Chapter 479: Chapter 413: Treating People Like Beasts of Burden
They didn’t have any alcohol with lunch.
After lunch, Chen Yu didn’t stay idle. He took a detour to the sports lab.
He had just gotten back, so there was a lot to do.
On the way, he received a call from Brian.
"Chen, you just got back yesterday, so I didn’t have a chance to talk to you, but I need to start preparing for this." Brian got straight to the point. "Here’s the deal: next season, you can’t be the team doctor anymore, and you’re also taking Nelson with you. Could you recommend a new team doctor for me?"
"Also, with Nelson leaving, can Greg step up? And what about Byron? I know he’s been learning from you for the past two years. Can you tell me how much he’s picked up from you?"
Chen Yu’s departure was already a foregone conclusion.
Brian was now worried about the team doctor for next season.
Chen Yu had also considered this issue. "Greg and Byron are both capable, of course. As for who can take my place, I can actually recommend a doctor to you. Thomas Carter, do you remember him?"
Brian remembered. "I know, he’s a doctor for NASA, right?"
"That’s right. He and I have kept in touch and communicate often." Chen Yu turned onto the private road of the sports lab and parked the car. He didn’t get out right away, continuing, "His workload at NASA isn’t very heavy, and he’s been thinking about working elsewhere. The salary might be part of the reason."
"His medical skills are top-notch. If you think it’s a good fit, I can help you get in touch with him."
"By the way, if he brings his own team, I can take Byron and the others with me. I’m short-staffed as it is."
If he weren’t afraid that the Suns’ medical team would be completely paralyzed by his departure, Chen Yu wouldn’t have poached only Nelson.
Byron Howard and the others had followed him for over two years. They had learned a great deal through observation and were all skilled professionals.
"Sounds good. Since you’re the one recommending him, I’m sure he’ll be great." Brian didn’t waste any words and agreed immediately.
’The people Chen Yu recommends are never the wrong choice.’
Besides, Chen Yu’s clinic would become a partner hospital for the Suns. If a player suffered a major injury, they would still need to see Chen Yu for treatment.
They were just looking for another doctor for day-to-day matters, in case Chen Yu was too busy.
Moreover, now that Chen Yu was a minority owner of the team, he certainly wouldn’t do anything to harm his own team.
After hanging up, Chen Yu carried his bag and entered the training area.
On the spacious court, only two players were training.
One was Yao Ming, the other Tracy McGrady.
He had been away on business for a while, so the lab hadn’t taken on any new clients.
Chen Yu simply hadn’t had time to manage things here.
Besides, he was about to get married and go on his honeymoon. By the time he returned, the new season would be about to start.
Therefore, Chen Yu had already notified many of his clients that the sports lab would be closed this summer.
Hill had originally wanted to come, but he needed to spend time with his family. His daughter was over a year old, and his wife, Tamia, had put her career on hold to have the baby. Now that the child was a bit older, he wanted to spend more time with her.
Most importantly, Chen Yu had told him that there wasn’t much room for improvement in his technical skills.
At 31 years old, Hill was in a similar situation to Hardaway. There wasn’t much room to polish or improve his skills. Comparatively, it was more important for him to maintain his physical health.
As for Tracy McGrady.
Chen Yu had also told him that there wasn’t enough time this year and that he shouldn’t come.
Moreover, he had his first child in January, born out of wedlock.
The baby was still young and needed his attention.
But he came anyway.
Having fallen to the Suns once again, he was clearly not ready to give up.
Just as he reached the court’s edge, he heard Tracy McGrady shout.
"Yao!"
Yao Ming, who was backing down Ewing, exploded into motion. He spun, pushed past Ewing, took one step to the basket, and leaped into the air to catch the ball, slamming it viciously through the hoop.
It was a brilliant inside-out connection.
’It’s good that McGrady came.’
Kobe was recovering from surgery, but with McGrady here to train with Yao Ming, they could focus on improving their collective game.
McGrady could perfectly fill Kobe’s role, allowing them to practice their inside-outside coordination.
Nelson was on the sideline, monitoring the recording equipment. When he saw Chen Yu approach, he nodded in greeting.
Chen Yu watched from the sidelines for a while.
"Aaron, I’ve been watching all the training videos you’ve sent me."
Even though Chen Yu was abroad, he had been keeping a close eye on the work here.
Nelson would compile videos of Yao Ming’s daily training sessions and send them to Chen Yu regularly.
Chen Yu continued, "I have an idea regarding his low-post offense—specifically, that shoulder fake he does the moment he turns while backing someone down."
Initially, Chen Yu had hoped to develop Yao Ming in the direction of a more agile center, like Olajuwon.
But after bringing in Ewing to help train him for a while, Chen Yu felt that while agility was important, it shouldn’t be his only path.
In today’s league, physical play in the paint is still the dominant style.
The defensive intensity is also very high.
For instance, Yao Ming learned the Dream Shake from Olajuwon, and he learned it quite well.
Yao Ming might be able to fool young, inexperienced big men, but the Lakers are championship contenders. In the future, Yao will be facing the league’s most elite and experienced defenders.
Not to mention dominant, ultra-physical centers like O’Neal.
In that context, simply focusing on agility wouldn’t be wise.
He still needs to add more physicality to his game.
