43: 42.

This experience is quite challenging.

43: 42.

This experience is quite challenging.

Looking at Curry’s teammates during his first two years in the NBA, in his rookie season, his outside teammates were Ellis, Maggette, and Reggie Williams, both starting teammates and the first substitute in the backcourt needed the ball in their hands; in the second year, his teammates turned into Ellis, David Lee, Reggie Williams, Al Thornton… all of them were the types who handled the ball.

Playing alongside these people, if Curry didn’t fight for ball-handling rights and instead just ran to be an off-ball shooter, he would definitely have been devoured by this group, leaving no bones behind.

In such a ‘Gu’-breeding environment, Curry had to improve, had to be competitive, and with this lineup, the Warriors’ record was bound to be terrible, and the fierce competition among players wouldn’t affect the team’s chances of getting draft picks to stockpile talent…

Zhang Yang felt like there was a mastermind behind the Warriors, using a rookie averaging 17+5 and a 25-year-old top scorer averaging 25 points per game to ‘breed Gu’, something a normal team wouldn’t dare to do.

As for whether Curry would collapse under such high-pressure training, Zhang Yang guessed that the Warriors management actually didn’t care that much; if he collapsed, they would just replace him with another talent.

It was definitely better than the aimless, brainless losing of the past 20 years.

Even the genius behind the scenes wouldn’t have imagined that Curry would take the NBA into a whole new era in the future.

Moreover, if just this level of pressure could break his mentality, then no matter how he was trained, it would be difficult for him to become a great player.

Zhang Yang put away his speculations about the Warriors’ ‘Gu’ breeding strategy and looked at his latest ability assessment.

“Experience mode:

Name: Zhang Yang.

Age: 22 years old (June 6, 1988)

Height: 196 cm, wingspan 210 cm, weight 95 kg.

Ability value assessment: Three-point 69, mid-range 84, layup 89, ball-handling 86, passing 70, speed 90, strength 85, jumping 88, stamina 88…

Skilled playstyle: Dribble Break, Off-Ball Break, Basic Running Position, Mid-range catch-and-shoot from the free-throw line, Drive Attack, Pressing Defense.

Training gains: Steve Nash’s Ball-Handling Rhythm (Beginner)…

…”

He recalled his last training period; after entering experience mode, the memories of the previous training were very clear.

Nine months had passed, mid-range increased by 5 points, ball-handling by 10 points, weight by 3 kg, strength by 3 points, stamina by 3 points… Three-point shooting and passing hadn’t improved much, speed probably dropped by 1 point due to the weight increase, and jumping increased by 1 point.

As for the skilled playstyle… after the second training period, Zhang Yang could confirm that the playstyles and techniques he knew before starting the training directly corresponded to the playstyles and techniques during his training.

This had its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that he could use the training to know precisely which aspects he needed to improve, identify the key skills to learn, and use what he learned in training directly afterward.

The disadvantage was that if he didn’t change teams for a long time in this timeline, his teammates might find him dull…

but players whose playstyle hasn’t changed for many years are not uncommon in the NBA, so let it be.

After Zhang Yang had organized the basic information, the words on the door changed.

“Basic Mission: Deny the Black Eight, help the Spurs advance to the second round.

Reward: Continuous jumping ability improvement.”

“Eh?

Advance to the second round?”

It was only then that Zhang Yang noticed something—the training session started in February!

If he is to advance to the second round, wouldn’t this training last nearly three months?

Wouldn’t he be able to learn even more this time!

With the experience from the last training, he knew that no matter how long the training lasted, it would only feel like he had slept for one night and had a nice dream; as long as he didn’t actively think about the training, it wouldn’t affect his normal life, and the basketball knowledge he had learned would be deeply ingrained.

Wait a second, he wasn’t with the Suns anymore, no more Teacher Nash!

Who were the technicians in the Spurs?

It seemed to be only the GDP, and it had always been only them.

He didn’t know if those three were easy to get along with, but he definitely needed to be careful not to get his head patted by someone.

After the basic mission, there were optional missions.

“Optional Mission One: Team’s Best, help the Spurs achieve the best record in franchise history.

Optional Mission Two: The 70 Win Club, help the Spurs get 70 wins.

Optional Mission Three: The Restoration of the Silver Empire, help the Spurs win the 2010-2011 season championship.

Note: The current record of the Spurs is 44 wins and 8 losses, the franchise’s best record is 63 wins and 19 losses in the 2005-2006 season.”

Zhang Yang first ruled out Mission Three, the most difficult one, because while it’s important to be ambitious, one must also be self-aware.

