NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

"Hey! Mr. New Sixty Points, how much bigger is your brain than a walnut?"

"Or have you lost yourself in the beauty under the skirts of Hollywood actresses?"

"Remember the skills I taught you: don't go too deep when you need the ball with your back to the basket, step back and turn to face the basket, and crossover to break through the baseline……"

"Shit, are you a pig? Why did Greg tell me you were the most improved rookie he had ever seen?"

"……"

On a day off in early April, on a certain half of the court in the Spurs training hall, there were constant sounds of scolding and shouting.

Two players in Spurs training uniforms were having a"friendly discussion" on a scoring and offensive technique on the court.

Fat Mai, who was sleepy but now"wide-eyed","scolded" in a tone of regret:

"Change those habits of sharing and passing the ball. The crucial moment of the game is not for you to organize the pass, rookie!"

"At the critical moment of winning or losing, the team needs your ability to attack the ball. Don't hesitate when you receive the pass, just do it yourself, using the trick I taught you.……"

As he spoke, McGrady, who was already as fat as a ball, signaled the team trainer to throw the ball to him.

After receiving the ball, he signaled Joey to come up and defend. Joey, who had been scolded all morning, was very obedient. With his long arms spread out, he constantly interfered with McGrady's space to pass the ball, and his body also constantly gave McGrady sufficient"confrontation". For a while, the former even had some difficulty dribbling.

"Damn it! This rookie is so serious, I told you to defend but I didn't ask you to do it for real!"

McGrady cursed the younger generation for not learning how to"respect the old and love the young" in his heart.

But at this moment, he had been"tied to the fire" and the arrow was on the string.

McGrady held the ball with his back to the basket, and with his slender calves exerted force, relying on his current weight of nearly 250 pounds, he barely squeezed Joey and found a little dribbling space——

"Bang!"

Joey was quick-witted and quick-handed. He took action the moment the latter half-turned and dribbled the ball, and the ball was directly taken away.

Uh... a breeze blew from somewhere on the court, and McGrady stood on the court with empty hands, feeling inexplicably embarrassed!

The assistant coaches and trainers on the sidelines were also speechless for a moment, feeling a little"ashamed" for McGrady in their hearts."

"Cough cough cough……"

McGrady cleared his throat tentatively. If it weren't for his dark skin, people would have probably seen his reddening embarrassment.

【Ding! The host is being trained in basketball's top scoring method (pull-up jump shot). New products are available in the system mall.……】

【Offensive Skill Training Acceleration Card: can speed up the player's comprehension and learning of a certain offensive method, effective for one hour, price: 2000 Honor Points]

Joey's mind cleared up for a while, and then he quickly reacted:

"Exchange three cards!"

Joey recited to himself, and about a minute later, every move of the person in front of him, the shooting angle, the control of details... almost formed an"analysis" automatically in his mind, and his understanding of the shooting posture of the pull-up jump shot was also advancing rapidly.

In the next three hours, every time the trainer on the sidelines passed the ball to Joey, the latter learned the"pull-up jump shot" with great proficiency in McGrady's"teaching by words and deeds".

The so-called"pull-up jump shot" is a jump shot that needs to be suspended in the air. When the body adjusts its posture, the hit rate is the highest.

There are also the most suitable jump shots after catching the ball and the turn-around jump shot. The pull-up jump shot mainly relies on abdominal strength and arm strength, and its range is quite long.

The pull-up jump shot is elegant and natural, and the man and the ball are integrated into one, truly achieving the unity of man and ball.

This is the most famous scorer in NBA history. An essential offensive method for top singles players on the perimeter - the most famous are Djokovic and Kobe!

But apart from them, people often divide pull-up jump shots into two types, namely McGrady's pull-up posture and other stars' pull-ups!

McGrady's jump shot can be described as elegant and graceful, just like him, calm and composed, neither hot nor cold, elegant and natural...

