Chapter 82 I've Always Been Lucky
Earvin Johnson, this name once represented NBA and basketball.
His comeback after 4 years has aroused strong public attention.
The public's opinions on his decision to make a comeback are polarized.
Some people say that his comeback is a sign of strength, others say that his comeback is an act of disregarding others and endangering public safety.
The media doesn’t really care about that. As long as this matter is hot, they’re just hyping it up.
Due to a variety of complex reasons, on November 2, the NBA urgently revoked Magic's registration license to play in the regular season, temporarily postponing his official comeback.
As a result, the alliance was once again caught in the whirlpool of public opinion.
Last night, a Boston TV station aired a program, and when the news broke that the news was going to discuss something related to Magic, everyone thought that Bostonians were going to criticize Magic.
The enemy team + black players, in that place in Boston...
But in a rare move, the Boston TV station did not blackmail the Lakers or Magic Johnson on this show.
The show dissects Magic's career from the perspective of an American professional athlete.
From this perspective, Magic's retirement is extremely tragic.
Most American professional athletes, both men and women, cannot control their lower bodies.
But it is very rare for someone to be shot, and unfortunately, Magic became one of them.
Doing the same thing as everyone else, I became the most unlucky one...
While eating breakfast, Zhang Hao read newspaper news about the magician and the Boston TV station. In recent days, he would see news about the magician while eating breakfast.
No matter how well others play, even Jordan plays well, they can't stop the popularity of Magic's comeback. To be more precise, they can't stop Magic's comeback - the media guides public opinion to criticize the league for letting Magic return - the league prohibits Magic from returning - the media guides fans to criticize the league for not letting Magic return... It's a process like this.
"Eh? Boss Joe played so hard this season and won 72 games. Could it be related to the news of Magic's comeback grabbing the headlines every day..."
This idea suddenly came to Zhang Hao.
In this era when the Internet is not well developed and the ratings of soap operas are astonishingly high, Zhang Hao estimates that the soap opera "The Magician's Comeback Road" will probably always attract a lot of attention.
This is a good thing for Zhang Hao. His 44-point debut was overshadowed by the league's temporary suspension of Magic Johnson's comeback on the afternoon of the 2nd.
It's just temporary popularity and won't have much effect.
Playing well, working hard, improving quickly...it's enough for the team itself to see these things.
If an athlete can do these things, popularity will come naturally.
Simply relying on the popularity brought by one or several regular season games will not bring him much commercial value.
He became famous because of that game. Brands such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok all contacted him, but the highest offer was 300,000 US dollars a year, and there was a renewal clause that allowed the sponsor to take the initiative.
This obviously failed to impress Zhang Hao.
So he decisively gave up these things first.
It is more important to play the game well and survive in this team first. If they play for a long time, they may be able to make it to the point where the Mavericks abandon Kidd and the Nets can take advantage of him.
When changing teams, winning should be the first priority.
But both require him to keep improving and play better and better before he can have the right to make his own choices.
…
Like in the past two weeks, Zhang Hao came to the gym after breakfast, stretched his body, and started practicing turnaround jump shots with the help of Chris Irving.
The amount of practice every day is not large, and it mainly involves adjusting details. He and Chris Irving discuss from the perspectives of players and shooting coaches, and then make adjustments, or practice effective adjustments to make them better.
In half an hour, 200 training sessions of catching the ball and turning around to jump shot while moving were completed. After Zhang Hao made the last shot, the prompt came!
"Specially signed player Zhang Hao, skill: catch the ball, turn around and shoot, rating increased from 59 to 60.
Because Zhang Hao's catch-and-shoot technique reached 60, his catch-and-shoot rating was raised from 89 to 90.
Because Zhang Hao's catch-and-shoot rating has reached 90, his ability rating has increased from 70 to 71."
“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 rating: 71
Physical fitness: speed 90, strength 90 (explosive power 82), jumping 94, flexibility 95, physical strength 92...
Shooting: 3-pointer 54, mid-range 90, layup 89…
Skills: ball handling 59, passing 59, catch and shoot 90, catch and turn jump shot 60…”
"I didn't expect that the catch-and-shoot game would reach 90 first..."
"That's right. The improvement of layups is almost entirely due to the core strength part of the static strength improvement, which has been increased to 89. I don't have a very good way to attack the basket with the ball, so I just rely on awareness to attack the basket, and use my waist and abdomen to pull the lever when encountering defense..."
"However, when my strength increased from 86 to 90, my ability rating did not increase from 69 to 70. However, after I practiced the turnaround jump shot after receiving the ball, my overall ability rating increased by two points so quickly."
"I seem to be very suitable for catching the ball and turning around to jump shot. In addition to learning by standing on the shoulders of giants and having the support of the team, I must be really suitable for this move, otherwise I wouldn't have learned it so quickly..."
Zhang Hao was very excited when he saw the speed of improvement in his ability evaluation, which seemed to have entered the second period of rapid strength improvement!
"Actual combat is indeed one of the best ways to improve!"
Over the past two nights, he has been working hard to train with his catch-and-shoot moves from the first game as a reference. If he shot successfully, he would practice that method more. If he shot poorly, he would work with Chris Irving to find ways to improve.
This is when the role of the review came into play. That night, he studied the situation of every round. Sometimes he didn't even notice the opportunities. After all, he was playing on the court. No matter how good his awareness or positioning ability was, he couldn't seize the opportunities in every round.
"Before my opponents start studying me and before they study me thoroughly, I have to seize the time to improve. It would be best if I don't encounter the rookie wall..."
Zhang Hao has a short-term goal.
