Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 273 Have you heard what people say?

Tang Sen didn't agree to anything from Jordan and went home early.

It was only a little past eight o'clock in the evening, and Tang Ling was still working on her computer.

"Sis, I need to talk to you about something."

Tang Sen was a little undecided about this matter and wanted to discuss it with Tang Ling.

She had worked in public relations at a large company and had been in the business world for many years, so she knew the ins and outs of it.

Tang Ling pushed the computer aside and asked Tang Sen what they wanted to discuss.

Tang Sen carefully explained to her the whole story.

"That's about it, sis. Do you have any suggestions?"

Tang Ling's heart pounded wildly.

"In other words, you now have the opportunity to become the owner of an NBA team. What did David Stern say? Is he really willing to give you this opportunity? Or is he just trying to fool you?"

If Jordan was scammed, Stern, a lawyer by profession, is even less trustworthy.

Tang Sen thought about Stern's original words at the time.

That's pretty much making it clear.

But given Jordan's experience, it's indeed unbelievable that no contract was formed.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Sen changed his approach, saying, "I can only say that he needs me in this matter."

His rookie plan, his one-city-one-star plan, is inseparable from himself.

Tang Ling hurriedly said, "That's enough. In business transactions, you need to have leverage; that's the prerequisite for everything."

After saying that, Tang Ling hurriedly got up and asked Tang Sen to wait a moment.

She turned and went upstairs, then brought down a whiteboard.

"First, how much money is needed?"

She asked first.

Tang Sen recalled the news and said, "It should be three hundred million."

The 300 million yuan is for ticket sales, which will be divided equally among the 29 teams.

The remaining costs for team establishment and operation must be covered separately.

The first year's salaries were tens of millions, plus the stadium, uniforms, and other miscellaneous expenses, it would cost at least another 100 million.

Regarding the arena, Tang Sen recalled reading in the news that Charlotte would build a new arena and rent it out to the new team.

At this point, Tang Sen simply waved his hand and said, "Sister, don't bother, this is difficult, I don't have that much money."

Hundreds of millions! Just thinking about it is an astronomical figure.

My income is quite high now.

Moreover, income will be even higher in the foreseeable future.

But you have to pay taxes.

At the moment, Tang Sen can only come up with a maximum of ten million US dollars.

"do not."

Tang Ling hurriedly said, "Tang Sen, you need to understand one thing: in business operations, a money-making opportunity is the most precious thing. Once you have the opportunity, money is not a problem. There are many ways to make money."

"But opportunities aren't something you can just have whenever you want. I think this is a very, very rare opportunity for you."

"You yourself said that Stern's plans, especially that rookie plan, are very difficult to implement."

"But he doesn't know that now. Once he does, you'll have no leverage left."

As she spoke, Tang Ling leaned closer to Tang Sen and said, "Brother, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You don't know when you'll get another chance, so you must seize it."

"Don't rush to agree to anyone. Give me some time to gather information and think about this matter."

Tang Sen nodded.

Tang Ling is right about one thing: opportunity is the most precious thing.

Once you miss it, it's hard to get it again.

"Then take your time thinking about it. I have to get up early tomorrow, so I'm going to bed now."

This is my older sister; her judgment is trustworthy.

Tang Ling waved her hand and continued writing and drawing on the whiteboard.

The next morning, Tang Sen "unexpectedly" bumped into Chad Lowe, who was walking his dog next door, when he went out for a walk.

"Tang, can we win today?"

He asked the same question again.

Tang Sen thought to himself, "I've never heard of you being a die-hard Knicks fan," but after thinking for a moment, Tang Sen nodded and said, "Of course, I think we can win today."

If we can't win today, we'll definitely win the day after tomorrow.

Those two Magic players have already played two games. If they keep pushing themselves like this, even the strongest bodies won't be able to keep up.

The morning training session focused mainly on tactical positioning.

Carlisle has changed his strategy; he's no longer going for the double towers.

He started Bender.

At the same time, an important adjustment was made: the defense line was expanded outwards.

