CHAPTER 1332: CHAPTER 534: “DETAILS” GO LIVE!

The interior still has a pivot, but unlike Duncan or Gasol, it’s not as crucial. It mainly serves as a connection and transition, handled by David West, Nance Jr., and Zubac—a veteran who gave up $12 million to chase a championship dream, a sophomore, and a rookie.

Thinking of Zubac, Zhang Yang was speechless towards the Magician and Luke Walton. He remembered that initially, Zubac had no place under Luke Walton, then was sold cheaply to the neighboring Clippers by the Magician. While Zubac couldn’t even get into the Lakers’ rotation, after just one game with the championship-contending Clippers, he became a starter and remained so for many years...

In Zubac’s rookie season, he played 74 games, mainly backing up Tarik Black, playing 20 minutes per game, which is two minutes more than the starter, and averaged a team-high 9.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists inside. His biggest advantage is his strength, capable of maintaining stability to pass or shoot while being pushed by centers. However, his obvious weaknesses are insufficient lateral movement and slow bounce, only able to stand and protect the rim, a strategy that Silver had long phased out. In the small-ball era, you can lack everything but offense, and in this aspect, Zubac is the best center on the team.

The best interior player on the team is sophomore Nance Jr., averaging 7.6 points, 5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block, excellent in pick-and-rolls, strong in fast breaks, sharp in cuts, and fiercely defensive... he’s got it all.

The key is Nance Jr. is an anti-Ironsmith fan, which resonates deeply with Zhang Yang.

An afternoon of targeted training against the Warriors, Zhang Yang almost became familiar with the Lakers’ tactics. It wasn’t difficult for him as most tactics were designed to create shooting opportunities for him, built around him as a transfer hub, including the solo and passing tactics centered on Harden, which were also developed around his offensive characteristics.

Others may have forgotten his playmaking talent in ’previous years,’ but Budenholzer, who served as an assistant coach for the Spurs for many years, certainly did not.

During training, he got familiar with his skills, seamlessly integrating his technical play style. However, it felt very different from his previous experiences. Initially, there was a significant gap between his training model and personal strength, but that gap has narrowed substantially now, allowing him to notice many different details.

For instance, his three-point shooting here was unprecedentedly accurate! Even more precise than the 80-line!

This level of accuracy comes purely from fundamental skills.

Just as he imagined, in this version, ’he’ could become an epic three-point shooter on par with Curry and Thompson, not solely relying on rule changes—the rules weren’t only applicable to the three of them—but rather genuinely distinguished from other players.

However, the aggressive post-ups and physical defenses were limited, and during training, assistant coach Zoran Planinic reminded him several times.

This Planinic, who Zubac calls "brother," was probably a cousin of his, both Serbian. Zhang Yang checked online, and it turned out to be true. Planinic was a first-round pick in the 2003 draft, but he didn’t adapt to the NBA’s style, returning to Europe after three years. After retiring some years ago, he served as an assistant coach for the Moscow Central Army, and with more European players in the NBA, more European coaches were now being hired.

The rookie named Boyan had exceptional immediate impact and also had a great relationship with Zubac. Zhang Yang searched online and found that they were both from the former Yugoslavia and knew each other since their youth in the training camp.

However, his rough actions didn’t surprise his teammates; they just assumed he was overly excited about facing the dominant Warriors soon.

Moreover, he wasn’t the only one on the team who had come from the ’Modern Basketball Era,’ where this level of offensive and defensive confrontation was once permissible. The change only occurred three years ago.

After training, Zhang Yang played some one-on-one games with Harden, DeRozan, Louis Williams, Clarkson, Nick Young, and others, feeling quite good. Although the intensity of his face-up attacks was not up to the 80-line standards, almost every ability was still slightly ahead compared to his former self.

Over the next two days, Zhang Yang immersed himself in training and watching videos. Soon enough, on May 26th, the first game day of the Western Conference Finals arrived.

Suppressing his excitement, he meticulously completed all the pre-game preparation work. At 7:30 in the evening, he and his teammates arrived at the home team’s player tunnel entrance.

After finishing the pre-match interview, the lights in the arena soon dimmed. The DJ announced the Warriors’ starting lineup in an extremely provocative tone, and the crowd erupted into loud boos.

Lakers fans are notoriously ’haughty.’ When watching the second-round videos, Zhang Yang noticed that when Paul and Griffin appeared, the fans seemed amused.

Because they weren’t real opponents. But facing the Warriors, they’d been rivals in the Western Conference Finals for three consecutive years, and they were already sworn enemies. Much like always, the Warriors are the second most hated team by Lakers fans, right after the Celtics.

And this year’s Warriors are stronger than ever!

Especially Durant, who appeared third after Draymond Green and Thompson, receiving a deluge of boos.

However, when Curry was the last to enter, the boos lessened. Zhang Yang discovered from browsing the news and current events over the past few days that Lakers fans dislike Draymond Green and Durant but show some admiration for Thompson and even have a bit of appreciation for Curry. There’s a saying that a portion of Kobe’s fans who weren’t fond of Zhang San switched their support to Curry after Kobe retired, as they’re all leading stars of California teams anyway.

As it was the home team’s turn to enter, Curry, too, was watching the home team player tunnel. He watched intently as Harden, the first to enter, committed his gaze for a moment, glanced when DeRozan appeared, and then didn’t blink for a second when the next two players entered. He fixated on the player tunnel until that familiar smiling colleague from the same draft class ran out...

Kid: This time, I will not lose!

Durant’s here, and he can’t afford to lose anymore!