Benita did not go to Los Angeles with Sun Hao in the end.
According to Russo, Benita didn't like the climate there very much.
After staying in New York for two days, Sun Hao sent his parents on the plane back home.
Yi Jianlian went to Spain with Lasso.
"You'll like it there."
Before leaving, Sun Hao jumped up and patted Yi Jianlian on the shoulder.
He really hopes that Yi Jianlian can play in Europe as soon as possible.
After seeing everyone off, Sun Hao boarded a plane to Los Angeles.
Although he has not reported to the Mavericks yet, he is already playing as a Mavericks player.
Summer League.
Sun Hao's mind unconsciously reappeared the scene of watching the summer league in Las Vegas in his previous life.
It was 2009, and a "kid who looked only 12 years old" (comment by American "Sports News") emerged.
Steph Babyface Curry.
He still remembers that game vividly. Curry made 6 three-pointers in one game, and he was proficient in chasing, catching the ball, and pulling up.
I don’t know how I will perform in the summer league.
After arriving in Los Angeles, Sun Hao took another bus to Long Beach and then went to the hotel.
Unlike the places he had stayed in before where he paid for himself, the hotel the team stayed in had two people to a room and the environment was very bad.
Most of the players in the summer league are rookies and fringe players, many of whom cannot play in the NBA, so such conditions are understandable.
Harvey and Alexander were assigned to the same room, and when Sun Hao arrived, his roommate had not arrived yet.
There was not even a TV in the room, so he was bored and took out his cell phone to play Snake.
After a while, the door was pushed open and a tall and slender man with a young face appeared at the door.
Sun Hao was stunned when he saw him.
Because he actually knew this person!
In the NBA, there have been many Kobe terminators, such as Battier who always blocked the opponent but rarely could really defend Kobe, and Tony Allen who was called the best defender by Kobe...
There is another one, that is Raja Bell who became famous with just one lock.
Sun Hao didn't expect that Bell was also a member of the Mavericks summer league!
However, at this time, Bell was not the Bell who was selected for the All-Defensive Team in the future. He was just a simple undrafted player.
Bell was not selected in the 1999 draft and has been playing in the Development League ever since.
Then, like most undrafted players, he participated in the summer league year after year, seeking the opportunity to get a non-guaranteed contract.
When Bell came in, he was also stunned for a moment, said sorry and then walked out.
But after he confirmed the room number, he walked in again.
“Are you from the Mavericks?”
Obviously, he didn't expect the Mavericks to have any yellow players.
This was his second year playing in the summer league, but it was his first time encountering this.
Sun Hao nodded.
After confirming that he had gone to the right place, Bell said nothing more and started to put his things away.
After the movie was over, he went out directly in his jersey.
Sun Hao put down his phone and Bell looked a little withdrawn.
But he didn't think much about it and then entered the system to start training.
Before the training began, he took another look at the location of the system store.
Whether it is the beverage area or the equipment area, you need something called honor points when purchasing.
This honor point is similar to the currency within the system, and there is only one way to obtain it, through competition.
As for how much you can get, the system has a very rigorous mathematical formula. After reading it, Sun Hao felt that the mathematics level of the physical education teacher was not enough to understand it.
However, the general conclusion that can be drawn is that the higher the level of the competition, the better the performance, and the more honor points you will get.
The level of the summer league competition is not high, so in order to get honor points, he has to perform well enough in the summer league.
He did have the opportunity.
Summer league teams are generally divided into sophomore players, rookies, undrafted players or free agents.
Among them, second-year players and players with guaranteed contracts will be the focus of the coaching staff's assessment.
After all, these players have contracts with the team, and their performance is what the home team is most concerned about.
Sun Hao’s opportunity comes from being a sophomore player.
Most second-year players, after playing in the NBA for a year, are much stronger than rookies in terms of physical confrontation, skills and tactics, and even psychological quality.
Therefore, what often happens in the summer league is that second-year players act as the backbone and score points like crazy.
The Mavericks, however... have no second-year players.
Last year the team selected two rookies, one was Wang Zhizhi and the other was Gordon Giricek.
Both of them are overseas players. Wang Zhizhi cannot leave China, and Giricek has always stayed in Europe.
So this Mavericks team is made up of their rookie trio, plus some free agents and undrafted players.
This is the best opportunity.
Sun Hao trained in the system for a long time.
The increased time ratio really greatly improved his training time.
I practiced in the system for more than two hours, but when I came out, only about forty minutes had passed.
