Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 214 You should learn from Garnett
Thibodeau pulled a few assistant coaches aside to discuss tactics for tomorrow's game against the Hornets.

Tang Sen returned to the training field.

Just like the silent atmosphere of the farewell, the entire training ground was deathly still.

The only sounds were the slapping of sneakers on the floor and the muffled groans of exertion during training.

"Tang, this won't do."

Tedsky walked over and said in a low voice.

Just like in a competition, training requires morale and fighting spirit.

Now everyone is completely devoid of energy.

It's not just because of the team's losing streak, but also because of off-field factors.

These New York fans are truly passionate when they love someone, but they can also be incredibly sarcastic when they criticize them.

"Tang, why don't you give them some encouragement?"

"Tedeschi said in a low voice."

Just now, when Cheney left, he asked Tangsen to encourage everyone.

"Not urgent."

Tang Sen shook his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over each player: "There's nothing wrong with experiencing defeat."

"Because only when you know how terrible failure is, will you cherish success more when it comes, and will have greater motivation to continue to work hard."

How can you succeed if you've never even failed?

And did they fail?

Each of them still has multi-million dollar contracts; they're already quite successful.

So what if he got a few scoldings from the media and fans? If he can't even handle this kind of setback, how can he have the fighting spirit to survive in a league as fiercely competitive as the NBA?

"hold on."

Tang Sen added.

For a silkworm pupa to transform into a butterfly, it must patiently wait and develop.

Tang Sen felt that the time should be approaching soon.

Only by developing their physique can they have the ability to unleash their talent on the field.

Tang Sen turned his head to look at the large screen behind him.

The screen was lit up, displaying information for all 15 players.

Their first step is weight gain.

Eight players have achieved their goals, and they are listed below.

For those who haven't completed their goals, the countdown above will show the difference between their current weight and the target weight.

At the very top is Tyson Chandler.

During last year's draft, he weighed only 101 kilograms.

During the tryouts, Brown used his weight to bully him.

After joining the Bulls, he gained weight to increase his competitiveness.

At the end of last season, his weight reached 104 kilograms.

But that wasn't enough; he was still thin.

Tangsen hopes to reach a weight of 112 kilograms.

This number is the one that Tang Sen found most suitable for him after many simulations in the system, taking into account both his physical strength and athletic ability.

Any heavier, and it will put too much strain on the body.

Lighter, but the fight needs to be more urgent.

He's making the slowest progress; after a month, he's only gained 107 kilograms.

It seems like this guy doesn't have much meat on him.

It's not that his frame is too small; it's probably just genetic. Also, he has some issues with his muscle size.

He had a strong upper body, but his legs were frighteningly thin. When he stood there, Tang Sen felt that they were not even as thick as his own legs.

Tang Sen should reduce his upper body training now and focus on building up his leg muscles first.

The effects weren't immediate, and since maintaining physical fitness was also important, progress was slow.

He is now at the top of the list, and his profile picture has been enlarged to remind him that he is the slowest progressing.

However, this kid trains very hard, so Tang Sen doesn't think there's much of a problem.

The ugly duckling will eventually become a swan; he just needs this time to mature.

Training is over.

The group left in silence.

But one person didn't leave: Jonathan Bender.

He was carrying a barbell on his shoulder and doing a backward lunge squat.

Squat down with a 40kg barbell, hold, slowly stand up, switch legs, and squat down again.

He was covered in sweat, but he continued to work meticulously.

Hall was right next to him, watching.

"Jonathan, that's enough, you've reached your limit," Hall reminded him.

Bender gritted his teeth, stood up, shook his head slightly, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "It's okay, I can still do it."

As he spoke, he took a deep breath and slowly squatted down again.

"butt!"

Tang Sen walked over and reminded him, "When you squat, you should stick your butt out first. Otherwise, this kind of training will not only fail to achieve the desired effect, but will also continue to damage your knees."

Bender has a problem with his left knee.

When he broke Jordan's scoring record at the 99 McDonald's All-Star Game, he already had a dull ache in his left knee.

But I didn't take it seriously.

And even if he did take it seriously, he hasn't even entered the NBA yet, so where would he get the money for treatment?

His left knee began to deteriorate during his rookie season, causing him to miss most of the season. The Pacers' team doctor diagnosed him with medial femoral condyle cartilage wear.

At the time, the Pacers opted for conservative treatment, but the results were mediocre. After the 01 Slam Dunk Contest, his left knee injury became severe, with loose cartilage fragments appearing in his knee, causing him to miss many games again.

They had to go through another offseason before last season was considered a complete season.

Tangsen and Tedsky discussed it and agreed that he simply jumped too much in his playing style.

That's how it is when you rely entirely on your physical abilities to play ball.

