Chapter 37 Current Limits
"You have never been to China, and you don't understand the situation there. Can you imagine that there is any country that can double the area of a city the size of Los Angeles County in one year? I think the Chinese market is the most important development area besides our domestic market!"
"OK, since you think so, then we can choose a Chinese as our partner and open a joint venture company in China. It's not a bad idea to choose Zhang, a high school student. He is famous now and is a good candidate. It's not easy to do business with Chinese people. It's too difficult to deal with a famous Chinese businessman. High school students are easier to control."
"I don't think he's easy to control. He's too calm. When he heard my invitation to cooperate, he didn't show any excitement. Instead, he started thinking about it. I think he probably knows that benefits always come with risks. I plan to get to know him better...
As for whether it is easy to control, it is not important. The way I plan to cooperate with him is just to use his Chinese identity to open a joint venture. I believe we can make money in China, so it doesn’t matter if we take the risk ourselves. And our goal is to let people of all skin colors and all countries in the world drink our coffee, right? "
“Yes, our dream is to have everyone come to our store to drink our coffee…”
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“I hope I can be more professional in basketball. Basketball is not just about playing. Studying sports medicine can help me understand my body better and know how to train, rest and adjust my physical condition.
My dream is to devote my life to sports, and to use the knowledge I have learned and my personal abilities to contribute to the country's sports cause in the future..."
After confirming his enrollment at USC, Zhang Hao contacted Xu Jicheng of Xinhua News Agency. After dinner on the second day after his enrollment was confirmed, Chaoting TV and Xinhua News Agency Sports News Department jointly interviewed Zhang Hao again.
This time, the answer to the last question Zhang Hao was asked was the agreed-upon draft.
After all, it is an official media, so we need to pay attention to details and especially promote positive energy.
If possible, Zhang Hao would definitely do the same, but first of all, he has to keep himself alive. This is why he is not so keen on creating hype or doing side jobs.
But he is still happy to take some time out occasionally to keep himself busy. Who doesn't want to make more money?
Only with money can he go further on the road of basketball more smoothly.
Now, for him, the three expenses of caddy fees, physical therapy, and nutritional meals alone add up to nearly ten thousand US dollars a month. These days, only rich people can engage in art, and similarly, one needs money to engage in sports.
However, there was one thing that really bothered Zhang Hao. He discovered that any trivial matter would be reported by the imperial court or Xinhua News Agency.
Obviously, he did not clearly realize how much impact it would have if a Chinese basketball player, especially a high school basketball player, was selected with the ninth pick in the NBA draft.
Moreover, he was used to the popularity of future idols coming and going quickly without any works, and felt that he should not receive attention if he did not play in the competition, forgetting that sports competition and idols are completely different concepts.
It's just that the interviews are more frequent, and they have not affected his training. He just makes time for the interviews after the scheduled time, so he doesn't mind.
After completing the interview recording, the staff have become accustomed to this situation and packed up their things skillfully. In the future, they will follow Zhang Hao to Rutherford, New Jersey and become his accompanying reporters.
As for Zhang Hao, he will not train after dinner. It is also important to let the body get a good rest. Although one of the effects brought by the growth card is to enhance the body's recovery ability when training static strength, it is also necessary to rest before it can be said to be enhanced. Without rest, the enhancement will be useless.
Therefore, after the interview, Zhang Hao and Xu Jicheng chatted together. It was a very happy thing for him to have someone to chat with in Mandarin.
As they were chatting, Xu Jicheng suddenly remembered something: "Aix, I have good news for you. Wang Zhizhi will come to the United States for an interview next month. He may go to Georgetown University to play in the NCAA!"
"what's the situation?"
Wang Zhizhi went to the United States to play in the NCAA? This was really beyond Zhang Hao's expectations. He just made a random analogy, but he didn't expect it to really happen.
"Thanks to your previous suggestion, several national players helped Wang Zhizhi get this opportunity to study in the United States..." Looking around and seeing that no one else was around, Xu Jicheng whispered, "He is the best center in this year's World Youth Championship. American universities have long been interested in him. Fortunately, you reminded him early. If Wang Zhizhi had already signed up for the first season of the A-League, he would not be able to play in the NCAA. Even if the players united to ask the Blue Association to release him, it would be useless. The rule of American college sports is that once you register for a professional league, you are no longer considered an amateur and cannot participate in college competitions. Thanks to the head of the Nanjing Military Region for helping."
