18. Nash's Guidance

Trials are not just about experiencing the feeling of many years of technical training or just about completing a task for a reward; there is also the opportunity to seek advice from the greats!

No, it's not just that. If you play for the Suns, you can also learn the Suns' tactics.

Even if you can't take back your strength or training results, the things you learn are all invaluable experiences!

After Nash finished sharing his thoughts on shooting practice, he started teaching Zhang Yang about dribbling techniques and how to exert force.

Though he was teaching, Nash didn't have high expectations for Zhang Yang to really learn.

Yes, he offered guidance because he saw how hard Zhang Yang trained.

Another reason was that this season the pressure on him was immense. After Barbosa, the main backup guard, was injured, Nash felt an unprecedented amount of stress and wanted to find something to distract himself and relieve some of the pressure.

Teaching the stubbornly hard-training Zhang Yang was a headache-inducing affair.

Nash had known Zhang Yang for over a month. After Zhang Yang ran out of money from his 10-day contract and had nowhere to live, and the team had yet to formally renew his contract, Nash, admiring Zhang Yang's hard-working attitude, knowing he was hygienic and polite... and could cook delicious food, brought Zhang Yang to live at his house. It had been a month.

During this period, he had given Zhang Yang many pointers, and he had repeated this advice many times. But Zhang Yang listened patiently every time and then continued training as usual, as if he was determined to confront spot shooting to the very end, not taking advice, yet still training very diligently...

Nash was troubled by the teaching process, but these challenging tasks indeed shifted some of his focus and helped him not to constantly think about the troubles on the court and with the team.

However, this time was beyond Nash's expectation.

After Nash finished teaching, Zhang Yang was truly patiently practicing the basics of dribbling. Moreover, when he went to the other half of the court to practice shooting, Zhang Yang didn't sneak away to practice fixed spot jump shots but continued to train patiently!

Was he no longer going down a dead end?

Nash felt very happy. He taught earnestly, naturally hoping that the hard-working rookie Zhang Yang would become stronger. At his age, he certainly had the desire to pass on his skills... No, he needed to watch a bit longer.

...

The impression of stubbornness that Zhang Yang gave people actually matched the original's personality.

Zhang Yang's original self clearly lacked baseball talent and progressed very slowly, and despite finding it quite painful to play, he insisted on focusing on baseball even after growing taller and being advised by his physical education teacher to switch to basketball.

For the current Zhang Yang, getting guidance from Nash was something he could only have dreamed of, so of course he wanted to practice well.

Basic skill training is tedious, but Zhang Yang had been through even more tedious training. Learning new things was like a treat for him; he kept going until Nash's alarm rang at 8 o'clock.

Nash stopped the training and said to Zhang Yang, who had been practicing basic movements for nearly an hour, "Jack, let's call it a morning on training for now. Make some food; we've still got to head to the arena to prepare for the game."

He was in a very good mood now, feeling as if he'd finally managed to get the stubborn tree to bloom… It doesn't have to be a headache to distract oneself; happy things can also serve as a distraction, even though in the past two or three years, there had not been many happy moments in basketball for him.

The most dismal thing for the team was when their general manager Steve Kerr traded Marion for O'Neal and then made a lopsided deal to send O'Neal to the Knights... effectively letting go of Marion for nothing.

Zhang Yang agreed and stopped training. He wanted to practice more, to remember the feel of this training for when he went back to practice ball handling. It will definitely be useful.

But he was also very interested in going to the arena to prepare. He could get in touch with the fast-break style of play!

At this time, the fast-break was considered a 'non-mainstream' style of play, but a decade or so later, the entire league was playing small-ball. Familiarizing himself with it early wasn't a bad idea.

Moreover, by understanding in advance how NBA games are played and which techniques he needs to know, he would be able to target his training more effectively.

Zhang Yang went back to his room, which had a bathroom, took a quick shower, and then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

When he opened the fridge to pick ingredients, he confirmed that Nash had let him stay to be the cook.

The ingredients in the fridge were clearly prepared by him, and they were all things he liked to eat.

