23. The coach's heart is all black

The next morning, Zhang Yang got up as usual to practice dribbling and starting, which was monotonous. He would mix in some shooting practice, never having thought he'd come to view shooting practice as a sort of seasoning.

In yesterday's game, he had played just over ten minutes and didn't even feel tired afterwards. He had gained a clearer understanding of his physical strength as an adult, knowing this much training wouldn't affect his game performance.

His weight of over 90 kg coupled with a strength rating of over 80 was sufficient when facing guards like George Hill. Against Ginobili he fell a bit short, not to mention competing with power players like Richard Jefferson. But at only 21, there was still room for improvement.

He didn't know if continuing to gain weight would affect his speed; that was something he planned to consider upon returning home. Being 21 and entering the NBA, he still had six years for trial and error; he'd wait until his height settled before deciding.

After prolonged defense, his shooting stability declined rapidly, which was more an issue of skill.

Now, he focused on learning ball control and pacing from Nash and playing well in the current games.

He trained until 8 a.m. when he was forced to stop.

Two little girls came to the training area, each hugging one of his legs, and chorused, "Jack, we're hungry!"

Zhang Yang wondered, "Why is it you two waking me up? Where are Steve and Alejandra?"

The elder sister, Lola, replied, "Dad attended a press conference and an interview last night. He didn't come home until nearly 2 a.m. and is still sleeping."

The younger sister, Bella, added, "Mom had something to do; she left as soon as Dad got home."

Zhang Yang: "..."

After the game last night, he had merely perfunctorily attended an interview with a local media outlet in the locker room before returning on the team bus. He really didn't know about these things.

He couldn't help but be moved by the deep bond between the couple. The wife, seeing her husband had a busy day, graciously gave up the bed to him, a spirit of selfless dedication that touched him.

But Nash was really well maintained; last night, the 36-year-old played 44 minutes, the second highest playtime of all players, second only to Stoudemire.

For veterans like Nash, there was always so much to learn.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Yang said, "I'm going to take a shower and then make breakfast. You two go wash up first…"

An hour later, Zhang Yang, having prepared breakfast, watched TV with Nash's girls. He hadn't expected that staying over would also involve babysitting.

He asked the two girls why their family hadn't hired a nanny.

Lola whispered to him, "Mom and Dad often fight with the nannies. Mom hires one, Dad drives one away; Dad hires one, and Mom drives her away. Eventually, no one came to apply for the job anymore."

Zhang Yang was speechless again; these rich people really had some unique issues. By the way, were the nannies given severance pay when they were fired?

Nash slept until noon, thanked Zhang Yang for helping with the kids, and took him out to the arena.

Just as Nash was about to leave, his wife returned home to take over watching the kids.

Once again, Zhang Yang was touched. Look at that, a wife who thoroughly understood her husband's work schedule on a working day.

Initially, Zhang Yang thought it inappropriate to comment directly on someone else's family matters. He could've bought some green plants or something as a gesture to Nash, but seeing this situation, it seemed there was no need to say anything, considering Nash might someday start anew with a wife not much older than his daughters.

…

Upon arriving at the Western U.S. arena, Nash dove into preparations for the game, showing no signs of being affected by family matters.

Zhang Yang: Look at that, that's professionalism!

Today's preparation was much shorter, only including two and a half hours of training sessions.

During training, Zhang Yang distinctly felt a change in his teammates' attitudes; they were more confident than before last night's game, and their morale was higher.

But they did not become complacent after winning the first game; instead, everyone trained even harder.

Zhang Yang also trained hard in running positions and learning tactics, gaining a deeper understanding of the strategies, which would lead to better performance in the games and also prepare him for the future.

After training ended, the coaching staff called several key players for a small meeting, and Zhang Yang was also called over.

Before entering the conference room, Nash said to Zhang Yang, "You're invited to the meeting not to express your opinions, but to listen. As a rookie, just listen to everyone else. This is just the coaching staff signaling to you that they value your talent."

Zhang Yang nodded to show his understanding, and after entering the meeting room, he saw Dragic there too, which confirmed what Nash had said.

He hadn't planned to say much though; even though he felt he grasped the tactics quite quickly, he didn't have much reserve knowledge in this area. Listening, observing, and thinking more was the right approach.

He didn't become arrogant because his performance in the first game was decent and had played a key role to some extent. With his current skills, not making mistakes in the game rather than desperately playing well was more helpful to the team.

Another day passed, and on May 4, the Suns played host to the Spurs in the second game of the series.

At 8 p.m., the game started, with the Suns riding the momentum from their first-game victory, scoring a furious 31 points in the first quarter.

The Spurs couldn't restrain the Suns' offense, and their own scoring didn't pick up either, only managing 22 points in the first quarter, giving the Suns a 9-point lead.

Coach Gentry's high-risk press defense was very effective tonight; the Spurs committed 6 turnovers in the first quarter alone, while the Suns, controlled by Nash, had only 2 turnovers.

Stoudemire continued his rampage, scoring 13 points with 5 rebounds and 1 assist in that quarter alone. Although Nash scored only 3 points, he delivered 6 assists in the quarter.

Zhang Yang got into the game towards the end of the first quarter and made a three-pointer from a rebound that Stoudemire had flung out. Initially, he wanted to pass the ball back to Nash to reset the offense, but Stoudemire was yelling "Shoot, shoot, shoot," so he threw it, and it went in.

In the second quarter, the Spurs' offense began to warm up, scoring 27 points, but they couldn't suppress the Suns' offense, which also scored 26 points. The Spurs fought hard throughout the quarter to close the gap by just 1 point, but by the third quarter, the Suns responded with a 26-25 scoreline, pushing the lead back to 9 points. If not for Ginobili's extremely long step-back three-pointer, the Suns could have extended the lead into double digits.

In the final quarter, the Spurs had their best offensive display of the night, scoring 28 points and limiting Stoudemire to just 3 points. Unfortunately, Nash and Richardson took advantage of the inside dominance to fire continuously from outside, jointly scoring 5 three-pointers and racking up 19 points in the quarter, with the Suns also scoring 28 points.

In the end, with Stoudemire's 33 points, Nash's 23 points and 15 assists, and Richardson's 27 points, the Suns defeated the Spurs 111-102, taking a 2-0 lead in the series!

Zhang Yang played 21 minutes tonight, took 7 shots, made only two, and scored 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

To be fair, his shooting opportunities tonight were really poor.

This involves the role Gentry assigned to Zhang Yang—Scapegoat.

When the team's morale was high, confident, and the tactics were playing out well, Gentry didn't allot regular shooting opportunities to the moderately skilled Zhang Yang but to the more capable, experienced veterans.

When the tactics had run their course and they needed someone reckless to shoot, it was Zhang Yang's time to receive the ball.

As a rookie, if Zhang Yang missed the shot, it wouldn't affect the team's morale, and since he was a rookie, when the tactics had run their course, he was often the easiest one to receive the ball. If he made the shot, it would definitely boost the team's morale.

After figuring out the head coach's thinking, Zhang Yang spat out, "These coaches all have dark hearts!"

Haven't they thought about what happens if a rookie can't handle the pressure and collapses mentally?

Well, they truly wouldn't care, there's a new batch of rookies every year. If one breaks down, they simply replace him, and they call it building your mental strength.

Besides, he did give the impression of being very bold in his first game...

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