Chapter 44 We Are Really Weak
On September 26, the Nets signed Robert Wardan, the 15th player on the team's roster, completing the 15-man roster.
Except for Robert Wardan, the other 14 players of the team have returned.
Another day of off-ball running training has passed. Zhang Hao came to the Nets to conduct running training, which has been going on for 9 consecutive days.
Different from the various running route training in the previous few days, starting from the 5th day, every day is repetitive training.
Randy Whitman selected running routes from those that Zhang Hao had trained that were close to the team tactics he had formulated, and conducted intensive training.
This kind of training was boring to begin with, and now it has become even more boring.
It was so boring that even Kenny Anderson admired Zhang Hao's patience. Doing the same repetitive running over and over again, catching the ball and shooting was so boring that he wondered how Zhang Hao could persist in doing it.
He felt that he would not be able to hold on, and he still preferred to play with the ball. He could play without the ball, but definitely not like Zhang Hao.
After the training, Randy Whitman called Zhang Hao to his office. Without any greetings, he said directly: "Aix, you have to understand one thing. The running tactics you practiced are not our team's tactics. This is just a process for you to develop your own off-ball running. When the time comes, you still have to relearn the team's tactics... You have to adapt to your teammates' running positions. Off-ball players need to accommodate the team. Do you understand?"
Very direct...
This is the 11th day that Zhang Hao has known Randy Whitman. Compared with Butch Baird's coaching attitude which can be called casual, Zhang Hao feels that Randy Whitman is more like a coach.
Meticulous is not enough to describe Randy Whitman. When it comes to matters related to the team, Randy Whitman can be described as strict.
Of course, we should not only be strict with others, but also with ourselves.
So Zhang Hao didn’t think there was anything wrong with Randy Whitman. It was just his personality. He was a dedicated and hard-working coach.
“I understand that this is just the foundation for me, and I still have a lot more to learn.”
Zhang Hao knew that the team could not change the originally planned tactics just for him. The team tactics must consider more people in the team, mainly the core player with the ball. For a player like him who plays without the ball, the tactics should be adjusted according to the playing style of the core player with the ball.
It is rare that the team is willing to find ways to help her train before the training camp.
Randy Whitman looked at Zhang Hao's reaction and nodded imperceptibly in approval.
Randy Whitman has no problem with who Butch Baird picks.
Randy Whitman had no objection to Butch Baird paying extra attention and care to a rookie after selecting him. He felt that he would also give extra care if he selected a player himself.
But it was Zhang Hao himself who fought for him to be satisfied with him.
After nine days of training, Randy Whitman was quite satisfied with Zhang Hao.
Zhang Hao was still waiting for Randy Whitman to continue speaking, but after waiting for a long time, no one spoke...
“…”
“…”
"Then I'll leave first?"
"good."
“…”
…
Although I admire Randy Whitman's concentration and seriousness, especially when compared with Butch Baird, Randy Whitman seems really outstanding.
However, Zhang Hao found it difficult to communicate with Randy Whitman!
He heard that Butch Baird and Randy Whitman had a very good relationship, which made it even more difficult for him to understand how these two people with very different personalities could have such a good relationship...
But thinking about himself and Pierce... Zhang Hao felt that it was not that difficult to accept.
Another night passed, and on September 27th, finally, all the Nets members gathered for the new season!
When Zhang Hao came to the team in the morning, he saw Robert Wardan who was undergoing physical examination, and the player detection system was turned on.
"The team of special contract player Zhang Hao has completed its lineup. The player detection mode is turned on. The ability evaluation of the Nets players can be viewed. The host can use the player detection mode to guide the special contract player Zhang Hao."
"Robert Wardan, 25 years old, 211 cm tall, 113 kg in weight, ability rating 57..."
This was a player who was selected 19th in the second round in 1992. He only signed a one-year rookie contract, but no team wanted him after the season ended. He went to Europe to play for two years and played quite well. At the age of 25, he was signed back by the Nets.
It’s fun to scratch lottery tickets, and it’s more fun to keep scratching them. I won Chris Childs last year, and I plan to continue scratching this year.