You have to exert fierce force, use more power, jump higher, and make more extreme changes of direction to create space to attack. Over time, your body will naturally be unable to withstand it.

Tang Sen himself learned this lesson the hard way, using his speed to break through defenses and make all sorts of exaggerated changes of direction in high school and college.

Then, when his ligaments tore, he was essentially ruined. Only then did he begin to focus on honing his skills and play for another two years.

So even though Tang Sen knew that these players with explosive physical talent could achieve some success based on their physique, he still hoped that they would focus on developing their technical skills.

Bender's current training is aimed at strengthening the muscles in his knees.

Training your quadriceps and hamstrings can significantly improve knee support and reduce knee injuries.

"Okay, stop."

Tang Sen stopped Bender and said, "Jonathan, the training plan I arranged has already pushed your bodies to their limits. You just need to strictly follow it."

"Excessive training not only has no effect, but can also damage your body."

Tangsen discourages extra training outside of the training plan.

It makes it seem like I haven't trained the people properly.

The following sentence had its effect; Bender unloaded the barbell, braced himself on his knees, and gasped for breath.

He looked up: "Tang, when can I start practicing my skills?"

Tang Sen pointed to the big screen without turning his head.

On the big screen, Bender's image was only one size smaller than Chandler's, and it was second to last.

His current target weight is 102 kilograms.

His current weight is only 99 kilograms, far from his goal.

This guy is very thin.

At 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 meters) in shoes, he weighed only 92 kilograms when he first entered the league, lighter than some heavy guards.

After entering the league, he gained some weight, but at the start of the season, he still weighed only 96 kilograms.

With that kind of weight, the power forward position simply can't handle it.

If he plays the small forward position, he's too far from the basket, his center of gravity is too high, and his lack of skill makes it difficult for him to drive to the basket with the ball.

With a knee injury, the Pacers dared not add any more weight to him.

This put him in an awkward, ambiguous position.

"Not urgent."

Tang Sen shook his head; this was only the beginning.

Bender pursed his lips and remained silent.

He has a rather quiet personality and doesn't talk much in the locker room.

Tang Sen could sense his frustration.

He was one of the players that New York fans criticized the most during this period.

Who told Layden to brag that he was the next Garnett? And the Garnett you brought in only averaged 5 points per game?
Clearly, these criticisms affected Bender's mindset.

However, his willingness to practice more and try to change himself after being criticized is commendable.

“Jonathan…”

Tang Sen spoke.

Before he could finish speaking, Bender stopped him.

He gave a bitter smile and said, "Tang, I know what you want to say. You probably want to say that what they say doesn't affect me."

"What else? I don't need to compare myself to Garnett. I'm just me. I just need to do my best."

Those inspirational movies and bestselling self-help novels in Hollywood are all filled with this kind of motivational platitudes.

Tear off the labels you carry and strive to be the best version of yourself.

But Bender felt that this kind of argument was just empty talk; if you're so capable, why don't you try it yourself?

"wrong!"

Tang Sen shook his head and said, "Why not compare yourself to Garnett, or rather, why not learn from Garnett?"

Bender was taken aback.

He looked at Tang Sen in surprise, completely unexpected that Tang Sen would say such a thing.

"You should learn from him."

Tang Sen continued, "He succeeded, you didn't, so why can't you imitate successful people?"

"Just like all the guards in the league want to learn from Jordan and try to emulate him."

Kobe trained so hard in the summer, wasn't it because he wanted to become the next Jordan?
“Jonathan, there’s nothing wrong with imitating successful people and striving to emulate them.”

Tang Sen said earnestly, "Like Kwame, do you know how I trained him last summer?"

Bender shook his head blankly.

Tang Sen said, "I made him watch Patrick's videos every day, and he kept watching them until he dreamed about Patrick at night."

Bender stared wide-eyed, somewhat incredulous.

"I told Kwame to imitate Ewing's style of play because Patrick is the most technically gifted center, and he should learn from him."

"Then in the new season's training camp, Kwame beat him with Patrick's offensive style."

"So you shouldn't refuse to become Garnett; you should learn from him and see how he succeeded."

It's truly a problem with your brain to envy successful people without striving to emulate them and learn from their success.

Since Bender has been labeled as Garnett, he must have some qualities similar to Garnett.

Then you should learn from Garnett and strive to truly become Garnett.

Once you're qualified to be compared to Garnett, then you can discuss whether you can become yourself and surpass Garnett.

"correct."

At this point, Tang Sen said, "After a while, your weight should be within the target range, so it's necessary to let you start watching Kevin's videos."

"Just like Kwame, you look at him every day, and we'll talk about it when you start dreaming about Kevin."

And it wasn't just Bender.

Guards like DeShawn Stevenson also need to be watched.

Learning from the experiences of successful people is perfectly fine.

