One Year Left to Play

Chapter 137 - 44: We Really Are Bottom Feeders

On September 26th, the Brooklyn Nets signed the 15th player on the team roster, Robert Wodan, filling the 15-man roster.

Except for Robert Wodan who has not returned to the team, the other 14 players have already returned.

Another day of off-ball movement training passed, Zhang Hao arrived at the Nets for movement training, it’s been 9 consecutive days.

Unlike the diverse movement line training from previous days, starting from the 5th day, it’s been repetitive training every day.

Randy Whitman selected movement lines from those Zhang Hao trained on that closely aligned with the team strategy he developed, strengthening the training.

This kind of training was already dull, now it became even duller.

So dull that even Kenny Anderson admired Zhang Hao’s patience, repeating the same movement over and over, it’s all catch-and-shoot, the boredom level makes him wonder how Zhang Hao can persist as if he enjoys it.

He thinks he certainly couldn’t persist, he still prefers a ball-handling style of play, he can play off-ball but definitely not like Zhang Hao’s off-ball style.

After the training, Randy Whitman called Zhang Hao to the office, without any small talk, he directly said: "Aix, you need to understand one thing, the movement strategy you practice is not our team’s strategy, this is just a process for you to develop your off-ball movement, eventually you’ll still have to relearn the team strategy... You need to adapt to your teammates’ movement, off-ball players need to accommodate the team, do you understand?"

Very straightforward...

It’s the 11th day since Zhang Hao met Randy Whitman, compared to Butch Baird’s loose coaching attitude, Zhang Hao feels Randy Whitman is more like a coach.

Saying meticulous doesn’t even begin to describe Randy Whitman, regarding team-related matters, Randy Whitman can be described as strict.

Of course, he’s not only strict with others but also with himself.

So Zhang Hao doesn’t feel there’s anything wrong with Randy Whitman, it’s just his character, he’s a coach who focuses and works hard.

"I understand, this is just laying my foundation, there’s still much more I need to learn."

Zhang Hao knows it’s impossible for the team to directly change the originally planned strategy just for him, team strategies need to consider more people, mainly the ball-handling core, players like him with off-ball play style are supposed to adjust based on the ball-handling core’s style.

The team being willing to specially find ways to help him train before training camp is already very rare.

Randy Whitman observed Zhang Hao’s reaction, subtly nodding, indicating approval.

Regarding Butch Baird’s choice, Randy Whitman had no opinion.

For Butch Baird selecting a rookie and giving extra attention and care, Randy Whitman had no objection, if he chose a player himself, he feels he would also provide extra care.

But what satisfied him about Zhang Hao was Zhang Hao’s own effort.

Over the past 9 days of training, Randy Whitman was quite satisfied with Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao was waiting for Randy Whitman to continue speaking, but after a while, no one spoke...

"..."

"..."

"Then I’ll be leaving first?"

"Okay."

"..."

...

Although he quite admires Randy Whitman’s focus and diligence, especially compared to Butch Baird, it truly makes Randy Whitman appear exceptional.

However, Zhang Hao finds communicating with Randy Whitman very challenging!

He heard that Butch Baird and Randy Whitman have a great relationship, which makes it even harder for him to understand how two people with such different personalities can have such a great relationship...

But thinking about himself and Pierce... Zhang Hao feels it’s not that difficult to accept.

Another night passed, and finally, on September 27th, the Nets gathered everyone for the new season!

In the morning when Zhang Hao arrived at the team, he saw Robert Wodan undergoing physical tests, the player detection system was activated.

"The special contract player Zhang Hao’s team roster is now complete, activating player detection mode, Brooklyn Nets player ability evaluations are now viewable, the host can use the player detection mode to guide special contract player Zhang Hao."

"Robert Wodan, 25 years old, height 211 cm, weight 113 kg, ability rating 57..."

This player was the 19th overall pick in the second round of 1992, his rookie contract was only for a year, afterwards no team wanted him, he went to Europe for two years, performed quite well, and at the age of 25 was signed back by the Nets.

It’s like scratching lottery tickets, scratch once feel happy, keep scratching lottery tickets stay happy, last year they scratched Chris Childs, this year they plan to keep scratching.

"Remaining lifespan 273 days, usable lifespan 272 days.

Special contract player: Zhang Hao.

Age/Birthdate: 18 years old/January 7, 1977.

Height 206 cm. Wingspan 216 cm

Weight: 96 kg.

Position: Forward

Team: New Jersey Nets.

Ability rating 69

Physical attributes: Speed 90, Strength 90 (Explosiveness 82), Jumping 94, Flexibility 95, Stamina 91...

Shooting: Three-point 54, Mid-range Shot 90, Layup 89...

Skills: Dribbling 59, Passing 51, Catch-and-shoot 87..."

Zhang Hao checked his own ability rating, compared to half a year ago, he grew 7 cm taller, gained 6 kg in weight, explosiveness improved a bit, naturally increased with the growth in weight and muscle... During the era when players like Larry Johnson and Charles Barkley who were less than 200 cm tall dominated the interior, the league’s power forward position standard height was 204-207 cm, not yet with so many tall players that came later.