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Chapter 663 - 281. The Collapse of Ainge_2

Chapter 663: 281. The Collapse of Ainge_2

Hill: "You shot over 30 times tonight, you’ve worked hard enough. Don’t practice extra, avoid injury... This is advice from someone who’s had six seasons disrupted by injury seven times."

Zhang Yang: "Thanks, I’ll practice two rounds of step-back shooting. I didn’t make any of the step-back shots tonight."

Hill nodded, didn’t stop him, but didn’t leave either. It was like he was supervising.

Zhang Yang didn’t push himself too hard either, practiced two groups of 20 step-back long twos, and then stopped training.

Hill handed him a towel and said, "I really didn’t expect that, Jack. I thought you were the most relaxed about winning or losing streaks. Turns out you took it the hardest. That’s not like you. You’re always so calm and wise when analyzing problems for us. I thought you were the type of person like Tim Duncan... Although it was tough that the 13-game winning streak ended, I feel better understanding you more, and suddenly, it’s not so tough for me anymore."

Zhang Yang: "Calm, wise... Do you think there’s a chance that Duncan might only appear composed on the surface, and maybe he puts on a Mohawk wig, dresses in punk clothes, and rides a motorcycle down the highway after every loss?"

Hill was startled, blinked, and a terrifying image appeared in his mind... He laughed and said, "Haha, Jack, I didn’t know you talked behind people’s backs too. Well, it’s not really talking behind someone’s back, just a bit of wicked speculation."

Zhang Yang: "..."

If you don’t believe it, time will reveal the truth!

Seeing that Zhang Yang’s mood was relatively stable and he could still joke around, Hill breathed a sigh of relief.

Brother Three has a strong mental fortitude, just overly competitive, but being competitive isn’t a bad thing. The two players who have won nine championships in the past dozen years are paranoid from their intense competitiveness.

Hill didn’t drag Zhang Yang away from the training court but rather sat down together with him on a bench by the court, taking advantage of the absence of others around to have a chat and give him some encouragement.

In terms of basketball talent, he wasn’t as strong as Zhang Yang, nor did he have as much experience in the playoffs, much less winning experience.

But, he had faced more setbacks than Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang guessed Hill wanted to be the ’emotional trash bin,’ and didn’t let Hill struggle with how to start talking, taking the initiative to say, "I’ve always said not to be cocky with an overly long winning streak, to calmly accept the inevitable defeats, to calmly deal with the pressure the tough schedule ahead brings... but actually, I too am continually affected by these things. These past few days, my thoughts have been complex.

Winning more than a dozen games, I felt proud; but knowing the opponents were weak, I tried to stay on guard, yet it was the unknowns, uncertain what exactly to focus on; wanting to improve myself, apart from practicing shooting, practicing skills, there’s no clear direction for improvement in teamwork; after so many wins, I didn’t want the streak to break, fearful of it breaking, to the point that I started feeling uneasy and anxious before each game started..."

Hill quietly listened to Zhang Yang’s words, responded, "That’s normal. I have the same emotions as you described; I think everyone in our team does... You’re the best in our team, much better than me. After hearing you, I realized that I have these emotions, but if you asked me to identify exactly what issues I had, I couldn’t articulate them like you did. Only after listening to you do I realize how complicated my feelings have been."

Zhang Yang: "Yes, it’s complex, so complex that I forgot I shouldn’t be carried away. Playing against the 76ers and the Timberwolves I scored over 40+, with four 40+ games out of the first 13. I thought I was the number one scorer, sigh..."

Hill thought for a moment, then said, "Your shooting performance tonight really wasn’t good. Several shots were too confidently forced. Although you scored 40+ four times in the first 13 games, your average was only 30.4 points, which means many games didn’t score high."

Although he was the ’emotional trash bin,’ Hill didn’t offer blind consolation or praise, pointing out problems where they existed.

This prompted Zhang Yang to continue his analysis: "Yes, I could score 40+ against the 76ers mainly because Iguodala’s defense has seriously declined. His defensive stats look good, and the media praise him as ’balanced on offense and defense,’ but his steals are mostly risky overplays, and he often misses wing players when he collapses to block shots. It’s normal to score high against him;

The Timberwolves only have Jaric, Bynum, and Madsen who defend well. Their rim protection is fine, but their perimeter defense is awful, and I just countered their defense. I took over 30 shots and scored 40 points, also quite normal.

Tonight, facing Allen, Green, and Pierce’s defense, I missed 18 shots, and I recognized anew my many deficiencies in offense."

Hill: "Celtics’ perimeter defense is really strong, not just you, all of us were held back tonight, plus we played too hastily. Even when we finally got open shot opportunities, we rushed and couldn’t make them. The Celtics could unhesitatingly contract their defense to the middle and under the basket, causing both you and Emeka to face heavy double teams, most of our shots had to come under pressure, and tonight’s loss, most of the responsibility lies with us wings, whether taking shots or driving in."

Zhang Yang looked at Hill, nodded and said, "You’re right."

Hill: "..."

He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt an impulse to draw his sword and slay a dog, Brother Three was just too much!

But hearing Zhang Yang talk like usual again, Hill completely relaxed; tonight’s effort wasn’t wasted, he had played the role that an experienced player like him should play.