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Chapter 293 - 145. Big bird, put away that damn pass and shoot the basket with me! (2/5)

Chapter 293: 145. Big bird, put away that damn pass and shoot the basket with me! (2/5)

Zhang Yang always felt confused whenever he talked about Bird with others.

It’s well known that Jordan’s teaching ability is poor.

But even Bird, a player hailed as having the best technical skills in history, apparently never had any disciples either. During the years when he was a general manager, he picked quite a few front-line talents, but rarely did anyone mention learning any skills from him.

Now he understood; when it came to teaching ability, Bird and the God of Basketball were truly hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

They both lacked patience and were very stream-of-consciousness in their approach.

Zhang Yang guessed that when Bird taught McHale, he often said things like "He runs over from there, you pass like this," "You turn like this, and you’ll get past him," "You do this and that..."

Just now, Bird could articulate terms like ’baseline of the key,’ ’weak side baseline,’ and ’wing around the post’ because Zhang San worked hard to understand and actively asked questions, prompting Bird to turn "here and there, this way and that" into these terms.

It was only because he, Zhang San, had the audacity to ask. In the future, when Bird became a general manager or a head coach, with his tyrant-like leadership style, how many players would dare to ask?

Compared to Jordan, Bird’s advantage was that his style of play was more "down to earth." If you could tolerate his sharp tongue, be patient, and toughen up, you could gradually learn. Even if you didn’t master the techniques, you could still pick up some practical playing skills.

The things Jordan taught were truly impossible to learn, and Zhang Yang knew this from experience. Even Grove hinted that he shouldn’t learn to play like Jordan, and not even to consider his experience, as it would mess up his playing habits.

They say that the "Jordan heirs" have a high success rate—no wonder. Those who could be called "Jordan’s successors" had physical qualities that, if not ranked one or two in the league, were definitely among the very best. They could earn a decent salary in the NBA even without much effort.

As for "Bird’s successors," there were hardly any that could run and jump well.

Luckily, even though Zhang San wasn’t fond of organizing offense, he had enough talent for it and a strong understanding of tactics, so he managed to understand "Bird language." The learning of high-post backdown and playmaking was progressing smoothly.

On the first day off, head coach K.C. Jones didn’t arrange any training sessions. At this point in the season, no one came in for extra practice; they all rested well.

For non-white players playing in Boston, there’s an ’advantage,’ which is the ability to really focus on basketball, resting well during off time and training hard during practice.

Because it’s difficult for them to find entertainment outside.

Not to mention the 1980s, even in 2010, when Rondo went to a nightclub in Boston, he encountered a drunk white man who called him a n****r, asking him to pose for a photo with some girls. Rondo, with his volatile temper, spat in the guy’s face on the spot and then a fight broke out... In the end, Rondo was sentenced to 24 hours of community service, while the white man got off by paying bail.

On the 2nd and 3rd, the Celtics practiced as a team, not very intensively, just running through offensive and defensive tactics against the Lakers.

Zhang Yang tried out his techniques; they were the same as when he had finished his special training. His body was now better able to accomplish the movements he thought of, his shots more accurate. The details that Grove had helped to adjust were already fine-tuned and integrated seamlessly into practice.

During the team training phase, Zhang Yang finally understood what the historical message of "paying a lot for the second pick" meant. With him included, the team barely had six competent players. Moreover, the quality players who had left were all in their mid-twenties, which meant that if Red Auerbach hadn’t successfully pulled off a trade for the second draft pick using his influence, those players could have been the future core set to take over from Dennis Johnson, Parish, Ainge, and Walton.

If Len Bias hadn’t had that incident and had become a star, even just an All-Star, it wouldn’t have been a loss. But with Bias gone, the current main players would eventually age. If it weren’t for him, Zhang San, once those main players became old, attracting top-tier players to join would be difficult.

The light workload during team practice suited Zhang Yang just fine. Once it was over, he went to argue with Bird while learning to organize play from the high-post backdown position.

Three days flew by, and Bird’s round of teaching was over.

At first, Zhang Yang had many complaints about Bird’s way of teaching, to the point where the stingy Bird threatened to raise the price of drinks.

But as he learned, Zhang Yang started to feel that Bird’s teaching style was actually good for him.

Bird taught in a very intuitive way, and what he learned was the instinctive element of high-post backdown playmaking, not the rigid memorization of set play passing.

Like the post moves he learned, while his moves and posture differed greatly from Bird’s, onlookers still felt that he had captured the essence, a certain Bird-like flair...

...

On June 5, 1987, at 7:40 PM, at The Forum in Los Angeles, Zhang Yang and his teammates walked into the arena to the sound of boos.

Ever since their arrival at the Los Angeles airport yesterday, Zhang Yang had felt the ’enthusiasm’ of the Lakers fans.

Lakers fans, typically too proud to bother booing other teams, became as rowdy as those from Salt Lake City when facing the Celtics.

When the Lakers players entered, the fans erupted in intense cheers, more passionate than at any other playoff game that year.

The Lakers fans wanted to use their most enthusiastic cheering to boost their team’s morale.

