Chapter Ten Unfavorable

  Vicksburg Forest Devils head coach Mark Allen, Bill Lamb and Marc Flynn sat together in the office, now it's mid-October, more than a month since the Devils' hell week started. The three coaches almost get together every day to discuss players' progress and tactics of how to run the triple option, which has become a routine.

  "The players' current performance is worrying me" Bill Rambo, who is directly responsible for the training of the three players, knows their current state best. The current situation of the Devil's team makes him very worried. Although the players are also working hard to follow his training plan, the overall effect cannot satisfy him.

  "Tim is currently the player who has made the most progress on the team, I think this season can let him have more possession and attack. Carter and James Posey's progress is also very obvious, but others are not doing well, especially Wally Szczerbiak, his footsteps are slow, but after receiving the ball, he always thinks about dribbling instead of passing first, no matter how you change it, it can't be changed. Raja Bell is okay, his passing is very stylish, but his field of vision is terrible. If you give him a passing target, he can pass the ball well, but if you let him choose the target himself, it's terrible. And then there's Stephon Marbury, I think he has no talent for this at all, he doesn't need to participate in such training, even if he practices, it's useless." Bill Lambo is a bit disappointed.

  Zhuang Fei nodded silently, but the worry in his eyebrows was self-evident. From the data of the Wang Dynasty system, Bill Lanbo's analysis was completely correct. Duncan was the player who made the most progress, with an attack rating that rose directly from 73 to 80, and an ability evaluation that rose from 86 to 88. This kind of rapid progress in just one month was unbelievable. According to Zhuang Fei's recent understanding, Duncan had only been playing basketball for five years before the age of 15, having previously practiced swimming. Such a natural talent for basketball left Zhuang Fei speechless. People are envious of others' success, and Zhuang Fei himself had started practicing basketball at the age of 7, but ultimately achieved nothing. The sport of basketball requires too much innate ability.

  Carter also made progress, with an attack rating that rose from 85 to 89, and an ability evaluation that rose from 75 to 76. Although not as obvious as Duncan's progress, it was still quite rapid. James Posey also improved, with an attack rating that rose from 63 to 67, and his ball-handling and control abilities increased significantly. As for Lagabell, Woli-Szebiak, and Stefan Green, there was no indication of their progress in the data.

  Even if an ordinary person practiced crazily for a month, they would still make some progress, so why did these three people show zero improvement? Is there hidden data in the system that doesn't add up? This was the most incomprehensible thing to Zhuang Fei.

  "Coach, according to the plan, shouldn't we start tactical training for the triangular offense now? But looking at the players' current state, shouldn't we postpone the team's tactical training? After all, their foundation is still too weak," Mark Allen said, quietly watching Zhuang Fei, while Bill Lamb also waited for Zhuang Fei's instructions.

  However, Zhuang Fei was lightly tapping the table in front of him with his right index finger, and he was also making a final decision. Mark Allen and Bill Lamb waited for about 5 minutes, and after Zhuang Fei sighed, he finally spoke up.

  "Never mind, let's just go with the original plan," said Zhuang Fei finally in a helpless tone.

  "But can this really work? The triangular offense is based on the individual abilities of the players. If these players are not capable, then the training effect cannot be guaranteed, and it's like trying to scoop water with a bamboo basket. Mark Allen tends to let his team members practice their techniques first before conducting tactical training."

  "It's not going to work, now they've practiced about the same amount, if there's no progress now, nobody can guarantee what will happen after another month of practice" Mark Allen's eyes dimmed, Zhuang Fei's concern was not unreasonable, since there's been no progress now, will there be progress in the future? Unknown.

  "Besides, time is not waiting for anyone, and I don't have much time to slowly grind with them. The ACC regular season starts next month, which is absolutely unacceptable to lose. Thinking of the person in the principal's office, Zhuang Fei felt a chill run down his spine. If they start badly, Zhuang Fei wouldn't think that Principal would show mercy. Now he was in a hurry, since Duncan and Carter, the two cores, were making good progress, so it was time to move on to the next step. Maybe through tactical training, those people could suddenly come to a realization."

  "By the way, Mark, I let you arrange the friendly match opponents, how's it going?" The NCAA schedule in the US is actually similar to the NBA, both have pre-season and regular season games. Almost all universities will find some teams to play pre-season games before the regular season. For Zhuang Fei, this was the most important part of his plan, to hone the team's triangular offense through pre-season games, and then improve on their weaknesses after finding them in matches. So he had called Mark Allen half a month ago to arrange for practice match opponents.

  "It's almost settled, 5 universities are willing to accept our invitation to play a practice match with us. However, the last opponent you specifically requested, University of North Carolina, refused. Do we need to re-select the last practice match opponent?"

  "That's enough, just these five, by the way, who was the opponent in the first game and when?" Zhuang Fei asked.

  "Next Saturday, the opponent is the University of Connecticut Huskies"

  "Kang okay?" Zhuang Fei was startled

  "Yes, what's wrong? Their strength is pretty good, although the team's foundation is a bit poor, but their performance has been very stable in recent years. This year they even made it to the national top 8, which is also their best result in team history. Their head coach is very ambitious, and that's why they invited us first," Mark Allen said strangely.

  "No, nothing." Zhuang Fei shook his head with a bitter smile. As for Kangda, how could he not be clear? The popularity of NCAA in China was not very high, but after 2004, Chinese fans began to pay more attention to the NCAA, and during that period, Kangda was absolutely one of the top teams in the NCAA. Zhuang Fei, a Chinese coach who didn't know much about the NCAA, had also heard of its reputation. He just didn't expect that Kangda would be a team without much depth, probably because it was their rising period at that time.

  "By the way, Bill, although Mark's tactical training will take up a large proportion in the future, don't relax your technical training either. It's best if you and Mark discuss how to combine technical and tactical training together, maybe it'll be more effective." Zhuang Fei reminded.

  Mark Allen and Bill Lambo both nodded in agreement with Zhu Fei's view.

  "And also about Stephen Green"

  "What's with Steven?" Mark Allen wondered.

  "Don't let him practice passing anymore, just have him focus on defense," Zhuang Fei said with a sigh. Stephon Green is the only player in the current starting five who has not appeared in the NBA, and the Wang Dynasty system does not evaluate him highly, he is just a defensive role player, his potential cannot be fully developed, if Lagabell's potential can still allow him to defend and shoot, then Stephon Green can only focus on defense.

  I hope the team will get better and better. Next Saturday's game against Kangda will be a huge test, and Zhuang Fei shook his head again.