Bender nodded blankly; he couldn't yet agree with Tang Sen's point of view, but he was deeply shocked.

Brown, in particular, watched the video and saw that he dreamed about Ewing.

Tang Sen could sense that the team's consecutive losses, followed by relentless abuse and ridicule from the demanding New York fans, had fueled a fire within everyone.

They're all young people, and they're easily embarrassed.

But strength isn't something that can be achieved through mere impotence and rage.

We have to work hard, but we have to take it slowly.

Therefore, changing the Knicks' record in a short period of time is not an easy task.

……

The next day, the Knicks hosted the Hornets.

The team has changed coaches, and morale is low.

Perhaps recalling what Tang Sen had told him at the beginning of the season, wanting him to take responsibility, Yao Ming took the initiative to speak up and encourage his teammates in the somber locker room before the game.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the game hasn't even started yet, and we haven't lost a game."

Yao Ming looked at the crowd.

He didn't launch into a long speech, nor did he utter the kind of inspiring words that Rivers did.

He simply looked at everyone with unwavering eyes and finally said, "If you don't have the confidence to score, then pass the ball to me. Trust me, I can help the team win the game."

The atmosphere remained heavy.

The players exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the reaction wasn't strong enough, Houston immediately stood up and shouted, "Guys, Yao is right. The game hasn't even started yet, and we haven't lost."

He pointed outside the locker room: "The room is full of fans. Do you want them to be disappointed again? I'm fed up with losing and the media mocking us as losers."

"So guys, let's win this damn game!"

He clapped his hands, encouraging everyone.

The crowd, their spirits lifted, stood up and formed a circle, shouting.

Tangsen and Tedsky watched from a corner of the locker room.

"Don, I feel we can win today," Tedeski said.

Losing games all the time doesn't have a huge impact on us trainers, but it's still very frustrating.

Tang Sen remained silent, his gaze fixed on Yao Ming.

Yao Ming's ability to proactively encourage his teammates and his sense of responsibility are commendable.

But I just feel...

Some team leaders, like Jordan, are practically tyrants. If their teammates don't perform well, they can berate them mercilessly.

For example, Horace Grant still remembers being denied food for poor performance.

Yao Ming, on the other hand, seems to have taken the opposite path.

When you encounter trouble, first look for the problem within yourself, improve yourself, and then try to influence others.

This is definitely a good quality.

But Tang Sen really felt that sometimes it wasn't so bad to complain and criticize teammates for their poor performance.

But that's just his personality, and it's not something that can be changed overnight.

The competition started early today, at 4 pm.

New York fans can rant all they want, but they still have to buy tickets and can't rant inside!

It's quite rare to see a home team player receive boos from the entire stadium when they take the field.

Of course, when Yao Ming made his grand entrance last, he was greeted with cheers from the entire stadium.

"Great Wall!"

The sound of "Great Wall" echoed throughout the stadium.

This is the nickname that New York fans gave Yao Ming: the Great Wall of China.

In the stands, there were also a large number of Chinese fans wearing Yao Ming's No. 11 jersey, shouting and yelling.

Despite the team's poor record, Yao Ming remains a favorite among New Yorkers.

Averaging 26.4 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, fifth in scoring, New Yorkers are absolutely blown away.

Spike Lee has quickly become a fan of Yao Ming, jumping around on the sidelines and shouting for Yao Ming to beat the opponent.

That's exactly what Yao Ming, with his fighting spirit, did.

As soon as he entered the game, he didn't even enter the paint. He ran to the three-point line, stopped abruptly, received the ball, and immediately pulled it up and shot.

At the start of the game, in the first round, Jamal Magloire was still waiting for Yao Ming in the paint when Yao Ming shot right away.

He's a 7-foot-5 center!

I've never seen anyone play ball like that before.

But it actually went in!
Magloire watched Yao Ming run away, speechless for a moment.

Before the game, Paul Silas also reminded him to be careful of Yao Ming and to make sure he stayed close to him.

Because Yao Ming's current playing style is very strange.

He can play both inside and outside the paint; his presence is felt everywhere on the field.

Aside from not being able to dribble the ball all the way to the basket, there's nothing he can't do.

This style of play, with a center of this height, is something we've never encountered before, and it's giving all the teams a real headache.

If you were like Shaq, focusing on attacking the basket, I could bring in a heavy-weight center and go for it with muscle.

If you're agile, I'll get an agile one too, and follow you.

I hate people like Yao Ming who never play by the rules.

One minute he's attacking from the low post, the next he's running out to shoot; it's driving me crazy.

When they saw Yao Ming back down Magloire in the low post, push him aside, and then deftly flick the ball to lay it off, Silas on the sidelines was already starting to feel a headache coming on.

With a player like that, who can tell you how to defend against him?
(End of this chapter)