Chapter Fifty-two New Discoveries

  First of all, thank you to book friend Hua Kai Ruo Xiang Yi for the 1888 starting point coins reward and 5 10-minute evaluation votes. This has also led to the appearance of the first disciple of this book, thank you! Also, the recommended list is about to be squeezed out of the top six, my goal for this week is to get into the top six, I hope everyone can support me by casting more recommendation votes. The higher the ranking, the more people will see it, and for a book without any official strong promotion, the recommended list and click-through rate are its lifeblood. Also, this book is currently in the stage of laying the groundwork, the plot is not yet exciting enough, please forgive me, but the groundwork is about to end soon, so please wait with bated breath!

  If buying the affinity scroll from the system store was the first step, then Zhāng Fēi calling Stéphane Greene and DeAntonie to his home two days later to take away two large boxes was his second step.

  The box was very heavy, and neither Green nor DeAntonio knew what was inside. They simply followed Zhuang Fei's instructions and brought the large boxes to the team's training hall.

  "This is a leg tie? Are these two boxes of things all leg ties?" DeAntoni and Steve Greene looked at Zhu Fei in surprise.

  He's a seasoned basketball man, from player to coach, and he's never seen any team's coach use sandbags in training. Is it like Chinese kung fu, practicing qing gong? D'Antoni thought of this and laughed at himself. Chinese kung fu? How could there be such a thing.

  Zhuang Fei took out a 2-kilogram sandbag from the box and gently tossed it upwards, feeling that it was indeed somewhat heavy. However, this weight should not be too much of a burden for these NBA players. He had specifically ordered it from a martial arts school.

  "Mac, don't you think this will make those players even more exhausted? Although they are already very tired now, it's just mental and spiritual fatigue. I not only want them to be mentally and spiritually exhausted, but also physically and physiologically exhausted, that's the only way to achieve the best training effect."

  De Antoni looked at Zhuang Fei's smiling face, and his back was sweating profusely. Even Gelin, who had been following Zhuang Fei for a long time, thought that Zhuang Fei was already very demonic in the Vickson Forest, but compared to now, it was somewhat insufficient. After all, even if one person carried two 2-kilogram sandbags and walked for eight hours, they couldn't take it anymore, let alone high-intensity training?

  "We will focus on the team's offense and defense speed in the new season. When these players can still produce beautiful offense while carrying sandbags, what will happen when they take off their sandbags?" Zhuang Fei looked at DeAntoni with a smile.

  De Antony's body trembled slightly, he had never thought of using this method to train players. Zhuang Fei's approach was unusual, but it didn't necessarily mean it was unreasonable. However, he still had some concerns: "Will it cause unnecessary injuries?"

  "Don't worry, this won't cause any harm and will even help them build up their physical strength," said Zhuang Fei with a smile. 2 kilograms is an appropriate weight. He had already inquired about it from the martial arts instructor who bought these sandbags.

  "Coach, is that how those Chinese flying roof and wall lightness skills are practiced?" Stephan Green asked curiously.

  "Maybe," replied Zhuang Fei, and upon hearing this, Green couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement. This kid had been deeply poisoned by Chinese kung fu.

  Zhuang Fei's new trick during training left the Timberwolves players stunned and speechless. Sam Mitchell, who has been in the league for 13 years, having only played for the Timberwolves and Pacers, never thought this was a way to train basketball players. Has any of the 29 teams in the league ever done such a thing? He dared to be certain, absolutely not.

  "Sam, this Chinese guy is trying to kill us," Anthony Pillare complained to Sam Mitchell during a training break. He couldn't take it anymore, was this Chinese guy teaching Chinese kung fu? It might as well be magic.

  "Shut up, I'm talking, bear with it. Don't you see that all the new recruits' training courses are the same?" Sam Mitchell coldly scolded, and some of the older players who were about to complain, like Anthony Pieller, also retreated when they saw Mitchell's anger.

  What delighted Zhuang Fei was that his new measure did not cause too much backlash, especially the reaction of the old players surprised him, which also made Zhuang Fei have a new understanding of the professionalism of NBA players. However, what Zhuang Fei didn't know was that this had nothing to do with professionalism at all.

  The shortened season, the time is indeed very limited. January 10th training camp starts, February 5th regular season begins, and there are only 25 days in between. During this period, the Forest Wolves still have two preseason games, so it can be said that the time left for Zhuang Fei to train is really too short, even if he bought a accelerated synergy scroll, this time is still too short.

  "Zhuang, your method is really effective! It's only been a week and their results have already exceeded my expectations. I expected that after three weeks of training, they would at most reach 30% of my standards, but now it seems they've already met the requirements. And this is just after one week, we still have two more weeks to go!" De Antoni was very excited, Zhuang Fei's unheard-of new method really worked.

  After using the acceleration roller for a week, the team's tactical training effect has significantly accelerated, even with the players tied to sandbags. This also made Zhuang Fei slightly relieved. The acceleration roller seems to be helpful for tactical training, as the tacit understanding between the players is getting better and better, not only in terms of attacking runs but also defensive coordination. Since wearing the sandbags, the players can only train for four hours before reaching their physical limit, but the results of these four hours of training are better than the previous eight hours, which makes Zhuang Fei very happy. So, with the remaining four hours, Zhuang Fei can arrange other training sessions, such as defensive position training for the players. This is also a test of tacit understanding.