“Remaining lifespan 273 days, usable lifespan 272 days.
Special signing player: Zhang Hao.
Age/Date of Birth: 18 years/January 7, 1977.
Height 206 cm. Wingspan 216 cm
Weight: 96 kg.
Position: Forward
Team: New Jersey Nets.
Ability Evaluation 69
Physical fitness: speed 90, strength 90 (explosive power 82), jumping 94, flexibility 95, physical strength 91...
Shooting: 3-pointer 54, mid-range 90, layup 89…
Skills: Ball handling 59, passing 51, catch and shoot 87…”
Zhang Hao evaluated his own abilities. Compared to half a year ago, he has grown 7 cm taller, gained 6 kg in weight, and his explosive power has improved a little. With the increase in weight and muscle growth, he has naturally increased a little... In the era when players under 200 cm tall like Larry Johnson and Charles Barkley dominated the inside, the standard height for power forwards in the league was 204-207 cm, and there were not as many tall players as later.
He thinks it's normal that his height makes the team's veteran inside players feel threatened.
Zhang Hao feels that he can play as an off-ball small forward...
In terms of skills, after being back in the team for some time, I have undergone nearly two weeks of professional training under the guidance of assistant coaches, trainers and veterans, and my catching and shooting skills have improved by one point.
His catching and shooting, without any running, is already first-rate. If you want to make a qualitative improvement, it is actually very difficult to rely on training alone. You must combine actual combat and training.
His passing ability has improved a lot in the past two weeks. His ball control is not particularly bad considering his height, so Butch Baird deliberately asked the assistant coach to teach him how to pass the ball. He easily broke through the small bottleneck of 49 and his passing ability improved to 51.
The weight of professional athletes is always magical. Kenny Anderson returned to the team a week earlier than Zhang Hao. Three weeks later, compared with when Zhang Hao just returned to the team, Kenny Anderson's image has changed a lot, and his round face has become thinner.
The player detection system was finally turned on. Zhang Hao immediately opened the subtitles. With a thought, the ability evaluations of his teammates popped up.
The first person to look at is naturally the team's strongest player in theory, Kenny Anderson, who averaged 9.6 assists and 9.4 assists per game in the past two seasons respectively.
"Kenny Anderson, 25 years old, 183 cm tall, 88 kg in weight, ability rating 84, offense 86, defense 69, passing 94, three-point shooting 78, mid-range shooting 83, layup 88, speed 91, strength 81..."
A speedy point guard with excellent long-range shooting ability and top-notch passing!
Zhang Hao does not think that the ability rating of 84 is high at all. Instead, he thinks it is too low. The speed is not as fast as he imagined. It should be that the weight has not been completely reduced. Kenny Anderson averaged 17.6 points and 9.4 assists per game last season, and 18.8 points and 9.6 assists per game in the season before last. However, his current ability rating is only 84, so his prime state should be even stronger. He is currently entering his prime at the age of 25. If he is not injured or sick, his level will be more than this.
Zhang Hao asked Pelinka to collect information about the Nets. After Coleman left, Kenny Anderson was seen as a star who could average 20+10 per game.
Zhang Hao was a little confused. In his future memories, he had no impression of Kenny Anderson. In the future, he was a fan of basketball...
Kenny Anderson has performed so well in the past two years. He is only in his third and fourth year, so according to common sense, he should have become even stronger.
But seeing how much weight he has gained in just one summer...lack of self-discipline in eating is a big problem!
"Chris Childs, 28 years old, 191 cm tall, 88 kg in weight, ability rating 79, offense 71, defense 79, passing 86, three-pointer 75, mid-range shot 55, layup 85, speed 86, strength 84..."
Backup point guards Charles and Kenny Anderson are completely two different types of point guards. They have decent speed and are average for the point guard position, but they are strong. Their personal offense is not good, but their defense is okay and their passing is also first-class. According to Zhang Hao, Charles' salary this season is 310,000 US dollars, which was even less last season, with a minimum salary of only 106,000 US dollars.
Zhang Hao, on the other hand, had an impression of Charles, who would be a future member of the New York Black Eight Army.