Using the available ingredients, Zhang Yang made a low-fat, low-sugar breakfast. Nash really wasn't picky – as long as it tasted good. After breakfast, the carless and houseless Zhang Yang hitched a ride with Nash to the Western U.S. arena.

On the road, Zhang Yang was looking through his team manual.

He had found it while packing his bag before departure, containing his tactical notes.

The contents of the tactical notes were simple, fast break routes, cutting routes, and off-ball running routes... that was it.

Zhang Yang was puzzled, wasn't the message that he had earned Gentry's favor with his outstanding tactical adaptability? What tactical ability did this little stuff require? Isn't this something everybody knows how to do?

While stopped at a red light, Nash saw Zhang Yang flipping through the tactical manual and cautioned, "Jack, Leandro is still out for the second round. Alvin will choose between you and Earl to be the counter-attack scorer. Earl lacks a sense of tactical cooperation, and he's not like you, able to pass after catching the ball; this opportunity will definitely be yours, so you must seize it!"

Leandro? Oh, that's Barbosa...

Earl, the watered-down lottery pick Clark, Zhang Yang had an impression of him; he was a player with excellent physical attributes, his draft comparison was Odom, and in his student days, he indeed could do everything much like Odom--208 cm tall but able to play like a Point Guard and organize the offense. However, once he reached the NBA, he turned into a jack of all trades, master of none, appearing to fit any position but not playing well in any.

Hearing Nash's advice, Zhang Yang suddenly remembered what Thomas had said during the dinner at his home... understanding tactics is not something especially common among players with good physical qualities.

After being involved in tactics for a long time, players with poor tactical awareness can still play well cooperatively by relying on game experience.

But for a player just entering the NBA, the ability to understand and execute simple tactical movements seems indeed quite impressive.

There you have it, Earl Clark, the lottery pick, was judged by Nash to lack tactical cooperation awareness.

…

The US Airways Center started construction in 1989, was completed in 1992, and although refurbished in 2005, in terms of architectural style, it still seemed somewhat vintage, with a clear 1980s 'sci-fi vibe' to it.

Zhang Yang's first impression of this arena—like a basketball court built inside a metal framework.

Initially, Zhang Yang was somewhat worried that his teammates would discover something off about him, but after entering the arena and attending the team meeting, he realized he had been overthinking it.

He was just an undrafted rookie, and aside from Nash and Gentry who valued his efforts, not many on the team cared about him.

Those who saw him as a rival—the same batch's Earl Clark, but he wasn't acquainted with him either.

However, he felt the atmosphere of the team was quite good; although his teammates were not enthusiastic, they would respond when he proactively greeted those he 'knew'.

At 10 a.m., Zhang Yang attended the team meeting, and from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., he participated in the team's tactical training, where he easily outperformed Earl Clark.

Earl Clark, during tactical positioning, was like a headless fly, seriously disrupting the flow of tactics.

Zhang Yang understood why Nash said the opportunity would definitely be his in the morning; he guessed that Earl Clark must have been a core player in his student days without experience playing as a role player in tactical cooperation, nor did he have the talent for it, and the team clearly would not cultivate him as a tactical core.

After the training ended, Gentry announced the rotation for the next day; Zhang Yang was placed among the 10-man rotation, along with Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson, and Robin Lopez, to serve as the main substitutes.

After the team's training session ended, Nash, Stoudemire, Hill, and Jason Richardson were called to a small meeting by Gentry.

The other teammates did as they wished, with some leaving and others continuing to practice. Zhang Yang, seeing that his landlord Nash couldn't leave for a while, continued to practice his ball-handling basics.

More than half an hour later, after Nash finished the small meeting with Gentry's office, seeing Zhang Yang practicing ball handling relieved some of the stress he felt from the upcoming series against the Spurs.

Nash watched Zhang Yang's training for a while and then stepped forward to point out, "Jack, you've got the rhythm of your ball control wrong."

Zhang Yang stopped his training and listened attentively.

Pleased with his attentiveness, Nash continued, "When you change direction and drive, you always start your explosive step after pulling the ball back. That's not right; you should prepare to start with every pull of the ball so that it truly serves the purpose of changing direction... The same goes when catching the ball on the fast break and cutting in; you must be ready to power through before catching the ball... "

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