Zhang Yang followed Thomas to the basketball court for a visit, surrounded by over a thousand seats. He closed his eyes and imagined the scene of thousands cheering and shouting... He felt a little excited.
But after his experience on an intensive training journey, he wasn't pressured by such a 'small scene.' His goal was to set foot on that court for real.
After touring around the arena, Zhang Yang and Thomas headed to the basketball team's training grounds.
He looked around at the entrance and thought that the Microsoft tycoon was really generous.
He recalled that the main training grounds of the Western American Stadiums were about the same size, which meant that Paul Allen had provided them with an NBA-level training facility, complete with six full basketball courts.
Inside the training grounds, several people were already practicing, and in the corner court, his buddy DeRozan was working out.
Zhang Yang had agreed with DeRozan the day before yesterday to train together at school that afternoon.
Zhang Yang said to Thomas, "Tony, I'm going to train with DeMar now. Are you coming home for dinner tonight?"
"I'll be having dinner with a couple of other coaches tonight, won't be eating at home. After you finish training, come to my office. You should meet the other two coaches, the basketball coaching staff office is just up ahead, take a left at the second door."
Zhang Yang acknowledged and ran towards the corner court, grabbing a ball from the rack at the side, and said, "DeMar, you came really early."
DeRozan replied with a cool tone, "My mom has to work this afternoon and she left early, so she dropped me off at school first."
He didn't mention that he had urged his mom to take him early because he wanted to train with his buddy.
After some idle chat, Zhang Yang started practicing dribble-then-shoot on the next half-court, and his hand was all iron.
This shot was particularly askew because he used all the moves he learned from Nash: dribbling, pullbacks, stopping, and shooting.
He hadn't perfected any single skill yet, so naturally, the combination didn't work out well.
Mostly, he had just finished 3 hours of basic skill training that morning and now wanted to switch it up. This was his way of dealing with the monotony of training.
Plus, by fully practicing dribble-then-shoot, he could identify which part was the weakest and focus on it. This could help maintain consistent progress across different training aspects and better develop this particular skill.
Only by doing the complete dribble-then-shoot drills could he spot which details needed adjustments. Nash taught him well and meticulously with his body condition in mind, but not all of it necessarily suited him, especially since his body at its current age was significantly different from when he would be 21.
After two sets of dribble-then-shoot drills with only a few baskets made, Zhang Yang's interest quickly faded, and he thought it was better to stick to the basics.
Once he finished a few more sets, a surprised voice suddenly popped out from nearby.
"Jack, you're already practicing shooting with the ball?"
Zhang Yang turned his head sharply, complaining, "DeMar, you startled me!"
DeRozan, "Sorry, I forgot how focused you get during training."
Could your expression be less icy when saying sorry? Never mind, Zhang Yang thought for a moment and then said, "I've been watching Nash's play teaching videos these past two days, planning to learn from them."
DeRozan, "Is Nash your favorite player? He's indeed amazing, the point guard with the best scoring skills in the NBA... The stars of the '96 draft all had great skills."
Zhang Yang wasn't surprised by DeRozan's high praise for Nash.
The Nash that Zhang Yang learned about here, differed from the 'late bloomer' perception he had from his previous life in China. In the 02-03 season, Nash had already become very popular. He only received fewer All-Star votes in the Western Conference than Kobe and Francis, trailing Francis by just 180,000 votes. The Arizona newspaper reporter wasn't pleased with this and stated directly in the news that if the Rockets didn't have Yao Ming, the All-Star starter should be the stronger Nash—Nash made the third team that season, while Francis was not selected.
This also answered one of Zhang Yang's past confusions.
If Nash wasn't well-known before going to the Suns and not recognized by the rest of the league for his talents, why would the Hacker and the Little Emperor be willing to support Nash? The Suns of the 04-05 season were impressive from the start, rather than struggling through internal friction and gradually getting stronger.
Stoudemire was okay, he entered the NBA in '02 and was just in his third year, and moreover, he was overshadowed by Yao Ming during his sophomore season.
