29. Things About Team Practice

Zhang Yang's high school life officially began.

The course schedule at public high schools is really light.

Zhang Yang learned from DeRozan that the honors and regular classes each day were 3+1, with three main classes in the morning starting at 8:30 and ending at 11; one elective in the afternoon, including courses like music, art, and physical education, and school would end at 2:30. The rest of the time, they could arrange freely, including taking elective courses, but the electives offered within Compton High School were only those "cheaper" subjects; for the more expensive ones, one had to "self-study" or take classes off-campus.

His Class B had a slightly heavier load, with six extra classes per week, with a 4+2 schedule from Tuesday to Thursday: four main classes in the morning and one main class plus an elective in the afternoon. On Monday and Friday, it was also 3+1.

This was completely different from the class schedule he remembered in middle school in China, where in ninth grade there would be 35-40 classes a week, and the circle of Chinese and Asian international students was fiercely competitive, with many enrolling in weekend classes.

And it was incomparable to his previous life where he had five classes in the morning, four in the afternoon, three evening self-study sessions, six days of classes per week, and even evening self-study sessions on the weekends…

Apart from feeling that he wasn't learning much, this class schedule indeed made him quite happy.

Zhang Yang figured there must still be a top student secretly working hard in his class, as there are always those who want to strive for the top anywhere.

He was very serious in class; since he was going to learn, he wanted to learn well, but he didn't participate in the rat race during his free time. After school, he would head to the training court with DeRozan.

Days flew by, and the first weekend of the new term arrived.

He maintained his regular morning training, adjusting the timing to 6:15 to 7:15 after school started, shortening it to one hour and putting more training into the afternoon and after dinner.

After eating breakfast at 8, he rode to school with Thomas.

Living with the main coach wasn't something he needed to keep secret, and if Thomas's timing for going to school was convenient, he would get a ride whenever possible. However, Thomas's working hours were different from other teachers at school, often arriving at school between 9 and even after 10, but working long hours in the afternoon, usually busy until 7 or 8 in the evening.

Arriving at the training court, Zhang Yang saw that DeRozan, as always, had arrived before him.

There were only a few people at the training court, much fewer than usual after school, given that it was the weekend. Those who were there were all members of the prep team.

"Jack, good morning!" Kevin Miller greeted enthusiastically.

Zhang Yang replied, "Kevin, you're here early."

Kevin Miller, a sophomore at 15 years old, was a white center standing 206 cm tall and weighing 230 pounds (about 105 kg). He was highly regarded by the coaching staff and was being cultivated as a future mainstay in the team's frontcourt.

According to Thomas, the likelihood of Miller becoming a widely noticed player, like being in the top 100 nationwide, was not high, but he was the best center Compton High School had seen in recent years, and the coaching staff treasured him dearly.

It couldn't be helped; Compton High School's basketball team had always been weak, and they never had a tradition of good centers, which didn't attract talented centers to join. Without good centers, none could make a name, and that in turn attracted even fewer talented centers… a vicious cycle.

Miller was enthusiastic, outgoing, and proactive, good at socializing, and could chat with anyone.

Over the past few days, Zhang Yang spent time training in the afternoons and had gotten to know many people, chatting the most with Miller.

Miller said with a smile, "It's our first day of training for the prep team, and we have a game tomorrow. I got so excited I woke up early."

"Me too, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's game…"

After exchanging a few words with Miller, Zhang Yang went to the corner of the court and greeted DeRozan.

DeRozan hummed indifferently and took a ball to the three-point line, signaling Zhang Yang to practice coordination with him through his actions.

Zhang Yang was used to it. The little friend was still in his 'look at how cool I am when I'm aloof' second-year phase. Zhang Yang warmed up his body and began the combined practice.

Before long, Tatum rushed up beside them.

"DeMar, come for a one-on-one! You won't be so lucky this time."

DeRozan looked at Tatum and wanted to walk away right there.

Zhang Yang chuckled, grabbed the ball, and went to the next half-court to practice, leaving the spot for them.

DeRozan tried to reach out to grab Zhang Yang but was too late.

Watching Zhang Yang leave without looking back, DeRozan cursed silently for being heartless.

Tatum laughed, "Haha, Jack, I've interrupted your training again. I'll buy you a soda later."

"Thanks," said Zhang Yang offhandedly.

This guy was enthusiastic and unrestrained as well, but his enthusiasm was different from Miller's.

Miller was warm to everyone, wanting to have good relationships with all.

Tatum, on the other hand, was loud and not quite skilled at maintaining good relationships, and he often offended people, but he was simple-minded and didn't hold grudges.

Tatum challenged DeRozan to one-on-one several times every day, always getting schooled, but he never broke down and was even more arrogant the next time.

Over a few days, Zhang Yang's perception of Tatum was renewed—he was thick-skinned, indeed a talent; persistent despite repeated failures, exhibiting a strong character; diligent in practice, and very determined.

…

At 9 in the morning, Assistant Coaches Johnson and Burke arrived at the training court with two trainers, and all ten team members and five alternates of the prep team were present.

The list of prep team members had already been announced on Thursday afternoon. There was only DeRozan from the ninth grade, the rest, including Zhang Yang, were all sophomores.

