Chapter 244 243. Fight against Harden's Thunder!

Nash began to teach Zhang Yang more variations of rhythm flow breakthroughs, and Zhang Yang focused on learning.

Kobe is not convinced!
He stood by and watched. He wanted to see how this old guy who hadn't even played in the finals was better than him, the old blacksmith.

Then Nash demonstrated a move several times, explained the details of the force, and after Zhang Yang memorized it, he taught the next move...

During a break in teaching, Kobe pulled Nash aside and asked, "Is this how you learn skills?"

Nash: “Yeah, what’s wrong?”

Kobe couldn't believe it: "If I teach him this way, can he learn it?"

Nash: "Of course, that's how I taught him three years ago, and he learned it very well. When he joined the Warriors two and a half years ago, he was already very skilled in using my techniques. But he has a shortcoming, which is that he has to master the techniques thoroughly before he is willing to learn new ones, so I want to teach him more..."

Nash was exaggerating about Young's academic talent, but the listeners did the reading comprehension themselves.

Kobe: So this is how you teach others to play basketball. No wonder Jordan, Shannon, and Trevor couldn’t learn the techniques I taught them. It turns out there was something wrong with my teaching posture!
More than half an hour passed quickly, and Gasol came to call the three to go to the office for a meeting, and today's teaching came to a temporary end.

The day after tomorrow is their first game day of the playoffs. Tomorrow they will go to Oklahoma City. They will have a meeting this morning and training in the afternoon to make tactical preparations. The pre-game training on the game day will focus on strategic responses to the day's game.

The first time he attended the Lakers' game preparation meeting, Zhang Yang felt the specialness of this team.

They are the Bobcats, a small group that huddles together and sits casually.

In the 10 Suns playoffs, everyone sat wherever they wanted.

During the fourth peak period of Duncan's career, the Spurs had a weird team atmosphere, but it wasn't a big deal. Players could sit wherever they wanted, and there wasn't much communication between the players anyway.

On the Lakers team, sitting in the front row are him, Kobe, Nash, Artest, and Gasol, and everyone else sits in the back row...it's really classy.

When Ariza was asked in an interview about his feelings when the Lakers won the championship that year, his first adjective was - uncomfortable. Zhang Yang can understand it now.

Around 10 o'clock, a group of people entered the conference room. Zhang Yang looked over and saw several assistant coaches, the general manager, and... Jim Buss, the owner in charge of player operations, and Jeanie Buss, the owner in charge of money.

Where is the head coach?
Kupchak quickly answered Zhang Yang's doubts: "Mike is unable to participate in this year's playoffs due to illness. Dan has to take care of Mike and can't come either. This year's playoffs will be coached by Eddie and Bernie..."

Some players may not understand what Kupchak meant, but how could Zhang Yang not understand it - the D'Antoni brothers were suspended, not fired directly, in order to avoid turmoil in the team at this time.

Zhang Yang looked at Nash. Nash looked very calm. He must have known about it in advance...

He didn't feel much about D'Antoni's firing, but he was ready to learn D'Antoni's run-and-gun style and see if he could combine it with the Spurs system he learned and Gentry's version of the run-and-gun style, and work with Carlisle to come up with a system suitable for the future.

As a result, as soon as he arrived, D'Antoni left!

...

D'Antoni's departure has had no impact on the Lakers' preparations... Zhang Yang really didn't feel any impact on their preparations.

He has not personally participated in the Lakers' preparations, but he can still clearly feel whether the team's preparations are going smoothly.

Offensive assistant coach Eddie Jordan and defensive assistant coach Clifford led the players in preparation training for the game against the Thunder, and everyone seemed to be used to it.

If I have to say what the impact is – the teammates’ enthusiasm for training is particularly high?

During the meeting just now, when Gasol heard that D'Antoni had "taken a sick leave", he couldn't help but smile.

After a round of practice, Zhang Yang knew what their main offensive system was - the triangle offense.

Eddie Jordan is a die-hard fan of the Zen Master. When he coached the Wizards' Big Three, his main attack was the triangle offense with Arenas and Jamison as the core and Caron Butler as the receiving point.

There are also run-and-gun tactics - Nash is the main point guard, Earl Clark and Jamison are the partners in the inside, but there are not many tactics, just a few simple cooperations.

In other words, it is very likely that after that wave of 1 win and 5 losses, it is no longer D'Antoni who truly decides the team's offensive and defensive tactics. D'Antoni may only be responsible for on-the-spot command.

Don't mention it. Zhang Yang didn't notice it before, but now he realizes that the Lakers not only have luxurious names for their core lineup, but also have a very luxurious coaching staff. Even without the D'Antoni brothers, they still seem to have a complete coaching staff...

After a day of preparation training, Zhang Yang clearly understood his main tactical position - a one-on-one player!

His positioning is very similar to Kobe's, but there are differences. He has many tactics for playing the role of an off-ball shooter. In the triangle offense system, if I have to say, he is more like... Michael Jordan?

When Zhang Yang returned home in the evening, he asked the editor for the video of the end of the regular season between the Lakers and Thunder, and watched and analyzed it carefully.

