Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 101 I Want to See the Sky in Los Angeles at Four in the Morning
Inside the TNT studio.

"Found it!" Barkley slammed the table and pointed at the camera, saying, "It's right here. Look, Kobe must have said something to McGrady."

The three of them didn't believe it.

The scoring battle in the second quarter started with just two people looking into each other's eyes, sparks suddenly flew, and then it started so simply.

Just like when Jordan suddenly exploded, it must be because some guy on the opposite side was talking nonsense and shouting that he wanted to kill gods to prove his faith.

The three of them found the evidence.

During a mismatched defense, Kobe squeezed next to McGrady and moved his mouth, but it was unknown what he said.

The surprise that flashed across Maddie's face showed that he had heard what he said.

"Quick, find me a lip reader!"

Ernie Johnson yelled immediately.

Barkley chuckled: "No need at all. If I had to guess, Kobe would have told Tracy that your cousin is much better than you."

Kenny Smith on the opposite side was coughing madly.

Although the media has long confirmed that McGrady left the Raptors last year partly because of Carter.

But everyone has made peace, and you are still saying this. Aren't you just provoking a fight?

Aren't you afraid of Carter scolding you?

He immediately changed the subject and said, "Tracy's offensive firepower is too strong, and I feel that his playing style seems to have changed a bit."

Kenny Smith is a two-time champion after all, and he is a quasi-star who has made a name for himself in the league as the "Jet." Naturally, he is a professional at watching football.

"Tracy last season, he developed his mid-range game."

"But he prefers to shoot after a screen, or catch and shoot after a pass, which is his offensive method."

In Smith's view, McGrady's technical change route is very clear.

When he was with the Raptors, he was a substitute and the team didn't value him much, using him as a wing defender.

With his explosive physical fitness, he has an excellent sharp breakthrough ability.

Then came the magic.

Hill's unexpected injury forced McGrady to take on a lot of ball possession. In this situation, he developed a mid-range shot.

"But his playing style isn't smart enough, there aren't many variations. Shooting is shooting, and driving is driving. This has been the case even since the beginning of this season."

"But in the last two games, I noticed that he has changed. He started to combine breakthroughs and shooting. He no longer relies on pick-and-rolls and running. He often initiates offense with the ball, uses his breakthroughs to create space, and shoots directly."

"He's evolved, so you see Fox couldn't defend him at all, allowing him to score 16 points in a single quarter."

Such improvement and change were so sudden that Smith found it incredible.

Barkley clearly doesn't care.

He was more concerned about whether McGrady and Kobe would continue to score when they returned in the second half.

This question is also what Phil Jackson is thinking about in the locker room.

Today is the weekend.

Jackson didn't want the fans at Staples Center to leave the arena with regrets on a beautiful weekend night.

He wants to win.

Before this game, the Lakers had a record of 5 wins and 0 losses and remained undefeated.

Losing is no problem, but losing to an Eastern Conference bottom team like the Magic seems like a big problem.

But how to adjust it?
His wise eyes swept over all the players on the field.

O'Neal, who is often a conspicuous person in the locker room, was unusually silent, fiddling with his phone without saying a word.

I guess he is quite depressed.

Before the game, Jackson heard him shouting that he wanted to teach the new No. 1 pick a lesson.

As a result, I didn't finish the class and I ended up feeling quite embarrassed.

Jackson really didn't expect that Brown's lower body was so stable and his confrontation was so strong that he could actually withstand O'Neal, a 175-kilogram monster.

He should be annoyed enough, so Jackson decided to let him calm down on his own.

His eyes fell on Samaki Walker.

O'Neal was double-teamed under the basket, and although his passing ability was limited, he was still given several open spaces.

As a result, this guy's hands were like greased and he just couldn't make the shot.

Not as stable as old Horry.

Then the biggest problem now is that the tactics did not work out and there was no coordination at all, especially in the second quarter, which completely turned into Kobe's personal one-on-one show.

But you thought Jackson would call Kobe off.

of course not.

Not only did Jackson not call a timeout, but he pulled Kobe and made Kobe face McGrady directly in the second half, defending him and beating him.

Jackson knows how to deal with stars.

Calling a timeout on Kobe at this time is like telling Jordan to ignore it and just follow the tactics, and we will win.

It's all bullshit.

This is not the way stars want to win.

And Kobe didn't score?

He was scoring, the team was down by one point, and that was fine with Jackson.

So in the second half, when McGrady saw Kobe standing in front of him, he was obviously stunned.

Again?

Kobe looked at him sharply and pressed forward without saying a word.

Come then!
McGrady reached for the ball and everyone moved away.

The Staples Center seemed to have fallen silent, with nearly 20,000 pairs of eyes focused on the two men, anticipating a Spanish bullfight-like fight.

McGrady crouched down, took a cross step, and prepared to break through to the right.

Kobe followed closely like a shadow.

At this moment, McGrady reset his movements. In the moment of pause, he hooked his right wrist downwards and dribbled behind his back with a huge amplitude, and broke in from the right side.

He stopped suddenly and made a jump shot.

