Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 263 A Daily Day in the Life of Assistant Teacher Chen

After winning the Suns at home, Chen Fang did not travel with the Rockets to the two away games against the Grizzlies, but recovered alone in the training center.

This feeling is quite strange. I feel like a left-behind child at home alone, in such a huge training ground, I am the only one there.

Fortunately, there are still many staff members in the center going to work on a daily basis. After Chen Fang receives physical therapy and rehabilitation, he is able to find a few sparring partners to keep in shape.

On December 12, Christmas Eve, Chen Fang welcomed an old friend.

Road Cloud.

It was unexpected, but really happy. The house suddenly became lively, and Wu Zhen, Lu Jie, and Sun Lexian all gathered together.

Chen Fang asked Lu Yun why he suddenly showed up. Lu Yun, who looked a little older, said, "We have celebrated Christmas together in the past few years, so I just flew over directly. Why, you don't welcome me?"

"How could that be, but it's a bit too much for you to handle hundreds of thousands of people going up and down every minute."

Chen Fang's joke was met with a punch from Lu Yun, but he was prepared and dodged it in an instant. The hip-hop and playfulness seemed to have returned to the past.

Without any competition tasks, I had a very comfortable holiday. The only slightly unpleasant thing was that it was difficult to snow in California, which made it a little less interesting.

On Christmas night, the two sat in the backyard and chatted like they used to.

"You are so popular in China right now, dominating the sports section. You can see you when you open the web page."

"Oh."

"Why, you're not excited at all?" Lu Yun asked with a smile.

"It's just a passing cloud. They do it for traffic, not because I'm so great." Chen Fang said calmly.

"It's meaningless to be so transparent. The country is like a mountain of gold and silver to you now. You can make as much money as you want."

"Ha, you're not here to discuss business with me, are you?"

Lu Yun sneered: "Tsk, that's boring, I'm also under performance pressure now, why are you so surprised?"

"Is this your attitude when asking for help?" Chen Fang said with a smile.

"What's the matter? That's your attitude. If you don't like it, forget it." Lu Yun started to act rudely.

Chen Fang had some guesses in his mind, and he said, "Then you contact Wang Zhen. If you need me to come forward, I will."

"It's nothing, actually. Wang Zhen was looking for business development, and coincidentally he found a branch of my family, so my family asked me to be the liaison."

"Huh." Chen Fang suddenly remembered and looked strange: "Your family also has media business?"

"A little bit at a time. Television stations now outsource as well. Many programs are produced by more professional media organizations." Lu Yun explained.

"Okay, then I'll trouble you to work hard on the blue road that will lead to the whole country." Chen Fang understood.

"But why did you want to expand Blue's national strategy by producing variety shows?" Lu Yunman wanted to know.

After reading the plan and asking his subordinates to study it, they all thought it was a good idea to make money. So he took the opportunity of Christmas to fly from China to Los Angeles to ask in person.

"In every place, there are some local grassroots stars who are well-known to local basketball fans. Their fame is limited to a certain city or region. If you bring them together, it's like fireflies gathering into the sun."

"Professional basketball is actually too far away for ordinary basketball fans. Instead, they feel more involved and supportive of local stars, which has guaranteed the viewing rate."

"What's more, the grassroots are wild, so the variety show effect is guaranteed. The nature of Wei Lan itself is to take root in the grassroots, and its purpose is to build a baseball empire."

Chen Fang briefly stated his idea, which was actually plagiarism, but it didn’t matter. He was reborn without plagiarism, so what dishes were you waiting for to be served?

"Zhejiang is also planning something similar, and it is said that the name has already been decided," said Lu Yun.

"what is it call?"

"The brand of the comic book Slam Dunk is called This is Slam Dunk."

"Oh, do you think there's hope?" Chen Fang asked back.

"If I hadn't seen the plan you have, I would think it's quite promising." Lu Yun chuckled.

"Of course it can be done, but he has no idea of taking root in the league. This is undoubtedly a castle on the beach. It looks a bit attractive, but it is difficult to form efficient profits."

"Wei Lan wants to use this variety show to promote its own North-South Grassroots League. The investment alone is outrageous, otherwise they wouldn't have gone out to find investors and let you in." Chen Fang snorted.