There are three main reasons for the rookie wall: physical inability to adapt to the NBA, opponents having figured out their playing style, and no longer being the strongest player on the team as a student, and having a problem with their mentality.
Zhang Hao is confident in his physical strength. Although he is not as good as Kenny Anderson and P.J. Brown, he also has top-notch physical strength. With his playing style, it is definitely enough for now. When he has more experience and a better plan , his physical strength will be even better when playing without the ball.
As for his mentality...he is very calm.
The key point is that his playing style is single and may be figured out by his opponents.
So, his goal is clear.
If he becomes the best or one of the best in the league in terms of catching the ball and making mid-range shots and counterattacks, it doesn't matter even if he is figured out.
For example, Reggie Miller, who doesn't know that he averages less than 4 points per game at close range and at the basket, and 80% of his points are from mid-range and three-pointers?
But he is strong enough that even if the opponent figures out his style of play, they can't stop him from shooting.
…
…
The Continental Airlines Arena was bustling like never before in a long time.
When Coleman was on the team, the Nets received quite a bit of attention. Before that, when they made the playoffs and Kenny Anderson was selected as an All-Star starter, the Nets' popularity was even pretty good.
However, the Nets were also a hot topic last season, but not many reporters came here to interview them.
Because for a player like Coleman, there is no need to interview him at all. Just by hearing a little rumor, you can write his misdeeds into the news, even if you exaggerate it.
Reality is often more magical than imagination. Who would have thought that some of the reporters who wrote about Coleman's misdeeds may have never seen Coleman at all.
What’s even more magical is that what they wrote is not enough to fully reveal Coleman’s misdeeds…
For a team like this, no one really wants to get to know them.
But now it’s different. Whether it’s being interviewed or showing their edge on the court, reporters can see that the Nets have transformed!
The most important thing is that they have people who can create topics.
The first yellow player to officially step onto the NBA stage and play an official game, a high-ranking high school rookie, who broke Chamberlain's debut record in the opening game...
A new season brings a new atmosphere. The old players of the Nets felt the changes in the team and were excited to see many media outlets coming to the stadium for interviews or filming promotional videos.
Although there was no live broadcast, live broadcast resources are precious these days, and the two teams considered to be weak teams are not worthy of additional nationwide live broadcasts in the eyes of major TV stations. However, Time Warner Cable Sports did add additional broadcasts in Ontario, Canada and New Jersey.
This is already exciting for the Raptors and Nets players.
On the Nets side, after a tactical training session in the morning, Zhang Hao, Kenny Anderson, Charles, Jason Williams, Edwards, Vaughn Fleming and other players responsible for passing the ball were discussing the details of cooperation based on the situation on the Raptors side.
They must win against the Raptors.
Edwards has been very calm since his rookie season. He is a supporting player who can do everything. Although he is not an expert, he is experienced and can always mention the key points.
The details were mainly discussed by Kenny Anderson, Charles and Vaughn Fleming. Most of the players on the Raptors are veteran players who were selected by the Raptors in addition to the 8 core players retained by each team. Although no really strong players were selected, the Raptors definitely want veterans who are suitable for cooperating with rookies.
So they know most of the Raptors players well.
Zhang Hao is mainly responsible for listening, and only talks about things that are related to himself. It is important to learn such things from veterans.
He has his own way of analysis, but when it comes to things related to experience, he still needs to listen more, watch more and understand more.
Jason Williams is also one of the tactical cores, but he has basically no sense of participation in these aspects, just because he is the core of the pick-and-roll.
He sat here, thinking about how to get money from Zhang Hao.
But he only wants $500.
As they were discussing, PJ Brown returned to the home team's lounge, got in the middle of the group and said, "Axel, the rookie on the other side said you were just lucky..."
…
Zhang Hao's first impression of PJ Brown was that he was a rather withdrawn and taciturn person.
But after spending time together, Zhang Hao's perception of PJ Brown was completely overturned.
This guy is very introverted and likes to think of little tricks.
It is said that it was this guy who suggested that Zhang play as center on the defensive end in the last game.
Also, this guy loves to wander around and eavesdrop on interviews and stuff like that.
Not long after P.J. Brown came back from eavesdropping on the interview, reporters came to interview the Nets.
There had been a group interview before the morning training, and this interview was an exclusive interview.
Zhang Hao had accepted an exclusive interview with Chaoting TV before. The enthusiasm of the domestic media is quite high, so much so that Zhang Hao has become accustomed to domestic reporters interviewing him every few days. He may not be able to appear on TV or in newspapers after every interview, but there are always interviews.
After all, news resources are precious, and what needs to be reported must be new things, or things with explosive points that are repeatedly hyped.
This interview was with a more familiar American cable TV station.
The first American media Zhang Hao interviewed after joining the Nets was CNN, which was doing an "NBA High School Rookie Special" at the time.
Once you become familiar with each other, there is no need to go through the formalities. Just shake hands and say hello and you can start the interview directly.
"Aix, you scored 44 points in your debut, what are you looking forward to in the next game?"
“I want to win the game.”
It was still so simple and direct. It was difficult to get a topical answer from Zhang Hao in such a bland question. The reporter from the American cable TV station was not surprised. He had interviewed Zhang Hao several times and knew that Zhang Hao was very good in this aspect.
Let's be more direct. The reporter asked: "We just interviewed Damon Stoudemire, and he said that you broke Chamberlain's debut scoring record because of luck. Do you have anything to say about this?"
“I think I was lucky.”
Gave in? Even though the reporter knew Zhang Hao, he was still surprised.
Zhang Hao paused for a few seconds and continued, "I have always had good luck, but it may not be the case for others. Many rookies in my class may have bad luck and may never score 44 points in their entire lives!"
