One Year Left to Play-Chapter 207 - 69: No Need to Burn Lifespan This Time?

Compared to before, this time Zhang Hao didn't fall into self-doubt; instead, he thought through the problems he faced and tried again. When things went smoothly, he'd practice a few more times...

...

At 6:15 AM, Zhang Hao woke up on schedule.

"Remaining lifespan: 371 days, usable lifespan: 370 days."

Losing two days of Celestial Mandate overnight, Zhang Hao didn't want to see it!

But then the second notification came.

"Due to body growth, active physical training, perfect sleep, good dietary habits, special contract player Zhang Hao has seen a slight increase in stamina. Stamina rating has increased from 91 to 92."

"Hey! Slept and my stamina improved a little!"

Zhang Hao knew this was a normal improvement resulting from good training habits, sleep patterns, and body development over recent times. But he was happy nonetheless.

He knew his athletic talent was good; otherwise, Coach Scott Collins wouldn't have purposely brought him to the United States initially.

He's always been confident about his physical fitness, and a key reason he's become a hot rookie isn't due to his precise shooting but because he can handle the NBA preseason's physicality. No matter how good your skills are, if you can't adapt to the NBA's level of competition, it's all for nothing.

After getting up, washing up, going for a morning run, and having breakfast, Zhang Hao resumed his nonstop lifestyle.

Today, the training continues. The team schedule has changed to individual training in the morning and team training in the afternoon, with less training volume than yesterday.

Yesterday's high-intensity training did affect Zhang Hao to some extent, but very little. Besides increasing his appetite, deep sleep also improved recovery from physical fatigue.

But it also made Zhang Hao realize that recovery has its limits.

After finishing shooting practice, from 10:00 to 11:30, he continued learning from Alvan Adams.

This time, Zhang Hao brought up several issues he encountered during last night's dream training. He didn't have enough time to analyze comprehensively, so he sought advice from an experienced veteran.

This surprised Alvan Adams, because the issues Zhang Hao brought up were very specific and sounded like real problems encountered during training or competitions.

Alvan Adams found Zhang Hao's learning ability astonishing!

"Is this rookie truly like Butch said, a genius in learning?"

When there were problems, just answer them. The issues Alvan Adams faced were similar to those he encountered during his college days learning offensive coordination, where they didn't have so many predecessors to learn from. Their generation of coordinating big men pioneers in basketball technique had a much more challenging learning process. Those who developed unique playstyles have strong analytical abilities, and even if Zhang Hao brought up issues they hadn't encountered before, they could analyze them well.

With problems resolved, in the afternoon training, after passing drills, during team training, Zhang Hao started attempting adjustments.

While practicing, Zhang Hao discovered one thing: simulation training for techniques has better reference effects, and practicing simulated coordinated offense seems even more effective than actual training.

During simulation training, teammates strictly adhere to tactical routes. The coaches made continuous adjustments, and their team's tactics perfectly suited their lineup. Each adjustment considered the playing style of every player.

However, in actual training, differences in players' tactical awareness, comprehension ability, and other aspects will certainly occur. Some have strong positional mobility senses, while others don't, and there are also influences from previous habits...

Anyway, Zhang Hao's adjustment in positioning progressed faster than he anticipated!

Passing needs practice, but the consciousness of organizing an offense relies on the mind. This aspect learned through simulation mode can be directly utilized!

In today's afternoon training, besides practicing and seeking self-improvement, Zhang Hao identified issues with his teammates.

Training ended at 4:30, much earlier than yesterday. Afterward, Zhang Hao took the blackboard to Kenny Anderson: "Boss Kenny, I think we could adjust something in that last play."

"Really? Let's discuss it." Kenny Anderson didn't have an air of superiority. He wanted to be a leader, but he lacked any dominant personality—he simply wanted to lead.

Zhang Hao sighed with relief, as a weak and helpless off-ball shooter, he couldn't afford to wreck relations with the ball-handling core.

When a junior instructs a senior, it's most likely to harm relationships. Some seniors are really stubborn about saving face.

