Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Los Angeles.

Training gym.

A group of Lakers players are training.

"Over there, rush over."

"Damn, it's too late."

Several players shouted loudly, reminding their teammates to rush forward quickly and prevent Zhuang Yu from shooting a three-pointer, but it was too late.

Zhuang Yu jumped up and flicked his wrist. The basketball drew a beautiful arc in the air and finally fell into the net obediently. It was another three-pointer.

Several players looked at each other and smiled bitterly. What else could they do?

It’s not that they don’t want to pounce, but they simply have no choice.

Zhuang Yu's shot was so fast and his three-pointer was so accurate that as soon as he shot it, you could tell the ball was going to go in.

This was an internal team training match. Zhuang Yu was in one group with Holiday, Kuzma, Cunningham, and Zubac, while the other group included Clarkson, Nance Jr., Korver, Hamilton, and others.

Change of possession.

In Clarkson's first attack, after coming to the frontcourt, Clarkson used the pick-and-roll to switch defense and then played one-on-one, and he accelerated to attack the inside.

However, just as he was about to make a layup, an arm suddenly appeared from behind him and slapped the basketball down, pressing it onto the backboard.

"Oh..."

The players who were not on the field couldn't help but exclaim.

This was a block from Zhuang Yu, who directly pinned the ball to the backboard, and then took the ball off and immediately launched a counterattack.

"Go!"

Zhuang Yu shouted and turned to avoid Clarkson's cut ball.

Clarkson subconsciously reached out to pull, but in the end he only touched the corner of Zhuang Yu's clothes. He sighed unwillingly and could only run away.

However, Zhuang Yu did not rush to the frontcourt for a layup himself. Instead, after a few steps, he pushed the ball with both hands and passed it directly to the frontcourt, assisting Holiday to score a layup.

In one round, Zhuang Yu not only scored a three-pointer, but also contributed a block and an assist. People on the sidelines couldn't help but cheer loudly.

"Haha..." Coach Madsen also smiled brightly and said to Coach Scott, "Zhuang Yu seems to be really different from before."

"Yeah, I felt that, too." Coach Scott nodded. "He used to be a bit sloppy in these kinds of training matches, but this time it was a little different. That block just now was not polite at all."

In the last game against the Bucks, the two felt that Zhuang Yu was a little different from before, but they couldn't put their finger on it.

At this moment, they were sure that their feeling was correct. Zhuang Yu was indeed a little different from before - his temperament was different.

Although Zhuang Yu had super strength before, he always appeared gentle and elegant, with the usual humility and low-keyness of Chinese players.

But now there is an even more domineering air in Zhuang Yu, an air of "who else but me"?

Zhuang Yu had shown this kind of dominance in the previous game against the Bucks.

Whenever Antetokounmpo scored, Zhuang Yu would definitely return the favor.

Moreover, once he had the opportunity to face off against Antetokounmpo, he showed no mercy and scored a lot of points over Antetokounmpo's head.

If you dare to compete with me, I will beat you so hard that you will doubt your life.

Today's training is the same.

Another point is that Zhuang Yu no longer deliberately suppresses himself, for example, in terms of organization...

In fact, Zhuang Yu has very strong organizational skills, but he has been deliberately suppressing them, leaving the organizational tasks to his teammates and focusing more on scoring and defense.

But now he does everything he can. He no longer deliberately suppresses himself or pursues data. Whether he is scoring, organizing, or defending, he has a strong aura that allows everyone who faces him to feel that kind of compelling momentum.

It can even affect people on the sidelines.

"This feeling......"

Coach Scott paused for a few seconds and then said, "It reminds me of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. I have felt this kind of momentum from them before."

"Oh?" Assistant Coach Madsen raised his eyebrows.

What does it mean?

Coach Scott smiled and said, "I don't know why this happened. I don't know what caused Zhuang Yu's temperament to change so suddenly. But I'm sure it's not a bad thing. Zhuang Yu used to be too humble and low-key, wasn't he?"

Assistant coach Madsen also laughed: "Yes, I always think he is too humble and low-key, maybe because he is Chinese. You know that Chinese culture is like that, just like Yao Ming back then, they are always humble and low-key, even if they have super strength and have achieved extremely dazzling results."

As he said this, he shrugged his shoulders: "But this is in America, in the NBA."

Coach Scott laughed even louder.

But in fact, neither Coach Scott nor Assistant Coach Madsen could accurately describe Zhuang Yu's current condition.

Zhuang Yu's temperament is indeed more domineering now, no longer as introverted as before, but he has not lost the humility and low-key inherent in Chinese culture. If I really have to say it, he has become more profound and heavy.

In the words of the Chinese, he began to have a bit of "kingly demeanor".

What is kingly demeanor?

