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Chapter 582 - 251. The new season he is still the youngest in the league (seeking guaranteed monthly votes)

Chapter 582: 251. The new season he is still the youngest in the league (seeking guaranteed monthly votes)

Learning techniques from watching videos, Grove found this very normal, as Kobe in his early years would watch Magic Johnson, Jordan, and Hardaway’s games and videos to learn techniques.

But to watch a video last night and learn a new technique by today?

Under normal circumstances, Grove wouldn’t believe it.

However, this statement was first mentioned by Ingles, who is known for his old-fashioned personality...

Once Zhang Yang demonstrated the newly learned Nash-style dribbling around cones, step-back shooting, and stride layups, and detailed the "video analysis summary" of movement details and power generation details, Grove believed it.

Because although Zhang Yang had demonstrated the techniques, it was purely based on his solid fundamentals that he managed to execute the actions, the details of the movements and power exertion he mentioned couldn’t be seen at all in his demonstrated techniques, meaning he hadn’t actually practiced them.

What’s key is that the things Zhang Yang "summarized from video analysis" were all considered very spot-on by Grove.

Natural talent for playing, strong learning ability, high basketball IQ... and it seems he also has the potential to be a trainer? It’s infuriating how some people can make one feel so inadequate!

But geniuses of this kind have never been scarce throughout history, and in the basketball world, just speaking of the past 20 years, there have been geniuses like Magic Johnson and Shaq.

After Grove mentally vented his frustration with a "god is girl," he started working overtime, and Ingles was also ready to work extra hours with great enthusiasm.

Although Zhang Yang had already won the FMVP, in everyone’s eyes, he was still in the beginning stages of his career.

Helping such a genius expand his techniques and polish his skills, when Zhang Yang truly becomes a superstar in the future, this will add a glorious entry onto their resumes!

Grove and Ingles discussed and decided to reconstruct Nash’s step-back shot, screen shooting, and stride layups based on Zhang Yang’s physical condition, modifying them to be better suited for Zhang Yang’s techniques.

Merely copying wouldn’t showcase their abilities as top-tier trainers and shooting coaches, right? This required Zhang Yang to constantly test and adjust.

The two lamented that their workload had just increased again this summer.

This was exactly what Zhang Yang wanted, though. Although learning this way was more difficult than copying directly, being able to make it his own was more useful than just learning Nash’s version.

The stout boss and Coach Rondo exchanged glances, deciding to continue with the extra training, waiting for Zhang San to finish his overtime before going to eat together.

Coach Rondo had gotten accustomed to Zhang San’s learning talent by now...

...

In the tedium of re-polishing basic techniques and the joy of developing or rather perfecting those three shooting techniques, Zhang Yang spent day after day.

Because Zhang Yang had already "analyzed" Nash’s three moves thoroughly, and Grove and Ingles were well-acquainted with Zhang Yang’s physical condition, technical style, and playing characteristics, the progress of improving techniques and refining training methods was swift. In a few days, Zhang Yang was ready to start normal training with those few techniques.

After reaching a certain level of practice, adjustments might still be needed, but that would be Ingles’ responsibility later on, and Grove heaved a sigh of relief.

But that relief lasted less than 24 hours; the next afternoon, Zhang Yang produced another breakthrough technique, the Marbury-style crossover...

Two days later, Zhang Yang threw out Tim Hardaway’s crossover step...

Another two days passed, and Zhang Yang executed Iverson’s butterfly step...

And two days after that...

Grove: I’m going to smash Jack’s TV!

One day, Grove couldn’t hold back anymore and asked, "Jack, why are you learning so many breakthrough techniques? Many of them aren’t suitable for you, and it seems you don’t plan to master all of these techniques, do you?"

Zhang Yang: "I want to strengthen my breakthroughs and ball control during them. I thought I would learn more from players who are good at breaking through and see if I can integrate their techniques into mine."

Grove: "..."

With that said, there was really no way for him to refuse.

Many players want to do this kind of thing, but either they lack the cognitive talent, the learning talent, the physical conditioning, or the patience.

It just so happens that bad boy Jack has all these conditions... let’s continue with the overtime!