The team had its first practice session scheduled in the afternoon. He went out to eat something, rested for a while, and then went to the training hall.
The Mavericks' head coach for this summer league is Delma Harris, also known as "Silver Fox" Harris by fans.
Harris is over sixty years old, sixty-three.
Although he is now an assistant coach for the Mavericks, his coaching career is also legendary.
He coached the Houston team as soon as he debuted, and in 1981, his third year as coach, he led the team to the finals.
He then followed Nelson to the Bucks and became the team's head coach after Nelson left.
After that, he moved to Los Angeles and was elected NBA Coach of the Year in 1995, helping the Lakers lay the foundation for the OK dynasty.
Finally, he returned to Nelson's coaching staff and became the team's chief assistant coach.
Sun Hao didn't know all of this experience, but his impression of Harris was more about the national team.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Harris became the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team.
He led the Chinese men's basketball team to defeat the then world number one team, Serbia and Montenegro, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Olympics.
This period of history alone is enough for him to be remembered by the Chinese people.
Of course, his connection with the Chinese men's basketball team goes far beyond this.
Because he had a good relationship with Wang Zhizhi and the Basketball Association, when the "Wang Zhizhi does not return" incident occurred, it was he who stepped in mediate and resolve the conflict between the two sides.
Even the Bucks' decision to choose Yi Jianlian in the future was also due to Harris' efforts.
When you slowly delve deeper into the talent shows of this era, you’ll find that they’re full of stories.
Harris is also the first head coach to question the men's basketball selection system.
"China's sports department has always focused on training tall players, so there are many good players between 2.10 and 2.25 meters, but we are very short of defenders between 1.83 and 1.90 meters. Even the defenders of the national team need to improve their skills."
This is what Harris told the media at the time.
"The strengths of the Chinese team's guards are shooting and passing, but their breakthrough techniques have not been professionally trained. How to find an open space during dribbling and complete a mid-range jump shot is what they need to learn. Jonas' first task in China is to improve their individual abilities in the mid-range position."
Even before leaving office, he gave Yunus advice.
Looking back, these suggestions can be said to be quite professional and to the point.
But until Sun Hao's time, this problem had not been taken seriously or solved.
"I won't ask you to run any complicated tactics. I just need you to do two things in the next week's games: do a good job of defense and seize every opportunity."
Harris's voice brought Sun Hao back from his thoughts.
Harris didn't say much about tactics. What he taught and required were the most detailed aspects of the game.
For example, defensive footwork, shooting shape, and the focus of pick-and-roll is to break rather than block.
The silver-haired old man gave earnest instructions.
This was Sun Hao’s first impression.
If Nelson is described as a fiery coach, then Harris is a kind elder.
One is like fire and the other is like water.
It is no wonder that the two can partner up again on the Mavericks after working together on the Bucks.
At the end of the first day of practice, Harris named the starting lineup for the summer league.
Sun Hao, Raja Bell, Courtney Alexander, Donnell Harvey and big center Sanders.
Three rookies, one undrafted player and one free agent.
It can be seen that compared to the outcome of the game, Harris is more concerned about the people the team wants to observe.
After the starting lineup was announced, Harris suddenly called Sun Hao to his side.
"Have you ever thought about how to give yourself more shooting space?"
Harris asked Sun Hao a slightly strange question.
Sun Hao didn't quite understand.
"Have you ever thought about practicing step-back threes?"
Seeing Sun Hao's reaction, Harris spoke more bluntly.
"Step back three-pointer?"
When Sun Hao heard Harris say this, his first reaction was a certain James.
"Yes, I've watched your game tapes in Europe. You'll probably run into a problem with the same style of play in the NBA, not having enough space to shoot."
Harris's next words made Sun Hao understand immediately.
It is absolutely true that the level of basketball in the NBA is higher than that in Europe.
But compared with skills and tactics, the more obvious gap is physical fitness.
It is no exaggeration to say that the NBA is a group of beasts.
Recall the scene where Nate Robinson blocked Yao Ming. Although Yao Ming didn't jump for that ball, how tall was Robinson?
Even Paul, who you think is a floor-sweeper, was also a dunker before he got injured.
If this is the case for the defenders, let alone the forwards who provide assistance in defense.
In the summer league, a pick-and-roll is an opportunity for Sun Hao, but in the NBA, he might be blocked before he even shoots.
Even if it is not covered, it will be disturbed.
There are only two ways to solve this problem.
Increase shooting speed or gain more shooting space.
The step back falls into the latter category.