According to his personality, if he can earn more, he would rather earn less than not be able to share the money with others. It is safest to keep it all to himself.

It's a pity that the investment in this North-South plan is too huge. But now I am lucky to be picked up by the Lu family, and the relationship between them has played a role.

Wei Lan's move is a matter of life and death.

It is even more difficult to expand from Shandong to the whole country, especially to the south. Not to mention local protectionism, just the local tyrants alone make it difficult to move forward.

Chen Fang came up with a brilliant idea: using sports variety shows to first establish the brand, build up its popularity among the grassroots and on campus, and then promote it accordingly, and everything would come naturally.

This variety show spans across the country, including all first-tier cities, and aims to bring together grassroots basketball stars and campus masters. It is quite similar to the martial arts conferences and martial arts competitions in martial arts novels.

Through this operation, a total of 24 teams from the north and south were formed to start planning the first China Baseball League.

With capital injection from Wei Lan and local fundraising, a baseball club was established to participate in the annual tens of millions prize money tournament, so that all basketball players who have not entered the professional field, whether they were eliminated from sports schools or graduated from college leagues, or became gods on the baseball court, have a chance to express themselves, support their families, and escape poverty.

This is just the grand strategy. At a lower level, small leagues in each city are also funded and controlled by Wei Lan. These small leagues provide blood transfusions to baseball clubs to ensure a continuous supply of talent.

This is a huge project, and the investment is estimated to be more than 10 billion yuan.

If it succeeds, you naturally don't have to worry about investors, but in the early stages, you can only bleed yourself to open up the situation.

Chen Fang figured it out. He had to invest all his domestic CF, North American investments, including his NBA salary and other advertising income, into it all.

He is not worried about failure. At worst he can just continue playing. What's more, he has a guaranteed amount of virtual currency.

However, except Wang Zhen, no one else knows about this plan now, and the plan submitted to the investors only discusses the revenue from the variety show.

But I believe that based on Lu Yun's understanding of him, he probably knows a thing or two, so that's why he was willing to fly over.

"Work hard, the sooner the better. I hope to start in the summer of 18. By then, I can also take advantage of the off-season and come back to finalize the deal." Chen Fang began to make promises to Lu Yun.

Lu Yun's eyes lit up. To be honest, cooperation with Wei Lan was very demanding. It required a large investment but the profit was very small.

The investment was 70%, but the share was only 30%. Both the lower and upper levels were stuck because of this. Lu Yun had no choice but to come in person.

"Of course you have to come back. This is your business." Lu Yun said.

"I can't say anything about the others, but I'm sure Kobe and Harden will come to support us, and there will be other stars as well. It will be no problem to form an NBA dynasty team." Chen Fang made the boast without blinking.

Lu Yun's eyes really lit up.

"Okay, I trust you as a brother. I will make the decision on this cooperation right now!" Lu Yun made a decisive decision.

This is also Chen Fang’s trump card. Kobe alone is irresistible.

After this matter was settled, Chen Fang felt relieved, and the two of them began to talk about other things tacitly, and talked about Wu Zhen again.

"He's making rapid progress at USC. At first, Coach Andy only said that he would join the first team next year. Now he's in and he's played for 15 minutes, which is pretty good." Lu Yun was also happy for his brother. His relationship with Wu Zhen was even deeper, and it wasn't an exaggeration to say that they were friends for life and death.

"Three years. In your junior year, you can try to get into the draft. If that doesn't work out, you can return to your country and play professionally." Chen Fang also paid attention and kept in touch with Andy. He knew that Wu Zhen had made great progress in confrontation and tactics.

"I can't compare with you. You have no talent. You are just like Jordan. You were so fierce in your rookie season!" After finishing the business, Lu Yun returned to his ruffian look, which made Chen Fang feel very cordial.

"You're not bad, but you're too lazy."

"Haha, it's my great honor to be recognized by King Chen." Lu Yun laughed.

"However, it's only been a few games, why did you have to rest due to injury? Your physical condition brings shame to us Chinese." Lu Yun shook his head sarcastically.