  "It's still too early to say this, reaching 30% in a week doesn't mean we can reach 90% in three weeks. It's hard to say what kind of state the team can really achieve in these short three weeks." Zhuang Fei smiled slightly. This was all thanks to the accelerated scroll, but being able to achieve such an effect was indeed surprising to him.

  But in D'Antoni's view, the team's ability to achieve more than he expected was all due to Zhuang Fei's innovation, which also made D'Antoni look at Zhuang Fei with a lot more respect.

  After two weeks of training, the Timberwolves finally welcomed their first game of the season on January 26th. Although it was just a preseason game and the opponent was only the weak Los Angeles Clippers, the Timberwolves' performance was not excellent. The entire game was evenly matched between the Clippers and the Timberwolves until Pierce's consecutive 6 points allowed the Timberwolves to escape defeat in the final moments, winning 115-112. The Timberwolves only won by three points and allowed the Clippers to score 112 points with a shooting percentage of 57%. The team's defense was extremely poor.

  Apart from defense, the most criticized thing is that Zhuang Fei's starting lineup actually includes Garnett, Rashad Lewis, Pierce, Stephon Jackson, and Nash, a lineup of all young players. The main players of last season, Sam Mitchell and Anthony Peeler, were excluded from the starting lineup. Nash, who was expected by Zhuang Fei, contributed 8 assists in this game, but also made 7 turnovers. In addition, on the defensive end, he was blown up by his opponent, Derick Martin, a point guard with a height of only 1.80 meters.

  But that's not to say the Timberwolves didn't have their bright spots, Garnett was more aggressive than last season and more active in the paint, no longer stuck on the perimeter. Another highlight was Pierce, who scored the most points in this game, especially when Nash made consecutive mistakes in the second half and lost himself, Pierce took over the team's offense and performed extremely well, outplaying the Clippers' center Michael Olowokandi by more than a little.

  "We all know that Coach Z is not a defensive-minded head coach, he has been obsessed with offense since college, his showteam was unforgettable, but the NBA is not the NCAA, defense is king here, and Garnett is not Duncan, Duncan is a player who can form his own defensive system, Garnett hasn't reached that level yet. Although we saw Garnett's progress in this game, it's still not enough. Of course, I think Pierce's performance in this game showed no fear and star quality, which will relieve Coach Z of some pressure. Maybe replacing Marbury with Pierce isn't a bad idea after all. This game was tough, but the Timberwolves won in the end, maybe Coach Z has found a way to win games now, we need to wait patiently." This is today's report from America on this game, it's still quite objective, although more of a veiled defense of Zhu Fangyu. Calling for giving Zhu Fangyu time.

  Although there is maintenance in the US today, Nash and Jackson, as well as Lewis, did not perform well. Even at home games of the Timberwolves, boos would sound after Nash got the ball. What's more, mainstream media was heavily criticizing Zhu Fangyu for favoring younger players.

  "In this situation, you can still laugh, I really admire you" De Antoni said, looking at the newspaper in Zhuang Fei's hand. The newspaper was a small local paper from Minnesota, with the headline "Chinese people, please take your Phoenix Suns and get out of Minnesota".

  "What's the big deal? Life won't change according to their will." Zhuang Fei said indifferently. Doubtful? Not like it hasn't happened before.

  Soon, on January 29, the Timberwolves will host their second preseason opponent, the Phoenix Suns. Against his old team, Tom Gugliotta, one of the original three players for the Timberwolves, had a huge game in front of the cheering Timberwolves fans and was able to outplay Luc Longley and Tom Gugliotta's inside combination with Garnett somewhat flustered.

  Fortunately, Pierce played well again in this game, and Kidd's consecutive empty three-pointers in the fourth quarter also helped the Timberwolves defend their home court victory.

  "Paul Pierce is really stable, his mentality is great," said DeAntoni standing beside Zhuang Fei. He didn't know much about Marbury, but with the potential Pierce has shown now, he's absolutely top-notch, all-around skills, good shooting, solid physique, and most importantly, he dares to ignore Garnett at critical moments. In the last moment of the fourth quarter, facing Garnett's scolding and loud demands for the ball, Pierce didn't even bother to respond, directly taking matters into his own hands. Although Garnett was made a fool of by the Suns' two big men in this game, he's still the team's leader, but Pierce's behavior of ignoring the leader is what the media and fans call "superstar style". DeAntoni thought so too.

  Zhuang Fei also nodded slightly, Nash's condition was not good, and Pierce would always take over the game on his own initiative. This was not Zhuang Fei's tactics, but Pierce could adjust according to the situation on the field and performed well. Now Pierce has gained the consistent trust of Timberwolves, even those old players are like that, with a very good attitude towards Pierce. Moreover, he has also become one of the few Timberwolves players who can get applause from fans after taking the ball.

  This is the reality of basketball, strength decides everything.

  It's under such a big environment that Zhuang will face his first opponent in NBA career, Denver Nuggets on February 5th.

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