Zhang Hao had no impression of the stronger players, but he had an impression of the weaker substitutes. This made him feel weird... But in basketball, anything can happen.
Point guard Zhang Hao felt that the Nets were truly excellent, but when he saw the other positions, he felt disappointed!
Their starting point guard and backup point guard are both top-tier in the league, but as for the players in other positions, after looking at their ability evaluations, Zhang Hao really dares to say - I can do it!
"Defenders: Kenny Anderson, 25 years old, ability rating 84; Chris Childs, 28 years old, ability rating 79; Khalid Reeves, 23 years old, ability rating 65;
Kevin Edwards, 31 years old, ability rating 75; Vaughn Fleming, 33 years old, ability rating 69; Greg Graham, 25 years old, ability rating 69; Rex Waters, 25 years old, ability rating 59.
Forward: Almon Gilliam, 31, rating 80; Tim Perry, 31, rating 61; Gerard Glass, 28, rating 57;
PJ Brown, 26 years old, ability rating 75; Jason Williams, 27 years old, ability rating 73.
Center: Inka Dell, 23 years old, injured; Robert Wardan, 25 years old, ability rating 57. ”
After reading the evaluation of his teammates' abilities, Zhang Hao felt disappointed.
Too real! Too cruel!
Among these teammates, except for rebounding maniac Jason Williams whose rebounding ability is above 95, help defense PJ Brown whose defense is above 85, Kenny Anderson and Charles' passing ability is above 85, and Almon Gilliam who has strong close-range scoring ability and strength...the others are not the type who have distinctive characteristics and top strengths like him, Zhang.
In other words, except for a few people, most of the teammates are mediocre or even bad!
“Is this the lottery team?”
Zhang Hao took a deep breath. How miserable is their team?
There is not a single decent center who can play!
Look at PJ Brown, who is 211 cm tall and weighs 105 kg. He was forced to play the center position. He played well, but it was a waste of his excellent help defense.
As a member of the team, he has not been traded yet, which means he probably won't be traded for a while. In this case, he has to think about winning as the goal. But seeing this lineup, Zhang Hao really doesn't know what magic tricks his head coach will have to play to make them have the strength to win.
Zhang Hao couldn't believe that the Nets didn't get even a main-level player in return for Coleman!
In other words, their lineup is directly missing Coleman compared to last season, and Kenny Anderson has gained weight due to the lockout.
"No wonder the coaching staff values me so much. They don't care about the results at all... or they just want to play badly and win over Duncan or Iverson, right?"
Zhang Hao felt that he had guessed the coaching staff's plan. This was not difficult to guess. Many weak teams would do this, training one or a group of young players while playing badly in the hope of getting the top pick.
What he didn't know was that Coleman originally had a certain trading value, but because Butch Baird, the lottery scratching master, ran to the management and vowed that "I found a talented forward"...
Kenny Anderson and PJ Brown were discovered by Butch Baird because he trusted his vision. The owner, who had long been uncomfortable with Coleman, hastily decided to trade Coleman.
The Nets owner is ambitious and will act decisively whenever he has the opportunity.
The goal was Kenny Anderson, a talented forward and Bo Duncan. Coleman's trading value was not very high to begin with, so he decisively chose to give up to avoid Coleman causing trouble again in the summer when the league was about to be shut down.
The boss couldn't stand seeing Coleman's summer struggles year after year.
The choice of Zhang Hao became the driving force.
"But this is also my chance..."
Zhang Hao came out of the frustration of the extremely poor lineup and decided to seize the opportunity at hand.
He is not the only one who wants to seize the opportunity. Everyone on the team can see that after losing Coleman, their outside line is okay, but their inside line is extremely weak, and their hope of making the playoffs is slim.
A weak inside line means that everyone has a chance, and the young and talented Zhang Hao may be the one with the greatest chance.
Competition is inevitable, and it is also inevitable that Zhang Hao is feared by several of his teammates who have played inside for several years.
The key is that they don't have a real boss who can control the situation, so naturally, they form small teams.
A small team was formed, led by Kenny Anderson, including PJ Brown, Greg Graham, Vaughn Fleming, Khalid Lewis, and Zhang Hao.