McGrady landed on the ground and ran away with a calm expression.

Even though this was the Lakers' home court, such a wonderful one-on-one match still won huge cheers.

Tang Ling excitedly shook Tang Sen's shoulders and shouted that he was so handsome.

Tang Sen didn't say anything.

Yes, it is very handsome.

But the problem is...

This is my fucking move.

Tang Sen saw it clearly. This was the same move he used when he challenged Jordan.

I showed it to McGrady during previous training.

But the question is, just by showing it to you, will you learn it?
And the replica is even more handsome than me?
Because of Tang Sen's height, his stride is limited, so the amplitude of his final swing is limited.

But what about McGrady? His long legs and body coordination are simply amazing.

Tang Sen smiled bitterly and looked away.

With McGrady's learning ability, it won't be long before I have nothing left to teach him.

On the court, with the fans cheering, Kobe had no choice but to return the favor.

On the wing, Kobe leaned against McGrady with his back.

He tried to push forward with a back-to-the-basket shot, but it didn't get much going.

According to media reports, Kobe's current weight is 90 kilograms.

As for McGrady, he weighed 95 kilograms at the end of last season. After an offseason, he indulged himself a little and his weight soared to 99 kilograms.

His size leans more towards a small forward.

So if he plays shooting guard, he actually has the advantage of mismatch.

After two back-to-the-basket plays failed to work, Kobe immediately changed his tactics, swaying left and right, passing the ball, turning towards the baseline, and then turning over to shoot.

There was a slight lean back, the body was very stretched, and the arc of the ball was also very high.

Just like when Donson taught Bars how to do a turnaround jump shot.

Therefore, even if McGrady had not lost his position, the ball would have gone in.

Tang Sen clapped his hands out of courtesy.

After two championship seasons, Kobe really has the temperament of a superstar.

Can make a lot of unreasonable shots.

But it still feels not enough, the technology is still not comprehensive enough.

If he had comprehensive back-to-the-basket skills, he would not choose this difficult shooting method.

The same goes for McGrady.

Both of them are in their early twenties and their skills still have a lot of room for improvement.

However, Tang Sen thinks that McGrady's ceiling may be higher.

After all, the talent is there.

As for the current PK, Tang Sen thinks that McGrady will have the last laugh.

Because Kobe chose to go head-to-head with McGrady.

Medina's weight is really an advantage.

Thinking about this, Tang Sen looked at Brown again.

McGrady is like a carp, with a little guidance, he can leap over the dragon gate.

As for Brown, Donson felt that his talent was no longer enough.

His current performance is definitely due to his talent, but more importantly, it is due to his hard work.

With Tang Sen's system, one offseason is equivalent to one or two years of training for others.

In other words, he is consuming his potential in advance.

But his potential is not top-notch after all.

If his wingspan were longer, his hands were bigger, and his neck was shorter, he'd be even better.

But fortunately, he is like a stupid bird, working diligently and conscientiously.

So who knows what the future holds.

Just as Tang Sen expected, McGrady was the better player in the second half of the scoring battle.

In the third quarter, he scored 13 points again.

Kobe only scored 9 points.

When McGrady is focused, his defense is not bad.

McGrady has already scored 34 points.

With his current hot hand, 40 points is within his grasp, and 50 points is even a possibility.

Pause interval.

Jackson pulled everyone together and nervously arranged the playing plan for the last quarter.

Now the Lakers are only 5 points behind, and he wants to try harder.

O'Neal gave up.

Under the double-team of Brown and Grant, O'Neal struggled.

Jackson wants to do something at the power forward position.

He looked at Horry, trying to get Horry to roam on the perimeter and draw Grant out.

Once Grant comes out, it will be difficult to double-team O'Neal in time.

It's no use if other people come forward.

Mike Miller is nowhere near Grant's defensive intensity.

Of course, Grant could also choose not to come out.

If I strangle O'Neal, I'll leave you alone.

After all, if you relax O'Neal's defense, he can really kill people.

But Horry has a good three-pointer.

If you really leave him completely alone, he can kill people.

Kobe didn't listen to Jackson's instructions at all.

He was breathing heavily, thinking back to his confrontation with Maddie.

Especially in the third quarter, he felt a lot of pressure.

McGrady is hard to defend!
The key point is that this guy wasn’t that difficult to defend last season.

As a result, the rhythm in this game was handled very well.

Although it was an offseason, Kobe knew that it was not because McGrady had been training hard during the offseason.

Before the game, the Lakers' video analyst specifically reminded everyone that after watching the last game between the Magic and the Kings, he found that McGrady had more ball-handling offense and his playing style had changed a bit.

That means it hadn't changed before, but only changed recently.

How did it change?

It was obvious that this was what McGrady said before the game, that he found Donovan and practiced with him.

Kobe found it incredible.

What kind of magic does Tang Sen have that can make McGrady change so much in such a short period of time?

There was no time to think about it, the fourth quarter began.

Jackson's adjustments did have some effect.

Horilla went out, and Grant chose not to follow him. After he made two consecutive three-pointers in an open position, Grant had no choice but to follow him out.