“Tracy will shoot a lot of three-pointers. In the first two games, he made 5 of 11 three-pointers, a success rate of over 4%. So Gerrard, you have to guard him closely.”

Carlisle stood on the field, instructing Wallace on what to do.

Last summer, Tang Sen had McGrady practice his three-point shooting a lot, and this season, his three-point attempts have increased dramatically, from an average of 3.2 per game last season to 6.1 per game.

Three-pointers have become an important offensive weapon for McGrady.

“We need to push Tracy towards the mid-range, and then Jonathan, you need to come over quickly to cover, and then we'll attack from both sides.”

Carlisle clasped his fists together.

He carefully studied the game footage and discovered that McGrady liked to start with a back-to-the-basket move from the mid-range position.

That requires space and time.

If you defend him closely and force him to drive, once he gets inside, you can surround him from both sides, leaving him no time to back down.

In situations like these, McGrady is more likely to pass the ball.

So after weighing the options, Carlisle preferred to have McGrady pass the ball to other players so they could shoot, rather than letting McGrady shoot himself.

McGrady can shoot deadly, but others might not be able to.

“As for Yao, I’ll have to add some more burden to you.” Carlisle sighed, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

But in such high-level situations, it's impossible not to place responsibilities on people.

He asked Yao Ming to devote more energy to defending Brown.

We can hold back on offense a bit; we don't need 40 or 50 points, 30 points will be enough.

Then, as long as Brown's score is kept below 20 points, it's considered a victory.

Yao Ming frowned subconsciously, but still nodded.

Tang Sen, who was listening nearby, secretly shook his head.

Have you heard what people say?
Focus more on defense, limit Brown, and then score another 30 points yourself.

This requires Yao Ming to truly excel in both offense and defense.

If they still can't win, should we put more pressure on Yao Ming?

Then you need to be able to provide support, cover, and distribute the ball to organize the offense.

Does he need to become an all-around superstar core who can fill all the stats with 30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 5 blocks?

There has never been such a well-rounded center in NBA history.

It seems Carlisle has run out of ideas.

When a head coach stops studying tactics and starts making demands on the players, it means he's truly out of ideas.

But that's how the NBA is; superstars have the ability to disregard all tactics and change the game.

Tang Sen looked at Yao Ming.

Yao Ming now has the awareness to be the senior player, but in terms of ability, it can't be said that he lacks it; it's just that his opponents are too strong.

Even someone as powerful as Sun Wukong, when he encountered Erlang Shen, was like Guan Yu fighting Qin Qiong – a close match.

Two fists can't beat four hands; Houston is just a bit short of the mark. Time!
Tang Sen couldn't help but sigh.

These players have grown tremendously in one season, but it's still not enough.

If I had another season, I might be able to train a superstar-level player from among these guards.

But it's just a possibility.

Like DeShawn Stevenson, I feel his talent is still a bit lacking.

Over two years, I've had the opportunity to meet and interact with a large number of star athletes.

Tang Sen increasingly felt that talent was crucial to taking a player from star to superstar.

Those who can enter the NBA are definitely geniuses; their talent is undeniable.

But there are geniuses among geniuses.

He has the height of Yao Ming and the steel-like knees of Shaquille O'Neal.

Like McGrady's incredible coordination.

You really need that kind of talent to take the next step.

Thinking of this, a name suddenly popped into Tang Sen's mind.

LeBron James.

This kid's talent is truly terrifying.

The lottery is in two days, and I wonder who will win the top prize this year.

Tang Sen feels that the Knicks are currently lacking a player with top-tier talent at the guard position.

I wonder if any of them are among this year's rookies.

The Knicks currently have a bunch of excellent role players; if they're interested, they could easily trade for a higher draft pick.

Tang Sen pondered whether he should talk to Leiden and Carlisle about this later.

I reckon Carlisle probably has a pretty good idea about this.

Seeing that he only puts pressure on Yao Ming, it should be clear that putting pressure on Houston is useless; his level is just so-so.

I'm getting old.

There's also a contract.

His contract worth hundreds of millions is really a headache.

Tickets for the evening's game were extremely hard to come by.

