Chapter 642: Chapter 198: Am I Suffering from Amnesia or Dementia? (Part 3)
Del Harris snapped back to reality, looked at Magic, and suddenly understood, responding, "So it was Elvin leading the teammates in training. I was wondering why the content of their practice matched my tactics. Well done, you’ve improved since you were the head coach two years ago."
Yes, Magic had a brief stint coaching the Lakers during the 94-95 season. As for the record... well, he was rejected by people from other teams at the time, and his coaching career ended abruptly before it even got on track.
On September 10th, Del Harris, Kurt Rambis, and others had already thought through some tactics that seemed usable with the current lineup. Logo Man had his secretary organize them into a booklet, and it seemed he also gave Magic a copy.
In the past ten days, Del Harris, while resting at home, had gotten together with Rambis to discuss details. There weren’t many major changes, so practicing the original version directly wasn’t an issue.
This saved Del Harris a lot of trouble.
Del Harris thought it was Magic instructing the training, but he saw Magic shaking his head with a smile, saying, "It’s not me; it’s our cool guy leading the teammates in training. I don’t have that capability."
That damn kid?
Del Harris looked toward Zhang Hao just in time to see him saying something to James Robinson and Jason Williams. Then Zhang Hao, James Robinson, Jason Williams, George Lynch, and Byron Scott ran a pick-and-roll offense...
Del Harris was stunned...
That damn kid is stealing my job!
Surveying the training sessions lively within the training ground, Del Harris felt complicated and said to Magic, "I knew Elvin couldn’t do it this well; you really don’t have the talent for being a head coach. This damn kid is just messing around. I’ll go check on the training; Elvin, go wherever you need to go..."
"????"
Magic felt his little heart pierced by a knife. Was it really necessary to be so harsh?
"Does he think I was backing Aix to take the spotlight? Do I need to tempt Aix? That guy did it on his own! I just gathered the teammates as you said, preparing them for training. Aix did it himself!"
Magic was speechless. This old fox fears Zhang Hao, a sophomore, directing teammates and stirring discontent but can’t just say so straight, being all cryptic...
...
Del Harris carefully observed the players’ training again and found them training quite well. The players’ perspective and the coach’s perspective are definitely different. They think simply, overly relying on personal ability. Sometimes the players’ ideas are excellent, but there are times when there’s an easier way, a way that saves the star’s energy, which is hard for the players to think of.
Another area that amazed Del Harris was Zhang Hao, assigning roles within tactics and small-range collaborations based on needs and the teammates’ playing characteristics, which was rather well done.
After observing for a while, in the afternoon training session, Del Harris joined in guiding the players’ training.
Seeing Del Harris return to guide training, Zhang Hao decisively kept quiet, focusing on personal training.
The content Zhang Hao led teammates to train was originally from Del Harris’s tactical manual. With Del Harris himself guiding, some adjusted details were more targeted than Zhang Hao’s.
Also, different people have different understandings when viewing a tactic, so with Del Harris guiding, the variations increased.
The training difficulty might have increased, but training aims to prepare for more diverse situations. The challenges now, once solved, will make the competition go smoother.
Over a few days, even O’Neal respected Zhang Hao’s ability in this aspect during training. After all, the guy is a genius; therefore, Zhang Hao quickly established authority in this area within the team.
And Del Harris, being the head coach, having led a 40-win team to the finals and won the best coach, inherently carries authority, smoothly transitioning as the training guide...
...
The Lakers’ early progress in training camp is very pleasing. By the time the training camp officially opens, although the lineup’s synergy wouldn’t compare to teams like the Utah Jazz and Bulls, who have core lineups that have played together for years, it’s certainly much better than other newly assembled rosters.
As the days go by, on September 24th, a major event voting initiated by the NBA began—NBA’s 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players Voting!
For the past two years, there were rumors that the NBA wanted to nominate the 50 greatest players on its 50th anniversary. This topic has been popular over the last two years.
On June 6th, when the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary, though no event was held since it was the third game of the finals, the NBA officially announced the decision to select the 50 greatest players. Over the past three months, the NBA has collected numerous opinions on the design of the 50 greatest players’ medals, ranking methods, award ceremony time and location... and so on, ultimately deciding to award them at the Cleveland All-Star Weekend in 1997. The medal for each of the 50 greatest players will be identical, featuring NBA+Logo+50+red-blue background design—simple and straightforward.
No ranking, and the selected stars are ordered based on their entry to the NBA, avoiding controversy.
On September 23rd, 180 people selected by the league, including retired players, radio announcers, TV hosts, professional journalists, experts, columnists... reached the hotel in New York booked by the NBA.
The voting activity commenced on September 24th! Results will be announced before the regular season starts.
Announcing the awards now, aiming to increase the buzz! There’s still quite a number of current players who can qualify for the top 50 greatest athletes.
The NBA had early disclosed the intention to select the 50 greatest players, aiming to gauge the media and fans’ expectations and acceptance of this award. An acknowledged award is worth giving; otherwise, it’s just a waste of effort.
With the fans’ recognition, the 50 greatest players can generate buzz, increasing viewership...
Seeing the news about announcing the 50 greatest players before the regular season begins, Zhang Hao suddenly realized he would soon collaborate with three current 50 greatest players!
Magic and Barkley are undoubtedly among the 50 greatest players; they can even rank at the top among historical point guards and power forwards.
If nothing unexpected happens, O’Neal will also be selected for the top 50.
"So nice... top 50..."
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