In the 03-04 season, Yao Ming, only in his second year, made the third team and slapped the faces of those who didn't vote for him as Rookie of the Year. This also overshadowed Stoudemire's limelight, and he wasn't even the core option for the Suns then.
Marion, on the other hand, had already been selected for the All-Star and was the Player of the Month, a top-tier forward, and since he was part of the '99 draft, he entered the NBA at about the same time as Nash, roughly from the same era. Had he wanted to compete for the top spot, D'Antoni, who was a rookie coach at the time, would have had no solution to the internal strife.
Marion was willing to support because Nash was already an All-Star player in the 01-02 season, and for two consecutive seasons, 01-02 and 02-03, he was selected for the third team, making him one of the top fifteen players in the league, more honored than Marion by a long shot.
As for Nash's poor performance in the 03-04 season... The Mavericks had just brought in Antawn Jamison and Anthony Walker.
Nash and Nowitzki were both going to suffer from Cuban's devastating management that season.
Of course, if you consider becoming the regular season MVP as a bar for 'late bloomer' compared to making it into the top fifteen players in the league, it barely passes.
Zhang Yang noticed the emphasis DeRozan placed on his last statement and laughed, "How about we make a bet to see who turns out to be greater, Nash of Hidden Mountain or Bryant of Compton?"
DeRozan's eyes widened as he said, "I want to know too... the winner will definitely be me!"
Having said that, DeRozan returned to his training.
Zhang Yang: "..."
He had just made a joke, but the other guy took it seriously.
And it seemed he really considered him a future rival?
Truly, what an honor!
...
As time ticked by, it was past 3 PM, and more and more people began appearing on the practice courts.
Some came to train, while others formed groups to start playing half-court games.
When choosing a court, they usually preferred the two middle courts or the two courts closest to the entrance.
Zhang Yang, who was training at the most remote court, didn't have anyone trying to take his spot, nor was anyone inviting him, a 'noob' still drilling the basics of ball-handling and shooting, to play.
However, DeRozan, who was also in the corner, did have people coming up to him, but not to invite him to play. They came to challenge him.
"Are you the number one middle schooler in Southern California?"
Zhang Yang looked in the direction of the voice and saw a burly young man, a bit taller than DeRozan, but not significantly, probably around six-two or so, with skin so dark that he jokingly thought you might only see his teeth when he smiled at night.
DeRozan faced the dark-skinned guy and replied, "Not just Southern California, I'm number one in all of California!"
Zhang Yang: -_-||, his buddy really clings to the title of 'California's number one'!
The dark-skinned guy sneered and said, "California's number one, huh? That's even better! I love beating the number one. I'm Carmelo Tatum, care for a one-on-one match?"
Zhang Yang's attention was fixed on the dark-skinned guy, impressed by the cool name!
DeRozan responded with a sneer of his own, "Never heard of you."
Tatum: "Well, you'd better remember this name, it will be the nightmare of your basketball career, and your entire high school will live in its shadow!"
"If you want me to remember your name, beat me first," DeRozan said, sneering again.
Onlooker Zhang Yang broke out in a sweat, thinking to himself, there really was a need to respond twice when sneered at once?
Off the court, DeRozan is quite understated, but on the court, he's never modest. Would a modest person ever participate in a slam dunk contest?
At this point, the crowd began to get rowdy.
"Carmelo, show that number one middle schooler what you're made of, and kick his butt good!"
Zhang Yang looked at the source of the noise and recognized the loud speaker as a young man with dreadlocks.
Before coming to Compton, he researched the basketball talents of Compton High School.
He identified the speaker as Josh Hip, the team captain who was going into his senior year, 19 years old, ranked 79th among high school seniors nationwide by the Associated Press this summer.
The old saying holds true that those with strength always speak louder.
No sooner had Hip finished speaking than another person beside him raised his voice even louder, "Josh, you're rooting for Carmelo? Then I'll support the first middle schooler. Go DeMar, you got this!"
...
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