"Damn it, come on, damn it, one match every two days, and every match is hand-to-hand combat. If I had started professional training when I was five or six years old, I wouldn't be afraid!" Chen Fang was angry. He was very sensitive about this now, and he was still angry.

“Tsk tsk, he’s so angry out of shame. I didn’t expect that King Chen, who is known as the little stone Buddha in the eyes of the public, is actually so sensitive! It seems he is still a little man!” Lu Yun was not afraid and continued to laugh.

A baguette hit him on the head. Lu Yun turned around angrily and immediately wilted.

"Who are you calling a little man?" Wu Zi stood behind him, her face sullen. "I, I am a little man!" Lu Yun picked up the half-broken bread on the ground and said with a sad heart, "What a waste, I'll go wash it." Then he ran away.

Chen Fang was very proud and acted like a delicate girl with eager eyes: "My wife is so powerful."

"Dexing, go wash the dishes!" Wu Zi gave orders.

"Order!"

A pleasant gathering always passes quickly. Chen Fang waved goodbye to Lu Yun who was going to the airport at the door of his house, then turned and walked towards his Cullinan. He was going to the training center. The team came back yesterday and it was time for him to go to work today.

When he arrived at the center, Chen Fang did not go to the training ground, but went straight to the office.

It wasn't awkward to go in, I greeted the coaches like I was at home, and then sat down in front of Rivers: "What work do you have for me?"

Looking at Chen Fang who was determined to get something out of this, Rivers pointed at Brian and sighed, "Take him away and tell him to leave me alone."

The Clippers coaching office is unique. The 200-square-meter hall in the center is the meeting place and the work place. The hall is connected with six independent offices, which are the private spaces of each coach.

"Do some secretarial work first. Can you organize the data of the two away games into an EX table?" Brian asked.

"Yes, I'm good at it." Chen Fang said without hesitation.

"All the data is in the server's archive F drive. You can call it up and make a data sheet based on the playing time. There is a template, just follow that."

"Where do I sit?" Chen Fang asked.

"The public one, that one." Brian pointed to the desk in the corner.

"okay."

As a result, Chen Fang started a part-time job as a teaching assistant and secretary. Although no one knew what he was selling, who would refuse?
Only Rivers guessed something, but he would not stop it. He was just interested in what Chen Fang could do.

The daily routine of an NBA coach is arduous.

The first is to watch the opponent's game videos and data analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the opponent's tactical characteristics, player strengths and weaknesses. For example, analyze the opponent's offensive routines, defensive strategies, key players' shooting habits, etc.

Through these analyses, coaches can develop targeted tactics, such as defensive strategies against the opponent's main players.

Chen Fang will mark the players whose values in the previous two games have increased in red, and those whose values have decreased in green. This can help the coach judge the player's condition. If the value remains green, he should start a conversation and look for problems.

In particular, the playing time of rotations and substitutes are based on changes in numerical values.

After doing all this, you will face your next opponent and perform the same operation to provide the coach with an evaluation.

These are very basic, but once you accumulate a few seasons, you will naturally have a status chart of all NBA players in your mind, including style, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, at a glance.

This is also the daily work of every professional coach. Maybe because the level of the league is not so detailed, but the general direction is correct.

When all these were completed, there was a group discussion and Chen Fang also attended as an observer.

Compared to the looseness of the summer league, this moment is more formal.

For example, when facing the Kings, the coaching staff began to analyze the Kings' offensive and defensive strategies based on historical intelligence and current situations.

At this stage, Chen Fang received a new name.

in principle!

Compared to before, Chen Fang thought that every team had a system and the team won games according to this system, but now he realized that this understanding was correct, but it was not the same thing in reality.

Basketball has developed over the years and invented many systems. Some are still there, some are gone due to rule changes, and some have mutated.

The current league is mainly based on the Princeton system and the small ball system.

Under the two, the formations evolve into five small players, one big player and four small players, or one star and four shooters, which integrate passing and cutting, triangle tactics, etc.

Therefore, the 30 teams in the league are all similar. They adjust the tactical system that best suits them based on the stars they have and look for a coaching team that suits this system.

This involves the essence of basketball tactics.

in principle!

