51: 50.

Administer eye drops first.

51: 50.

Administer eye drops first.

On the afternoon of March 25, the Spurs arrived at the FedEx Forum in Memphis to prepare for the next day’s game through training.

The intensity of the training wasn’t high; it mainly revolved around practicing Duncan’s movements.

After completing a set, Zhang Yang was subbed out and approached Popovich, saying, “Greg, the group training next door might be our first-round opponents.”

Indeed, he had come to Popovich to drop a hint.

“Hmm?” Popovich glanced at Zhang Yang with a puzzled look, then turned back to watch the court, responding, “Jack, you’re still too young.

Although you have great basketball talent, your judgment of team strength is still lacking.

The Grizzlies, although they don’t have a higher average winning margin than the Hornets, are good defensively.

At this stage, they will definitely perform better than the Hornets.

The Grizzlies will be the seventh seed in the West, and our first-round opponent will be the Hornets.”

Zhang Yang said, “You’re right, the Grizzlies’ strength might be superior to the Hornets’, and they currently have the capacity to win more games than the Hornets.

But the Grizzlies might not want to win that many games; they might choose to lose a couple more to pick us as their opponents.”

Popovich exclaimed, “What???”

He wanted to have the team doctor check Zhang Yang’s temperature; had the kid’s brain been fried by a fever?

What nonsense this was.

Zhang Yang continued, “I predict they’ll choose to avoid the Lakers and pick us instead.”

Popovich wanted to refute this, but after some thought, he felt it wasn’t entirely out of the question!

Indeed, the two-time defending champion Lakers, although only ranked fourth in the league, were still considered the strongest team in the league by most.

Last season, the Lakers were not the top team in the league either.

Historically, the number one team in the league often doesn’t win the championship.

Popovich thought about the previous three encounters with the Grizzlies, and this possibility seemed even more likely…

He looked at Zhang Yang and asked, “Are you so certain that the Grizzlies will actively choose to play against us?

What makes you think they have the confidence to challenge the top team in the league?”

“Because of Zach Randolph.

I’ve reviewed the data from our last three encounters with the Grizzlies; Tim can’t hold off Randolph since he lost weight…”

As he spoke, Zhang Yang grabbed the menacing hand reaching towards his head and placed it on his shoulder.

He noticed Duncan heading his way and purposely continued with his provocative statement, trying to influence him further!

Duncan remained silent…

He wasn’t particularly intent on touching Zhang Yang’s head; he just wanted to use body language to reassure Zhang Yang that he could handle it, or find a way to handle it if not.

But now he wanted to touch, so he raised his hand and reached towards Zhang Yang’s head again; Zhang Yang dodged, he chased, and as he continued to reach, Zhang Yang kept dodging…

Watching the suddenly whimsical duo, Popovich, with a face full of exasperation, silently moved away, ashamed to associate with the two.

After moving away from the scope of their head-touching game, Popovich began to seriously consider Zhang Yang’s speculation, flipping through his little notebook, which he had prepared for each team.

He turned to the detailed account of the previous three encounters with the Grizzlies…

and frowned.

Although the Grizzlies won two out of the three encounters, one victory was a close win in overtime, and in another, they had rallied in the last quarter, scoring 36-25 to win by 7 points.

In those three meetings, Randolph scored 24 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, 24 points and 17 rebounds, and 21 points and 16 rebounds respectively.

Duncan’s one-on-one defense was still passable; Randolph’s success rate in isolation plays wasn’t high.

However, Randolph could grab his own offensive rebounds after missed shots, which Duncan completely couldn’t stop.

Over those three games, Randolph had snagged 31 offensive rebounds, contributing to 34 points.

Before the event had even occurred, Popovich had a feeling of being slapped in the face.

The bold guess from Jack might actually come true!

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed!

Never mind the embarrassment, if it had to happen, let it happen.

On the bright side, having a player with strategic insight within the team lightened his mood considerably.

Zhang Yang managed to escape from Duncan’s clutches, and when Duncan chased him for a few steps and couldn’t catch up, he stopped.

Popovich called Duncan over, showed him the notebook, explained Zhang Yang’s hypothesis combined with his own analysis, and then asked, “Do you think the Grizzlies will choose to play against us?”

Duncan: “It’s possible.”

Popovich: “What’s the probability?”

Duncan: “90%, with a 10% chance that the Hornets also don’t want to face the Lakers.”

Popovich: “The Hornets wouldn’t dare, with the Rockets chasing them.”

Duncan: “100%.”

“Please finish what you are saying,” Popovich murmured to himself, then said, “It seems we need to change our imagined first-round opponent…”

He had always used conventional thinking to determine who they would face in the first round.

After watching for over a month following the All-Star weekend, he was certain that the Grizzlies were the strongest of the six teams vying for the seventh and eighth places, with the Hornets second and a clear gap in prowess between the two.

Thus, in the past few days, he had already started preparing for the playoffs with the Hornets as their imagined adversary.

Now, thinking back, he felt a chill; facing the Grizzlies was not a sure thing.

If the Grizzlies suddenly lost intentionally in the last two or three games and dropped to eighth, it could indeed catch them off guard.

Duncan: “I can hold off Randolph.”

“…” Popovich was speechless again and said, “Tim, could you please call Mike over, thank you.”

…

The next morning, the Spurs had a new tactical training session.

The tactical plan had been greatly adjusted compared to yesterday’s training, and Zhang Yang was very pleased.

He had mentioned it yesterday because he hadn’t noticed that the team was particularly focused on the Grizzlies; he realized only then that the Grizzlies could only choose them as their opponent, based on a reverse deduction from known future incidents.

Normally, nobody would expect the Hornets to finish with a better record than the Grizzlies.

And typically, it’s the higher-ranked team that chooses the lower-ranked team as their opponent, like a few years ago when the Mavericks chose the Warriors as their first-round opponents.

No one had ever heard of a lower-ranked team losing on purpose to choose the number one team from the league as their opponent.

Thankfully, the eye-opener worked!

Popovich had begun to take the Grizzlies seriously and adjusted the tactics.

The tactics they practiced yesterday were standard.

However, there seemed to be something odd about this tactical plan…

At the end of the training, when Popovich announced tonight’s starters, he finally realized what was off…

At 7:40 PM, at the visitor’s entrance of the FedEx Forum, Zhang Yang did not stand in line with the substitutes outside as before but followed Parker under the spotlight.

Zhang Yang was replacing Ginobili as a starter tonight!

The first start of his professional career!

Entering the court, listening to the wild boos from the fans, Zhang Yang was very calm.

He had already been excited when he knew he’d be starting, but now he had to remain calm.

Starting the game meant taking on more responsibility, and his tactical role in the starting lineup’s offense was also very important.

He had to play well!