No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 158 - 99. Training begins, 2012 finals (10,000 characters combined into one)_5

Parker played in 62 games, missed 4 due to injury, averaging 30 minutes per game with 15.4 points, 5.3 assists. Both scoring and assists were the lowest since his sophomore year, but his shooting percentage of 52.2% marked a new high in six years, ranking second among all guards in the league with 10+ points per game, first among point guards.

Along with the experienced veteran Stephen Jackson, the powerful short post player DeJuan Blair, the defensive center Tiago Splitter, the diamond-in-the-rough backup point guard Patrick Mills, the outstanding 3D Danny Green, the tall shooter Matt Bonner, the French magician Boris Diaw, and the defensively gifted rookie Kawhi Leonard...

You led the team with the Big Three to an impressive 55 wins and 11 losses, securing the regular season championship for the second consecutive year.

For the first time in your career, you were selected as an All-Star starter, joined Parker in the Third Team All-NBA, and with Duncan in the Second Team All-Defense, experiencing a qualitative leap in your third year.

In the playoffs, you and the Big Three continued to lead the team to 10 straight wins, sweeping through two rounds to advance to the Western Finals. After leading the Thunder Team 2-0 upon completing the first two games of the Western Finals, you lost Game 3 but scored 41 points in Game 4 after making 15 of 29 shots, overpowering Durant who scored 39 points, defeating the Thunder Team and halting their momentum. Eventually, you beat the Thunder Team 4-1 to advance to the finals against the Miami Heat.

Today is June 20th, 2012. Four games have been played in the finals, with each team winning on their home court, tying the series at 2-2. The crucial Game 5 will be played tomorrow on the road.

"Name: Zhang Yang

Age: 24 years old (born on June 6th, 1988).

Height: 196 cm, Wingspan: 210 cm, Weight: 95 kg.

Ability value assessment: Three-pointer 81, Mid-range 91, Layup 92, Ball handling 89, Passing 81, Speed 91, Strength 87, Jumping 89, Stamina 92...

Preferred style of play: Pick and roll offense with the ball, fast break, high post-up, pull-up jumpers, drive attack, pressing defense, off-ball shooting, triple-threat offense.

Experience gained: Steve Nash’s point guard tempo (beginner), improved continuous jumping ability, Ginobili’s Devil’s Pace, Bird’s post-play rhythm (beginner), slight increase in core strength."

"Experience mission: Win championship, reward: Gamble on the Small (Parker)."

"Gamble on the Small (Parker): More likely to find your shooting touch when attempting a quick shot in the paint against taller players."

Kobe’s successor, Kidd’s successor, Ginobili’s successor... These three nicknames mixed together gave Zhang Yang complex feelings.

At 24 years old, approaching the peak of his career, making the Third Team All-NBA and Second Team All-Defense, his stature as a star player was established, and within the system-era Spurs team at that. Were he on another team, his individual stats and honors would likely look even better... but here, he could play in the finals!

Zhang Yang noticed that his stamina was 92, having added 4 points in stamina talent, so his original stamina talent at 24 was 88? It wasn’t bad, but surely not impressive, perhaps being a bit lighter would have improved his stamina, especially since 95 kg is quite heavy for a guard, someone of the same height like Ray Allen seemed to be just over 90 kg.

Speed increased by 1 point of talent, the base was 90, strength by two points of talent, the base was 85, and jumping by 1 point of talent, the base was 88... He still needed to accumulate more talent!

This time, the mission was simply to win the championship, with no optional missions. Perhaps because the difficulty of the mission was quite high? Or maybe winning the championship was already the ultimate goal of the season? Having one less reward felt a bit disappointing, but the Parker-related reward was something to look forward to.

Zhang Yang got up from bed. Having done it once made it easier the second time, so he started collecting information after getting up...

On this rest day, Zhang Yang spent the morning in the hotel reading the newspaper, surfing the internet, studying the tactical manual, and watching recordings of the first four finals games.

In the afternoon, he went with the team to the Miami Airlines Arena to warm up his body and get used to the feel of the plays, just like before, quickly acclimating to the new sensation. After all, the plays were the same, only exponentially stronger.

The team also held two training sessions that afternoon, one for offense and another for defense.

From the tactical manual, game recordings, and team practice, Zhang Yang could tell that the team’s strategic framework and coordination hadn’t changed much from last season. Their system was already very complete last season, and this year they added even more suitable pieces. There were minor details that differed, but his role remained unchanged—scoring, fast-breaking, and defending.

Everyone was a piece of the puzzle within the system.

Theoretically, as long as fitting players are found, the strength of this system could be extended indefinitely. Unfortunately, there was only one Tim Duncan, and Duncan played an excessively unique role within the system.

When it came to crucial plays, Popovich was straightforward—give the ball to Jack and Manu!

The atmosphere in the Spurs team still bewildered Zhang Yang; he didn’t understand why everyone had to speak so quietly. It’s not like they were on a plane or in a train sleeper cabin.

Blame it on that stoic face! After Zhang Yang finished practice and returned home, he went online and ordered a variety of non-mainstream fashion items from China, Japan, and Korea, delivered to the ATT Arena with Tim Duncan as the recipient...

The new guy Leonard was also a man of few words, rumored to have been led astray by Ginobili. Ginobili told Leonard that a leader should be like Duncan, staying quiet when unnecessary and not imitating a certain #3 player on the team.

...

June 21st, 2012, 7:40 pm, Miami Airlines Arena, the Spurs and the Heat teams entered the arena one after another.

When Zhang Yang made his entrance, he felt the sharp, knife-like gaze from a man on the opposite side.

All he did was say in an interview that morning, "It’s not his first time finishing as a runner-up, he should get used to it sooner—there will be plenty more runner-ups for him in the future," was that enough to deserve such hatred?

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