Luckily, Kenny Anderson wasn't like that. While he had aspirations of leadership, he lacked the attitude.

"Boss Kenny, you see, in one of our past tactical plays, when I got the ball here, if you cut in from there, you might have a direct scoring chance, or a chance to pass to PJ near the three-second zone for a strong finish..." Zhang Hao succinctly sketched a tactical diagram and spoke directly.

After hearing Zhang Hao's explanation, Kenny Anderson stared at him silently for two seconds before blurting out: "Why didn't you say this earlier? You should have told me right after we finished practicing! I barely remember, we train so many times each day...now, how can I remember which play that was? Is it that I haven't noticed this before, and you've seen this opportunity many times? You know my off-ball ability isn't as good as yours! You should've told me when you first realized it..."

Kenny Anderson burst into a talkative mode, assuming Zhang Hao couldn't hold it in after noticing many such situations and that Kenny himself lacked good cutting awareness. He typically wouldn't cut into the lane from the middle because of his height, and once inside, his vision was limited... Thus, he might have missed many such opportunities.

Zhang Hao felt so wronged, as he just noticed this for the first time.

Previously, his positioning was just positioning, without thinking much. Seeing a chance to pass to teammates for a direct score was a spontaneous reaction after receiving the ball, all thanks to his excellent vision. What he spoke just now are things he only recently learned.

Seeing Zhang Hao's pitiful look, Kenny Anderson suddenly felt guilty and earnestly reached up to pat Zhang Hao's shoulder.

"Aix, you've got a good mind, so you should utilize it well. Don't worry about offending others. If you're truly afraid of offending people, tell me any problem you find early, and I'll talk to the teammates and coaches. Don't hold back, even if you make mistakes, it's okay; we're all doing this for the team's good..."

Since the conversation reached this point, neither of them headed home early. Instead, they stayed in the gym discussing team tactics together. But this time, things were different; Kenny Anderson primarily spoke while Zhang Hao listened.

While discussing tactics, Kenny Anderson realized that Zhang Hao wasn't only good at positioning, his awareness in organizing offense had also notably improved. It felt like his brain was incredibly useful, as if he was born to excel!

Zhang Hao had talent in this field, and Kenny Anderson was more dedicated in teaching it.

Learning from Kenny Anderson felt different from learning from Alvan Adams.

But they didn't conflict.

Kenny Anderson was also a top-level offensive organizer, albeit on the perimeter. Nonetheless, organizing offense across inside and outside shared common ground—connecting the team.

Different approaches gave Zhang Hao different insights...

...

In the following four days, Zhang Hao filled his training and learning schedule completely.

Those four days flew by, and the coaching staff who had been watching him closely had no idea how to describe their feelings... Zhang Hao learned too smoothly!

Even 'smoothly' fails to describe it—his speed in learning these aspects is simply beyond imagination!

It wasn't slower than his training progress for catching and executing a Turnaround Fadeaway—if anything, it was even faster!

This was mainly reflected in his sped-up problem recognition and increasingly tricky questions.

Initially, Alvan Adams could easily answer Zhang Hao's questions, but gradually, he started to feel pressured. Later, there were questions he couldn't answer right away and needed careful consideration before responding during lunch... By today, the last training day, Alvan Adams felt it might be time to directly teach Zhang Hao things on the court.

Theoretical knowledge was about to be exhausted!

Fortunately, today was the last training day, and he could take a break afterward... like hell he could!

During the afternoon tea break with the two new coaches, Alvan Adams said to Chris Owen: "Chris, I feel like I'm on the verge of unemployment, Aix learns too fast!"

"Alvan, I told you several days ago, you might be astounded by Aix's talent."

"I always thought I was a genius, now I'm having doubts..." Alvan Adams said, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"Isn't this great? We're cultivating a superstar!"

"You're right..." Thinking about this, Alvan Adams couldn't help but get excited. Although he didn't become a superstar himself back in the day, cultivating one would be great! But still...

"Why did I say they could come to me with any questions? I'm just a coordinating big man, I don't know everything!"