Chapter 415 414. Pumpkin Jack
After the game, Bickerstaff finished his work on team operations and was about to go home when he saw the light in the general manager's office was still on.

He knocked on the door and said to Carlisle, "Rick, stop busying yourself and go home to rest. The new season has already begun and there will be a lot of things to do in the future."

Carlisle responded, "It's almost done. Didn't we just finish the first game? If we get the beginning right, the rest will go more smoothly."

Bickerstaff: "You don't have to be too anxious. Your coaching last season was very successful. The management and fans have enough patience with you. You don't have to be under so much pressure."

Carlisle: "I expected the first game to be bad. This time the complete system building is the most difficult since I coached three teams. I know this and I am mentally prepared. In fact, tonight's performance did not make me anxious, but surprised me. Those kids are very proactive in adjusting, and I have to keep up with their progress."

Bickerstaff: "That's what I'm saying. Don't put too much pressure on yourself in this regard. It's difficult to add defense to offensive basketball. So many teams failed 20 years ago. I believe you can, but you also have to know that this is a long process."

Carlisle: "I understand, so I am prepared to lower my expectations for defensive performance, but the preparation as a coach and the requirements for the players' training cannot be lowered... But Bernie, in the second half tonight, I used Paul, Emeka and Sergi to rotate inside. They did a good job of influencing the passing of Turkoglu and Nelson. Do you think we should adjust our defensive thinking?"

Bickerstaff thought about it, his eyes lit up, and ideas started popping up in his mind. He said, "I think we can do it..."

Then, the sixty-year-old man worked overtime with the forty-year-old strong man...

For the next two weeks, the Bobcats coaching staff and players worked at full intensity every day.

However, unlike during the training camp when players complained every day, being beaten badly by the Magic team right at the start actually aroused their competitive spirit. Feeling embarrassed, they actively cooperated with Carlisle's training adjustments and game style corrections.

It was October 10th, and the Bobcats had finished all seven preseason games. After a day of rest on the 25th, they began preparing for the opening game on the 7th.

The training ends at 4 pm.

Zhang Yang stayed to practice back-to-the-basket shooting. Specifically, when there is no advantage in the confrontation, he used the rhythm of back-to-the-basket shooting to avoid being stuck in the lower body and complete one-on-one shooting in the high post. The purpose of the training was to reduce the number of breakthroughs when facing the opponent's point guard and to reduce the risk of being double-teamed.

The only sparring partner who can help him complete such training is the fat boss.

After a set of training, Felton asked, "Jack, is it necessary for you to practice this? There are very few point guards shorter than you who can stick to your legs and restrict your jump, right?"

Zhang Yang: "This situation is quite extreme, but we have to practice. If we encounter such a scoring opportunity, it would be a pity if we don't seize it... Boss, you took the initiative to be a sparring partner, not me. Why are you complaining so much?"

Felton: "I'm just saying it, you're still anxious, I didn't say I won't be your sparring partner... Today the training volume suddenly decreased. In the past, we were from 10 to 11, but today we started training at 1 and ended at 4:4. We started training at : in the afternoon and ended at , with rest time in between. The training was less than hours a day, which is a bit unusual."

Zhang Yang: "The regular season is about to start, and we must slow down our pace. Our previous training was all about quantity, but we need to focus on quality next time. We should reduce the amount of training and ensure that we have enough physical strength to play 82 regular season games."

Felton: "I know this, so I didn't continue to practice, but served as your sparring partner to kill time on the court... By the way, Jack, do you think that we chose to strengthen our defense instead of taking advantage of the Suns' collapse to attack the league's top offensive team? Is this the right choice?"

Zhang Yang wondered, "Boss, why are you suddenly obsessed with this issue?"

Felton: "This topic has been very popular since the start of the preseason. Didn't you see? The main reason is that we didn't play well in the preseason. We lost to the Magic twice, the 76ers, the Hawks, and the Bucks. We only won against the Wizards without Arenas and the rebuilding Pistons. Our average score per game in the preseason was only 102 points..."

Zhang Yang thought for a moment and said, "It's true that we didn't play very well in the preseason, but that's mainly due to the coaching staff's strategic plan and rotation. If we really want to win, I think we can win regardless of the defense. Also, the overall strength of our division is stronger than in previous years. There are news reports that if Arenas wasn't injured and Marion wasn't in good form, all five teams in our Southeast Division might make the playoffs in the new season."

Felton: "Yes, the Magic's offensive firepower is stronger than last season. The Hawks introduced Murray (Ronald) and Evans (Morris), and the depth of the outside rotation has been filled. Horford also seems to have made great progress. It will be more difficult to play against them in the playoffs.