The characteristics of this team are very obvious. Most of them are players with excellent athletic abilities. Vaughn Fleming was signed by the team specifically to help Zhang Hao, so he naturally joined the small team where Zhang Hao was.
On the other side, there is a small team headed by Chris Childs, who mainly relies on positional warfare. He has a good relationship with Zhang Hao, but the team is not only weak, but also divided. He will definitely choose to form a small team with the team's strongest scorer Almon Gilliam, and Jason Williams and Kevin Edwards, two teammates who are good at positional warfare.
Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. This is especially true in the more chaotic and weaker the place is. The weak often like to bully the weaker ones, no matter if they are weak in ability or in mentality.
Zhang Hao had no choice but to train hard about this situation.
He is very clear that what ultimately determines who plays is not the relationship with any teammate, but winning the favor of the coaching staff.
Zhang Hao was not only serious when training with fast teammates, he also worked very hard when training with any teammates. He did not ruin his relationship with teammates like Charles and Gilliam just because of the division of small teams within the team... Of course, he did not play two-faced and make friends with both sides, which was the stupidest thing to do.
Just train seriously.
Sure enough, after the teammates gathered, Zhang Hao got the team manual and saw the tactics in it. It turned out that the team did not deliberately accommodate him.
The coaching staff has clearly defined the positioning of each player. The team manual contains an overall framework of multiple tactics, which is the same for every player. The only difference is the tactical details that are printed out separately based on each player's positioning.
These tactics are mainly divided into two major frameworks: positional warfare and counterattack tactics. The counterattack tactics are very simple. Counterattacks are basically based on defensive counterattacks these days. Zhang Hao can understand why their counterattack tactics are simple... their team does not have good conditions for defensive counterattacks.
The positional warfare tactical framework is divided into two parts. One part is a slow-paced tactical framework with Charles, Jason Williams and Edwards as the core.
The other part is the tactical framework of fast-paced positional offense and defense with Kenny Anderson as the core.
In other words, he needs to start learning new running positions again.
However, Zhang Hao saw that all the tactics had him playing a role, and quite a lot... "Does the team want me to be able to play at any time?"
…
On September 28, the day after the whole team gathered, team training began.
The main thing is tactical running training.
Zhang Hao felt that the team definitely valued him and that he was very important in every tactic, and that he was important because of his good shooting.
In addition to good shooting, athletic ability has also been taken into consideration. The training content he needs to have is more complicated than the previous 10 days.
After the real team training started, his tendency to "hesitation" became apparent.
Because he knew so many running routes, sometimes when he encountered a certain position, several running routes appeared in his mind.
There are just a lot of options, and they are often better than those in the team's tactics.
But once he runs according to his own ideas, even if it is just the team's tactics, it will become a mess.
Because teammates can't adjust accordingly!
After two days of training, Zhang Hao became more and more confused...
What Zhang Hao found most incredible was that his training was so chaotic, but compared with the rest of the team, there was no sense of disobedience at all.
It seems like my teammates are just getting started with tactics!
But his teammates are better than him in that they don’t think too much and their progress is visible, while he is still a mess after practicing...
It was October 1st, media day. There was no training scheduled for the day and Zhang Hao had nothing else to do. He had just arrived at this place and there was nothing fun here. His teammates who lived in Jersey City, more than an hour's drive away, had things to do, but he did not and still came to the stadium early.
Originally, for the Nets, there was no difference between having a media day or not. Even when Coleman was there, they were not well received by the media.
But this time was different. A lot of media from Asia applied to participate in the media day. The Nets management was flattered. When Zhang Hao arrived at the stadium, the staff were busy and unfamiliar.
You know, even if they are playing in the playoffs, if the opponent is not a popular team, the interview room will be empty after their game. How miserable it is, today is like seeing a ghost for them.
Zhang Hao had two exclusive interviews today, but he has had quite a few interviews since being selected. After so many times, he got used to it. After joining the team, he continued to train. There was no joint training today, so he found Vaughn Fleming to teach him the details of catching and shooting.