Take the shoulder fake, for example. An inexperienced opponent might fall for it, but against a savvy veteran like Duncan, not only is it hard to fool him, but you also risk losing your window to shoot.
"He should reduce that feint, change how he generates power, and just turn directly. His lower body is strong and his base is stable, so he won’t lose his position easily. Plus, he’s tall enough. If he just spins, he can easily create space for a shot."
Chen Yu stepped forward, cued the video to a recent clip of the low-post, back-to-the-basket drill, and then played it back repeatedly in slow motion.
"Just a direct spin. I don’t think that’ll be a problem."
The sports lab’s main purpose was to polish these kinds of technical details.
Nelson nodded thoughtfully, then said, "I’ll discuss it with Patrick later."
Chen Yu nodded.
As a textbook example of a center’s technique, Ewing’s help in developing Yao Ming’s low-post game was invaluable.
"Next is his weight. 144 kilograms is an ideal number. We need to create a plan for muscle gain and strength improvement. His shoulders are narrow, so he needs to strengthen his upper body to improve his physicality and his ability to finish through contact."
Yao Ming’s weight gain this year had been very successful, and he had done plenty of strength training.
However, the strength that came naturally with the added weight was far from enough.
The next step was to continue building on his current strength foundation.
Of course, high-intensity strength training carried risks, like negatively affecting his shooting touch or causing injuries.
But he would be here to supervise for a while. Since there were fewer clients, he could use some of his accumulated training ’boosts’ on him. Combined with recovery and maintenance, he should be able to make some real progress.
They just had to be careful to balance his shooting touch and his strength.
As the two were talking, the training session on the court came to a pause.
Yao Ming stopped to rest. He had seen Chen Yu earlier and immediately came over to greet him.
After exchanging a few words, Yao Ming said, "Chen, there’s something I need to tell you. I might have to go back to China this weekend."
Chen Yu was slightly taken aback.
This weekend would be the 20th.
"What’s going on? Didn’t you say you were staying until the end of July before going back?"
He knew Yao Ming had to go back for the Asian Championship this year, but the tournament didn’t start until September 23rd. Returning at the end of July would still give him almost two months to prepare, which was more than enough time.
Yao Ming sighed helplessly. "That was the original plan, but after another discussion, the Basketball Association wants me to return to participate in some exhibition games. They said they’re worried about a lack of team chemistry."
"What exhibition games?"
The mere mention of exhibition games gave Chen Yu a headache.
Because of what happened to Vivian Foe, Chen Yu now dreaded hearing about exhibition games, friendly matches, and other pointless tournaments.
Yao Ming explained, "From what I’ve heard, it starts on the 23rd. Nine games in total, one every two days, until the 13th of next month. The opponents are a US All-Star Team and the Melbourne Tigers from Australia."
"Wait, a US All-Star Team?"
Chen Yu interrupted Yao Ming.
’I’m the Dream Team’s doctor. How come I haven’t heard anything about forming an all-star team?’
Yao Ming quickly clarified, "Not the Dream Team, an ’All-Star Team’ led by Alden Polynice."
Chen Yu knew Polynice, but hadn’t the guy retired in ’01?
’So, it’s *that* kind of all-star team.’
"And you said one game every two days?" Chen Yu frowned again.
Yao Ming nodded. "First, we play the US All-Star Team five times in five different cities. Then we rest for a week and play the Tigers four times, also in four different cities."
His tone was filled with helplessness, too weary to even complain.
Chen Yu broke into a cold sweat. One game every two days in different cities... China was huge; the distance from north to south was immense.
This was basically a nine-game road trip.
The point of an exhibition game should be to find a team of similar strength to get into form, not to travel from city to city selling tickets!
Putting them through this kind of grueling schedule before the Asian Championship even starts... they’re really treating the players like mules.
"So, do you want to go?" Chen Yu asked in return.
Yao Ming’s face soured, but he didn’t say anything.
But from his reaction, Chen Yu already knew the answer.
’But not going back isn’t an option either. Just think of Wang Zhizhi and Liu Yudong. They were so injured, yet they still had to play in the World Championship.’
Seeing Chen Yu’s silence, Yao Ming forced a smile. "It’s fine. I have to go back sooner or later anyway. I just feel like the training here has been great and I’ve been improving a lot. I wanted to train more, but it’s obviously not possible now."
Once he left, between the exhibition games and the Asian Championship at the end of September, the new season’s training camp would be starting. There would be no more time to train with Chen Yu.
Chen Yu sighed as well.
Chen Yu really couldn’t understand the Chinese Basketball Association’s decision-making.
’Exhibition games... is it really necessary to schedule so many? Besides, in Asia, the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team has always been a championship-level force. Securing a spot in next year’s Olympics shouldn’t be a problem, right? Is it really necessary to wear out the National Team’s core player like this?’
He couldn’t figure it out.
But seeing the troubled look on Yao Ming’s face, Chen Yu said, "Yao, if you really don’t want to go back right now, I might have a solution."
"We could publicly announce that you were injured during training and need a month to recover. You can go back after the exhibition games are over. It won’t be too late."
Yao Ming was startled and quickly said, "We can’t do that, can we?"
`If faking an injury gets exposed, it will be a huge mess.`
Chen Yu shrugged. "It’s just an idea. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide."
’Even if we did, if I say Yao Ming is injured, who would dare to question it?’
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