Although the media were saying that their chances of winning were higher this year, the Celtics were their opponents... This was the 10th Finals meeting between the two teams, and in the previous nine, the Celtics had won eight times, while the Lakers had claimed a mere one victory.

After all the players had entered the court, Zhang Yang got up to shoot around to test his shot.

The height of the basketball hoop was standard, not even slightly askew. That little kid, currently only a few years old, was still in Milan, fretting over whether to be a goalkeeper or a basketball player.

Zhang Yang glanced towards the scorer’s table, where the Bird was arguing with the Magician. On the sidelines, Hollywood stars were clustered together.

Many retired legends were also present, mainly idols from both teams, like the Logo Man, Chamberlain, Baylor, Russell, Havlicek, Bob Cousy...

By 8 p.m., the 10th showdown between the Celtics and the Lakers officially began.

In the first quarter, Zhang Yang got a taste of what "showtime" meant.

They struggled to score 28 points in the quarter, while the other side surged to 34 points with a fierce rush.

In the second quarter, the opponents’ performance was even more brutal. They defended so well that they held Zhang Yang’s team to 26 points and scored 35 points themselves.

By halftime, the point difference had already reached 15.

Every player from the Lakers who stepped onto the court could score!

Whenever Zhang Yang was on the court, before he knew it, the Magician had already passed the ball to a suitable teammate, and the Lakers simply had to catch the ball to shoot or send it to someone in a better position.

Watching videos felt okay, but it was only in actual combat that he realized how terrifying the Magician’s passes were!

The concerns Bird had a few days ago turned out to be true—the Lakers had used their 1-4 position’s tall stature to cut off Dennis Johnson’s breakthrough and distribute.

Though there was a rule against double-teaming in the paint, the Lakers, in their ultimate understanding of each other, could avoid defenders for three seconds, which was enough time to intercept the passing routes at the perfect moment when Dennis Johnson tried to pass.

During the halftime break, Auerbach personally came to the locker room to discuss counter-strategies with KC Jones, but it’s hard to cook without rice. They had strategies in mind, but their hands were tied with only six players—there were only so many changes they could make, and the opponents had them figured out.

Just as Auerbach and KC Jones anticipated, in the third quarter, their situation did not improve, finishing the quarter with a score of 28 to 32. After three quarters, the score was 82 to 101, and they were trailing by 19 points.

On their end, scoring was either McHale or Bird drawing a double team and passing out, allowing a teammate to shoot directly, or it was just one-on-one for points, without effective team coordination.

By the last quarter, Zhang Yang didn’t care anymore—he grabbed the ball and shot!

Against a taller Magician, he executed a stop-and-pop jumper on a breakthrough, and if met with help defense, he still shot; against a shorter Byron Scott, he would back down at the free-throw line, pivot for a break if Scott stayed close, or turn for a jumper if not, and shot forcefully if confronted with a wing double team...

As long as he had the ball, he would shoot!

KC Jones had already run out of ideas, thinking the game was over, and the Lakers thought the first game was in the bag... However, Zhang Yang suddenly scored 11 points in half a quarter; plus a step-back three-pointer from Bird, an offensive rebound turned into a 2+1, the two together scored 17 points, making a run of 17-10, closing the gap to 12 points, with the score at 99 to 111!

The Lakers quickly tightened their game, thankfully not losing their rhythm, and scored 15 points in the second half of the quarter, resisting the combined 20 points comeback onslaught from Zhang Yang, Bird, McHale, and Ainge.

Zhang Yang scored 16 points in the last quarter, totaling 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists for the game. Bird added 10 points in the last quarter, totaling 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists for the game.

Despite the rally of 37-25 in the last quarter led by both players, the gap from earlier was too large and they ultimately lost the away game to the Lakers with a score of 119 to 126.

Of the nine players who played for the Celtics, only seven scored, with five scoring in double figures—McHale 18 points, Parish 16 points, Ainge 14 points, Dennis Johnson 5 points, and Walton 4 points.

On the Lakers’ side, all 11 players who played scored, with the Magician notching 19 points, 8 rebounds, 13 assists, James Worthy 23 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists, Cooper 10 points, 4 assists... The entire team tallied up to 35 assists, shooting through the roof!

Nevertheless, while the Lakers won, the Celtics’ last-quarter surge gave them quite a scare.

Bird’s and Zhang Yang’s one-on-one plays, when they got fierce, were virtually unstoppable!

The Lakers players were well aware of Bird’s strength, but Zhang Yang... wasn’t just good at scoring or accurate at shooting; what made Zhang Yang seem dangerous to them was that he was completely unpredictable!

They expected Zhang Yang to shoot the shots he should, and he did. The ones they thought he wouldn’t shoot, he shot them anyway! McHale managed to score 8 points in the latter half of the last quarter, with 6 of them coming from offensive rebounds...

On the other side, after the loss, Zhang Yang and Bird stood on the sidelines with their hands on their hips.

Zhang Yang said, "Bird, ditch that damn organizing offense and just shoot the ball with me!"

...

...

Sorry for the wait, Little Wind seemed to have dozed off around one or two in the morning. By then, this Chapter was nearly written... It’s a bit shorter with the added update, the next one will be longer.