No.1 in basketball scoring
Chapter 609: The three bald guys make a stunning appearance, and the bad boy comes on last.

Chapter 609: The three bald guys make a stunning appearance, and the bad boy comes on last.

"Jack, even though you are physically fit, you excel in rhythm and coordination, your explosive power isn’t exactly top-notch, not suited for my style of breakthrough," Hill said with slight hesitation, deciding to be upfront about it.

He believed that the tough-minded Jack wouldn’t be discouraged by this revelation.

As Hill expected, Zhang Yang nodded in agreement: "I know, even if I manage to shake off my defender, I wouldn’t be able to blow by them in an instant like you and Iverson, and this move could easily lead to injuries, too. It’s only players like Iverson, who don’t even weigh 170 pounds (about 75 kilograms), whose knees and ankles can withstand it. I just want to improve my ability to penetrate and learn more ways of breaking through to see if I can get inspired."

Hill replied, "Right, this move is only appropriate for smaller guards. If I could go back 20 years to my high school days, I would have changed my playing style. Back then, I wasn’t as strong as you are now, but I was about the same height. It’s great that you understand this."

Zhang Yang continued, "Actually, I practiced it for two days in July, but I couldn’t get the feel for it then and was about to give up. Now that I’m your teammate, I still want to learn it. I had wanted to learn during the preseason, but our tactical training load was too heavy and there was no time. Now that I finally have some downtime before the regular season starts, I want to make the most of it since there may not be any time once it begins."

Hill nodded, indicating he understood... Wait, what? Make the most of it before the regular season starts?

His respected Hill’s breakthrough had a high level of difficulty, okay!

That butterfly step demands so much in terms of footwork, ball control, defensive reading ability, and anticipation skills!

Hill thought to himself that he would like to see how this bad boy ’makes the most of it to learn’!

Two days later...

On October 30, the day before the regular season opener.

The Bobcats had minimal prep work for the opener; Carlisle led a meeting in the morning, followed by an offensive and a defensive training session, and even had the players practice their fundamentals in the afternoon.

This was mainly because in the last two years, the Bobcats had faced the Knights 16 times and won every game. This summer, aside from signing Devin Brown for the minimum, the Knights hadn’t managed to snag any free agents. They didn’t even have a draft pick, so no rookies to bolster the team... When Randy Brown handed over the prep plan to Carlisle, Carlisle, Vincent, and Paul Silas, the three newcomers, analyzed it and realized they couldn’t think of a better strategy.

Even Paul Silas, who had once coached James, couldn’t come up with anything better.

Carlisle naturally was happy that work was a bit lighter, but he wasn’t satisfied—he thought, ’Just wait until I see the Knight’s play style in person at the game, I’ll definitely come up with a better strategy to counter James next time. But for today, I should go get a haircut first.’

While Carlisle was embarking on his surreptitious efforts, hoping to bring it to James later, Hill started doubting life...

The day before yesterday, Hill began teaching Zhang Yang the butterfly step. Initially, he could tell Zhang Yang had practiced it before but only the pose; it was useless in real play, even in casual streetball, as a quick-handed defender could easily steal the ball during the crossover.

However, after just over an hour, Zhang Yang’s movements were taking shape!

By yesterday afternoon, after the team’s training session, Hill continued the lesson for another two hours, and Zhang Yang almost mastered it.

By today, during the afternoon’s personal training, Zhang Yang was able to perform the butterfly step proficiently, even while playing casually.

Hill remembered, Ingles had once mentioned to him that Zhang Yang learns anything fast.

But back then, he thought ’fast’ was similar to his own learning speed, since he too was a prodigy, exceptionally quick in acquiring new techniques; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to completely reconstruct his play style in only six months.

In January 2006, he began treatment with Thomas Carter, and after recovering from his injury in May, he started rehab and adjusting his playing style. By training camp in October, his personal approach was already fine-tuned, and after seven preseason games for real combat testing and adjustments, by the regular season, he had completely transitioned to an unadorned, fundamentals-based veteran role.

In Zhang Yang’s case, he’d taken only two and a half days, squeezing it in during the spare moments of team training!

He had a natural talent for offense, averaging over 15 points at 17, over 24 points at 18, possessing the league’s most elite body coordination, sense of rhythm, and shooting touch.

His defensive talent was remarkable, too, with possibly the best defensive fundamentals under 21 at 19, top-level defensive awareness, and a seemingly innate ability to make defensive judgments, as if born with defensive experience; the first time he played as the primary defender at the top of the arc, he performed almost at an excellent level.

And now, with this terrifying learning capability...

Hill lamented, "Is there no justice in this world? Good boys’ talents are no match for bad boys!"

...

With the ’quick learning’ boost from the butterfly step and personal instruction from master Hill, Zhang Yang rapidly acquired the basics of the butterfly step.

Now when learning techniques, with the ’quick learning’ bonus, he didn’t need to practice for days on end as he did in high school and his rookie season. Over four and a half years, he had laid a very solid foundation in basketball fundamentals, greatly increasing his learning efficiency.

After the afternoon’s personal training, Zhang Yang’s study of the butterfly step also came to a close.

He said to Hill, "Just as I thought, I can’t use this move. My first step, acceleration, and emergency stops in a sprint are far behind Iverson’s or yours in the past."

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om