Chapter 18 18. Nash's Guidance

Experience is not only about experiencing the feeling of practicing the current technology for many years, and it is not only about getting a reward for completing the task, but also about having the opportunity to learn from the big guys!
No, it's not just that. If I play for the Suns, I can also learn their tactics.

Even if you can’t bring back your strength or training results, the things you’ve learned are valuable experiences!
After Nash finished talking about his experience in shooting training, he began to teach Zhang Yang the movement training and force techniques for dribbling the ball.

Although teaching is teaching, Nash did not expect Zhang Yang to learn well.

That’s right, he took the initiative to teach Zhang Yang because he saw how hard Zhang Yang was training.

Another reason is that he has been under too much pressure this season. After Barbosa, the main backup guard, was injured, he was under unprecedented pressure and wanted to find something to divert his attention and relieve stress.

Teaching Zhang Yang, a stubborn man, how to train is a headache.

Nash has known Zhang Yang for more than a month. After Zhang Yang spent all the salary from his 10-day short contract, he had nowhere to live. At that time, the team had not yet officially renewed Zhang Yang's contract. He admired Zhang Yang's hard-working attitude, hygiene and politeness... and he could cook delicious food, so he took Zhang Yang to live at his home, and it has been a month.

During this period, he coached Zhang Yang many times, and repeated these words many times, but Zhang Yang listened very patiently. After listening, he still practiced as he should, as if he was determined to fight to the end with fixed-point shooting. He would not listen to the advice, but he trained very hard...

Nash had a headache coaching, but this difficult task did divert some of his attention and helped him not to think about the troubles on the court and the team all day long.

But this time it was beyond Nash's expectations.

After he finished teaching, Zhang Yang really practiced the basic skills of dribbling patiently. Moreover, after he went to the next half court to practice shooting, Zhang Yang did not secretly stop practicing the basic skills of dribbling to practice spot jump shots, but continued to train patiently!

Is this no longer a dead end?
Nash felt very happy. He taught seriously because he naturally hoped that Zhang Yang, the hard-working newcomer, could become stronger. At his age, he would always want to pass on his skills... No, he would have to wait and see.

...

The stubborn impression that Zhang Yang gives people is actually very consistent with his original personality.

Zhang Yang's original incarnation clearly had no talent for baseball, and his progress was always very slow, which was actually quite painful for him. After he grew taller, his physical education teacher suggested that he switch to basketball, but he refused and insisted on sticking to baseball.

For Zhang Yang now, getting Nash's guidance is something he has been longing for, so of course he will practice hard.

The basic training was very boring, but Zhang Yang had experienced even more boring training before, so he enjoyed learning new things. He practiced until 8 o'clock when the alarm clock in Nash's hand rang.

Nash stopped training and said to Zhang Yang, who had been practicing basic movements for nearly an hour, "Jack, let's stop here for this morning's training. Go make something to eat. We still have to go to the stadium to prepare for the game."

He is in a very happy mood now, as if he has finally made something happen... One doesn't necessarily have to have a headache to divert his attention. Happy things can also divert his attention. It's just that he hasn't had many happy things in basketball in the past two or three years.

The worst thing that happened to the team was that their general manager Steve Kerr traded Marion for O'Neal, and then traded O'Neal to the Cavaliers at a loss...which meant they lost Marion for nothing.

Zhang Yang responded and stopped training. He wanted to practice more. He wanted to remember the feeling of this training, which would definitely be useful when he went back to practice ball control.

However, he is also very interested in going to the gym to prepare for the game, so he can practice the run-and-gun style of play!

Run-and-gun is a "non-mainstream" style of play these days, but more than a decade later, the entire league is playing small ball, so it's not a bad thing to get exposed to it early.

He can also understand in advance how NBA games are played and what skills are required of him, and the direction of his training will be clearer.

Zhang Yang returned to his room. There was a bathroom in his bedroom. He took a quick shower and then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

When he opened the refrigerator to pick out ingredients, he was sure that Nash let him stay with him just to be a cook.

The ingredients in the refrigerator were obviously prepared by him, and they were all his favorite foods.

