of the competition is to watch him and Griffin, nothing else matters.

What's more, Chen Fang is very clear that Griffin, who was traded to the Pistons in February next year, has worked hard and developed a unique style of play of center jump shot and three-pointer that has never been seen before and will never be repeated.

He averaged 7.2 three-point pull-up shots per game, which was more ferocious than that of a guard and had a higher hit rate. This allowed his average data for the Pistons to surpass that of the Clippers and reach a whole new height.

You can't ignore a griffon's vengeance.

Under Black Brain's hypothetical bounty proposition, Griffin's upper limit and tactical play had already been provided in several versions. Chen Fang looked through the plan and finally found that it coincided with his memory.

In his opinion, forming an inside-outside duo with Griffin is the best way to improve the Clippers' combat effectiveness, and it is obviously more impactful than Paul + Griffin.

Chen Fang needs this style of play to wash away the infamy of replacing Paul. As long as it is proven to be feasible, the criticism and abuse against him will drop sharply.

Soon, Team A won the game 21-12 and got the right to rest.

Sitting back in his chair, Chen Fang even borrowed the tactical board and started talking with Griffin.

"A fake screen is better than a real pick-and-roll. Use your speed to get rid of the guard. I will also use a breakthrough to force the opponent to not switch in time. If they all chase me, my ball will be passed to you and you can just shoot!"

"Why do you trust my mid-range shooting so much?" Griffin asked. "Why not? Your mid-range shooting data is improving every year. I believe your main training direction now is shooting." Chen Fang said.

Griffin stared at Chen Fang for a moment before praising him, "You're a genius. Can you tell me the reasoning behind your deduction?"

"It's simple. The injuries in the playoffs and the old injuries in previous years are all reminding you that you can't score by violence. This method doesn't work in the playoffs."

Seeing Griffin nod in agreement, Chen Fang continued: "Only by shooting can you maintain your deterrence and statistics, and help your teammates. However, this requires a change in playing style. Paul is good, but he will not cooperate with you. Instead, you need to cooperate with him."

"Yes, yes, yes." Griffin seemed very excited.

"In my rules, I hope everyone can play what they want. You are the boss of the Clippers, and I hope you stay healthy. I fully agree with this style of play."

"I'm very happy that you think so, so let's give it a try."

"It's best this way. When I pass the ball to you, you make the judgment. I will look for open space and wing spots. If you are blocked, I will appear in your field of vision."

"I can't wait for our combination!" Griffin actually smiled.

Chen Fang was also smiling. The focus of this training camp was to reach a tacit understanding with Griffin, so that the management would temporarily put aside their worries and try in the direction they wanted.

The Clippers are now in a trial and error process. As long as the road is right, everything is possible.

Soon, Team B defeated Team C and Team A took over.

Facing the weaker Team C, Chen Fang became more active. He first faced this year's second-round pick Evans. Now he not only has speed, but also the physical capital for confrontation. The way he chooses to get rid of the opponent is not to look for complicated dribbling to get rid of it. It is often a simple change of direction to mobilize the opponent's defensive center of gravity, and then immediately use physical confrontation to shake off the defense, and then gain a brief few seconds of space in front of him.

During these few seconds, Chen Fang will evaluate whether to pass the ball, continue to break through, or shoot.

These judgments will be made in a short time, which is what Carl told him.

In professional competitions, it is better to make mistakes than to hesitate.

Do it as soon as you think of it. The offense and defense on the court change rapidly. The judgment in one second can become poison in the next second.

The result of hesitation is stagnation of offense and defense, mistakes, and counterattacks.

Hesitation is the biggest reason why you are eliminated and get DNP.

Rivers has been discussing the A team's performance with his assistant coaches.

"If we add DeAndre Jordan and Gallinari, that is, the A-B combination, how strong will this starting lineup be?" As the head coach, Rivers asked the assistant coach a question.

"It's like adding more threads to this CPU. Whether it can have more combat power depends on Chen Fang's command judgment." Brian was the first to speak.

"Yes, focusing on the cooperation with Griffin, it seems to be going smoothly at the moment, but if DeAndre Jordan, Danilo Gallinari, and Doc Rivers are added, all three will need to handle a certain amount of finishing rights. Whether Chen Fang can meet this requirement is still a question."

"Don't worry, we still have time. During this time, let's test how many threads Chen Fang's CUP can support." Rivers made the decision.

The ABC competition won't be long, this is just the first day.

In the afternoon, the staff was sorting out the video, while Rivers, Wenger and Lawrence, the three real management bosses, sat down and discussed today's changes.

"I witnessed the entire match. Chen Fang's confrontation was enough," Lawrence said. He offered his assessment first. When no objections were raised, he continued, "The question at the moment is, he's not very eager to lead the attack. Perhaps he wants to see how the others perform."