After finishing the catch-and-shoot training, Zhang Hao told Vaughn Fleming about his confusion over the past three days of training.
He has been analyzing the problem for the past three days - what should he do?
Vaughn Fleming can't teach Zhang Hao anything else, but he has experience in this!
He has played for so many years and has had many good teammates. He has played in very strong lineups, but there have also been times when his teammates were very bad.
The more you experience, the more experience you gain!
Vaughan Fleming replied: "I don't think you need to think so much, regardless of how many runs you know, even if you may... No, you must want to get better tactics than the tactical manual formulated by the coaching staff, but do you think the coaching staff really can't think of how to improve the tactics? But do you think we are suitable for more complex tactics?
We haven't played a single game yet, and knowing better tactics is useless. We don't know how to adjust the details because our lineup is not good. You should have seen that. Except for Kenny and Chris, we have no one better than you.
Therefore, we will definitely not practice complicated tactics for the time being. What we need to practice now is tactics based on the characteristics of each player in our lineup. This is what is most suitable for us now. We need to summarize experience and make adjustments through more training and games.
You have to have confidence that what you know will always be useful, it’s just that the time may not come yet.
It’s like when I was a kid watching movies, and now I can use all those poses.”
After hearing this, Zhang Hao suddenly understood...especially the last sentence.
He knew all these things, but he didn't connect them together. This was the gap in experience!
Teammates are simply unable to accept more complex tactics and have no better ability to respond on the spot.
He now understood what Randy Whitman had said to him earlier.
He personally has better awareness, but the team doesn't give him the opportunity to show it.
After understanding this, Zhang Hao made one thing clear: what he wanted to practice were the tactics in the team's tactical manual.
He felt that what he had to do now was to practice hard, force himself to ignore his own thoughts, and first memorize the team's tactical running routes. After all, he was playing for this team, not here to "correct " anything.
Once the goal is clear, it is actually much easier to do.
At this time, Zhang Hao also discovered the benefits of his rich library of running routes. He could almost understand what he should do in the team's tactics after reading it once, and he knew how to do it. Before, he just couldn't help but "find fault".
But he does understand the running routes of the off-ball shooters in the team's tactics very quickly. Now what he has to overcome is his instinctive "finding fault" thinking.
After comprehensive analysis, Zhang Hao felt that he might not be slower in learning tactics than other high school students who entered the league, because he also had his advantages and knew a lot, which at first glance seemed to have caused great trouble for his practical application learning, but as long as he started to learn and practice smoothly, slowly, his advantages in this area would become greater and greater!
In fact, it is the lack of practical experience. As you gain more practical experience and your ability to make choices becomes stronger, your advantages in this area will be reflected.
After determining the direction, Zhang Hao practiced two more sets of catching and shooting. For this kind of thing, apart from developing new shooting methods, the only way is to practice hard and practice makes perfect.
The practice lasted until around nine in the morning. The teammates had all arrived and reporters had already started filming. Zhang Hao was very familiar with the media that filmed the game. It was the Chaoting Sports Channel...
However, this time it was not a joint effort by Chaoting TV and Xinhua News Agency. Instead, Chaoting TV sent a team with several cameramen and reporters to interview. It was not just Zhang Hao who was interviewed. On the contrary, there was not much to interview about Zhang Hao because Xia asked too many questions. Zhang Hao had two interviews in the past half month since he arrived in Rutherford Town, and most of the time he was interviewing Zhang Hao's teammates.
For the players who have played for the Nets for several years, this was the first time they encountered such a scene and they were very excited. However, the questions they were asked made some players unhappy because almost all of them were about Zhang Hao.
It is indeed difficult to talk about topics related to Zhang Hao, because the longest time we have spent together is only half a month, and some of us have only known each other for two or three days.
Nowadays, NBA players have no idea about the Chinese market. It is not like the original time and space where 10 years later every player would be asked by their agent to memorize some standard answers when being interviewed by Chinese reporters.
When faced with this situation, Nets players who have a good relationship with Zhang Hao will all praise Zhang Hao for his talent and hard work.
During this period of time, Zhang Hao has established a very solid character.