Chapter 50 50. Apply eye drops first

On the afternoon of March 3th, the Spurs came to the FedEx Center in Memphis to prepare for tomorrow's game.

The training intensity was not high, and it was mainly to help Duncan practice his positioning.

After Zhang Yang finished training a group and was replaced, he came to Popovich and said, "Greg, the group of people in the training ground next door may be our opponents in the first round."

Yes, he came to Popovich to provoke him.

"Hmm?" Popovich looked at Zhang Yang in confusion, then turned back to look at the court and said, "Jack, you are still too young. Although you have a lot of basketball talent, your judgment of the team's strength is still a little lacking. Although the Grizzlies' average net score is lower than that of the Hornets, they have good defense. At this stage, they will definitely perform better than the Hornets. The Grizzlies will be seventh in the Western Conference, and our first-round opponent is the Hornets."

Zhang Yang: "You are right. The Grizzlies are stronger than the Hornets. They have the ability to win more games than the Hornets at this stage, but the Grizzlies may not want to win so many games. They may choose to lose two more games and pick us."

Popovich: “Huh???”

He wanted to ask the team doctor to take Zhang Yang's temperature. Did this kid have a fever and his brain was confused? This was nonsense.

Zhang Yang continued: "I predict that they will choose to avoid the Lakers and pick us."

Popovich wanted to refute this statement, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was not impossible!
Indeed, the two-time defending champion Lakers, although only ranked fourth in the league, are still the strongest team in the league in the eyes of most people. Last season, the Lakers were not number one in the league. Looking at history, the probability of the league's number one winning the championship is not very high.

Popovich thought about the three previous games against the Grizzlies and this possibility became even higher...

He looked at Zhang Yang and asked, "Are you sure that the Grizzlies will challenge us? Do you think they have the confidence to challenge the No. 1 team in the league?"

"Because of Zach Randolph, I looked at the statistics of our first three games against the Grizzlies. After losing weight, Tim couldn't stand up to Randolph..."

As he spoke, Zhang Yang grabbed the evil hand that was reaching for his head and placed it on his shoulder.

He noticed that Duncan was walking towards him and said those words deliberately, and continued to pour the eye drops!
Duncan: "..."

He didn't really have to touch Zhang Yang's head, he just wanted to use body language to let Zhang Yang not worry, he could handle it, and if he couldn't, he would find a way to handle it.

But now he wanted to touch it, so he raised his hand and continued to reach towards Zhang Yang's head. Zhang Yang dodged, and he chased after him. He continued to touch, and Zhang Yang continued to hide...

Popovich looked at the two people who suddenly turned into funny people with a frown on his face. He quietly moved away, ashamed to be in their company.

After leaving the range of the head-patting game between the two, Popovich began to seriously think about Zhang Yang's speculation. He flipped through his little notebook. He prepared a different little notebook for each opponent.

I flipped through the details of the first three games against the Grizzlies... and frowned.

Although the Grizzlies had 2 wins and 1 loss in the first three encounters, they won twice, one of which was a narrow win in overtime, and the other was a 36-25 comeback in the final quarter, ultimately winning by 7 points.

3次交手，兰多夫分别拿到24分21板、24分17板、21分16板。

Duncan did a good job in one-on-one defense. Randolph's success rate in singles was not high, but when Randolph missed a shot, he could grab the offensive rebounds himself, and Duncan couldn't stop him at all. In 3 games, Randolph got 31 offensive rebounds and scored a total of 34 points from offensive rebounds.

Before it happened, Popovich felt like he was slapped in the face. Jack's guess might come true! The more he thought about it, the more likely it was! He didn't care about being slapped in the face. He just thought positively. A player with strategic vision appeared in the team. His mood suddenly became much better.

Zhang Yang escaped from Duncan's clutches, and Duncan gave up after chasing him for two steps when he couldn't catch up.

Popovich called Duncan over, showed him the notebook, repeated Zhang Yang's speculation in conjunction with his analysis, and then asked, "Do you think the Grizzlies will pick us?"

Duncan: “It’s possible.”

Popovich: "What are the odds?"

Duncan: "90%, there is a 10% chance that the Hornets don't want to play the Lakers either."

Popovich: "The Hornets don't dare, the Rockets are chasing them."

Duncan: “100 percent.”

Please finish your sentence, Popovich muttered to himself, and said: "It seems that we need to change our first-round imaginary opponent..."

He had been using conventional thinking to determine who he would play against in the first round. After more than a month of observation after the All-Star Weekend, he determined that the Grizzlies were the strongest of the six teams competing for the seventh and eighth spots, the Hornets were second, and there was a clear gap in strength between the two teams. So in the past few days, he has begun to prepare for the playoffs with the Hornets as his imaginary enemy.

Thinking about it now, I feel a little scared. We were already unstable against the Grizzlies. If the Grizzlies suddenly lost and dropped to eighth place in the last two or three games, we might be caught off guard.

Duncan: "I can hold my own against Randolph."

"..." Popovich was speechless again, and said, "Tim, please call Mike over for me, thank you."

...

The next morning, the Spurs resumed their tactical training session.

The tactical plan has been greatly adjusted compared to yesterday afternoon's training, and Zhang Yang is very happy.

The reason why he reminded them yesterday was because he didn't realize how much the team valued the Grizzlies. He only realized then that he felt that the Grizzlies could only choose them as opponents. This was based on the known future. Under normal circumstances, no one would think that the Hornets' final record would be better than the Grizzlies.

Moreover, when it comes to picking opponents, it is usually the higher-ranked team that picks the lower-ranked team. For example, a few years ago, the Mavericks picked the Warriors as their opponent in the first round. I have never heard of a lower-ranked team voluntarily losing and choosing to play against the league's top team.

Fortunately, the eye drops worked! Popovich has taken the Grizzlies seriously and adjusted the tactics. The tactics in yesterday's training were all conventional tactics.

However, there seems to be something wrong with this tactical plan...

After practice, when Popovich announced tonight's starting lineup, he finally knew what was wrong...

At 7:40 p.m., at the entrance of the visiting team's player tunnel at FedEx Center, Zhang Yang did not stand outside in a row with his substitute teammates as before, but followed Parker into the spotlight.

Zhang Yang will replace Ginobili as the starting player tonight! This is his first start in his career!
Entering the stadium and listening to the crazy boos from the fans, Zhang Yang was very calm. He knew that he was too excited when he was about to start, and he had to stay calm now. Starting means that he will take on greater responsibilities. His tactical role in the offense of the starting lineup is also very important and he must play well!
(End of this chapter)