Zhang Yang used the ingredients available to make a low-fat, low-sugar breakfast. Nash wasn't picky about food, as long as it tasted good, he was fine. After breakfast, Zhang Yang, who had no car or house, took Nash's car to go to the America West Arena.

On the way, Zhang Yang kept reading his team manual.

This is what he saw when he was packing his backpack before leaving. It contains his tactical notes. The content of the tactical notes is very simple, counterattack routes, cut routes, off-ball running routes... nothing else.

Zhang Yang was confused. Didn't the information he received say that he was favored by Gentry because of his excellent tactical adaptability? What kind of tactical ability was needed for this? Couldn't anyone have it?
Nash, who was driving, saw Zhang Yang flipping through the tactical manual at a red light and warned him, "Jack, Leandro still can't play in the second round. Alvin will choose one between you and Earl to be the counterattack scorer. Earl has no tactical coordination awareness, and he can't pass the ball after receiving it like you. This opportunity is definitely yours, you must seize it!"

Leandro? Oh, it's Barbosa...

Earl is Clark, a lottery pick who was a dud. Zhang Yang has an impression of this player. He is a player with excellent physical fitness. His draft template is Odom. When he was a student, he was indeed omnipotent like Odom. With a height of 208 cm, he could hold the ball and organize offense like a point guard. But when he came to the NBA, he became a nebulous player. It seems that he can play any position, but he is not good at any position.

After hearing Nash's instructions, Zhang Yang suddenly remembered what Thomas said when he came to his house for dinner... It is not common for players with good physical fitness to understand tactics.

After playing tactics for a long time, players with poor tactical awareness can also rely on game experience to play good cooperation.

But for a player who has just entered the NBA, being able to understand tactics and execute simple tactical moves seems to be really good.

For example, Earl Clark, a lottery pick, was criticized by Nash for having no tactical coordination awareness.

...

The construction of the America West Arena began in 1989 and was completed in 1992. Although it was renovated once in 05, its architectural style is still a bit old, with a very obvious "science fiction style" of the s.

Zhang Yang’s first impression of the stadium was that it looked like a stadium was built in an iron frame.

Originally, Zhang Yang was a little worried that his teammates would notice something was wrong with him, but after he entered the gym and attended the team meeting, he realized that he was overthinking it.

He was just an undrafted rookie, and apart from Nash and Gentry who noticed his hard work, not many people on the team cared about him.

There was someone who viewed him as a rival - Earl Clark from the same class, but he was not familiar with him either.

However, he felt that the atmosphere of this team was still very good. Although his teammates were not enthusiastic, when he took the initiative to greet people he "knew", the other party would respond.

At 10 a.m., Zhang Yang attended the team meeting. From 1:4 to p.m., he participated in the team's tactical training. His performance in the tactical training easily surpassed Earl Clark.

Earl Clark was like a headless fly in his tactical running, which seriously affected the tactical operation.

Zhang Yang understood why Nash said in the morning that the opportunity would definitely be his. He guessed that Earl Clark must have played as a pure core player when he was a student. He had no experience in tactical cooperation as a role player, nor did he have any talent in this area. The team obviously would not train Earl Clark as a tactical core.

After the training, Gentry announced tomorrow's lineup rotation. Zhang Yang was placed in the 10-man rotation, serving as the main substitute with four teammates including Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson and Robin Lopez.

After the team training, Nash, Stoudemire, Hill and Jason Richardson were called by Gentry to a small meeting.

The other teammates were walking away or practicing more, while Zhang Yang, seeing that the landlord couldn't leave for a while, continued to practice the basic ball control skills.

More than half an hour later, Nash came out of Gentry's office after a small meeting and saw Zhang Yang practicing ball control. He felt much better because of the pressure brought by the upcoming series with the Spurs.

Nash watched Zhang Yang train for a while, then stepped forward and began to give him instructions: "Jack, your ball control rhythm is wrong."

Zhang Yang stopped training and listened.

Nash was very satisfied and continued, "When you change direction and break through, you always start to exert force after you have pulled the ball. This is not right. You should be ready to start every time you pull the ball. This way, you can really change direction... The same goes for counterattacks and cuts. You should be ready to break through before you receive the ball..."

……

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(End of this chapter)