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Chapter 584 - 252. The Lynx Edition of the Siberian Husky Raising Diary_2

Chapter 584: 252. The Lynx Edition of the Siberian Husky Raising Diary_2

Next is Okafor’s final rookie contract year of 5.43 million, Perkins’s 4-year 16 million...

Zhang Yang: "Mike Miller seems to be coming off the bench next season, Nazr, Brian Cardinal are also bench players, with a salary cap of 58 million, the bench’s salary proportion is indeed very high, those three plus Patrick, you Allen, have salaries exceeding 27 million, close to half the salary cap."

When Matt comes back, he will definitely be playing off the bench too, his and Mike Miller’s defense are both terrible, plus me, if the three of us take up two starting spots, there would be no defense on the wings and guards.

The owner and Bernie have been trying to find a good defensive small forward, and our current total salary... 51 million. A defensively good enough small forward to start would need at least three to four million, right? We really can’t offer Matt more than 3 million a year.

And giving short contracts, only this way next summer, in the summer of ’09, can we make good use of the salary space created by the rookie contracts of me, Raymond, Rajon, and Paul to bring in forwards."

Alan Anderson: "Yeah, looking at our salary situation, once Emeka, you Jack, and Raymond all re-sign, the ’09-10 season total salary is headed towards 80 million, we’d even have to pay the tax, why do you guys always think Michael is stingy?"

Indeed, why do they always think that Joe, the boss, is stingy? Zhang Yang wondered the same thing but stubbornly retorted: "Alan, how can you side with the capitalists? We’re all hardworking workers, we need to stick together!"

Felton: "..."

Alan Anderson: "..."

The little brother (Third Brother) is truly stubborn!

But you know, Zhang Yang’s attitude toward salary made them think of NFL players.

Those guys, no matter how high their salaries, are always fighting with the owners for benefits, and every time the labor agreement expires, they band together to demand a raise. They do indeed live more lavishly than NBA players...

So, even though Zhang Yang is being stubborn and unreasonable about this, they didn’t feel that there’s anything wrong with it.

The three scrolled through the news for a while, the soap opera progressed, the Grizzlies had big ambitions, trying to bring in Ray Allen while still having space, but negotiations broke down with the SuperSonics who wanted Gasol.

The Trail Blazers’ offer of Randolph, who averages 20+10 a year, for Pierce was rejected.

Dream shattered, the Trail Blazers immediately sent Randolph to the Knicks, getting back Channing Frye, James Jones, and others.

Felton: "Ainge must be pissed, the Trail Blazers are treating him like a fool."

Zhang Yang: "After being rejected by Ainge, the Trail Blazers completed a trade with Thomas the very next day. Ainge is being treated like a fool, Thomas is truly... hmm."

Felton: "Does Thomas only look at the data when signing contracts, making trades? I used to like him quite a bit, now just seeing his name makes me feel... hmm."

As the conversation went on, Felton suddenly became melancholic: "Jack, what’s wrong with me? This summer, every time I see other teams making good trades, signings, I get unbearably jealous, but last summer I wasn’t like this, back then as long as I made progress in training I was happy, I wouldn’t care about which players other teams signed, I wouldn’t specifically compare us with other teams..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang pondered for a moment, organized his thoughts, and said: "Our mindset changes with our environment, last summer we were just a playoff team, 45 wins, we didn’t have much ambition then, but now it’s different, we’ve tasted the wonderful feeling of lifting the O’Brien Trophy, of course we want to lift it once more... But this is a good thing, where free agents will go, how other teams will trade, and whether players are willing to come to us, these are not things we can control. Eventually, we will convert all of this into our own motivation, and strive to become stronger!"

After listening, Felton’s thoughts became straightforward once more, and he said: "Right, it’s most important for us to become stronger ourselves, let’s go train! Oh Jack, I saw that you seem to have developed a new step-back move, come help me!"

Zhang Yang naturally agreed, and the three of them went to the locker room to change into training gear and warm up.

