Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 218 Leaning Back with Straight Arms: How Can Your Opponent Defend?

Training ended, and the players were seen off.

Tang Sen pulled all the training team members onto the court.

"Greg, you guard me."

Townsend called for Brittenham to defend him.

Tang Sen himself needs to research and experiment with which direction Yao Ming should develop next and what specific techniques he should practice.

Brittenham is 1.93 meters tall, and we won't even mention his weight.

Even trainers can gain weight as they reach middle age.

He focuses on physical training, but having been in the industry for so many years, he certainly has the technical skills.

On the left side of the basket, Tang Sen, with his back to the basket, dribbles the ball backwards.

With a light, fleeting touch, Tang Sen, still having some energy left, quickly turned around and launched a jump shot.

Tang Sen had a great grasp of the rhythm.

Brittenham instinctively tried to block, but he overexerted himself, and his subsequent jump to block was a beat too late.

The ball goes in.

Tedsky immediately said, "Don, your speed is too fast. Yao can't reach your speed."

They knew what Tang Sen was going to do.

Brittenham nodded in agreement.

"Come again."

Tangsen slowed down the pace, giving them more pressure, dribbled past Brittenham, pivoted on his right foot, turned towards the baseline, and pulled up for a shot.

Brittenham leaped forward, but his attack was disrupted.

After landing, Tang Sen thought for a moment and gestured for another attempt.

Next, Tang Sen tried dozens of times, slowing down the pace, and then tried various turnaround jump shots from different positions.

Try to put yourself in Yao Ming's shoes and see which offensive method is more efficient.

"No."

Tang Sen stopped and asked everyone what they thought.

The group exchanged glances and began to offer their opinions.

Nate Keating, Brittenham's former trainer, said, "Don, you're adding a fadeaway to create space for your shot, but isn't that a bit too difficult?"

Everyone knows that leaning back is difficult to master.

Brittenham nodded in agreement: "I think Yao's footwork is very good. Even with the most basic turnaround jump shot, his height advantage is enough to create space."

"Why not just lean back instead of rolling over?"

Tederski offered a different perspective, arguing that the turnaround jump shot isn't necessarily effective.

“In the summer, I carefully compared Yao and Kevin. Yao is too tall and too heavy. His leg explosiveness is not as good as Kevin’s. He has too many preparatory movements, which gives his opponents enough time to block him.”

In this situation, it's better to just lean back and avoid the need to roll over.

Tang Sen had considered all the situations the others had mentioned.

"Something doesn't feel right."

Tang Sen pursed his lips, said "You just wait," and quickly left the training ground.

A short while later, Tang Sen returned with a security guard.

His name is Raphael.

He was quite excited and kept talking to Tang Sen about how much he loved playing ball, but he was just too short.

He was indeed not tall; Brittenham estimated he was only a little over 1.6 meters.

"Raphael, you defend me."

Tang Sen leaned against Raphael with his back turned. When he stood up straight, Raphael lowered his body until his head only reached Tang Sen's shoulder.

It offers a wide field of vision.

Tang Sen nodded silently; this felt more like it.

I imagine this is how Yao Ming felt when facing most centers who were only 2.1 meters tall.

Raphael's skill level was limited; Tangsen could easily disorient him with a simple change in rhythm.

Even so, the speed was reduced.

However, Tang Sen mainly wanted to find his rhythm and figure out which offensive style was better; he had his own criteria for judging.

Try again and again.

Tang Sen leaned back against the wall, exerted force to push backward, and the two locked in a stalemate.

Then, his right shoulder dipped slightly, indicating a shift in his center of gravity. As he slammed the ball in, he reset his footwork, subtly moving his left foot backward and upward along the line.

Push off with your right foot, pivot on your left foot, and turn directly upwards.

Minimize the pre-emptive swaying motion and complete the footwork reset during the initial explosive shot phase.

The key is to position your left foot correctly, then turn and jump immediately.

The jump wasn't high, but it involved leaning back.

Raphael was inexperienced and slow to react, so he was not fooled.

Even better, he pressed up in sync with Tang Sen, reaching out to block.

However, at this point, the advantages of height and wingspan become apparent.

Tang Sen hit the target squarely.

After landing, Tang Sen recalled the whole process and gestured for another attempt.

If it's still in the same position, just turn it.

