Champion, please stay!

Chapter 23.23. Are you asking me to take out another loan?
The next day, Monday afternoon, Yi Shui approached Clark and expressed his desire to undergo intensive training in attacking the basket.

But the 'intensive training' program Clark devised for him didn't involve practicing difficult layup techniques; instead, it started with the simplest basic layup moves.

"No need for exerting force or jumping; just utilize the momentum of movement?"

"Your physical condition is too good. When you rush and jump, it is enough to deal with most defenses. Your previous training in shooting under the basket was also focused on strengthening this aspect, which resulted in your basic skills being very weak. It's just that most defenses are not enough to expose you."

But there are always rim protection geniuses like Hasheem, and the Amazings have Hibbert. There are also many teams in the NCAA with double-teaming capabilities like the Cardinals. Relying solely on running, jumping, and layups will always be insufficient.

Once you can't jump fully, your layup accuracy will drop drastically... Actually, I noticed this in the previous games, but I didn't think it was the right time to start working on the fundamentals again. It would take too long and definitely affect your other training, and might even affect your performance in games. But you brought it up yourself, and I know that if I don't address it now, you'll be thinking about it every day.

Since you're going to practice, you need to forget about having that kind of running and jumping ability during training. Not only that, you also need to control your habit of using your shoulder and elbow strength for layups. Every layup should involve your whole body. Practice the most basic things hard and let your body get used to those basic movements! This will give you more ways to react and more variations in the game, and even allow you to maintain basic stability when you're exhausted.

As for the advanced layups you want to practice, you can easily learn them once you've mastered the basics, just like learning techniques that require running and jumping ability... You can think of basic skills as your 'second physical attribute'.

“I understand. Just like Tim Duncan, his physical condition declined many times due to injuries, but he made up for it with solid fundamentals, which is why he looked like he hadn’t fluctuated at all for ten years.”

Clark nodded: "Yes, he's the best example... But why did you think of him? Shouldn't you think of Jordan, Payton, Kidd, or Nash?"

“Uh…Eh…” Yi Shui was stuck. Right, why did he think of that expressionless guy? No way! He forced an explanation: “Duncan just won his 4th championship, tying Shaq and surpassing Kobe, so naturally I thought of him.”

"Oh right, you are a champion fan."

"..."

...

After explaining the details of the most basic layup training to Yi Shui, Clark arranged a trainer for him and then went back to his office to plan the team's upcoming training sessions.

Yi Shui's current training only requires someone to pick up the ball and serve it, reminding him not to jump or pull the ball; he doesn't need to personally lead the training.

As evening approached and Clark was about to leave work, Calhoun, who had been watching Yi Shui's training session for a while, pushed open the door to Clark's office.

Calhoun: "Leon, did you arrange Brooke's training?"

As the head coach, Calhoun may not be an expert in training instruction, but he is still quite capable and is well aware of the potential negative impact of revisiting basic layups at this point.

Clark knew exactly what the head coach wanted to ask, and replied, "If it were any other player, I would definitely advise him to wait until the end of the season to talk about it, but Brook is different. I asked Jeff, and he still trains extra every day when he returns to Stamford. He seems to have inexhaustible energy... It's better than dating those skinny guys, right?"

His tone suddenly changed when he saw the head coach's expression turn sour. He knew that their head coach was full of regret and resentment that Yi Shui had "never tried before".

He understood perfectly, and he was also unwilling to accept it, considering he was only eighteen or nineteen years old. However, he was a more open-minded person.

Seeing that the head coach's expression had improved, he continued, "Actually, the main reason is that Brook's three-point training progress has started to slow down. I originally wanted him to allocate some of his training time to shooting practice in other areas. However, we were still considering whether developing his mid-range shot or strengthening his attack on the rim would be more suitable for him at the moment. After analysis, we felt that both were necessary. Since he wants to strengthen his attack on the rim, let's follow his idea."

Three-point training has slowed down? That doesn't sound like a good thing. Calhoun skillfully flipped through the players' training records on the bookshelf, found Yi Shui's, flipped through it... and started cursing.