But as soon as he followed him out, Rivers yelled at him to go back.

Rivers saw the Lakers' adjustments, but he didn't care.

He would rather be shot to death by Horry than be beaten to death by O'Neal.

The Lakers quickly caught up with the score and even took the lead.

At this time, it was McGrady who stood up.

Kobe gave up the one-on-one challenge with him, but McGrady was still in hot form.

His physical strength has decreased slightly, but his shooting is still accurate.

With 11 points in a single quarter and a key 3-pointer, McGrady played the role of a lone hero to the extreme.

As the final whistle sounded, McGrady punched the sky hard.

He scored 45 points in the whole game, who else can do that?
He stood proudly at Staples Center, his expression as if to say, as long as you can deal with O'Neal, I can still bring him down as the defending champion.

Reporters rushed forward and surrounded McGrady.

Kobe originally wanted to come over and chat.

Seeing this situation, he didn't come over.

But he turned around and walked towards the Magic bench.

Instead of greeting acquaintances like Grant or Ewing, he separated himself from several reporters who followed him and went straight to Tang Sen.

"Tang, do you have a business card? Can you give me one?"

He reached out and patted Tang Sen's shoulder across the seat and asked loudly.

Tang Sen was stunned for a moment.

Kobe came before the game, but he just wanted to get to know her, signed an autograph for Tang Ling, and then left.

As a result, as soon as the game was over, he came over to ask for a business card.

Why, you really want to find yourself a trainer?

But sorry, I didn’t bring it.

Besides, I am alone now and my energy is really limited.

Not to mention Kobe is far away in Los Angeles.

Kobe had previously mentioned that there was a chance for cooperation, and Donson was also thinking about the offseason.

While he was hesitating, Tang Ling had already taken out a business card and handed it over, saying with a smile: "He is my brother. Contacting me is the same as contacting him."

Kobe took it, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Don, I heard from Tracy that you guys started training at five in the morning. Is that true?"

In the fourth quarter, he didn't say he was defeated, but he really felt that McGrady had become stronger.

Taking the opportunity, he asked McGrady a few more questions.

Ask him how he practiced.

McGrady then talked about Donovan, saying that Donovan asked them to start training at five o'clock.

Kobe was shocked.

During the season, we get up at five o'clock to train. We work hard.

Tang Sen nodded, thought for a moment and said, "Getting up earlier will help you focus better."

You can't say it's a system badge requirement.

Judging from Kobe's expression, he took it seriously.

Otherwise, why would Jordan set up the Breakfast Club?

Getting up early to train definitely has its benefits.

"Don, I'll contact you." Kobe made a phone call gesture and left surrounded by a large number of reporters.

He decided that from now on, he would get up early to train.

And not even five points.

Jordan and McGrady have five points of training, so I am not as talented as them and I have to work harder.

Four o'clock!

I want to see the Los Angeles sky at four in the morning.

After watching Kobe leave, Tang Sen glared at Tang Ling speechlessly.

"Sister, you are in public relations."

What? Do you want to develop a few more NBA clients?

"What's wrong with the PR guy? These NBA players deal with reporters all the time, maybe they can use it. Besides, you didn't bring your business card."

Tang Ling's tone was filled with excitement as she spoke, "Brother, you've done really well. Even a big star like Kobe Bryant came to you specifically to ask for his business card."

She knew that Tang Sen seemed to be quite famous because of Brown, and had even been featured in major media outlets like the New York Times.

But in her heart, the trainer is just a small role behind the team.

After all, Tang Sen has only recently entered the NBA.

Tang Sen thought to himself, what does it mean to be doing okay? He is not bad at all.

"Okay, we have a flight tonight, so take good care of Mom."

Tang Sen said goodbye.

We have a back-to-back game against the Jazz tomorrow, so we have to fly to Salt Lake City overnight.

Tang Ling nodded and walked forward to hug Tang Sen.

This time he didn't say that he would go to her if he couldn't make it, he just told Tang Sen to take good care of himself.

The two parted ways.

Tang Sen followed the crowd and walked through the player tunnel to the locker room.

When I rushed to the locker room, I ran into Brown walking out to attend the post-game press conference.

He looked a little depressed, and when he saw Tang Sen, his expression became even more miserable.

"Sir, I feel like I'm hitting like a piece of shit."

Brown complained.

He was in a terrible mood with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Tang Sen gave him a slap.

Boy, are you asking too much of yourself?

You are facing O'Neal!
It's not bad to be able to get a double-double in front of him.

Not to mention that under your defense, O'Neal scored 17 points today.

Tang Sen's words came true, and O'Neal did not score more than 20 points.

Brown sighed and said gloomily, "I'm sure a bunch of reporters will ask me what I think about the matchup with O'Neal later."

He now feels that this is the bad thing about the NBA: when he performs poorly or is in a bad mood, he still has to go and be interviewed by reporters.

Tang Sen laughed and scolded, "Then just praise him like you did before, praise him to the hilt. Believe me, he will be more upset than you."

Given O'Neal's performance today, if Brown praises him again, he might feel very upset.

(End of this chapter)