On the first day of the training camp, he and Ingles joked about having to work overtime all summer. It was just a joke... Jokes shouldn’t be made carelessly! They come true!

4-week training camp, 28 days, it doesn’t mean training continuously for 28 days—there are two rest days each week, which the players decide on. The ones who work continuously for 28 days are Grove, Ingles, and the trainers.

Zhang Yang concentrated his rest days into one week and went back to China on the 2nd to engage in commercial activities.

His performance in commercial activities satisfied the endorsing brands, the media, and the fans; he enjoyed himself a lot and was very involved.

Some stars, having taken the endorsement fee, would attend events with a face as if their father had just died, not even bothering to greet the fans.

Zhang Yang thoroughly enjoyed interacting with fans; those who came to the event were his fans. Displaying a sour face to your own fans would be utterly shameless.

On the 6th, he attended Yao Ming and Ye Li’s wedding in Shanghai. His schedule had been set long ago, and he had specially discussed having the promotional stop on the 5th in Shanghai with AJ.

During the week he was back in China, he didn’t let the two trainers be idle. Before he left, he assigned them homework. When he returned to the Jordan Training Camp dedicated practice court at Tuhang Stadium on the morning of the 9th, he sensed the trainers’ resentful gazes...

The time came to August 13th, and the 28-day training camp finally ended.

Zhang Yang reluctantly bid farewell to Grove and then looked at Ingles with a smiling face.

Ingles really wanted to grab Grove’s sleeve and not let this temporary colleague leave; he couldn’t bear it alone...

After simply learning the training methods for those breakthrough techniques, Zhang Yang practiced them.

Really, Nash’s idea that "you should learn both the breakthroughs that suit you and those that don’t; you might find the right feel" was actually quite effective!

Whether it can rapidly improve his ball sense remains to be seen, because he is after the ball sense of a top-level ball-handler, but learning new breakthrough techniques did give him some new insights into improving his ability to penetrate the defense.

Over the past two days, Zhang Yang, Grove, and Ingles, after the usual training at the camp, had been discussing how to enhance their breakthrough skills.

Before, Grove had taken the lead with Ingles assisting; the former was clearly more exhausted.

But now, with Grove having taken his paycheck and run off, Ingles, as the trainer with the most outstanding and comprehensive abilities on the team, had all the burden on his shoulders!

Felton, who was nearby, recalling Grove and Ingles’ ordeal, said to Rondo, "Rajon, do you think I should change my post-retirement career plans? It seems like being a personal trainer or an assistant coach is pretty tough!"

Rondo: "No need, when it’s your turn to be a trainer, it’s unlikely you’ll encounter a talent like Jack."

Felton thought about it and agreed, but then another thought popped up: "When I retire, Jack will most likely still be playing, right? What if he asks me to be his trainer?"

Rondo: "..."

And that’s actually quite possible! Big Brother would probably retire even later than Coach Rondo, not to mention their 2005 and 2006 classes, even the youngest rookies from the 2007 class are older than Big Brother!

...

With a playful smile at Ingles, Zhang Yang was just teasing this assistant coach who was a bit too old-fashioned.

Ingles was highly involved when he was developing new shooting techniques, but when it came to developing breakthrough skills, Ingles could only help out; the assistant coach wasn’t good at that.

Asking Ingles for ideas was less useful than practicing on his own, pondering by himself, and if he couldn’t figure it out... wasn’t he going to train with Coach Nash at the end of the month anyway?

The training camp was over, and Rondo and Felton planned to rest for a couple of days before practicing on their own. They learned a lot from this camp; after agreeing on a time to meet at the end of the month, the three attendees went their separate ways.

Zhang Yang’s gains from this camp were substantial. When he focused on technical movements, he found most of them became more streamlined. During the regular training sessions in the first two weeks of the camp, he had been polishing up core skills and fundamentals. Later on, he began to apply these details to the techniques he already knew.

Of course, he still had to practice, working hard to make the movements second nature and really effective. And he had to keep at it, otherwise the four weeks of effort would be wasted.

Fortunately, with the remaining month and a half of the off-season, plus the training camp and preseason, there was enough time to prepare for the new season!

...

...

I’m so tired, keeping it short and sharp, asking for monthly tickets!