This time, when Tang Sen turned the ball around, he had already started to lift it, and when he jumped facing the basket, the ball was already in the air.

Reduce the time spent lifting the ball and focus on maintaining and adjusting your body posture.

He leaned back, paused slightly in mid-air, and then released the basketball.

"Tang, this feeling is kind of right."

Brittenham's eyes lit up.

Tang Sen nodded slightly, indicating that he had found a bit of the knack for it.

But Tedsky had a different opinion, saying, "Tang, by turning around directly, you reduced the feinting motions and made your attack faster."

"But turning around for a jump shot still reduces the consistency of the shot, and it takes a long time of training to make it accurate. It's really better to just lean back."

Tang Sen thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"Fred, you have to consider the environment Yao faces on the court."

Most of the time, Yao Ming would first establish position, and once he was in position, he would receive the ball with his back to the basket.

If you lean back directly, you also need to turn around to face the frame.

By this time, the opposing team may have already come to double-team.

Turning around immediately after receiving the ball with your back to the basket speeds up your shot, preventing opponents from double-teaming you.

Tedsky immediately understood and said, "Indeed, we must consider the actual situation."

Tang Sen continued the experiment.

They stopped after a while.

"I've found that no matter what I try, it's always Patrick's stuff."

Tang Sen first thanked Raphael, and then addressed Tedsky and the others.

Reduce feints and turn directly.

This is actually what I taught Brown last year.

That is, Ewing's stuff.

Ewing doesn't have Olajuwon's speed; his legs aren't long enough, and his stride isn't as long as Olajuwon's.

His turnaround jump shot is a direct spin, without any feints, relying on physical contact, solid footwork, and subtle footwork positioning.

At his peak, he still had some explosive power, so his jump was quite powerful.

Most importantly, he's a good shooter.

It can only be said that the essence remains the same despite all the variations, especially since this center textbook actually covers all the possible moves a center can make.

Of course, adjustments will definitely be needed for individuals.

Like Brown.

He is young and full of energy.

In the summer, Brown practiced his turnaround jump shot. Tang Sen's solution was to turn around, step outwards, and actively create space.

He can use explosive power to compensate for insufficient force caused by excessive stride.

Then came Yao Ming.

His leg power is not as good as Brown's. If he relies on a larger stride to create space, his jump will not be stable enough.

Then let's try a different approach: use leaning back to create space.

This can be considered a matter of individual differences.

For players of their caliber, even the slightest difference means that Yao Ming is unlikely to follow in Brown's footsteps.

When Ewing was mentioned, Brittenham nodded in deep agreement.

Having played for the Knicks for so many years, he has a deep understanding of how good Ewing's skills are.

"By the way, after this season, shouldn't Patrick retire? After he retires, could he go back to New York and help develop Yao?"

He won the championship, fulfilled his dream, and Ewing is already 40 years old. With his contract expiring, he should probably retire.

Tang Sen had no idea what Ewing was thinking.

However, last year with the Magic, Ewing helped train Brown quite a bit.

"That's settled then. Let Yao try it this afternoon."

Tang Sen called a halt and thanked Raphael.

I tried it myself and it felt good.

But that won't help; it depends on whether Yao Ming can find his rhythm.

The afternoon training will still start at four o'clock.

After training began, Tang Sen pulled Yao Ming and Chandler together and then taught Yao Ming how to turn around step by step.

Let's start from the left side of the basket, in the low post.

"First, before the smash, make a dynamic movement to the right."

"When breaking the ball, you need to reset your footwork, especially pay attention to my left foot."

"Then turn, push off with your right foot and lift off."

Tang Sen demonstrates.

In terms of movement, Yao Ming learned very quickly. With each turn, he soon found his rhythm and his movements became much more coordinated.

Tang Sen changed Yao Ming's label to "Master of the Fadeaway".

Specialized understanding with labels.

[Charm], [Brain], [Smart]

These badges can all enhance technical understanding.

Finally, there's the [Practice] badge, which increases experience conversion.

In addition, Yao Ming's own skills were excellent, so he quickly learned to play well in the early stages.

These are all basic footwork applications; he shouldn't have any major problems.

The key is the fadeaway shot after turning around when someone is defending you.

After all, with the added fadeaway jumper, the difficulty of the shot is self-evident.

At the start, Yao Ming struggled to make any shots.

