Chapter 23 23. The coach's heart is black
The next morning, Zhang Yang got up as usual and practiced ball control and starting. It was very boring, so he added some shooting training in between. He never thought that one day he would use shooting training as a spice.

He only played for more than ten minutes in yesterday's game, and he didn't feel tired after the game. He has a clearer understanding of his physical strength as an adult, and this training will not affect his playing in the game.

His weight of 90+ kg and his strength assessed at 80+ are sufficient to confront guards like George Hill, but not enough to confront Ginobili, not to mention a macho like Richard Jefferson. However, he is only 21 years old and still has room for improvement.

He doesn't know if continuing to gain weight will affect his speed, so he plans to consider this after he returns. As he entered the NBA at the age of 21, he still has six years and opportunities for trial and error, so he should wait until he grows to a certain height before making a decision.

After a long period of confrontation, the shooting stability declines rapidly, which is more of a problem of ability.

Now he focuses on learning the ball control rhythm from Nash and playing the current game well.

He was forced to end his training at 8 o'clock.

Two little girls came to the training ground, each hugged one of his thighs, and said in unison: "Jack, we are hungry!"

Zhang Yang wondered, "Why are you the ones calling me? Where are Steve and Alejandra?"

Sister Laura responded: "Dad attended a press conference and interview last night. He didn't come back until almost two o'clock and is still sleeping."

My sister Bella answered, "Mom had something to do. She went out as soon as Dad came back."

Zhang Yang: “…”

After the game last night, he only gave a perfunctory interview to a domestic media in the locker room and then took the team bus back. He really didn't know about these things.

He couldn't help but sigh at the deep love between the couple. Seeing that her husband had been busy all day at work, the wife took the initiative to give up her bed. Her spirit of selfless dedication was touching.

But Nash's body is really well maintained. Last night, the 36-year-old Nash played for 44 minutes, the second highest playing time among all players, second only to Stoudemire.

There is always a lot to learn from veterans like Nash.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Yang said, "I'll go back to my room to take a shower and then make breakfast. You guys go wash up first..."

An hour later, after finishing his breakfast, Zhang Yang took Nash's two daughters to watch TV. He didn't expect that he would have to act as a babysitter when he stayed overnight.

He asked the two lolis why their family didn't hire a nanny.

Laura whispered to him: "Mom and Dad often quarrel with the nanny. Mom hired a nanny, Dad drove one away, Dad hired a nanny, Mom drove another away, and finally no one came to apply."

Zhang Yang was speechless again. What weird problems do these rich people have? By the way, was there any compensation for firing the nanny?
Nash slept until noon, thanked Zhang Yang for helping to take care of the baby, and then took Zhang Yang out to the gym.

As luck would have it, when Nash was about to go out, his wife came back and took over taking care of the baby.

Zhang Yang was moved again. Look, this wife knows her husband very well and knows clearly his schedule during the weekdays.

Originally, Zhang Yang thought that it was not easy to talk about other people's family affairs directly, so he could buy some green plants or something for Nash to give him a hint. Looking at the situation, there was no need to say anything. Anyway, in the future Nash would marry a new wife who would be only a few years older than his daughters.

...

After arriving at the America West Arena, Nash devoted himself to preparations and was not affected by what was happening at home.

Zhang Yang: Look, look, this is called professionalism!
Today's preparation time was much shorter, with only two and a half hour training sessions.

During the training, Zhang Yang clearly felt the change in his teammates' mentality. They were more confident and their morale was higher than before last night's game.

But they did not relax after winning the first game. Instead, everyone worked harder in training. Zhang Yang also worked hard to practice positioning and learn tactics. The deeper the understanding of tactics, the better the performance in the game and the better the preparation for the future.

After the training, the coaching staff called several key players to a small meeting, and Zhang Yang was also called over.

Before entering the meeting room, Nash said to Zhang Yang: "I'm not asking you to attend the meeting to express your opinions. You're still a newcomer, so just listen to what everyone says. This is just a signal from the coaching staff that they see your talent."

Zhang Yang nodded to indicate that he understood. After entering the meeting room, he saw Dragic was also there, confirming what Nash said.

But he hadn't planned to say anything. Although he thought he understood tactics quickly, he didn't have much knowledge in this area. The right thing to do was to listen more, watch more, and think more.

He did not become arrogant just because he performed well in the first game and played a key role to a certain extent. With his current strength, not making mistakes in the game will help the team more than playing hard to perform well.

Another day passed, and on May 5th, the Suns faced the Spurs in the second game of the series at home.

The game started at 8 o'clock in the evening. The Suns, who won the first game, were in high spirits and scored 31 points in the first quarter.

Unable to suppress the Suns' offense, the Spurs failed to score well, scoring only 22 points in the first quarter. The Suns took a 9-point lead in the first quarter.

Gentry's gambling-style pressing defense tonight played a big role. The Spurs made 6 turnovers in the first quarter, while the Suns only made 2 turnovers under Nash's control.

Stoudemire continued to run wild, with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist in a single quarter. Although Nash only scored 3 points, he had 6 assists in a single quarter.

Zhang Yang came on at the end of the first quarter tonight and made a three-pointer after Stoudemire grabbed the offensive rebound. He originally wanted to pass the ball to Nash to handle the offense again, but Stoudemire yelled "Shoot, shoot, shoot", so he threw the ball and made it.

In the second quarter, the Spurs' offense began to pick up, scoring 27 points in a single quarter, but they could not suppress the Suns' offense, and the Suns also scored 26 points. The Spurs fought for a quarter and only narrowed the gap by 1 point. In the third quarter, the Suns beat the Spurs 26 to 25, and the difference returned to 9 points. If Ginobili hadn't made an ultra-long step-back three-pointer, the Suns would have widened the gap to double digits in this quarter.

In the final quarter, the Spurs played their best offensive performance of the night, scoring 28 points and limiting Stoudemire to only 3 points. Unfortunately, Nash and Richardson took advantage of the inside play of the little bully and fired continuously from the outside. The two of them combined to make 5 three-pointers and scored 19 points in a single quarter, and the Suns also scored 28 points.

最终，靠着斯塔德迈尔的33分、纳什的23分15助攻、理查德森的27分，太阳队以111比102再胜马刺队，大比分2比0领先！

张杨今晚出场21分钟，出手7次，只进了两球，拿到5分2板1助攻1抢断。

To be honest, his chance of taking action tonight was really bad.

This involves the role that Gentry gave to Zhang Yang - the one who takes the blame.

When the team's morale was high, confidence was sufficient, and tactics were good, Gentry no longer gave the regular shooting opportunities to Zhang Yang, who had average ability, but to veterans with better strength and experience.

When the tactics are exhausted and a reckless shot is needed, it is Zhang Yang's turn to receive the ball.

As a rookie, Zhang Yang's failure to make a shot will not affect the team's morale. Moreover, he is a rookie, and when the tactics are running out, he is often the easiest person to receive the ball. Once he makes a shot, it will definitely boost the team's morale.

After Zhang Yang figured out the head coach's thoughts, he said "Pooh", these coaches are all evil-hearted!
Have you ever thought about what would happen if the rookie couldn’t handle the pressure and lost his temper?
Well, people really don’t care. There are new people every year. If this one breaks down, just replace it with another one. They even call it training your psychological quality.

And his first battle did give people the impression of being very courageous...

……

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(End of this chapter)