One Year Left to Play

Chapter 372 - 113: I Wish I Could Play the Celtics Every Day

At this moment, another urgent notification arrived.

"The host has received defensive guidance from James Worthy, knowledge such as footwork in the paint, close assist defense position has been entered into the manuscript of ’Basketball Defense Fundamentals.’ James Worthy’s footwork in the paint, close assist defense position, etc. have been collected as video materials, allowing the activation of simulated defense training mode, each session consuming 1 day of lifespan."

He was mentally prepared for this, as it was the same when learning pivot passing with Alvan Adams before.

"Train, train, you have to give to receive. If my defense improves, even to the point where I don’t drag the team down, it’ll be a huge help to the team and we might win more games... Hey, wait, guiding five different position players to complete their main position defense fundamentals learning to a level where they aren’t a liability..."

Zhang Hao initially didn’t pay much attention to this. He’s not able to coach yet, and the only contracted player is Wang Zhizhi. Helping Wang Zhizhi with defense, even if he learns it well, would only improve the center position.

Even if there were a medal reward, he temporarily didn’t want to dwell on it. His phased goals are very clear, and the player stage takes precedence.

However, when thinking about partnering with Magic, he might even be brought to the shooting guard position, and he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage against most shooting guards in speed...

"I should be able to learn defense for shooting guard, right? Point guard is somewhat difficult; Boss Kenny, Van Exel, Little Flying Squirrel... and Iverson, who’s about to enter the NBA, that position might be tough, but shooting guard should be doable. Then small forward might be possible. My defensive main position is center; power forward is my main position..."

"This medal, it’s promising! Let’s start training!"

Zhang Hao immediately entered the training room, activating the defensive simulation training mode.

What he trained was the low post defensive footwork that he practiced with Magic yesterday during the day.

Magic would only come to help him train for an hour and a half during non-game day home rest mornings, with only 30 minutes spent on actual training and the rest on analysis. Yesterday was the first day of training, and it was like that. It was agreed upon.

Zhang Hao didn’t blame Magic for only sparing a little time for practice. After all, considering his age and superstar status, it’s already quite precious that he would take out an hour and a half to train him.

During the afternoon pivot passing practice, Zhang Hao wasn’t idle either. While dribbling, James Worthy explained to him the details of footwork in the paint and some switching defense aspects.

Zhang Hao had already memorized everything from his pivot knowledge learning with Alvan Adams, and his utilization is fairly good. However, his passing accuracy needs improvement, and occasional necessary dribbling might lead to turnovers during set-play confrontation, his experience is insufficient, and teammates’ adaptability when using him as a passing point isn’t good enough yet... But memorizing it, knowing how to execute it in his mind, that’s very important. Just practicing and improving through games will suffice.

Having experienced the learning from pivoting, understanding the benefits, Zhang Hao is now enthusiastic, focused, and serious in training the fundamentals of defensive footwork movement.

...

...

Currently, the Lakers are trailing behind the Utah Jazz, who are 19-8, with a record of 18-8, ranking fourth in the West. The Kings, with a 13-13 record, are just at a fifty percent win rate, ranking eighth in the West.

Even though the Lakers’ record looks overwhelming, right now, they are forced to focus on offense at the expense of defense, making them cautious against the Kings.

Two days of rest is very important for the Lakers players.

Tonight, in the first home game, many fans came to see Magic, but Magic chose to play as a substitute, giving the starting position back to Campbell.

Everyone made concessions, even Van Exel gave up his starting spot to Magic, who isn’t fit to play the point guard position right now; Magic still chose to play as a substitute.

Many people don’t understand why Magic returned at this moment without a salary, only occupying the Lakers’ salary cap space that was originally for Magic’s salary during the 91-92 season.

But obviously, Magic didn’t come back to compete for anything.

On the evening of December 23rd at 7:30, the game between the Lakers and Kings began.

Both being Western Conference teams, both from California, the veteran players of the Lakers and Kings are very familiar. Zhang Hao had also faced the Kings once when he was with the Brooklyn Nets, knowing how strong Mitch Richmond, praised even by Jordan, is as a top swingman.

The Lakers didn’t start well; their defense was quite terrible.

Kings’ point guard Teus Edney left a deep impression on Zhang Hao; the 178 cm short point guard who performed extremely well in the preseason continues to excel in the regular season, firmly holding down the starting point guard position for the Kings after nearly two months, whose speed of 96 is only second to Damon Stoudamire in NBA players Zhang Hao has seen, incredibly fast, averaging 11 points and 7 assists, quite powerful in initiating fast breaks.

Teus Edney paired with Mitch Richmond, Walter Williams, Brian Grant, and Alden Polynice, this lineup with superior athletic ability can both run and shoot, leading Kings to a 19-14 start.

In the latter half of the first quarter, Del Harris sent out the lineup of Van Exel, Anthony Peeler, Zhang Hao, Magic, and Jason Williams, making the Lakers’ offense much stronger, but the scoring rhythm for the Kings had already set in.

In the second quarter, the Lakers tried using a defensive lineup; there were effects, but not very significant.