To Tang Sen's surprise, Yao Ming's shooting percentage improved after only a short practice session.

Tang Sen keenly noticed that he had raised his shooting point.

After stopping Yao Ming, Tang Sen came over and asked him what his considerations were in doing so. Yao Ming said there wasn't any particular consideration; he just naturally raised the arc of the shot.

Tang Sen thought to himself, "You're not like that at all."

It's normal to raise the arc of the ball when shooting a fadeaway jumper.

However, when others raise the arc, it's to increase the range of motion of the forearm.

Yao Ming, on the other hand, simply raised his release point.

He used a near-straight-arm shooting technique.

When Yao Ming was in China, he had many straight-arm shots.

But after training with Tang Sen, he gradually returned to the standard three 90-degree angles.

The key is a fadeaway jump shot with a straight arm; try it and you'll see how difficult it is.

Even if Yao Ming's backward lean wasn't very pronounced.

Because this kind of shot relies too much on wrist strength.

Or, to put it another way, it relies solely on the wrist to generate power.

The increased difficulty made his shots even more accurate.

Tang Sen slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing what was going on.

Skyhook!

Yao Ming has developed considerable wrist strength through extensive practice of skyhook shots.

"Brother Sen, what's wrong? Is something wrong?" Yao Ming asked back.

Tang Sen snapped out of his daze, shook his head, and gestured for him to continue.

He's not a novice; he can adjust, adapt, and find a way that suits him better.

We are currently in a process of trial and error.

Tang Sen simply didn't expect that practicing the Skyhook would have such benefits.

With his height, he added a backward lean and used a straight-arm technique to raise his release point.

This is incredible, who can defend against it?
Moreover, a spark of inspiration faintly ignited in Tang Sen's mind.

But when we tried to catch them again, they were gone.

Composing himself, Tang Sen continued to observe Yao Ming.

Raising the release point made Chandler very uncomfortable.

Furthermore, Tang Sen noticed that Yao Ming's backward lean posture was also well controlled.

I told him not to jump that high, since he's already high enough and can't do the exaggerated backward lean like Jordan and Dandy.

But with such a tall stature, turning around and leaning back with such stability is truly not an easy feat.

I feel it's related to his attempt to practice Dream Footwork.

He also trains in surfing and swimming pools, and his balance is quite good.

During a break, Tang Sen came over and asked Chandler how he felt.

Whether a player's technique is good or not depends on the defender.

Chandler frowned, looking somewhat frustrated, and said, "I feel like if I don't leave the Knicks, I'll only ever be a substitute for the rest of my life."

The Knicks today are all about competition and survival of the fittest.

Chandler already felt he couldn't compete with Yao Ming.

Well now.

Chandler glanced at Yao Ming and felt hopeless.

He couldn't help but say to Yao Ming, "Yao, you're so tall, and you still lean back. How are you supposed to defend against that?"

Chandler gestured.

Yao Ming practiced his defense just as many times as he defended against it.

Even if he knew Yao Ming was going to move towards the top of the court and could jump in advance to block him, it would still be difficult to interfere with Yao Ming.

My size is not small.

Although his wingspan is a bit short at 2.21 meters, his height with shoes is 2.16 meters, which is not short.

However, it was still very difficult to interfere with Yao Ming's shot.

In a real game, if the opponent has no idea what Yao Ming's next move will be, they will only have a bigger headache.

"It's not that exaggerated. Have confidence in yourself," Tang Sen encouraged.

His tone suggested he had given up on treatment.

confidence?

Chandler smiled wryly, thinking to himself that he didn't even have confidence in himself.

"Then let's practice like this for now."

As things stand, it seems to be going well, and the direction is correct.

Once he masters this skill, Yao Ming's offensive repertoire in the mid-range will become more diverse and harder to defend.

Consequently, Tang Sen will also need to adjust his training plan.

I need to adjust my physical condition.

Since you're practicing turnaround jump shots, you definitely need to increase your lower body explosiveness and also train your balance.

Spend more time practicing the technical aspects.

It's April now.

On the 4th, the Knicks welcomed their first heavyweight opponent of the new season at home.

The defending champion Magic.

"gentlemen!"

Brown was the most excited, and as soon as the players came on the field, he ran over to Tang Sen.

Tang Sen was naturally pleased that this was his personally trained disciple.

