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Chapter 325 - 157. The Precursor of Ailurophobia_2

Chapter 325: 157. The Precursor of Ailurophobia_2

After dinner, the digestion period had passed, and they all went to the training court where Ingles was already calling the trainers to prepare for the session.

Alan Anderson practiced three-point shots from the wing, Matt Carroll trained on catching and shooting three-pointers after running long distances, and Okafor went to practice post moves, facing up and backing down his opponent.

With Ingles’ help, Rondo continued to adjust his shooting form, correcting his shooting mechanics and power habits. The road was long, and during breaks in his training, he went to help the new "big brother" he acknowledged with small-range coordination.

Rondo acknowledged Felton’s strength—he had solid fundamental skills, good playing habits, and was passionate.

In terms of passing, Rondo felt that when it came to the fundamentals of passing, Felton was better than him with accuracy and strength—both were top-notch—but too rigid, with only two ways of passing: tactical cooperation and intuitive plays.

When tactics and intuitive understanding couldn’t break through, Felton generally wouldn’t pass, even against defense he wouldn’t pass; not seeing more opportunities, he would minimize mistakes as much as possible.

Having been called an offensive organizing genius since he was young, it seemed regretful to Rondo that a player with such good passing fundamentals was so stiff in offense. Yet, he also felt lucky, for if Felton had his talent for organizing offense, there would be no place for him on this team.

Before coming, Rondo was resistant to joining, but after playing a few games and winning continuously, his sense of belonging kept increasing...

Felton didn’t have a great vision on the court, nor a natural talent for making ingenious passes. So teaching him was actually simple; Rondo just needed to share the non-tactical coordination methods he developed while partnering with Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang and Rondo’s offensive organization belonged to an "intuition-based" style, whereas Felton was part of an "experience-based" style.

Felton was very diligent in learning, not ashamed because the other was a rookie. Since little brother often sought advice from Herrmann and Matt Carroll and other role players about shooting techniques, why couldn’t he?

He enjoyed playing as a dual point guard with Rondo, always being able to catch the ball when the opportunity arose. He liked this rookie.

But Rondo’s passing talent still put a lot of pressure on him—he had to improve!

After seeing the rookie’s performance this season, Felton personally felt the existence of genius that ordinary people could hardly match; he didn’t want to fall behind!

...

November 16, the game day of the home match between the Hornets and the Knights arrived.

A massive influx of media poured into Charlotte, and Jordan agreed to press interview requests during the open preparation phase.

If it had been the player-mentality Jordan, he would have definitely declined open interviews, preferring to speak after a win, but now with an owner’s mentality, he knew he had to capitalize on the traffic that James brought in.

Currently, they were still the ones piggybacking off others’ traffic.

The notoriety of the "New Bad Boys Legion" was actually heated up thanks to the high attention around James. Even if it were Wade or Anthony, the media could hardly create such a confrontational topic with much engagement. Only bringing in Kobe could compare.

However, the Hornets players were quite willing to accept interviews.

News coverage, who wouldn’t like it?

And influenced by their ’big-bellied boss,’ they had plenty of comments they wanted to share.

When the media brought up "James carries the dignity of the ’03 class," they all undercut this, stating that Wade and Anthony were more impressive, even bringing up the topic of the 2003-2004 season’s Rookie of the Year for discussion again.

Some even mentioned Milicic, the youngest of the ’03 class, expressing regret that Milicic hadn’t received the same development opportunities as James...

Weren’t they called the "new Bad Boys"? With such a nickname, they had no reservations for sure, as their grudge with the Knights was already quite deep.

As evening arrived, at 6:40 PM, the Knights and the Hornets entered the Tuhang Stadium one after the other.

Last season, facing the nationwide broadcast cameras, James would wear a mask and greet the four core players of the Hornets, but after a postseason face-off, he stopped with the pleasantries.

Yet James’ media resources were truly excellent; when he went to greet others, the commentators said he was magnanimous, and when he didn’t, they said it was the dignity and pride of a superstar.

Zhang Yang noted that the opposing team’s players were basically the same as last season, with Ronald Murray moving to the Pistons, hoping to get closer to the championship. The Knights drafted Daniel Gibson in the second round, a point guard with excellent readiness for three-pointers, as a supplement.

The Knights were really willing to spend money.

They kept Drew Gooden for 3 years and 23 million dollars. Gooden’s highest offer in the free agency was 3 years and 15 million from the Lakers. Initially, the Knights offered 3 years and 20 million, and Gooden was about to join the Lakers, but when the Knights refused to let him go, he signed a qualifying offer. The Knights added an extra 1 million a year and successfully retained him.

The Mid-Level Exception was also used by the Knights, signing David Wesley from the Rockets and Scott Pollard from the Pacers to strengthen the depth at point guard and center. But neither of these players had played this season; Mike Brown’s reason was that they didn’t fit their style of play.

The inappropriateness, Zhang Yang felt, must be true; it was clear to see that the Knights signed these two players just for their big names. David Wesley, the lead point guard of the iron-blooded Hornets around the turn of the century; and Pollard, the backup center of the glitzy Kings, one of the main 8-player rotation.

As for the Knights, their money had gone down the drain again.

Come 7 PM, Okafor won the jump ball against Big Z, and the much-anticipated battle, "James VS the New Bad Boys Legion," "The Dignity of the ’03 Draft Class," began.