new lord of the rings

Chapter 469: Rookie Kuzma

About 6 minutes into the game, the two sides tied at 22:22. Although both sides are in poor form, their defensive strength is not enough. What's more, this is the regular season. Both of these two pairs have played in the Western Conference Finals. The intensity of the playoffs, and then the referee caught a lot of fouls before the two sides lowered the intensity. This caused that although the two sides were in poor form, the scores were not low.

Under Zhang Xin's suggestion, Earl Watson replaced this year's rookie Kuzma. Zhang Xin wanted to see how good Kuzma was. The posture of immediate combat power, although the draft pick is late, but the strength is not inferior to those rookies who are drafted early. In the rookie season, he averaged 16.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He was selected to the rookie first team. material.

Although Kuzma is now on the Phoenix side, there may not be so many opportunities for him to play, but there is a letter with Zhang, and the things taught to him are definitely much better than his savage growth in the Los Angeles Lakers. Among the champion teams, they may be able to mix up a championship first!

Kuzma will take up the position of power forward. Kuzma is about the same height as Zhang Xin, both 206cm and lighter than Zhang Xin, but also about 100kg. It may be a bit difficult to deal with some muscular men, but he can deal with some average weight But enough.

Zhang Xin has been observing Kuzma's performance. The offensive end is a little immature, but he has a lot of energy, but the defensive end needs to be honed a lot. The positioning is bad, the choice of defense is poor, the defense likes to start, and the basic skills of defense are too poor !
Zhang Xin shook his head. He had some thoughts in his heart, but he was not displeased. He also came from a rookie. Of course, rookies have various weaknesses. The playoffs can still come in handy. Didn't it take Bro Gordon and Hilde a season to make them useful? Zhang Xin has this confidence.

The sun ball, Bledsoe quickly dribbled across half court, Chandler quickly raised to help Bledsoe make a high screen, Bledsoe broke through inside, and then passed the ball to Zhang Xin, As soon as Zhang Xin changed hands to Kuzma who made an air cut, Kuzma made a three-step layup.

Zhang Xin nodded with satisfaction: The offensive touch is very good, the touch is soft when laying up, and the confrontation is also good. He is a malleable talent. No wonder he was able to enter the rookie first team. Kuzma is capable.

In the first game, Zhang Xin didn't make much effort, but the Suns still won. The reason is that Klay Thompson always felt cold in at least a dozen games at the beginning of the new season. This is the case today. Klay Thompson's performance today is 18 of 3 and scored 11 points. Although Curry was in good shape and scored 32 points, the Warriors still lost the game.

Zhang Xin scored 42 points, 9 assists, and 12 rebounds in this game. He didn't get a triple-double because his teammates' touch was really average. There were many open shots that Zhang Xin couldn't make. Good start.

Under Zhang Xin's deliberate feeding, Kuzma scored 12 points in the rookie's first game, which is a very good performance. In addition, he thought that the new aid Olynyk also got a chance to play, and Olynyk's performance was even better. Better, but not reflected in the data.

Olynik's scoring and rebounding are not high, but he complements the lack of the Suns in defense, and he is a tall version of PJ Tucker, with fierce defense (after all, he is one of the top five villains in active service), and he has the space to open up He hit 37.9% of his three-pointers, which is already very remarkable, at least no one is willing to shoot.

When the Suns rotated the lineup, with the presence of Olynyk, the defense was obviously improved, and because of Olynyk's three-point supplement, Tucker's task became lighter, and he didn't need to go up to serve in the rotation Space point, because Tucker can defend the opponent's power forward and open up space before, so he is needed for both starting and rotation, resulting in Tucker's playing time being slightly longer.

With the addition of Olynyk this season, Tucker can rest more in the regular season, which reduces the possibility of Tucker being injured. The reason why NBA players are prone to injury is because NBA players are relatively close in physical fitness. To achieve the effect in the game, the player must go all out to run and jump, and it is very easy to be injured in the collision of muscles. Reducing playing time can effectively maintain the player's body and reduce the possibility of player injury.

This is why Mr. Popovich and now Cole like to give players time to take turns against the strict orders of the league. They deeply understand the importance of players' physical rest.

After the start of the new season, Zhang Xin did not relax the training of the team. New teammates joined in and needed to help them integrate. The most important thing is that Zhang Xin felt that the integration of the team had not reached a perfect state. Champion, but it is far from enough. I am improving, but my opponent is also improving!
Not to mention anything else, let’s just talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder. They joined Paul George this year to form the Thunder Big Three of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Just because they play singles one by one, many teams can't stand it.

Zhang Xin and the coaching staff still have a lot of work to do, such as helping the players recover their physical condition, formulating training plans for new players, and continuing to practice the team's tactics. These are all ready before the All-Star Game. After the All-Star game, the schedule will suddenly speed up, and there will be no time to train these things.

The team's tactical drills don't need Zhang Xin's supervision. Zhang Xin's interest lies in ravaging the new player Kuzma. Hilde and Bro Gordon are glad that they don't need to be ravaged by Zhang Xin, but they also feel sorry for Zhang Xin. Xin no longer practiced them. Although Zhang Xin had to suffer both physically and mentally, the improvement in strength was really fast, just like opening a dungeon.

Kuzma is an easy-to-learn rookie, and he never finds it too hard or too tiring for Zhang Xin to train him alone, but this is also due to the credit of Hilde and Bro Gordon. After all, they are young people and communicate more. Some, Hilde and Brogo performed very well last season, which made Kuzma very envious. He went to ask the two for advice. If you want to accept Zhang Xin's practice.

No matter how tired you are, with Zhang Xin's practice, Kuzma has indeed made great progress in offense and defense, especially in defense. In fact, as long as someone can support Zhang Xin's offense for a month If his spirit is not broken, then his defense will definitely enter the forefront of the league.

(End of this chapter)