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Chapter 562 - 243. Battle the Harden version of the Thunder!

Chapter 562: 243. Battle the Harden version of the Thunder!

Nash began teaching Zhang Yang more variations of the rhythm-driven breakthrough, and Zhang Yang focused on learning.

Kobe couldn’t accept it!

Standing by and watching, he wanted to see for himself how this old codger, who’d never even played in the Finals, could be better than his own ironworking self.

Then, he saw Nash demonstrate a move a few times, explain the details of the force application, and after Zhang Yang remembered it, Nash would teach another move...

During a teaching break, Kobe pulled Nash aside and asked, "Is this how you teach technique?"

Nash: "Yeah, what about it?"

Kobe, incredulous, "He can learn like this?"

Nash: "Of course, that’s how I taught him three years ago, and he learned really well. Two and a half years ago, when he went to the Warriors, he was already very skilled in using my moves. The problem with him is that he doesn’t want to learn new techniques until he’s completely mastered the old ones, so I want to teach him more..."

Nash was praising Zhang Yang’s talent for learning, but the listener made their own reading comprehension.

Kobe: So that’s how you’re supposed to teach basketball, no wonder Jordan, Shannon, and Trevor couldn’t learn the techniques I taught them. It turns out my teaching approach was wrong!

More than half an hour went by quickly, and Gasol came to call the three of them to the office for a meeting, marking a temporary end to today’s teaching session.

The day after tomorrow was their first game of the playoffs, and they would be heading to Oklahoma City tomorrow. This morning’s meeting and this afternoon’s practice aimed to get the tactical preparation right, while the pregame practice on the day of the game would focus on in-game strategic adjustments.

In his "first" Lakers’ preparation meeting, Zhang Yang could feel what made this team special.

His Bobcats team would huddle in small groups, sitting wherever they wanted.

In the 2010 playoffs with the Suns, everyone also sat casually.

The Spurs team, during Duncan’s fourth peak period, had a strange atmosphere, but there were no strict seating rules; teammates didn’t communicate much, so they sat wherever they liked.

At the Lakers, those sitting at the very front were him, Kobe, Nash, Artest, and Gasol, with everyone else behind... indeed, there was a hierarchy.

When Ariza was interviewed about his feelings during the Lakers’ championship year, the first adjective he used was "uncomfortable," a sentiment Zhang Yang now understood.

Nearing 10 o’clock, a group of people entered the meeting room. Zhang Yang looked over and saw several assistant coaches, the general manager, and... the owners responsible for player operations, Jim Buss, and the owner in charge of finances, Jeanie Buss.

Where was the head coach?

Kupchak quickly resolved Zhang Yang’s confusion, "Mike is unable to attend this year’s playoffs due to illness, and Dan can’t make it either since he’s looking after Mike. The playoffs will be coached by Eddie and Bernie in their stead..."

Maybe some of the players didn’t understand what Kupchak meant, but Zhang Yang understood clearly—The D’Antoni brothers had been suspended but not directly fired to avoid any disruption at this point in the season.

Zhang Yang to Nash, who appeared very calm, must have known in advance...

As for D’Antoni’s dismissal, he didn’t feel much of anything—after all, he had prepared to thoroughly learn D’Antoni’s run-and-gun style to see if he could combine it with what he had learned from the Spurs system and Gentry’s version of the run-and-gun, and work with Carlisle to create a system suited for the future.

But just as he arrived, D’Antoni left!

...

D’Antoni’s departure didn’t really affect the Lakers’ preparation for the game... Zhang Yang hadn’t personally been involved in the Lakers’ preparations, but he could clearly sense whether the prep work was going smoothly or not.

Offensive assistant coach Eddie Jordan and defensive assistant coach Clifford led the team in preparations for the Thunder, and everyone seemed quite accustomed to it.

If there was any impact—were his teammates unusually enthusiastic in training?

During the meeting, when it was mentioned that D’Antoni was ’on leave due to illness,’ Gasol could hardly keep his composure.

After going through one round of training, Zhang Yang understood what the offense’s main system was—Triangle Offense.

Eddie Jordan was a loyal follower of the Zen Master, and when he coached the Wizards’ Big Three, he was mainly using a triangle offense centered around Arenas and Jamison, with Caron Butler as the linking point.

There were also run-and-gun tactics—with Nash running the point, Earl Clark and Jamison partnering in the frontcourt, but there were just a few simple cooperations, not many tactics.

Which is to say, it’s very possible that after that streak of 1 win and 5 losses, the true decision-makers for the team’s offensive and defensive tactics were already not the D’Antoni brothers—D’Antoni might have only been responsible for the in-game coaching.

Not to mention, Zhang Yang hadn’t noticed before, but now he realized that aside from the core roster’s impressive names, the Lakers had an extraordinarily luxurious coaching staff. Even without the D’Antoni brothers, the team still appeared to have a complete coaching staff...

After a day of preparation training, Zhang Yang had a clear understanding of his main tactical positioning—A one-on-one player!

His role was similar to Kobe’s, but with a distinction. He had quite a few plays as an off-ball shooter, and in the triangle offense system, if it had to be said, he was more like... Michael Jordan?