Offensive principles, defensive principles.

To put it more bluntly, it's a habit.

Every coach has different understandings and requirements for offensive and defensive principles. Under the offensive and defensive system, he requires players to abide by the offensive and defensive principles he has set and carry out tactical execution.

What is a habit? It is the instinctive reaction when playing.

For example, coach Brown has 12 offensive principles, one of which is that after receiving the ball, players cannot dribble immediately, but keep the ball alive, do three threats and observe the defensive position, make predictions about passing and shooting, and then take the next step. This is why he and Iverson did not get along at the beginning.

There is also the former Nuggets coach George Karl, whose offensive principle is screen, a real screen. He requires the ball handler to seek support from teammates and keep a distance with teammates that can form a pick-and-roll screen within one second.

It can be said that every active, retired, or unemployed head coach in the NBA has his own set of principles.

When an assistant coach chooses a head coach, he is actually looking for someone who shares the same offensive and defensive concepts as himself. He can learn more about the offensive and defensive principles from the other person and add his own understanding to form a new set of offensive and defensive principles.

Every young marshal grows up this way.

This is also the inheritance of the NBA coaching system.

Coaches use offensive and defensive principles to train players, helping them grow into superstars, and also allowing role players who are not suited to the league to gain a foothold in the league.

The confrontation between them is not only a confrontation of skills, will and physical strength between players, but also a confrontation of principles between coaches.

It was not until this moment that Chen Fang realized that coaching is not a system, but a principle.

Of course, coaches also have a ceiling. The continuous addition of principles will lead to qualitative changes and form a new tactical system.

For example, Phil Jackson's triangle tactics are the result of the accumulation of countless offensive and defensive principles.

Often, players and head coaches don't get along because their own playing habits don't match the principles the coach requires. The more they play, the more uncomfortable they become, so they start to break up and ask for a trade.

Compared with offensive principles, defensive principles are even more numerous, like stars.

Chen Fang felt overwhelmed after just listening for a while. He was horrified to find that being a coach was more difficult than being a player.

No wonder coaches have less hair and more white hair. Apart from other things, the workload is not something a human can do. (This is also what I think is the most ridiculous part of many NBA coach articles. You can't become an NBA coach just by traveling back in time and knowing a few super-thinking tactics.)
It was an eye-opener. After the meeting, the next job of an NBA coach is to go to the training ground and start teaching the players by words and deeds based on what they just discussed. They tell them what aspects they should pay attention to in the next game, such as more pick-and-rolls, cuts, or breakthroughs with the ball.

Then open the simulation environment and start the simulated battle according to the established attack and defense strategy.

Finally, they return to the office to evaluate the training results, provide on-the-spot response preparations, and develop multiple ABCD backup tactical plans. Compared to the players who go home for rehabilitation after training, the coaches work until late at night.

Now it was Chen Fang's turn to cry.

I used to get off work and go home at 5:30, but now it's 11 o'clock at night and I'm still working like a slave in the office.

There is no such thing as overtime for NBA coaches. They have to solve problems without any sloppiness. This is no joke. Perfection and excellence are the basic professional qualities of every NBA coach.

At one o'clock in the morning, Rivers announced that the work to deal with tomorrow's King was completed and it was time to go home.

Is it competitive? Of course it is competitive. You can imagine that the coaches of the Kings next door are also working hard to make a winning plan. How dare you be lazy?
With this awareness, Chen Fang found the meaning of coming here today.

Rivers asked Chen Fang in front of the entire coaching staff: "How is it, how does it feel to be an assistant coach?"

"To sum it up in one sentence." Chen Fang rubbed his numb eyelids and sighed, "The players are still comfortable."

"Haha!" Everyone laughed, but then Chen said something that moved them deeply.

"Really, I'm very grateful to everyone for giving me a chance to get to know the daily work of the coaching staff. This has made me more familiar with the upcoming opponents and also helped me make up my mind." Chen Fang said seriously.

"That is, treat every game with all your strength."

"Otherwise, it would be a waste of the hard work of the gentlemen."

"Thank you and salute you!" Chen Fang bowed slightly solemnly.

(End of this chapter)