“I don’t practice much, but I think it’s necessary.”
Sun Hao told the truth.
He had used the step-back shot in Europe, but at the time he had to spend a lot of time practicing long three-pointers, so he didn't have much time to practice this.
"I can teach you some details, but whether you can practice it depends on you."
Harris said with a smile.
After listening to this, Sun Hao looked at Harris with gratitude.
At that time, Harris had no connection with the Chinese men's basketball team, but he was able to guide him on these shooting details.
You have to know that he hasn't played a single game in the summer league yet, and who knows whether he will play well or sit on the bench for the whole season.
So it's really rare.
Harris did what he said. After the other team members finished training and left, he stayed behind to give Sun Hao special training.
Of course, what Harris taught was not the double step-back that Harden would follow in the future, but the standard step-back.
It's just a step back, but there are still many details to explore.
For example, dribbling.
It seems to have nothing to do with the step back action, but it is a very important detail.
Because the step back involves a step back to collect the ball, if the ball is in front of the body at that moment it can be easily stolen.
Therefore, if you want to take a step back, it is best to dribble with your hips down, which can effectively avoid being stolen.
Another example is footsteps.
When stepping back, it is best to have the stepping foot and the dribbling hand in opposite directions, so as to create sufficient distance from the defender.
"The step-back is like dribbling, you need to master both sides, so when you are training, you have to practice both the left and right foot steps."
Some of the things Harris said involved technical details of basketball, which Sun Hao didn't know.
This is also the experience Harris has summed up after so many years of coaching.
Especially since Harris spent a long part of his coaching career as an assistant coach, he will pay more attention to these technical details.
These were of great benefit to Sun Hao.
The look he gave Harris was still full of gratitude.
After all, he was just an NCAA assistant coach in his previous life.
Don’t think this position is so awesome. The NCAA head coach is the biggest one, with all the power in the palm of his hand.
Being a teaching assistant is just a little better than doing odd jobs.
It is completely different from the assistant coach in the NBA.
Otherwise, Sun Hao would not just know some training methods and fantasize about being a head coach every day. Even after traveling through time, his basketball IQ is only 51.
It was at this moment that he suddenly thought of the caddy function in the system.
If Harris could be available, it would definitely be a great help to him.
However, according to the system requirements, he must first establish sufficient friendship with Harris.
Harris had no previous contact with him, so it took time for him to achieve this.
However, because the relationship between the two is that of coach and player, the way to quickly increase their favorability is naturally to perform well on the court.
The summer league is already very important for rookies like Sun Hao. With this relationship, he has even more reason to play well.
After two days of practice, Harris led the Mavericks to the Long Beach Arena, where they will usher in the opener of the summer league.
Their opponent is the Chicago Bulls.
Like the Mavericks, the Bulls are in the process of rebuilding and have made frequent trades in this year's draft.
In addition to the Sun Hao deal, they also traded center Chris Mihm, who was selected with the seventh pick, for Jamal Crawford, who was selected with the eighth pick by the Cavaliers.
This trade may seem strange, but it is not uncommon in the NBA.
First select the players you want, and then take some small advantages from you.
For Krause, this is all routine.
The quality of the rookies in 2000 was mediocre, but if we had to choose the best guard, it would have to be Crawford.
If Reed hadn't been injured, this position would have been his.
Crawford has gorgeous ball-handling skills and outstanding scoring explosiveness. He is the only player in NBA history to win the Sixth Man of the Season award three times.
Moreover, his professional career lasted for 19 years, averaging 20+ points per game during his peak period. He was both tough and capable.
Of course, that is a matter for the future. The expectations placed on Crawford now are greater than in the future.
Imagine how difficult it is to get the eighth pick in a draft full of big men, and you will know how outstanding his strength is among this rookie class.
Moreover, like Sun Hao, he is also a point guard and is likely to compete against Sun Hao in the game.
Sun Hao encountered a boss-level opponent from the same class at the very beginning.
Moreover, this Bulls team is incredibly strong in the summer league.
Apart from Crawford, this team's inside line is luxurious.
The inside big man obtained in the trade for Sun Hao, Etan Thomas, who was picked 12th, is just like his name, with a muscular body and is a tank.
There is also the "tattoo master" Marcus Fizer, who was selected with the fourth pick.
Fizer is extremely famous in the NCAA. Not only was he selected to the All-American First Team, he also led the team to the NCAA quarterfinals as a core player.
In the future, he will often be labeled as a fake in the NBA because of his personality and injuries, so that experts' evaluation of him will focus more on the more than 30 tattoos on his body.
However, Fizer, who has not yet started his NBA journey, is highly expected by the management, and his strength is also among the best in the summer league.
In addition to these three lottery picks, this Bulls team also had a figure who would become famous in the future.
Ron Artest.
There is also a little story about Artest's participation in this summer league.
Artest was the 16th pick last year. In his rookie season, he averaged 12 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and was versatile on both offense and defense.
Originally, players like this didn't need to participate in the summer league.
Artest himself had no intention of coming.
But perhaps because the team lost too many games last season and was very un-Bullish, the team management still let him come.
