69novels Chapter 44 Not Being Looked Down Upon
Chapter 44 Not Being Looked Down Upon
"Don't listen to that interim coach's nonsense. He doesn't know anything. Follow my plan. Your strengths are your excellent ball handling and shooting ability. Starting to build muscle and increase strength and physicality during the season will only damage your body."
After losing to the Clippers, the interim coach Tom Jackson, unaware that the Warriors' management had already found a replacement for Wang Kai, actually approached Wang Kai, saying he hoped Wang Kai could build muscle and increase his physical strength in training.
Wang Kai was indeed badly beaten by Maggette, but the Warriors lost because of their overall performance.
Elton Brand is a player who averages 20+10, which is incomparable to the Warriors' old and soft players. Sam Cassell, although he is getting old, was once an 18+9 point guard, and a heavy point guard at that. He is 191 cm tall, weighs over 87 kg, and is very experienced. His defensive efficiency is definitely among the best at the point guard position in the league.
If no one else can break the deadlock, Wang Kai will be under tight defense from the Clippers.
The Clippers can be considered a testing ground for strong teams in the league; teams that can beat them are those with superstar players or powerful interior players.
However, after the match, not only did the media say that Wang Kai needed to gain weight to improve his physical strength, but even some veteran coaches said that Wang Kai's physical strength was still very poor and needed to be further improved.
Warriors' interim head coach Tom Jackson is a relatively traditional coach. He believes that Wang Kai should play more like he did in the game against the Suns, and attack the paint more often. That's why he wanted to discuss this with Wang Kai and gave him his advice.
Tom Jackson wasn't completely clueless. He knew he was just an interim coach and didn't even know when he would step down. But he felt he should do something to ensure he could stay in the interim position until the end of the season. Even just this one season of coaching experience would be enough to earn Tom Jackson some recognition in his future coaching career.
In fact, Wang Kai was also somewhat shaken. He had never encountered any particularly strong forwards or guards before. This time, Corey Maggette made Wang Kai truly realize the strength of these "beasts".
However, Kobe timely advised Wang Kai, as he was very clear about the future evolution of basketball and believed that those who built up hard muscles would only become blue-collar players.
The future trend of NBA basketball is towards greater efficiency and speed. The old style of play, where players sit in the low post and slowly drive into the paint, has long been abandoned. In the future, apart from a very few players, not many players will specifically hone their low-post back-to-the-basket skills.
Of course, low-post offense is indeed a good way to break through in some key games, but times are changing and players' physical conditions are getting better and better. Those who are biased towards the past and dismissive of the present always say that so-and-so could score 40 points per game in the future, but it's like comparing apples and oranges, and everyone has their own set of standards for judgment.
The most crucial point is that in later generations, even interior players were required to have a good shot, otherwise they wouldn't be considered good interior players. As players became faster and their shooting skills improved, the offensive range of the entire court was expanded, but the defensive space was relatively reduced.
Wang Kai's current height and weight are sufficient to handle most situations. The key is that the Warriors need a qualified head coach and a complete set of tactical ideas, including defense and offense.
A day later, the Warriors returned to their home court to face the New Jersey Nets and secured a hard-fought victory.
In this game, Wang Kai faced Richard Jefferson, who also plays a physical style of play, but today Wang Kai was not shut down by Jefferson.
Although the Warriors' interior defense was once again completely outmatched, with the Warriors' rugged center Krstic scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, the Warriors did find their rhythm from three-point range in this game.
Wang Kai's off-ball play kept Jefferson on his toes. After joining the Nets, Carter often disappeared on the defensive end and his offense also declined significantly. Carter only scored 9 points in the whole game.
The Warriors deliberately gave Wang Kai opportunities to shoot, and he hit five three-pointers in the first half.
However, the Warriors didn't take the lead until two minutes left in the fourth quarter, as the Nets once again dominated their interior defense.
Ultimately, thanks to Wang Kai's consistent free throws, the Warriors won the game 100-97.
Wang Kai scored 26 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists in this game. His field goal percentage was over 50%, and he made 7 of 10 three-point attempts, which was quite impressive.
Two days later, the Warriors faced a real challenge as they hosted the Spurs at home.
Before facing the Warriors on the road, the Spurs had a record of 9 wins and 2 losses, ranking first in the Western Conference and second in the league.
The Spurs, who won the championship last season, not only have a complete roster, but also acquired Michael Finley from the Mavericks.
Finley, who averaged 15.7 points per game for the Mavericks last season, is no ordinary player. He is a veteran, having been selected by the Suns in the first round of the 95 draft with the 21st overall pick. Finley has been playing in the league for ten years.
In addition, the Spurs also signed veterans Van Exel and Robert Horry. These two guys are familiar faces to Kobe. Van Exel once "educated" Kobe during his rookie years, while Robert Horry was a member of that Lakers dynasty team.
Wang Kai was looking forward to this game. He wanted to see just how good Duncan, the strongest forward Kobe had ever talked about, really was, and he also wanted to see if Bruce Bowen, the "villain" Kobe had mentioned, would try to trip him.
However, to Wang Kai's great disappointment, Duncan only played for 25 minutes before resting, and Bruce Bowen made no attempt to trip him.
Duncan scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in just three quarters, with a field goal percentage of 66.7%. The Spurs' starting five did not play in the entire fourth quarter.
The Spurs' defense completely surprised Wang Kai. It was a team-oriented, tight, and cohesive defense, where everyone knew what they were supposed to do on the court.
In the second quarter, the Warriors only scored 12 points, while their opponents, the Spurs, scored 30 points. Duncan alone racked up 10 points and 5 rebounds in this quarter.
Bruce Bowen put a lot of pressure on Wang Kai throughout the game, constantly using various underhanded tactics that were very annoying without actually being a foul.
Wang Kai felt that Bruce Bowen was disrespecting him, which was why he didn't step on him.
Sometimes, this kind of disregard is more hurtful. Wang Kai was hurt by this, and he vowed that next time he met the Spurs, he would definitely teach Bruce Bowen a lesson.