Not to mention Mission Three, even Mission One would be tough to achieve.

The Spurs had the third-best mid-season record in NBA history, with the top two teams securing 72 and 69 wins, respectively.

It seemed that 65+ wins were readily attainable.

But Zhang Yang remembered clearly, the Spurs didn’t win the regular season that year; the Bulls, with 62 wins, were the regular season champions, while the Spurs only managed 61 wins.

This means that, in the latter half of the season, the San Antonio Spurs only had 17 wins and 13 losses in 30 games.

He remembered that the Spurs’ collapse in performance came during the last 12 games of the regular season, with only 4 wins and 8 losses.

The Spurs being upset in 2011 was too shocking, as they were initially compared to the ’96 Bulls during the early and mid-season; however, the season concluded with a disastrous performance, and the reasons have been discussed countless times.

That point in time was very delicate, right at the stage when teams sprint towards the end of the season, fighting for playoff spots, jockeying for positioning, and preparing for the postseason.

In the end, people concluded that it was only fitting for the Spurs to be upset by the Grizzlies, as the Spurs’ system wasn’t fully developed and their roster had holes – they were merely a regular season team.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yang realized that not only was the optional mission difficult, but even the basic task of advancing to the second round wasn’t easy!

No!

The basic task was even harder than the first mission!

This wasn’t like the last time where he could lie down and still receive the reward in the trial version!

After some thought, Zhang Yang chose the least difficult mission.

This was a choice he made based on his own strengths and game experience.

After he made his decision, the content of the mission display changed.

“Reject being upset: …

Best in team history: …, Reward: Demon Slash’s Devil’s Pace.”

The Devil’s Pace of Demon Slash?

This time the reward is related to Demon Slash!

After a moment of excitement, Zhang Yang began thinking about how he could help the team.

The Spurs had traded him for Gary Neal and Steve Novak; he remembered the Spurs had a better big man shooter, Matt Bonner, which basically meant Novak was unused – despite that, such a white big man shooter is usually valuable for trades.

And Gary Neal, Zhang Yang remembered, was an important substitute for the Spurs in the past two or three years.

So the first thing he had to do was to fill the void left by Neal’s departure and then make further plans.

…

After setting his immediate goal, Zhang Yang didn’t delve into what he had to do next; who knows how things would develop.

The unreliable AI’s messages were as sparse as ever, and with three months ahead, he needed to find out more information.

Seeing a laptop on the desk by the window, he got up to do some research online… about himself.

There was a schedule on the office desk.

He had received a similar schedule during his last training, very detailed, with everything he was supposed to do yesterday, down to each singular activity, such as reporting, receiving commemorative jerseys, taking official photos, performing physical tests, and undergoing health checks…

The reason for such detailed schedules is that there are many players in the NBA with minds not on the right things.

However, this schedule is usually given to agents, who then make sure the players follow through with the team’s activities…

which means he still doesn’t have an agent?

He didn’t have one when he played in the playoffs last season, either.

Having an agent could make many things more convenient, but not having one seems not to impact playing basketball too much.

On the bright side, he wouldn’t have to share his salary with an agent.

Moreover, he wasn’t the only player without an agent; the Silver Horned King from the Dallas Mavericks next door didn’t have one either.

At least it spared him the trouble of socializing with an agent.

Zhang Yang checked today’s schedule, team practice at 2 PM; currently, it’s 6:25 AM.

He planned to head to the ATT Center early to practice and get accustomed to the surroundings.

He turned on the computer, to a win7 system, all good – it was the system he was most comfortable and familiar with.

He searched for videos of his time with the Warriors, and there were quite a few of them.

After watching some videos, he found that his style of play during his time with the Warriors was different from what he had thought!

All the Warriors players who competed for ball possession, including himself, didn’t just avoid passing the ball.

When he broke out on off-ball breaks, he always managed to receive the ball if conditions allowed it.

In set plays, when he got into position, he also had the chance to catch and shoot.

The group of players in their ‘cauldron’ weren’t just fighting for ball possession to pad their stats; they struggled over who got to handle the ball because everyone wanted to win.

It’s just that with that roster, it was virtually impossible to win many games.

This means they were just bait prepared by the Warriors for their ‘Demon King’ Curry.

Zhang Yang then searched for information related to the Spurs… damn!

The strongest team basketball in history, Ginobili being the second-best shooting guard in the league, the possibility of surpassing the Lakers and Bulls with a 34-game winning streak at the end…

the American media hypes it up even more than in China!

Requesting monthly tickets, asking for recommendation tickets!