The purpose is naturally self-evident. The rebuilding team hopes to comfort the fans with the summer league championship.
The Lakers have done the same thing in history after Kobe retired, and more than once.
The Bulls are the pioneers in this regard.
In addition to these four, there are sophomore Mike Ruffin, this year's No. 32 pick A.J. Guyton, and No. 34 pick Khalid Al Amin.
With full talent and combat effectiveness, it is no exaggeration to say that this Bulls team is the strongest team in the summer league.
Not only is the opposing player a boss , but the opponent is also a boss-level player. The start of Sun Hao's NBA career is very difficult.
Harris seemed to know this as well. On the way to the stadium, he emphasized the competitive mentality to his players.
Winning or losing in the summer league is not that important. What the coaching staff wants to see is showing your training results and personal abilities.
Sun Hao just listened. It was true, but for him, as long as he was on the court, he was aiming to win.
If not to win, then why play?
Long Beach is the largest satellite city of Los Angeles and a typical port city, ranking tenth in the world in terms of throughput.
Although it is called a satellite city , it is actually not small at all. It is the seventh largest city in California and ranks among the top in terms of both economy and city size.
The Long Beach Arena can accommodate 6,000 people to watch the game, which is quite large.
The Mavericks arrived early, the Bulls had not yet arrived, and the audience was still seated sparsely.
After arriving, Harris quickly signaled the team to warm up early.
Sun Hao also began to find his touch from the outside.
The three-point line in Europe follows the 6.25 meters used by the International Basketball Federation, but the distance of the NBA is 6.7~7.25 meters (the NBA's three-point line is not a regular semicircle).
In other words, there will be a maximum gap of 1 meter, which is why many overseas players are not used to the three-point line when they first arrive in the NBA.
However, because Sun Hao often shoots long-range or even ultra-long three-pointers in Europe, he will adapt much faster than others.
Of course, it takes time, and thanks to the system upgrade, he has more time to adapt to this.
While practicing, Raja Bell suddenly walked towards Sun Hao.
Sun Hao cast a puzzled look at him. From his previous dealings with him, this roommate of his seemed to be a rather introverted person.
"Leave it to me, Jamal."
Bell didn't say much, but he got straight to the point.
Sun Hao nodded and agreed.
Crawford is 1.96 meters tall, a typical forward-guard swingman.
But he plays as a point guard and his dribbling skills are amazing.
After Sun Hao played against Kobe before, he knew that it was difficult for him to defend against such a player now.
Bell volunteered and he was happy to accept.
Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch. It is obvious that Bale did this not because he treats him as a friend.
You have to know that these two roommates have only spoken two sentences to each other since they met.
One sentence when we met, one sentence just now.
Crawford, with his flamboyant playing style, will be the focus of this game, just as he did during his NCAA days.
There is nothing more meaningful than playing against a player like this.
Of course, the premise is that Bale has enough confidence in his defense.
As the game got closer, more and more fans filled the stadium.
The intensity of summer league games is far less than that of NBA regular season or even preseason games, but precisely because of this, its ticket prices are very cheap.
This is actually a way for NBA to promote its products officially.
The warm-up was almost done, and Sun Hao went to the sidelines to rest in advance, just like when he was in Europe.
" Why haven't the Bulls arrived yet?"
Behind him, there were fans chatting.
"I don't know. I'm waiting to see Jamal's performance."
"Jamal is so cool, I saw him perform at Rucker Park, it was so cool."
"Are you here to see Jamal too?"
"Yeah, I wasn't planning on coming to this game, but as soon as I heard about Jamal, I came."
Just then, cheers came from the other side of the player tunnel.
Crawford came and many fans shouted at him.
Sun Hao also turned his head to look.
In addition to the fans, he also saw the Bulls head coach Floyd and general manager Krause, both of whom came down to the venue to chat with Crawford.
Before the draft, I heard Barkley and others say that Crawford was evenly matched with the "streetball king" Alston in a one-on-one duel at Rucker Park.
Now to hear and see the reaction from the fans and Bulls management.
Crawford became very popular before he even entered the league.
In other words, Crawford will be the protagonist tonight.
The number of spectators in the arena continued to increase, and the Bulls began to warm up.
Sun Hao naturally paid attention to Crawford.
He had seen him once before at the draft, but Crawford was wearing a suit at that time.
Wait until Crawford takes off his training clothes and is left wearing only his jersey.
so skinny.
This was Sun Hao’s first feeling.
But once Crawford began to warm up, that feeling was replaced by etherealness.
His dribbling and combination of man and ball are more visually impactful than what they look like in the live broadcast of the game.
Take the simplest Crossover for example. The feeling of being one with the ball is not just the result of training, but also an innate talent.
There is a reason why he has gained so much popularity before entering the league.
After the warm-up, the game between the two sides started soon.
Both sides started the game.
Mavericks: Sun Hao, Bell, Alexander, Harvey, Saunders.
Bulls: Guyton, Crawford, Artest, Fizer, Thomas.
Thomas passed the ball back to the Bulls' half, officially opening the summer league.