The king has a domineering side and a generous side, but Zhuang Yu is still young after all, and is still in the process of transformation, so it can only be said that he has some rudiments.

......

After a training match, the players came to the sidelines.

Everyone was talking and laughing, except Holiday, who was frowning, as if he had something on his mind.

Anderson came to Zhuang Yu and whispered, "What's wrong with you now?"

"what?"

Anderson pursed his lips at Holiday and lowered his voice: "Now you have more assists than Holiday, and you are doing all the work of organizing the offense. Don't you find that Holiday is a little disappointed? Do you want to play like Harden and Westbrook now?"

"Of course not." Zhuang Yu shook his head and laughed, "I am who I am. I am not like Harden, Westbrook, or James. I am myself. I just try my best to release my power and influence the game."

After that, Zhuang Yu patted Anderson on the back and said, "Thank you for your reminder, brother. I will talk to Holiday."

Anderson was relieved.

In fact, he had no opinion on how Zhuang Yu should fight.

Even if Zhuang Yu wanted to learn from Harden and Westbrook and choose the "ball-holding core style of play", he fully supported it. However, he noticed the change in Holiday's mood, so for the sake of harmony within the team, he felt that he still had to remind Zhuang Yu.

Moreover, he believed that even if Zhuang Yu grabbed all the points, rebounds and assists, Holiday would not have any objection, after all, Zhuang Yu's strength was there.

But it would be better if Zhuang Yu was willing to communicate with Holiday.

......

After the training was over and the players left, Zhuang Yu found Holiday alone and had a good talk with him.

Zhuang Yu had no intention of grabbing all the points, rebounds and assists. He said sincerely, "Brother, don't worry about your role being reduced. You are still the team's starting point guard and the organizer of the tactics. This will not change. You have been doing a good job."

"I'm just like you, I just want to do better, especially during this time when Lopez and Ross were injured."

Holiday heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Zhuang Yu, you don't have to tell me this. I will support you no matter what you do. We can't win the championship without you. You are the soul of this team."

After saying that, he hesitated for a moment. Since he had already said that, he simply asked frankly, "I'm just a little surprised. You seem, seem..."

Seeing him hesitating, Zhuang Yu smiled and said, "You think I'm different, right? Okay, you're not the only one saying that. I haven't changed, I'm still the same as before, but there are some things I didn't care about before, but now I start to care about them."

Holiday asked subconsciously: "For example?"

"For example, the regular season results." Zhuang Yu said: "Our first goal is naturally to defend the title and win the championship. But this does not conflict with our good performance in the regular season, right? For example, the Bulls played an extremely dazzling record in the regular season and also won the championship. What's wrong with that?"

Yes, it's certainly better.

Holiday nodded.

In the 1995-96 season, the Bulls achieved the best record in NBA history with 72 wins and 10 losses in the regular season, and successfully won the championship in the playoffs, completing a perfect season.

It was also in that season that they started their second three-peat and once again completed the three-peat, creating a legend.

In the past, people still paid much attention to the regular season, and many regular season games were played very fiercely. Unlike now, the regular season seems to have become a foil, and everyone only cares about the playoffs and whether they can win the championship in the end.

To the extent that many old fans feel that the regular season has lost its appeal, the intensity is far less than before, and it is not as exciting as before.

Even when the Warriors had a regular season record of 73 wins and 9 losses, they only surpassed the Bulls in terms of statistics.

In the eyes of many fans, they are far inferior to the Bulls in the 1995-96 season.

After failing to win the championship with 73 wins and 9 losses, the Warriors no longer pursued regular season results. They only wanted the championship, and everything was for the championship.

Not only them, the Lakers are the same.

It’s not that the Lakers are unable to achieve better regular season results in recent seasons, it’s just that they instinctively focus more on the playoffs, and everything is centered around the playoffs.

The championship comes first.

This is certainly true.

But should the regular season be ignored? Is it really meaningless?

No, it is not.

"Maybe the philosophy of basketball has changed now, and everything is based on results."

"Or maybe basketball isn't as pure as it used to be."

Zhuang Yu shook his head and asked Holiday, "Brother, do you think the intensity of the regular season is much lower than in the past? Are the players taking the regular season less seriously and starting to be perfunctory to the fans?"

Holiday nodded: "Although I don't want to admit it, as someone who watched Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson against the Lakers' OK combination when I was a kid, I think it's true. Basketball has changed now."

Zhuang Yu asked again: "Do you think this is respectful to the fans?"

"of course not."

“Haha…” Zhuang Yu laughed: “I think we should respect the fans and the game more. This is also a tribute to history!”

In fact, Zhuang Yu not only wanted to pay tribute to history, but also wanted to challenge history, but he did not say this.