He thought that Yi Shui's three-point training had hit a bottleneck, but what he saw was that Yi Shui's three-point training performance had improved dramatically from the beginning of August until now!
Looking at the 100-shot three-point training sessions alone, which is the most commonly used 'full-load shooting' in assessments, Yi Shui went from making more than 60 shots per set, and even more than 70 shots from certain angles. In less than 3 months, he trained to the point where he was least accurate, and could make more than 80 shots most of the time. He could even make 85 shots relatively consistently from the left 45-degree angle. The most amazing thing was that he could occasionally make 90 shots from the right 45-degree angle!
However, in the last two weeks, the increase in training hits from the more accurate 45-degree angles on the wings and the relatively less accurate top arc has indeed stagnated. But... he stared at Clark: "When you say slowdown, do you mean this kind of slowdown?"

It's not that he doesn't care about Yi Shui's training. When we gathered at the end of August, he even kept an eye on Yi Shui's training for a few days. But he paid less attention to it afterward because school started! He had a lot of work to do, including the autumn selection and warm-up matches. Moreover, Yi Shui had to participate in the selection, practice tactics with the team, and play in the warm-up matches, so he didn't have any requirements for improving Yi Shui's basic skills. He was aggressive, but he wouldn't put pressure on him blindly.

Yi Shui's shooting was inconsistent in the warm-up games, with only the right 45-degree angle maintaining a good shooting percentage. Of course, his three-point performance in the two games yesterday and the day before yesterday was indeed good... But who would have thought that in less than two months since the fall selection, he could have made such great progress?

It seems I've inadvertently provoked the head coach again... Clark touched his nose and said, "Brook is a genius; he can't be judged by the standards of an ordinary player."

"Yeah, a genius, a genius who can't even control his lower body."

“Hey Jim, think about it from another angle. If he hadn’t been messing around that year, if he hadn’t had that opportunity to repent, and had just continued practicing until he was about average, we probably wouldn’t have known he had such talent even after he graduated from college…” Clark’s voice trailed off as he spoke, feeling embarrassed by his sophistry.

"Should I praise him?"

Calhoun was furious and shivering!
...

As autumn fades into winter, Connecticut welcomed its first snowfall of the year in early November.

It's cold outside, but the Husky fans are incredibly excited because the new season is about to begin!

Initially, after a dismal 5-11 record in the regional stage last season, and an 8-8 record in the losers' bracket that prevented them from even qualifying for the NIT Championship (a tournament selecting 32 teams from those who didn't make it to the Third Madness), they didn't have high hopes for the new season. However, after consecutive victories against strong league teams like the Cardinals and Warriors in the preseason, their hopes were rekindled—their Eastern Star, the prodigy Brook, was back!

Besides Yi Shui, there's Thabeet, who has a total of 52 blocks in 10 warm-up games; Yad, who consistently gets double-doubles in every game; Robinson, whose shooting talent is starting to materialize... and Dyson, the sixth man who can go toe-to-toe with Harlan and Gao Di!
However, with the start of the season approaching, some pessimistic voices have emerged in recent days.

According to an analysis by the Sperm Whale, the most well-known local newspaper in Storrs, it will be very difficult for the Huskies to make it into the top eight and qualify for the top three spots in the Crazy Championship Series.

The fans agree with this. They also know that the signings in the past two years have not been very good. Only Thabeet has quickly developed, and Robinson has only just begun to realize his potential. Apart from a few players who have made them happy, most of the players on the team are quite weak. Apart from Dyson, only the 04-level players Frostowski, Ostri, and Omocaro have some decent functional roles among the substitutes.

There's a player with a cool name in his freshman year who's quite talented and has the potential to become the next Earl Clark, but he's far from being the Clark he was in his freshman year last season and needs to improve.

In terms of results, fans didn't have high hopes. If they couldn't compete for the top three spots, they could still try for the NIT championship.