The Wizards are a shame. How come Arenas is injured again? Jamison and Butler are so good, and we thought we could beat them together. Now we don't feel any sense of accomplishment even if we win against them. The Heat are the same. Marion said he couldn't do it, and Beasley was disappointing. Riley played badly and robbed the Suns, but in the end, the Heat still only had Wade. "

Zhang Yang: "Look at the bright side. We can see Wade show his personal ability to the fullest. I am looking forward to the opening game against the Heat. Don't you want to play against Wade?"

Felton's eyes lit up, but then turned into reluctance: "Of course I thought about it, but he will definitely defend you, and the people defending him are probably not the two of us. Michael (Pietrus) and Aaron (Afflalo) are Rick's favorite outside single defense players..."

Zhang Yang comforted him: "This is basketball, everyone does what suits them."

Felton: "Yeah, I should be happy to have such talented substitutes like Michael and Aaron!" Okafor, who was practicing free throws on the court next to him, remained silent. He was very curious. The topic was clearly heading in the direction of negative emotions at the beginning, so how come these two brothers became excited while chatting?
Another season has come, and Duncan has transformed from a new generation genius to a mainstay of the middle generation. The problem of Xiaofei and Zhangsan going off topic has not been cured, but has become more and more serious...

...

It is October 10st, Friday, Halloween has arrived, and the first game day of the 31-2008 regular season has also arrived.

At around 7 o'clock in the morning, Zhang Yang left home and went to the stadium. At 8 o'clock, the boss gang was going to hold a small meeting before the team's pre-match meeting.

It has been a long time since he had such formal pre-match preparations. He was a little excited as the new season was about to officially begin.

When they arrived at the arena parking lot, Zhang Yang met Hill who was pushing a cart. After parking the car, he went over to help push the cart and asked, "What is this? Grant, is this the opening gift for the new season?"

Hill: "Hey, Jack, you guessed it right, it's the unveiling gift, but it's not prepared by me, it's prepared by my son and his classmates..."

Hill opened the lid of the cardboard box on the cart and continued, "Today is Halloween. The team arranged a Halloween performance before the game. I knew about it on the 26th. I communicated with Michael and the teacher at my son's school, and we also got involved. The children prepared head covers for us in the handicraft class.

Don't worry, we don't need to perform. After the performance arranged by the team is over, we can just put on the masks and enter the venue with the children."

Zhang Yang: "I remember now. Michael seemed to have mentioned this yesterday. You are a very competent father."

Hill: "We athletes are away from home every day and pay too little attention to our children. When we have time and opportunities, we try to play with our children as much as possible to make up for it."

After pushing several cartons into the locker room, Zhang Yang unpacked and counted them. There were more than 20, enough for each player. He said to Hill, "Call the boss and coaches as well!"

Hill: "I thought so too. I was going to select the 15 best ones for us, but when I went to my son's school yesterday, I saw that every child expected me to choose the headgear he made, so I brought them all... But the headgear made by the children and their parents is indeed good and bad. Let's choose first. I will definitely choose the one made by my son. Which one do you choose, Jack?"

Zhang Yang looked through them all, saw the headgear he liked, and said, "This is it."

Hill: "Pumpkin? It fits the style of Halloween... But Pumpkin, Jack, is such a bad boy!"

Zhang Yang: “Huh?”

The two put the selected headgear into their respective wardrobes and went to Lounge No. 3 for a small meeting.

Due to the strength of tonight's opponent, we didn't come to any conclusion in the meeting, but it's the first day of the new season, so the tone must be set well.

At 9 o'clock, the Bobcats had a pre-match meeting, and there were few targeted arrangements. They really didn't know how the Heat would perform in the regular season. If the Heat were to rise strongly as predicted during the offseason, as their opponents, they could be more fully prepared.

At noon, after the Bobcats finished their pre-game preparations, Zhang Yang, Felton and several other players gathered in the locker room to look at the lists published by major media outlets.

After the preseason began, major media outlets began announcing their respective teams and player rankings, all following ESPN's example and releasing one team and a few players every day, whetting the appetite of fans and sparking continued discussion among them.

Today, the rankings of the top ten most watched players in the league and the top five most watched teams in the league were announced.

The first thing Zhang Yang opened was naturally the most controversial ESPN official website... The headline scared him!
"Jack NO.1, the era of bad boys has arrived, are you ready?"

……

……

It's the weekend, and I'm feeling dizzy. I've only written this much, and I haven't even finished the guaranteed update. I feel like strangling myself to death to apologize...

(End of this chapter)