Out of these 15 players, the majority were rookies from the reserve team, with only three players having been promoted late last season from the freshman team.

Tatum and Miller both joined the reserve team in the latter part of their 9th grade, while another called James Keith, 16 years old and 198 cm tall, was a forward.

After the reserve team roster was announced, Zhang Yang took the opportunity to observe the training and games of these teammates, and these three indeed proved to be the strongest on the team excluding DeRozan.

Tatum excelled in penetration and fast breaks; Miller, though white, had decent athletic ability and was good at crashing the boards and close-range shooting; Keith wasn't as athletically gifted but had a knack for shooting three-pointers.

Zhang Yang had learned from Thomas that the reserve team generally didn't take 11th-grade players, as by 11th grade, if they hadn't made the main team, they were essentially written off by the team, at most being arranged on the substitution squad of the main team.

However, the substitutes for the main team and the reserve team were different; reserve team substitutes were real substitutes, stepping in if a player got sick, injured, or was let go, whereas the main team substitutes were essentially just for practice.

Burke briefly explained the tactics and then began leading the players into group training sessions.

The tactical manual had been distributed on Thursday, and he didn't think many players would understand it well, so lectures were probably ineffective. Direct hands-on practice was his long-standing experience.

Burke and two trainers each led a group of five for tactical movement training.

The tactics were actually quite simple; with DeRozan as the core of the team, the others mainly needed to move to the right positions, create spacing for DeRozan to play one-on-one, and give the frontcourt players better chances to crash the boards.

With Keith as the core, the idea was to create space for him to shoot.

With Tatum as the core, during fast breaks, teammates had to pick the right lanes to follow, and in set plays, open up space for shot opportunities or driving to the basket.

The defensive training was even simpler—stick to the player you're guarding.

But even such simple tactics were messed up by most players during their first combined practice.

Before joining the reserve team, their habit was to call for the ball on offense and once they got it, drive straight to the basket; on defense, everyone's eyes were on the player holding the ball, often clustering near the basket.

Thus, Johnson's most frustrating time of the year had arrived. Watching the players during training, his expression couldn't have been more sour.

What slightly comforted him was that the players were now willing to cooperate in training.

In 9th grade, when still in the freshman team, each player was rebellious and no one was willing to back down, as each wanted to prove themselves, having been among the top basketball talents in their respective middle schools.

Back then, there was no opportunity to cultivate tactical awareness.

But after experiencing the freshman season and realizing what true talent was, they began to accept reality. Of course, they didn't give up on basketball; they still wanted to win on the court and strived for more opportunities through hard work… wanting to create memories for their high school years.

This is the purest and most beautiful thought of a student.

However, not everyone's tactical training performance was poor.

Johnson watched the players for a while, his gaze settling on Zhang Yang and DeRozan's group. He had heard from Thomas that these two coordinated quite well when playing 3-on-3 on the streets, and over the past few days, he had seen them practicing two-man plays from time to time.

During today's training, the coordination between the two was the most pleasant for Johnson to watch.

Furthermore, Johnson noticed that during the breaks, Zhang Yang gathered his four teammates to discuss tactics. Unfortunately, the other three didn't seem willing to take advice from a new transfer student with unimpressive skills, so it didn't lead to much.

But Johnson didn't see any anger or negative emotion on Zhang Yang's face… and his opinion of Zhang Yang went up another notch.

…

At 11:30 a.m., the first day of combined practice ended rather abruptly.

Not to mention the coaching staff, even Zhang Yang was not satisfied with the performance in training.

But it was the first day, after all, and quite normal.

When he made suggestions and his teammates didn't accept them, he actually felt frustrated, but at those moments, he would silently repeat to himself what Thomas had said—having both physical fitness and tactical awareness is a rare thing indeed.

Thinking this way, his frustration dissipated.

In the afternoon, he continued training with DeRozan.

The next day, Compton High School's reserve team faced their first warm-up match of the new season, against a local school, Freedom Park College.

Zhang Yang trained as usual for an hour in the morning, but no longer continued afterward. Instead, he took a tactical movement class with his teammates in the morning, the feeling of which was still hard to put into words.

At 1:30 p.m., Johnson led the players in a warm-up.

Seeing that most of the players were chatting and laughing carelessly, warming up half-heartedly, Johnson didn't say much. The trainers had already instructed them on how to warm up; if they didn't take warming up seriously, so be it.

The difference between players, aside from talent, lies in these little details, respecting their own destiny.

But not everyone was careless; the baseball player was different.

Johnson saw Zhang Yang actively seeking the trainers' help for a warm-up routine, and moreover, he noticed that the warm-up activities Zhang Yang requested were even more than what the team required!

He seemed quite professional!

As a result, he could only surmise that Zhang Yang was as diligent and studious in baseball as he was in basketball, although not particularly talented… adding yet another grievance towards Thomas.

Beyond just caring about his own warm-up, Zhang Yang also pulled DeRozan along for it; however, DeRozan, unlike the other players, was quite willing to accept Zhang Yang's suggestions about warming up.

In addition to DeRozan warming up with Zhang Yang, there was another who shamelessly joined in...