"I agree with your judgment. It is necessary to make some adjustments to tomorrow's training." Rivers said.

“What?” Lawrence asked.

"I plan to do a few tests, let Chen Fang play a game with the substitutes, and finally let Chen Fang play with the main players in one group."

After a moment's hesitation, Lawrence was the first to agree. "I agree. This way we can determine the limits of Chen Fang's performance."

Wenger remained silent. He tapped the table lightly. When both colleagues turned their gazes towards him, he slowly said, "How about this?"

"Let Chen Fang lead the summer league against the main players, Chen Fang, Kuzma, Zubac, Thornwell, and Nance Jr."

When they heard Wenger's words, they were both surprised, but soon calmed down.

"What do you mean?" Rivers asked.

"Yes, we have to look to the future. This lineup is full of rookies with great potential."

"Kuzma and Zubac have the potential to play well. Nance and Thornwell are weak, but they will show good numbers if they are given playing time. Even if they are used as bargaining chips, they can be exchanged for a good first-round pick."

"As for the others, it would certainly be a surprise if they made breakthroughs, but I personally think these five have the greatest potential."

"Chen Fang." Wenger said finally, with a satisfied look in his eyes.

"I was very satisfied with his first day, and so was his boss. His high self-discipline, talent, skill, intelligence, and emotional intelligence combined give him rare historical potential."

"So my advice is that in the first year, we should fully train Chen Fang and provide him with all-round support."

"What about Griffin?" Rivers asked.

"A healthy Griffin is powerful, but he's too fragile," Wenger sighed. "As a management team, we can't pin our hopes on things we can't control. Regardless of how Chen Fang and Griffin react, the plan remains unchanged."

Rivers and Lawrence's expressions darkened. They were the two happiest people to see Chen Fang's performance today. Griffin showed signs of rejuvenation, and they thought there would be a turnaround, but they didn't expect that they still couldn't change the boss's mind.

Wenger naturally understood what his two colleagues were thinking. He did not comfort them, but instead gave them an order: "Everything is normal, go to work."

After they left, Wenger picked up the phone and after a few words, he took the elevator to the top floor of the training center.

He met West and Baumer in a large, luxuriously decorated office.

"How many points did Griffin score today?" Ballmer asked happily.

"Boss, the Griffins are very strong today," Wenger replied.

So Ballmer turned to West, who was sitting on the sofa, and asked, "Is there any hope for the combination of Chen Fang and Griffin?"

"No!" West answered directly.

Baumer's expression froze and he spread his hands to express his helplessness.

"I invited you back, and I promised to listen to you completely, but I want to know the answer," said Baumer.

"Steve, the combination of Griffin and Chen Fang will indeed bring unexpected surprises, but it is no different from the old path, and the ceiling still cannot be broken." West knew that he had to convince Ballmer because Griffin was the symbol of the Clippers and an NBA All-Star selected and trained by themselves.

"A team can only have one voice. If we don't trade Griffin, it means we will give Chen Fang very little time."

"In the end, for two people, we couldn't see the outcome."

"Give Chen Fang two years to develop his skills and determine his ceiling. Only then can we make the final decision."

"This is actually a good idea. Let Griffin produce better statistics, which will earn us more trading privileges and instant combat power. Let Chen Fang support the team's performance, and then we'll go all in!"

Ballmer remained silent, but he was clear about West's blueprint and understood that the NBA's championship operation requires sacrifice and patience.

"If Chen Fang achieves All-Star stats within two years, what should we do?" Wenger suddenly asked.

West glanced at Wenger, his designated successor, and smiled.

"Then we can find helpers for Chen Fang, equip him with all the necessary pieces to win the championship, and then give him three or four years to prove himself."

"If it doesn't work, it's a reincarnation. This is the NBA, and that's how we operate all the time."

"I understand!" Wenger said no more.

Baumer's eyes also became clear, and he told Wenger: "Except for Lawrence and Rivers, no sixth person can know this plan."

"Understood, Boss. I can guarantee that."

In the parking lot, Griffin and Chen Fang were saying goodbye. After just one day, Griffin was full of fighting spirit and he rekindled his hope for the future.

"Maybe we really will be the best combination in history!" Griffin held Chen Fang's hand.

Chen Fang calmly replied: "I hope everything goes as you wish."

The car started, and Chen Fang watched Griffin leave the training center in a cloud of dust, his eyes changing.

Take care of yourself first!
Chen Fang put aside his emotions and became determined.

If he hadn't been able to predict the future, Chen Fang would have been full of hope, but in fact, Chen Fang was aware of some of the Clippers management's intentions.

What can he do?

Chen Fang couldn't think of it, nor could he do it. The only thing he could do was to protect himself well, not get hurt, and not cause trouble.

The road to the NBA is still long, and I have many ideas that I will take my time to think about.

Looking at the setting sun, Chen Fang narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips.

(End of this chapter)