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Chapter 665 - 281. The Collapse of Ainge_4

Chapter 665: 281. The Collapse of Ainge_4

After finishing the past two weeks with a record of three wins and four losses, Ainge came up with the idea, only to be "backstabbed" by the two players.

Pierce told the media that, whether he was traded or stayed with the team, he wouldn’t consider renewing his contract early and would test the waters of free agency in the summer of ’08;

Al Jefferson rejected the Celtics’ five-year, $50 million renewal contract offer. He wanted a semi-max contract of either five years, $70 million, or six years, $90 million to consider an early renewal, otherwise, he would choose to test the waters of free agency in the summer of ’08 as a restricted free agent.

After the two players revealed their attitudes towards renewing contracts, other teams’ enthusiasm for trades greatly declined...

After defeating the Bobcats, the Celtics finished their first month of the season with 15 games and a record of seven wins and eight losses. With such a start, the chances of securing 35+ victories and making the playoffs were very high, or at the very least over 30 wins...

Ainge’s two plans for the season, tanking for those talented perimeter players, and trading Pierce and Jefferson for a young interior core, had once again failed miserably!

...

Ainge’s suffering would have to continue for quite a while.

Doing nothing was painful, but selling Pierce and Al Jefferson at a low price was even more painful...

On Zhang Yang’s side, after sleeping off the frustration of having their winning streak ended, the emotional pain had all but dissipated.

A 13-game winning streak, the fifth-longest in history and the second-longest since the new century began, was a performance to be proud of from the beginning.

But there was still a tiny bit of pain, because they were just two games shy of a perfect month—a missed opportunity that truly seemed regrettable, and maybe one that would never come again.

At 9 a.m., Zhang Yang arrived at Tuhang Stadium and saw Afflalo already practicing three-pointers.

Afflalo: "Jack, you played so hard last night, and today you’re here to practice so early!"

Zhang Yang: "I want to practice my skills. The training load won’t be too heavy this morning. I had planned to rest until the afternoon, but I couldn’t sit still... I still need to face strong defenders. Only by doing that can I truly understand my shortcomings. Last night, playing against Allen, Pierce, and Green, I gained a lot of experience and lessons. While the memories are still fresh, I need to practice immediately."

Afflalo: "You were able to shoot over 30 times against their triple team, that’s amazing."

Zhang Yang: "The only highlight of my defense against them was that I could get my shots off... Eh?! Right, I could get my shots off, so what I need to do is simple, just improve my skills and shooting. I need to practice until I can make shots even when double-teamed, without having to worry about not being able to shoot at all! Aaron, come on, help me train!"

Afflalo: Huh?

How exactly does this junior’s thought process work?

He shook his head, trying to keep his own way of thinking from being affected by his junior’s. If he accidentally synced up with a ’genius player’s’ mindset, he’d be in trouble since he himself wasn’t considered a ’genius player’.

Although he didn’t understand his junior’s thought process, Afflalo didn’t refuse the request to help train. He started by helping Zhang Yang warm up, then assisted him with his technique, which was also a way to work on his own defensive skills...

After 9:30 pm, more teammates arrived at the stadium one after another.

The end of the 13-game winning streak clearly left the teammates feeling frustrated; they were more proactive and eager to practice extra, and at the same time, Zhang Yang could sense that their pressure had decreased. An ultra-long winning streak is both an honor and a burden.

In the afternoon’s strategy meeting, Carlisle didn’t even mention the end of the winning streak.

During the streak, Carlisle would always urge the players after each game, pointing out various shortcomings, but this time having lost, he said nothing.

The preparation training was also quite normal, with only 30 minutes each arranged for offensive and defensive drills.

After the team training ended, Zhang Yang took a shower, changed clothes, made a phone call, and then headed to the parking lot. Not long after, Yi Jianlian arrived, got into Zhang Yang’s car, and Zhang Yang started the engine, off to grab a meal.

Tomorrow, the Bobcats’ last opponent for the first game month is none other than Yi Jianlian’s Rockets.

Once they reached an Italian restaurant and ordered their food, Yi Jianlian couldn’t help but initiate the conversation, "Jack, you were so right to warn me. As soon as I got to Houston, the Rockets’ management came to me with many awkward requests. Things I could do but didn’t want to."

Zhang Yang: "They were testing your compliance. Big brother Yao must have gone through similar tests. Did you accept them?"

Yi Jianlian: "Of course not, I followed your advice. Anything I didn’t want to do, I refused outright. They showed their dissatisfaction at first, but quickly returned to try and woo me over."

Zhang Yang: "They don’t dare to break things off with you. If you also make a fuss about leaving, their market in China would be completely destroyed."

Yi Jianlian: "Right, I also noticed they feared that, so I’ve always been very firm and self-centered, just as you guessed. When they came to training camp, they actively sought my opinion about training my play style and team tactics. However, I don’t know much about these areas. I just mentioned I didn’t like to post up and attack like Yao did; I didn’t comment on team tactics."

Aaron said that in this aspect, I made the right choice. I can be a player focused on myself, but shouldn’t be a meddlesome troublemaker interfering with coaching, otherwise it would affect my personal image and commercial endorsements."

Zhang Yang: "Aaron is very sharp when it comes to money, listening to him on this is not wrong."

Yi Jianlian: "However, I’ve recently had a disagreement with Aaron. Since I’m doing well with the Rockets and the team treatment is good, he wants me to improve my relationship with the Rockets’ management and accept some requests that are relatively bearable... I don’t know what to do."

I, Zhang San, have now become the confidant "Third Brother" again... But Lian Mei is indeed playing quite well.

So far this season, the Rockets played 15 games, Yi Jianlian missed 3 games due to injury in the second week, playing 12 games, averaging 25 minutes, with 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.5 steals, and 1 block per game, a shooting percentage of 47%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 34.3%...

Compared to his initial development with the Bucks, aiming to be ’the next Yao Ming’ through low post isolations, Yi Jianlian recognized his limitations in physical confrontations during the summer league. Following Zhang Yang’s advice, he chose to play as a cutter, pick-and-roll finisher, catch-and-shoot player, and fast-break follower. Although his start to the season wasn’t dazzling, at least he wasn’t a disappointing lottery pick.

Zhang Yang was speechless for a moment, then said, "Aaron is probably eyeing Houston as a big city. Your commercial value is mainly in China, and Chinese fans have an inherent fondness for a tech city like Houston. Aaron wants to further develop your commercial value, so he wants you to smooth over your relationship with Aleksandar... The Anglo-Saxons are still underestimating the Jews. As long as Aleksandar has the chance, he will continue to leech off you just like how he did with Yao."

Yi Jianlian: "I also have that feeling, but I worry that refusing Aaron’s advice will cause conflict between us."

Zhang Yang: "Don’t worry about that. Aaron cares about money, not the Rockets or the city of Houston..."