Returning home in the evening, Zhang Yang requested the Lakers’ and Thunder’s late-season game footage from the video editor and scrutinized 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 bit, his phone rang.

Zhang Yang answered the phone, said a few words, got up to change into a T-shirt and shorts, and left his apartment to take the elevator down to the underground parking garage. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Zhang Yang saw a burly man with a face resembling a Middle Eastern bandit, standing outside the elevator with a stern expression.

In the land of the free, the sight of such a person gave Zhang Yang quite a scare.

But when the man saw him, his expression changed instantly, and the bandit-like demeanor disappeared...

Harden, "Jack, I’m finally going to face you again, and I’m simply so happy about it."

Zhang Yang raised an eyebrow, "We haven’t faced each other in a while?"

Harden, "After you were traded to the Lakers, didn’t our team only face yours once, after the All-Star weekend? I was injured that day and didn’t play. You guys still lost to us, don’t you remember?"

Zhang Yang felt Harden wanted to take advantage of his team’s weakness to thrash him, and although he had no evidence, he firmly believed in his guess.

Zhang Yang, "How come I remember us just having played a lot of games? Oh, I remember now, that was last year’s playoffs, not this year. I played against you guys for 5 games and won 4."

Harden, (￣(∞)￣)

Second Brother Harden couldn’t win the argument against Zhang San, what to do? Big Luo? It seems Big Luo also can’t win against Zhang San, and they’ll even gang up on me... Whine whine whine, if I had known, I wouldn’t have provoked Zhang San covertly. Zhang San’s brain works better than mine, and he easily cracks these little tricks.

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

While eating, Harden chattered away, and Zhang Yang listened patiently, getting to know the recent situation of this timeline’s Harden.

Indeed, this Harden was very different from the Harden Zhang Yang remembered.

More self-centered, more ambitious... and mainly, more confident!

Harden had not only driven Westbrook away but even wanted to contend with Durant for the top spot!

The trio of similar age, with the last one to enter the NBA thinking of double-jumping to the top spot, already caused a bloody storm over the second spot. Now aiming for the top, it seemed like another bloody storm was brewing, but!

When Durant was the top dog, Zhang Yang felt Harden’s challenge for the top spot might go smoothly...

This Harden had still spent two years in college before entering the NBA, two years later than Durant and one year later than Westbrook, and he was already so fierce.

What about the Harden from his place who roared about seizing the core position at North Carolina and threatened to snatch it if he couldn’t get it, and wanted to enter the NBA right after his freshman year? How reckless would he be?

Zhang Yang was very much looking forward to it!

...

April 21, 2013, the first game day of the 12-13 season playoffs arrived.

The Thunder Team ended the season with a 63-19 record, below the Miami Heat’s 66-16. This year, for the first round of the playoffs, the Miami Heat had one more rest day than the Thunder Team.

The series between the Knicks Team and the Celtics, Pacers and Hawks team, and Clippers and Grizzlies started first, while the series between the Thunder Team and the Lakers was the highlight of the first game day.

When Zhang Yang saw the standings, he felt the West was still as wild—fifth place Grizzlies with a 55-27 record.

But the sixth-placed Warriors only had 47 wins... This was the playoffs that marked Curry’s grand entrance and caught the fans’ attention. After these playoffs, Curry became an All-Star for the next ten consecutive years.

Apart from playing, watching Curry’s rise in his first playoffs again was great.

By 8:40 pm, at the Ford Center Arena in Oklahoma City, Zhang Yang and his teammates were the first to enter the court amidst boos.

The Thunder Team fans were full of hostility towards Zhang Yang because in last season’s Western Conference Finals, just as the Thunder Team seemed to be turning the tables, Zhang Yang’s 41 points in a single game crushed their hopes.

This year, with Zhang Yang’s team only securing the eighth spot in the West, the Thunder Team fans were eager for revenge!

But the boos also revealed a hint of timidity; even Durant couldn’t outscore Zhang Yang in last year’s conference finals... It was only after seeing that Kobe was still wearing a suit and sitting on the sidelines that the Thunder Team fans felt much more at ease.

After both teams’ players entered the court, there wasn’t much interaction before the game.

The two teams had a lot of grievances. In the past three years, the Lakers and the Thunder Team faced off twice in the playoffs, with the Lakers winning in ’10 and the Thunder Team winning last season, not to mention Zhang Yang’s Spurs eliminating the Thunder Team in last year’s Western Conference Finals... Hostility between the players was at its peak.

On the outside, Harden and Zhang Yang were all laughs, but once on the court, Harden held that bandit-like demeanor very steadily, seemingly possessing a more leader-like aura than Durant...

Soon, at 9 pm, Gasol won the tip-off against Perkins, and the first game of the series between the Lakers and the Thunder Team on the Lakers’ home court began!

The Thunder Team starting lineup: Harden, Sefolosha, Durant, Ibaka, Perkins.

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

Once Nash got to the Lakers, he had to follow their style and, after advancing to the frontcourt, passed the ball to the high post where Zhang Yang, guarded closely by Sefolosha, spread out to the corner.

Sefolosha defended solidly, but Zhang Yang was audacious!

Zhang Yang took one step to set up his shot, turned around for a step-back jumper, and, facing the approaching Sefolosha, released a mid-range shot... and it hit!