But the Sperm Whale newspaper began to question whether Yi Shui could perform as well in official matches as in warm-up games, which made the fans very dissatisfied - with no hope for the results, can't even the talented star give us some hope?
The Sperm Whale News website and forums were flooded with criticism, and Concordia University students even held up newspapers to protest outside their office building... Their shareholders were overjoyed. Meanwhile, other local media outlets were painting a rosy picture of the future, and by standing up and contradicting them, they gained traffic and increased advertising revenue.

November 9th, Friday, marks the start of the first round of matches in the 07-08 season's Big East League division.

The trio of yellow, white, and black arrived at the Stollshari Gamper Arena before 8 a.m. Tonight was the opening game, and they were really excited, having been looking forward to it for a long time. Even Yad, who loves to sleep in, got up very early today.

It was only now that it was fully light, but there were already quite a few people inside and outside the stadium. This home-field atmosphere made Yi Shui even more excited.

It wasn't just the three of them; the whole team was very enthusiastic, and everyone had arrived before 8:30.

At 9 o'clock, Calhoun and his coaching staff stepped onto the training field on time, bringing even more exciting news for the players—the owner of the Knicks next door had decided to broadcast their Huskies' game against the West Virginia Big Mountain team tonight!

It was only then that the team members noticed that, in addition to the school's cameraman, there was another unfamiliar person carrying a camera following behind the coaching staff, and everyone cheered in unison.

The NCAA has many nationally televised games each season, more than the NBA. However, with so many leagues and teams, even the most popular PAC-10, ACC, and their Big East conferences only have about thirty games per season at the divisional level, with most of them played by the strongest teams.

Despite their poor performance last season, they didn't get a nationally televised game in their opening game this year. The two games broadcast in the first round of the Big East Conference were Georgetown Amazing vs. Notre Dame Irish Warriors and Syracuse Oranges vs. Louisville Cardinals.

The lack of a live broadcast won't dampen the Husky players' enthusiasm, since there are still state-wide broadcasts available. But the national broadcast makes them even more excited!
Yi Shui was also excited and looking forward to it. After becoming a player himself, he finally understood why Bosh, Wall and others would explode when they were on live broadcast. The feeling of having a camera on you is so different from not having a camera on you!

Being surrounded by tens of thousands of spectators was great, but when the cameras were pointed at him, he felt like the whole world was watching...

He opened the system file and looked at the results of his nearly five months of hard work.

"file……

Height: 196 cm, wingspan: 211 cm, weight: 91 kg.

Strength assessment (NCAA Division I, 0-99):
Overall physical fitness 90 (top): Speed ​​92, Strength 80, Jumping 89, Agility 91, Stamina 89.

投篮基本功74（良好）：远距离78（左侧底角76、左侧45度角82、顶弧80、右侧45度角85、右侧底角77），中距离59，近距离87。

Basic passing and ball control skills 83 (first-class): ball control 89, passing 78.

Skill: Iron Wall.

Talents: Angled genius, rhythmic type.

Special Card: Secondary Development (In Use, 5/20).

He's completely different now compared to when he first transmigrated; it's time for him to show his true talent!
Just then, he felt a notification coming and returned to the main page...

"The new season is about to begin. You are back in college and will lead your team to a fresh start. The system has determined that your Husky team has many shortcomings. You have been given a wish. Do you want to use it?"

Note: If the wish goal is not achieved, the equivalent reward obtained from the wish will be deducted twice in the future.

When Yi Shui saw this notification, her first reaction was: "I haven't even paid off my mortgage yet, and now they want me to take out another loan?"
To borrow or not to borrow? Of course we should!

"You used your wish opportunity and promised to lead your team into March Madness in the new season. According to the system analysis, your team's biggest weakness is the lack of excellent help defenders on the front line and the large gaps in the zone defense. You are given a wish gift pack: Sky Cover (skill), Jump +1. Your jump has been increased from 89 to 90. You have better aerial interception ability and better conditions to make up for the team's zone defense gaps."

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(End of this chapter)