Fifteen minutes later, Alan Anderson, with the help of a trainer, practiced running from one side of the three-point line to the baseline and then to the other side to catch and shoot long shots. This was Carlisle’s arrangement, increasing his offensive spacing.

Starting from standing at the wing to create space, if his defender collapses to help, he would wait ready for a catch-and-shoot opportunity, if not, he’d cut to the basket along the baseline, and if still not receiving the ball, he’d slide along the baseline towards the other three-point line...

From this setup, Zhang Yang saw one of Carlisle’s coaching characteristics—emphasizing space creation, player and ball movement, increasing the tactical role of role players, and reducing the workload for star players.

The Pacers got off to a hot start in the 04-05 season, with Artest and Jermaine O’Neal playing simply and easily, racking up a record of 6 wins and 1 loss.

A little-known fact, just before the Auburn Palace brawl broke out, the Pacers were thrashing the Pistons with a 15-point lead with only 15 seconds left in the game. Artest had easily scored 24 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals, and Jermaine O’Neal was also grinning with his 20 points and 13 rebounds... That night, the two of them were basically rubbing Ben Wallace down on the court. Ben Wallace, frustrated, pushed Artest, which led to the well-known Auburn Palace incident.

In Zhang Yang’s memory, the Mavericks during the 10-11 season had a similar playing style, but even more extreme. By that time, Nowitzki didn’t even bother to go for rebounds, devoting himself entirely to scoring and defending under the rim, averaging 23 points but only 7 rebounds a game. In the era of modern basketball, the disparity in Nowitzki’s scoring and rebounding that season was the second-highest among power forwards, with the highest being Stoudemire in the 04-05 season, who averaged 26 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

Zhang Yang didn’t go to talk with Carlisle about the ’Spurs system,’ ’Gentry style run-and-gun,’ and other offensive systems right away, he decided to wait until Carlisle had control of the team before considering it.

Carlisle hadn’t even officially coached the team yet, and getting involved hastily could potentially interfere with his progress in taking control of the team.

Moreover, although unlikely, what if Carlisle couldn’t coach the team?

Zhang Yang and Felton began practicing step-back jump shots.

Felton tried to emulate the step-back jump shot moves and power techniques as explained by Zhang Yang, but it didn’t feel right.

"Jack, why does it feel so awkward to practice this? Everything feels off."

Zhang Yang: "This type of step-back relies heavily on rhythm. It’s all about creating a difference in pace. If you’re not used to playing off the rhythm, you’ll need more practice and time to adapt."

Felton: "Oh, so there’s a possibility I won’t be able to learn it? That’s okay. Like you said, another reference won’t hurt. Jack, could you help me think of something?"

Zhang Yang: "Think of what? What’s up?"

Felton: "I want to expand my shooting range, but I’m not sure where to start. Should I tighten it up from the three-point line, taking mid-range pull-up jumpers? Or should I expand out from the paint, broadening my close-range shooting area?"

Fatso really has become ambitious, thinking about expanding his shooting range! Zhang San felt very pleased.

Zhang Yang: "The mid-range area is too vast, it’s hard to see results in a short time. Expand from inside out... let me think..."

Zhang Yang looked up at the ceiling, recalling the last experience with the Thunder Team.

From Game 3, Harden increased his offensive attacks, and although his shooting percentage dropped significantly, he helped Durant maintain continuity. The most frequent play Harden used in his personal offense was...

Zhang Yang: "Got it. You make a quick stop at your comfortable short-range floater spot and take a step-back shot!

Your short-range floater poses a significant threat, so defenders will definitely cover that space. If you stop suddenly there and step back, the defender might be at the limit of their defensive movement, allowing you to shoot directly;

If the opposing big man continues to close in, the space behind him at the rim becomes even larger, and you can throw an alley-oop—that would require coordination with the cutting player.

If it’s a perimeter defender who comes in to help, you’ll be farther from the basket, with a better view of both wings, creating better conditions for passing..."

As Zhang San was saying all this, a husky in the neighboring town of Chapel Hill sneezed...

...

...

Busy day, late update today, another Chapter tonight ~ asking for a guaranteed monthly ticket!