Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 200 Survival of the Fittest, the Law of the Forest

A loud crash echoed inside the training hall.

Tangsen and Tedsky exchanged a glance, both raising their eyebrows, and then began to applaud.

It's James.

McGrady passed the ball, but Kobe reacted quickly and knocked it away.

The ball rolled to the outside, and James, who was like a nobody guarding the outside, quickly picked up the ball and sprinted off.

The speed is scary.

Only Stoudemire, who had been promoted to a higher position, followed him.

The two players were neck and neck at the start.

But once he crossed halfway, James was already out of position.

This was even with the two of them driving side-by-side in front of each other and having physical contact.

Stoudemire is incredibly strong.

But James was no slouch either. He ran faster and faster, past the three-point line, leaving Stoudemire behind. Then, after crossing the free-throw line, he took off and completed a powerful tomahawk dunk.

The impact was truly terrifying.

"Tang, this kid's talent is truly terrifying," Tedeski remarked.

No wonder he's been hyped up by various media outlets; after two months of working with him, Tedeschi was truly amazed by James.

Tall, fast, powerful, and with an astonishing speed, it's no exaggeration to say that it charges like an eighteen-wheeled truck.

Tang Sen nodded, James's talent was indeed amazing.

Tedsky added, "It's just that the coordination is really a bit poor. After practicing for so long, the improvement is only so-so."

Yoga classes have been scheduled, and other sports such as beach volleyball and surfing are also being practiced.

However, in terms of appearance, it still feels stiff and the overall design is not very harmonious.

At this point, Tedsky said, "Don, you really could put more effort into him and develop his technology."

He knew that during the training camp, Tang Sen's main focus was on Kobe and the other three.

Of course, James paid less.

But it feels like a waste not to properly nurture such a promising talent.

"No need, he still has a year left. Let's talk about it next year. This year, he can just practice the basics."

This summer, Tang Sen arranged for James to focus on physical training, ball handling, and basic ball control exercises.

"As for coordination."

Tang Sen thought for a moment and said, "I don't think it matters much, after all, every player has different characteristics."

In Tang Sen's view, some players rely on skill to play.

Their coordination is amazing; they can stop and start suddenly in a flash, choosing the appropriate technique in the blink of an eye to score.

They have a hundred ways to solve a problem.

Another group of players creates space and time through physical confrontation.

An extreme example is Shaquille O'Neal.

They face a hundred problems, while I only have one solution.

If LeBron James were to actually follow this path, he could still become a star player and a top player.

Of course, if he insists on combining the two, like Jordan, it's not impossible, but it will inevitably be very difficult.

It depends on whether he himself is aware of this.

But this year, I'll just stick to practicing my physical fitness and basic skills.

Tedsky nodded and said no more.

He trusted Tang Sen's judgment.

Training continues on the field.

Kobe backs down Billups in the high post.

He relies on impactful strikes, which are incredibly powerful.

If Carter was too forceful and lacked flexibility, then Tang Sen believes that Kobe lacked some of that straightforward forcefulness.

His breakthroughs are very sharp, with dunks that seem to fly through the air, but most of his plays are off-the-rack cuts or using his flexibility and coordination to avoid defenders.

This is his talent, and he has no problem making full use of it.

But to move further up the ladder, we must become tougher and make the confrontation more intense.

So he himself wanted to gain weight to increase his physical strength.

After two months of hard training, he gained weight and became stronger, with every move exuding power.

After smashing open the space, he immediately feinted to the left.

Billups has defensive experience, so his center of gravity wasn't fully shifted.

But Kobe made a change in rhythm in an instant.

He pretended to turn to the left, but instead of pulling back, he paused for a moment before actually turning to the left.

This is the ability to stop and start suddenly, an amazing level of coordination.

It's like Jordan's style—the movements may not seem like much, but they're incredibly deceptive, making it difficult for defenders to react in time.

Billups was frozen in place, and Kobe took the opportunity to turn around and shoot.

A very difficult three-pointer.

Tang Sen arranged a significant portion of his shooting practice for him, covering the three-point line.

His three-point shooting has improved.

His strong physique, which allows him to execute a fadeaway jump shot, also makes his turnaround jump shot very stable.

The basketball went in perfectly.

Kobe landed and ran off gracefully.

Tang Sen nodded secretly.

Of the four high-paid players, Kobe had the best training results and perfectly met his expectations.

For the rest of this month, all I need to do is continue to improve and accumulate experience.

Carter is back.

He started from the wing, using his speed to overpower Houston. Facing Garnett's help defense, he took a step to the left to create space and made a layup.

Tang Sen frowned slightly.

I don't know if it's because he's been doing too much footwork training in football, but it's paying off. Carter can now use a lot of jump steps when breaking through defenses.

It's quite effective.

Moreover, it's not just about hopping; he also tries to make sharp changes of direction during rapid breakthroughs.