Brown greeted Yao Ming again and asked him curiously if he had mastered the skyhook.

He said he wanted to see for himself in a little while.

"Then you'll be disappointed," Yao Ming shook his head.

The skyhook isn't something you can just learn by practicing.

"Don."

Rivers also came over and greeted Tangsen with a warm hug.

He held Tang Sen tightly for a long time.

"Tang, I've already started to miss you."

His gaze was deep.

This season, not only is Billups, the on-court playmaker, absent, but more importantly, Townsend is also out, and Rivers feels that the players' progress is slow.

Or rather, there has been no progress at all; they are simply living off past achievements.

The direct result is that the Magic's record has fluctuated, and they are now only ranked second in the Eastern Conference.

Tang Sen said jokingly, "Nostalgia, huh? Then come to New York."

The Knicks happen to be short of a head coach.

Moreover, Tang Sen really thinks Rivers is a good fit for the current Knicks.

He excels at inspiring people, and these young rookies need a motivational coach like him to ignite their fighting spirit.

“I’d like to,” Rivers laughed.

He wants to come to the big stage in New York too.

The match started at 7:30 p.m.

Facing Brown, Yao Ming won't have it so easy.

For posting up in the paint, Brown is very physically strong, and getting deep into position is not an easy task.

Moreover, PJ Brown's help defense was very effective.

He knew Swift didn't have much of a shooting ability, so he could boldly come over and double-team her.

McGrady, on the other hand, turned Gerald Wallace into a walking ATM.

The Magic started strong, taking a 10-3 lead over the Knicks.

Houston is locked down by Sasse.

He can run, but Sasser can run even faster.

Sather was not afraid of physical confrontations.

Tang Sen, standing on the sidelines, couldn't help but feel helpless. All his efforts last season had come back to haunt him.

If the two core players can't perform well, there's no point in expecting anything from a bunch of rookies.

At this point, it was Yao Ming who took the initiative to change his playing style.

He started suggesting that Billups run pick-and-rolls.

However, its usefulness is also limited.

Brown can also produce it.

During last year's Finals, he often used mid-range shots to punish O'Neal.

Even when Yao Ming appeared at the three-point line, Brown stayed right behind him, defending him very tightly.

The gap in strength is still huge.

At this moment, the Knicks were on offense. With little time remaining, Yao Ming received the ball at the high post. Facing Brown's close defense, he leaned to the side to create space and then completed the shot in an unconventional way.

He barely jumped, then held the ball almost behind his head, and then, somewhat awkwardly, threw the ball with a flick of the wrist, resulting in a three-pointer that landed just outside the line.

Brown leaped up like a spring to block, so the ball's trajectory wasn't low.

Like a giant rock thrown by a catapult, it traced a very high arc in the air and fell headfirst into the basket.

It was a lucky ball.

But Tang Sen had a sudden inspiration; a few days ago, that spark of inspiration had suddenly appeared.

Tang Sen now knew what he had been thinking.

It's three points!
Yao Ming didn't shoot many three-pointers, and even if he made a two-pointer, it wasn't much.

Because his accuracy rate is not very high.

If he pulls out to shoot and misses, there's no one in the paint who can guarantee the rebound.

Therefore, Yao Ming's three-point shooting was always a last resort.

At the same time, all of his three-pointers are catch-and-shoot shots, relying on mismatch advantages.

Moreover, even when catching and shooting, the release is slow, and it is easily interfered with by fast-moving outside shots.

His three-point shooting percentage of only 32% so far this season is the best proof of that.

But Tangsen is considering how to increase his threat from outside shooting.

But it's difficult.

If you're a guard, you can take a step to the side or even a step back to create better shooting space through technical moves.

Yao Ming is a 7-foot-5 center; he can't make that move.

Now, seeing Yao Ming's shot, Tang Sen suddenly had an idea.

His shooting form was unconventional, but his release point was far back, and he was tall enough.

Therefore, even Brown would have a hard time interfering.

The only problem is that this is a three-pointer, so you need to have enough power.

Therefore, Tang Sen never considered this aspect at the beginning.

However, because Yao Ming practiced skyhook, he had a lot of wrist strength, and he could shoot a fadeaway jump shot with a straight arm.

So when shooting a three-pointer, his wrist strength should be sufficient to support him in shooting in this unconventional way.

(End of this chapter)