Listening to Xu Jicheng's description, Zhang Hao knew that it was not easy for Wang Zhizhi to study in the United States. It took the national team players and the army leaders to get this opportunity... What kind of thing is this! Which country's sports leaders would not want domestic players to have better development...
It cannot be said. From Xu Jicheng's tone, Zhang Hao knew that he was just telling him about this matter and did not want to discuss it in depth. He tacitly did not continue the conversation and nodded to indicate that he understood.
The butterfly's wings have begun to flap. When Zhang Hao knew that he had the opportunity to play professional games, he knew that he would definitely influence the development of some things. However, he did not expect that he had not even played a professional game yet, but he had already brought such earth-shaking changes to an important player of the national team in the future.
Playing in the NCAA and playing in the A-League... Without considering the income, Zhang Hao believes that playing in the NCAA is not comparable to playing in the A-League at all. Although the NCAA basketball championship is only an amateur competition, the level is enough to be called the second largest basketball league in the world.
"Going to Georgetown University...it will probably be quite difficult..." Zhang Hao recalled his experience when he first arrived in the United States. It was not friendly. He only won respect after performing well on the court.
Wang Zhizhi seems to be easier to bully...but there is no other way, I can only hold on by myself. If I choose this path, I have to bear it.
As for what kind of difficulties Wang Zhizhi will experience, Zhang Hao does not want to know about this matter. He himself is still in trouble. As the saying goes, only those who endure hardships can become successful. In his heart, he sincerely wishes Wang Zhizhi a happy NCAA journey...
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April Clark was admitted to college, and summer vacation really began. Zhang Hao also felt a bit like it was summer vacation. Sometimes in the morning, they would make plans to go shopping or watch a movie. During training, April Clark would occasionally ask her sisters to watch. Basically, they would go out to dinner together every day, and occasionally eat at Pierce's mother's house.
In a blink of an eye, it was already mid-August.
On the afternoon of August 13th, Zhang Hao’s group training ended, and the long-awaited reminder came!
“Special signing player: Zhang Hao.
Age/Date of Birth: 18 years/January 7, 1977.
Height 204 cm. Wingspan 215 cm
Weight: 96 kg.
Position: Forward
Team: New Jersey Nets.
Ability Evaluation 69
Physical fitness: speed 90, strength 90 (explosive power 80), jumping 94, flexibility 95, physical strength 91...
Shooting: 3-pointer 55, mid-range 90, layup 89…
Skills: ball handling 56, passing 47, catch-and-shoot 86…”
After more than seven weeks of training, Zhang Hao's strength finally increased to 90, and his speed and flexibility were not affected! His jumping ability also increased by 1 point, to 94, but it did not continue to improve, and he estimated that it had reached its limit.
Looking at himself in the mirror, with eight abdominal muscles that could bulge out with just a little effort, Zhang Hao got goose bumps.
Thin! His strength has obviously increased, and it has increased significantly, which is a huge improvement compared to before, but his body is still thin!
If he hadn't grown another two centimeters taller, Zhang Hao estimated that he might not have gained much weight.
I gained about 4 kilograms and my strength soared. The key was that I maintained my mid-range shooting. I did 600-800 mid-range shots every day to keep my touch. It was not in vain. I successfully maintained my shooting during the strength improvement stage.
He just grew taller again… "I'm afraid I'm going to have to play like Lewis when I enter the NBA? Or even shorter?"
However, with such a huge improvement in strength, Zhang Hao really doesn't know what kind of changes he will experience in the game. It may be difficult for him to adapt to confrontation and other aspects at first. After all, he has never been a power player. The rapid improvement in shooting is actually okay. In high school, before he used the mid-range shooting growth card, he was already one of the best mid-range shooting masters in California high schools, and he just got better.
And he had no experience of playing with power before, which was Pickley's style of play.
For a pitcher without the ball, the most important aspect is definitely core strength, which is part of static confrontation.
The explosive power of players like Nash and Curry is average, even poor, but their core strength is strong!