It seems he still prefers this kind of wide-open, aggressive attacking style.

But Tang Sen felt that this was really not good and did not want Carter to practice too much.

Just one thing: it's too bad for your knees.

It's fine to use it occasionally when you're young, but what if you make it your main offensive method and then get older?

What Tang Sen could do was to get him back to honing his skills.

The half-hour sparring session ended.

Kobe seemed very excited and pulled Tang Sen aside, saying, "Tang, did you see those shots I just made? I felt really good."

He was referring to several back-to-the-basket attacks.

"Tang, I really feel like I've become stronger."

Especially today, I had a really great time playing, and I was able to put all the footwork I had practiced so hard to use to my advantage.

Upon hearing his description, Tang Sen's heart stirred.

Could it be the effect of the "Practice Makes Perfect" badge?

It enhances upon accumulated experience, which is what Kobe described as putting hard-earned skills to use.

But after thinking about it, Tang Sen felt that even if the badge was useful, it wasn't the main reason.

The main reason is that after so much hard work, the accumulated knowledge and skills have finally paid off, and the quantitative change has led to a qualitative change.

Tang Sen wanted to ask him if his money was well spent.

But seeing his excited expression, the answer was obvious.

Training days go by quickly.

The World Championships have already ended.

The Chinese team ultimately advanced to the second round as the second-place team in their group, but lost to Argentina and Russia in the second round, only managing to secure one victory against New Zealand.

Ultimately, they managed to squeeze into the top eight as the third-place team in their group in the second round, thanks to their superior point differential against Germany.

This equals the best result ever achieved by the Chinese men's basketball team in the World Championships.

Moreover, it seems there's room for further progress and a breakthrough.

Because qualifying as the third seed is considered a very favorable draw, as it allows them to face Spain, who lack height in the paint, rather than Puerto Rico, who unexpectedly topped Group D.

Unexpectedly, Spain excelled at cutting off passes to Yao Ming in this game.

Pau Gasol's sweeping attacks in the penalty area were very effective.

Coupled with Yao Ming's incredibly accurate outside shooting, even though he still managed to score 31 points, they still lost to Spain by 4 points.

His World Championship journey has come to an end.

Then, in the qualifying rounds, because the Brazilian team lacked height in the paint, Yao Ming exploded, scoring 37 points and grabbing 19 rebounds, single-handedly helping the Chinese team climb into the top six.

But then, something amazing happened: in the quarterfinals, the US team suffered a surprising upset and lost to Yugoslavia.

In the subsequent second round, the US team defeated Puerto Rico. However, this meant that the Chinese team would have to compete with the US team for fifth place.

This result was unexpected by everyone.

There was an uproar in the United States.

Outside the Townsend training facility in Los Angeles, even with security personnel, the team still faced harassment from the media.

Because stars like Kobe, Garnett, McGrady, and Brown all declined to play for the Dream Team.

Most importantly, Kobe and Brown's reason was to train hard and improve themselves during the summer.

Now look what happened, the Dream Team lost even without you big-name stars.

Finally, they will have to compete with the Chinese team for fifth place.

It's worth noting that during the warm-up games, Yao Ming single-handedly dominated the Dream Team's interior defense.

If they lose this game, wouldn't that mean the Dream Team is even worse than the Chinese team?

Therefore, some American media outlets have turned their attention to these superstars who refused to play.

But on the Chinese team's side...

Some people in the Basketball Association have already started celebrating.

Even if they lose to the Dream Team, they'll still finish sixth.

This result is already very good; they are very satisfied.

The final result of the competition was even more surprising to everyone.

The Dream Team lost all its momentum and seemed to be sleepwalking throughout the game.

Yao Ming's unstoppable inside play forced Ben Wallace to foul out, earning him 14 free throws and 35 points.

He also delivered 5 blocks.

Yao Ming gave it his all, and this time, some players on the Chinese team stepped up.

Liu Yudong scored 12 points despite his injury, Hu Weidong scored 14 points, and Gong Xiaobin scored 11 points.

With a score of 83-78, a five-point advantage, the Chinese team surprisingly defeated the Dream Team, securing fifth place in the World Championships.

When the news reached China, the media went wild.

An article in Sports Weekly titled "A One-Man Victory" further propelled Yao Ming's popularity in China to its peak.

One of the summary passages states:

"In 9 games, he averaged 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Although he narrowly lost to Nowitzki in the MVP voting, the scoring title is enough to describe Yao Ming's performance in this World Championship."

"He is the most unstoppable inside weapon. He is tall enough, strong enough, and has a wide range of offensive skills. He can even pull out and shoot three-pointers."

"After the ranking match against the Dream Team, George Karl commented on Yao Ming, saying that he was the player who gave me the most headaches. I tried everything, but I still couldn't contain him."

"The most honest evaluation comes from opponents. In just four months, Yao Ming has evolved from dominating the CBA into a super center who can shine on the world stage."