The next day, Zhang Yang left Los Angeles with the Lakers and flew to Oklahoma City.

After checking into the hotel and resting for a while, the phone rang. Zhang Yang answered the call, said a few words, got up, changed into a T-shirt and shorts, went out and took the elevator to the underground garage. As soon as the elevator door opened, Zhang Yang saw a burly man with a face that looked like a Middle Eastern gangster standing outside the elevator with a stern face.

Free America, Zhang Yang was shocked to see such a person.

But when the other party saw him coming, his expression changed instantly, and his fierce and bandit temperament instantly dissipated...

Harden: "Jack, I'm so happy to finally play against you again."

Zhang Yang raised his eyebrows: "We haven't fought for a long time?"

Harden: "After you were traded to the Lakers, didn't our team only play against your team in the game after the All-Star Weekend? I was injured and didn't play that day, but you still lost to us. Have you forgotten?"

Zhang San felt that Erha wanted to take advantage of his team's weakness to bully him. Although he had no evidence, he firmly believed in his guess.

Zhang Yang: "Why do I remember that we just played against each other a lot? Oh, I remember, that was last year's playoffs, not this year. I played 5 games with you and won 4."

Harden: (￣(∞)￣)
I can't argue with Zhang San, what should I do? What about Da Luo? It seems that Da Luo can't argue with Zhang San either, and they will bully me together... Oh, if I had known, I wouldn't have provoked Zhang San secretly. Zhang San is smarter than me, and this trick can be easily cracked by him.

Harden decisively gave up continuing this topic and took Zhang Yang out to eat.

While eating, Harden was chattering away, and Zhang Yang listened patiently to understand Harden's current situation on this timeline.

Indeed, the Harden here is very different from the Harden in Zhang Yang's memory.

More self-centered, more ambitious...mostly, more confident!

Not only did Harden drive Westbrook away, he even wanted to compete with Durant for the top spot!

A trio of similar ages. The one who entered the NBA in the last year wants to make two consecutive jumps to the top spot. There was already a bloody storm when they were fighting for the second spot, and now they have to fight for the top spot. It seems that there will be another bloody storm, but!

When Durant was the boss, Zhang Yang felt that Harden might be able to compete for the top spot smoothly...

Harden here entered the NBA after two years of college, two years later than Durant and one year later than Westbrook, and he is so awesome.

How reckless is that idiot who yells that he will go to North Carolina to fight for the core position and snatch it away if it is not given to him, and wants to enter the NBA after finishing his freshman year?

Zhang Yang is looking forward to it!

...

2013年4月21号，12-13赛季季后赛首个比赛日到了。

The Thunder's record is 63 wins and 19 losses, lower than the Heat's 66 wins and 16 losses. In the first round of this year's playoffs, the Heat will have one more rest day than the Thunder.

The three series between the Knicks and Celtics, the Pacers and Hawks, and the Clippers and Grizzlies will start first, and the series between the Thunder and the Lakers is the highlight of the first game day.

When Zhang Yang saw the record, he felt that the Western Conference was still as wild as ever - the fifth-placed Grizzlies had 55 wins and 27 losses.

However, the sixth-placed Warriors only had 47 wins... This was the playoffs in which Curry officially entered the fan base. After this playoffs, Curry was selected to the All-Star team for 10 consecutive years.

It’s great that in addition to playing the game, I can also re-watch Curry’s first playoff run.

At 8:40 p.m., at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Zhang Yang and his teammates were the first to enter the court amid boos.

Thunder fans are full of hostility towards Zhang Yang. In the Western Conference Finals last season, the Thunder seemed to be on the verge of a comeback, but were suppressed by Zhang Yang's 41 points in a single game.

This year, Zhang Yang's team only finished eighth in the Western Conference, and Thunder fans are eager for revenge!

However, their boos also exposed a hint of timidity. In last year's Western Conference Finals, Durant was not outscored by Zhang Yang... It was not until they saw Kobe still sitting on the sidelines in a suit that Thunder fans felt relieved.

After the players of both teams entered the field, there was little communication before the game.

The two teams have many grievances. In the past three years, the Lakers and Thunder have played against each other twice in the playoffs. The Lakers won in 3 and the Thunder won last season. Last season, the Spurs, where Zhang Yang was, defeated the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals... The hostility between the players is also full.

Off the court, Harden and Zhang Yang were laughing and joking, but on the court, Harden's fierce and fierce temperament was very stable, and he really looked more like a boss than Durant...

Soon, at 9 o'clock in the evening, Gasol beat Perkins to win the jump ball, and the first game of the Lakers' away series against the Thunder began!
Thunder starting lineup: Harden, Sefolosha, Durant, Ibaka, Perkins.

Lakers starting lineup: Nash, Zhang Yang, Earl Clark, Artest, Gasol.

When Nash joined the Lakers, he also had to play like a fish, advancing to the frontcourt and passing the ball to Zhang Yang who was relying on Sefolosha in the high position, and then moving to the corner.

Sefrosa’s defense is very stable, Zhang Yang is very reckless!
Zhang Yang took a step forward, turned around and stepped back, and shot a mid-range shot towards the pressing Sefrosa... and it hit!
(End of this chapter)