On the defensive end, high school players are not very good at defense when they enter the NBA. They are clumsy, like confrontation but can't withstand it... Now Zhang Hao estimates that he should be able to withstand most of the outside attacks when he enters the NBA, but he may have to pay attention to foul issues by then.
There was no good way to compare core strength, so he tried to let his junior who played center on the school team defend him, but the other player refused to practice with him again.
Where you can see the improvement in his core strength is in his layups, which originally had few tricks, which have now increased to 89.
He needs to find the right layup method during the game, and other than that, he can only make his close-range shots more stable. Obviously, because of the improvement in core strength, his close-range shots will become more stable.
No matter what, increasing the strength to 90 is definitely a good thing, and Zhang Hao is very excited about it!
Normally, Zhang Hao estimates that he can train his strength to 90, but it is hard to say about his speed, flexibility and other aspects. He will definitely not gain just 4 kilograms. He may need the weight of a center to have a strength of 90. Then his running, jumping and flexibility abilities will be difficult.
Looking at my own explosive power rating of 80, according to common sense, my static confrontation rating should be over 70. But the current situation seems weird no matter how I look at it.
Zhang Hao was very excited about the improvements during this period, but Jason Hart, who was helping him pack up the equipment, was numb.
He has been stunned for the past month. In just over a month, the weight Zhang Hao used for training increased from 70 pounds to 140 pounds... Today, Zhang Hao used 140 pounds for training, just like the 70-pound weight he used for training more than a month ago!
This power increase was too terrifying! Just from this point, Jason Hart felt the gap between himself and the "genius".
Others can train for a month, but he may never be able to do it in his entire life, unless he sacrifices his speed and becomes a muscular man.
Compared to Zhang Hao, Jason Hart feels that he may not even be considered a genius...
His shooting is so good, his physical fitness is quite excellent, and his strength training has improved so quickly...
Jason Hart thought of Zhang Hao's self-introduction when he went to watch the McDonald's Slam Dunk Contest a few months ago - a basketball trainee who had practiced for two and a half years... After more than a month, he found that what Zhang Hao said was true! Thinking about the past year, he still wanted to surpass the two seniors... Impossible! This can't be done!
Zhang Hao didn't know how much of a shock he had brought to his junior. He looked at his own ability rating. When his strength increased to 85, his ability rating had already increased to 69. But now that his strength has increased to 90, his ability rating is still 69...
"Maybe my skills are not comprehensive enough, and the improvement of my strength has reached its limit. I only have two offensive methods: catching the ball and shooting, and attacking the basket. The improvement of my strength in offense is indeed limited."
When Zhang Hao thought about this, he had an urge to expand his offensive means as quickly as possible, but he knew he had to stay calm now. It would be best if he could expand his skills before the start of his rookie season, but his foundation was still off-ball shooting.
It’s just that now I have top-notch static confrontation strength, my core strength has been greatly improved, and I have a better foundation to learn more offensive methods.
Besides, the top 90 strength, although considered excellent among NBA forwards, is definitely not the best...
Zhang Hao tried hard to stay calm and deal with the current situation.
Still have to focus on playing without the ball!
Through Pierce's introduction and the information he found, Zhang Hao learned that the Nets have a point guard named Kenny Anderson, who was the second pick in the 1991 draft. He was in the top four in assists this season and last season, and ranked second in the assists list last season.
Kenny Anderson is a pass-first, energetic, charging point guard. If you play well without the ball, playing next to this point guard will bring many benefits.
When thinking about the off-ball situation, Zhang Hao thought of a problem he had discovered.
With his body shape and strength, it is really exaggerated, just like the mid-range shot he had at the age of 18.
This has also led to some problems. This has happened to CIC before. It is very difficult to continue to improve...
Not only is it difficult to upgrade, but it is even more difficult to accept the psychological impact brought about by the crazy upgrade and the enormous difficulty of upgrade!
Because even if you practice for a long time now, there will be no obvious improvement! If you improve gradually, he won't feel that the improvement from 90 to 91 will be slow, because the improvement from 75 to 90 may have taken three to five years or even longer, and it may take until the peak of 26 or 27 years old to reach the top level of 90. But now the mid-range shot has rapidly improved to 90, and there is no such long adaptation period. Three to five months of hard training without improvement may bring frustration.