Large crowds of fans gathered around several streets in Madison, creating a carnival-like atmosphere.

Inside the stadium, the cheers and shouts never stopped.

The intense atmosphere seemed to tear the magic trick apart.

If it were an ordinary team, they might get stage fright.

But the Magic are, after all, the defending champions and have experienced big games.

McGrady came out strong and hit a three-pointer right over Wallace.

You really can't say Wallace didn't defend well enough; he wasn't out of position, and his hand almost covered McGrady's face.

But McGrady just can make it.

The feel of that shot was truly unbelievable.

Without saying a word, Yao Ming returned the favor.

With two consecutive games scoring over 40 points, his form has truly improved.

He faced Brown, didn't even look at him, and shot straight at him.

The shooting form was unusual, but the basketball still went in.

Brown couldn't help but feel envious, saying he also wanted to practice three-pointers in the summer.

Yao Ming didn't respond; he was preoccupied with his own worries.

He felt there was no problem with the offensive aspect.

But stopping Brown will be a real challenge for him.

Yao Ming felt that Brown and O'Neal were different.

O'Neal's playing style was very pure; he relied more on his physical strength to overpower opponents.

As for physical resistance, you can grit your teeth and endure it.

When the competition intensifies, O'Neal's own shooting percentage will also decline.

But Brown is different.

Brown is certainly physically strong, but he's more of a technical player now.

For example, this ball right now.

Brown received the ball in the low post, turned and back to the basket, feigned a cut to the baseline, and as soon as his body made contact, he instantly pulled back, turned and went to the baseline, and made a hook shot.

Yao Ming is agile, but he's only 7'5", and no matter how agile he is, he can't keep up with Brown, who is only 6'11".

His movement speed is much faster than Yao Ming's.

Coupled with his skillful technique, Yao Ming was really having a headache.

When Yao Ming focuses on defense, his offense is inevitably affected to some extent.

In the first quarter, Yao Ming played for more than ten minutes. He was very proactive and took on most of the offensive tasks.

He made 5 of 10 field goals and, plus free throws, scored 13 points.

13 points in a single quarter is a very high score.

However, the hit rate is only 5%, which is the effect of distraction.

His decreased efficiency directly resulted in the Knicks falling behind.

The Knicks trailed by 5 points in the first quarter, 24 to 29.

McGrady and Brown combined for a total of 20 points.

In the second quarter, the two players, after only a two-minute rest, returned to the court.

At halftime, the Knicks trailed by 8 points, 49-57.

Yao Ming scored 23 points in the first half, accounting for half of the team's total points, but still couldn't lead the team to the lead.

Watching McGrady catch the ball, stop abruptly, and shoot despite being surrounded and blocked, Tang Sen couldn't help but wonder, "I didn't think this guy had that much stamina last season."

Or perhaps the Magic's opponents in the first two rounds were too weak, and they didn't wear them down much.

Otherwise, how could they still be so fierce in the third game?

Glory did not come today.

The New York fans in the arena shouted themselves hoarse, but it couldn't stop the Knicks from losing.

The Knicks lost to the Magic 105-107, a narrow defeat by 2 points.

With just over three minutes remaining and trailing by eight points, Carlisle called two timeouts in a row, giving Yao Ming a much-needed breather.

Then Yao Ming scored 7 consecutive points, almost helping the Knicks turn the game around.

But it was just a little short.

In the final moments, Brown scored 4 consecutive points, holding off the Knicks' comeback attempt.

The entire audience was filled with regret.

Spike Lee, standing on the sidelines, held his head in his hands, looking pained.

But he immediately stood up, calling out Yao Ming's name to encourage him.

Yao Ming scored 46 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. With such stats and performance, who can criticize him?

Tang Sen also felt it was a pity.

It's such a shame when your star player scores 46 points and you still can't win the game.

Just as Tang Sen was about to leave, he suddenly heard Jordan in the front row call his name and gesture that he would see him in a while.

This guy came to watch the game today.

If we meet again in a bit, we'll definitely talk about yesterday's events.

He really took this matter to heart.

(End of this chapter)