As early as the 2002-2003 season, McGrady, who was in the Magic team at that time, had just played the peak season of his career, averaging 32.1 points per game and won his first"scoring champion" honor.

Most people think that his consecutive scoring titles in the 2002-2004 seasons relied on a large number of shooting rights, so-called"brushing" out, but few people know that those two seasons were actually the most efficient seasons in McGrady's career, among which the shooting percentage in 2002-2003 was 45.7%, the highest in his career.

(So McGrady fans often say"McGrady was delayed by the Magic management", which is actually not without reason)

According to the official statistics at the time, McGrady averaged 24.2 shots per game in his first scoring champion season, hitting 11.1 goals, of which 8.4 goals were scored by"jump shots".

In that season, he was also the"two-point king" of the league, almost hitting the hot zone from the three-point line to the paint!

The true hit rate of this offensive method was as high as 76.7%!!!

(This data is true. The author of"Push Street" checked various advanced data of NBA stars in the first five years of the century, and really couldn't find a single-season mid-range true hit rate higher than McGrady, but there are three players who are almost the same. I won't be too fussy here.)

In contrast, the top ten outside players in the scoring list this season, such as Ray Allen, Pierce, and Kobe, who played for the Supersonics (now Thunder) at the time, averaged 22.

5, 25.

1, and 30 points per game, respectively.

Their average mid-range shots per game were only 1 data unit different from McGrady (except Kobe, who averaged 23.

5 shots per game that season.

The mid-range was the most unstable scoring method during the No.

8 Peter Pan period.

He actually averaged 10 shots per game.

Can you believe it?), but he could only hit 6.

7, 7.

1, and 6.

4 mid-range shots per game.

This shows that McGrady's"pull-up jump shot" with both appearance and strength is a very powerful scoring method!

(By the way, don’t think that McGrady said the famous sentence"I’m already thinking about the next opponent" that season, and then lost three games in a row and became the Silver of the time, but in that seven-game series, McGrady’s average score in the fourth quarter was as high as 12.1 points. I don’t mean to praise McGrady, so please don’t criticize me.)

So when Popovich brought McGrady to Joey and asked the latter to learn the"shooting method" from McGrady, Joey did not refuse.

Instead, he accepted it with pleasure.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that McGrady at this time liked and was willing to teach the younger generations...

although the teaching method was a bit"awkward.

" When McGrady was teaching Joey carefully on the court, in the second-floor office not far away in the halfcourt, Popovich was holding a glass of red wine, with assistant coach Holzer standing behind him - the two had been observing Joey and McGrady for a long time through the one-way transparent glass floor- to-ceiling windows.

……

"Do you think I did the right thing?"

Popovich looked at Joey, who was getting more and more enthusiastic in training, with a wise look in his eyes.

"gentlemen……"

Budenholzer hesitated to speak, and soon Popovich interrupted him.——

"This is the last lesson I will teach you!"

The old man said in a stern tone:

"When you are the head coach of a team, don't be distracted by some uncontrollable but already happened problems.……"

"It’s like Manu’s injury came unexpectedly!"

"I never put all my eggs in one basket. The team needs firepower support from the bench, and Tim also needs a teammate who can help him share the pressure of scoring in the fourth quarter!"

Popovich said this, as if he was talking to himself.

When Holzer heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly understood something - in connection with the game against the Bulls at the beginning of last month, he finally understood why Popovich acquiesced and"indulged" Joey to score high points, but then quickly pressed him on the bench...

Popovich, who didn't know what his disciples behind him were thinking, looked at Joey off the court with more and more satisfaction at this moment - it's almost time, it's really almost time...

His growth is far beyond everyone's imagination, and soon, he will bring a thorough"change" to this league!

Sima Laozei has always been very confident in his vision. Since the first meeting of Joey at the joint tryout, he has always felt that this Asian rookie has a fierce and resolute... wolf in his bones, who will not give up until he achieves his goal!