"And I believe that, as the New York Times said, their NBA journey from here on out will see them welcome a new king."

"Finally, I would like to especially thank one person, and that is trainer Tang Sen."

The article is signed by Su Qun, director of the basketball department of Sports Weekly.

Tang Sen had no idea that in the distant East, someone was thanking him from afar.

However, when Yao Ming left the United States to return to China to prepare for the Asian Games, he made a special stop in Los Angeles during his layover and rushed to Huntington Beach to say goodbye to Townsend.

"Thank you, Brother Sen."

Four months.

No, it should be said that it was even earlier.

He met Tang Sen last December and, under Tang Sen's guidance, lost weight, improved his flexibility, and developed his ball control and organizational skills.

The media said that he trained with Tang Sen for four months and became so skilled, praising Tang Sen and saying that he had great talent.

But Yao Ming himself knows that he started working hard last year to achieve his current performance.

I've worked hard for almost half a year.

"Thanks are unnecessary."

Tang Sen waved his hand, saying, "I'm just doing my job for the money."

"Also, don't be so sentimental. In just over a month, we'll be seeing each other again. I've given you the training plan, so don't you dare slack off."

Tang Sen added.

Because of the Asian Games, Yao Ming will arrive at the new season training camp later.

But there's still a long way to go.

Yao Ming nodded, opened his arms, and hugged Tang Sen goodbye.

"Mr. Tang, thank you. Hope we meet again someday."

Wang Fei also made a special trip over to thank Kuang Lubin.

He knew very well that his breakthrough performance at this year's World Championships was due to Yao Ming and Tang Sen.

Without Tang Sen's help, Yao Ming's skills wouldn't have improved so quickly.

"See you soon."

Tang Sen waved his hand and saw the group into the car and off.

Kuang Lubin seemed hesitant to speak, but Wang Fei pulled him into the car.

"Old Wang, why didn't you let me say it?"

Kuang Lubin said in a low voice in the car.

Wang Fei knew what he wanted to do: he wanted to see if he could invite Tang Sen to help train the national team before international competitions.

"Forget about it, we can't afford their fees."

With fees often reaching millions of US dollars, besides the NBA, who can afford to use Tang Sen?

Kuang Lubin sighed and shut up.

The Dream Team's crushing defeat at the World Championships has sparked widespread condemnation in the United States.

However, none of this affected Tang Sen.

The last month of the training camp passed quickly amidst everyone's sweat.

The 02-03 season is about to begin.

A few days earlier, Cheney made a special trip to Los Angeles.

First, I communicated with Tang Sen about the work for the new season.

Tang Sen is now the team's head trainer and will be in charge of the team's training in the future. There are some work arrangements that need to be discussed in advance.

Most importantly, Tang Sen needs to prepare in advance.

So he needs to let Tang Sen know at least what kind of players he will be taking over in the future.

He gave Tangsen a list of players.

Throughout the offseason, Redden's efforts to break up teams and make trades never stopped.

It was truly completely demolished and rebuilt with utmost thoroughness.

Of the Knicks players from last season, only Allan Houston remains.

The center position has Yao Ming and Chandler.

Then they traded for this year's second-round pick, Dan Gazuric.

In Cheney's words, this guy is good for nothing except jumping.

At position 4, naturally there are a bunch of Garnetts.

Jonathan Bender, Darius Miles, and Swift.

Eddie Robinson leads the way at position 3.

Then, using Clarence Weatherspoon, who averages 8.8 points and 8 rebounds per game, as the core, they traded this year's rookie Tayshaun Prince from the Pistons.

Leiden took a liking to his long arms.

They also acquired last year's rookie, Kederic Brown, from the Celtics, who averaged only 2 points per game last season.

A bouncy man.

At the shooting guard position, we certainly need DeShawn Stevenson, the next Jordan.

Then Houston, Fred Jones.

The latter wasn't just a bonus in the deal; Leiden genuinely wanted him.

With Jordan on board, Magic Johnson was naturally indispensable.

At point guard, there's Billups, and then there's Demar Johnson, who came to New York at lightning speed after the trade.

Clearly, they've had enough of the harsh climate of Atlanta and yearn for a big city like New York.

Finally, they acquired Kenyon Dooling, the 10th overall pick in the 2000 draft, from the Clippers.

He suffered some injuries last season, but played a full rookie season, averaging 5.9 points and a paltry 2.3 assists per game.

As a point guard, he clearly lacks organizational skills.

This is a preliminary list of 15 players with contracts.

But that's not enough; New York doesn't care about spending money to lay off people and make room for others.

So there are still four players with training camp contracts waiting for Townsend to decide who has the best talent and who should be eliminated before the new season.

Originally, Tang Sen's opinion of Leiden had improved because of his older sister's job situation.

But when Tang Sen actually saw this large list, he couldn't help but have the idea of ​​resigning and running away.

It's all newcomers, survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle, right?

(End of this chapter)