One Year Left to Play-Chapter 195 - 64: I’m Older Than You!

Butch Baird suddenly felt like he was back twenty years ago, blurting out the catchphrase he loved the most back then.

If it weren’t for Zhang Hao’s joining, the Brooklyn Nets, if viewed as a company, would be one rotting to the core. Plenty of people are stuffed inside, anyway, as they’re just tanking. Otherwise, Butch Baird, the scouting director, and Randy Whitman, a rookie coach who retired recently, wouldn’t be responsible for the coaching staff.

Firing someone who’s just collecting a paycheck could really offend someone, but the two are no longer interested in this, so they don’t care.

Moreover, NBA teams are different from regular companies. Typically, if a team develops a superstar or acquires one via trade or signing, the big boss would definitely clean house. When a team is lousy, it doesn’t matter much, as a terrible team gets compensation in the form of high draft picks.

The two coaches decided to go and stir things up with General Manager Bobby Marx.

On Zhang Hao’s side, after his muscle relaxation massage, he was ready to go back to his apartment to play some games or read some books, take a nap in the afternoon, and then train later.

Rest is also very important.

Today’s training progress made Zhang Hao very satisfied; he’s been grinding and studying in dream mode every night lately, and it hasn’t been in vain.

He thought he might be too eager, taking too big a step, but in reality, it’s just a natural process because he’s moving forward on the shoulders of giants, with advantages others can’t compare to.

The key is that this giant is the God of Basketball...

A day passed quickly, and by the evening of the 21st, Brooklyn Nets hosted the Bucks for a game.

The Bucks are definitely a tanking team; major media outlets are actually quite excited about them, but Randy Whitman directly used the term ’tanking team’ to describe the Bucks during team training.

Looking at the Bucks’ lineup, Zhang Hao couldn’t associate them with a tanking team, but reality is just that bizarre...

"Glenn Robinson, rating 86...

Vin Baker, rating 85..."

Aside from these two, the rest of the Bucks players aren’t that great. Yet with two players at the fringe of All-Star level, they still perform like this?

But after finishing the first half with a score of 51 to 42... the opponent is indeed a top-tier weak team.

In the first half, their Brooklyn Nets completely dominated the opponent!

He played 11 minutes in the first half, took 5 shots, made 3 of them, plus 2-for-2 on free throws, scoring 8 points. The opponent didn’t even offer any defense, and their offensive game was a mess.

In his previous life, he knew Glenn Robinson played in a peculiar way; now he finally understands just how peculiar—only thinking about his own stats and not caring about anything else.

Even Brother Gouqi wasn’t this bad, right?

After the second half began, Kenny Anderson led the team on a 6-0 run right from the start, establishing a 15-point lead.

In the subsequent minutes, Glenn Robinson seemed oblivious to the score difference, going on a scoring spree to boost his points to 20, giving the feeling he no longer wanted to play.

At this point, the lead extended to 22 points, with the Brooklyn Nets leading 77-55.

Kenny Anderson was subbed out, but Zhang Hao was brought in. He received instructions from the coaching staff to practice catching and turnaround fadeaways in the game!

With just over 3 minutes left in the third quarter, the game had already entered garbage time, not to mention it’s the preseason; even in regular season, the Bucks didn’t intend to catch up.

Putting aside the curiosity and puzzlement about the draft pick already seated down, Zhang Hao stepped back onto the court, activating the ’get all the shot opportunities’ mode.

With Chales feeding him the ball, playing against the Bucks, Zhang Hao trained very smoothly in the game...

That night, Zhang Hao entered study mode once again.

"Remaining lifespan: 248 days, usable lifespan: 247 days."

Upon entering the dream, Zhang Hao glanced at his lifespan, which decreased by another day. Fortunately, he had received a 15-day lifespan reward for winning 4 preseason games, plus 1 day for participation and 2 days for winning victories, increasing his lifespan by 18 days.

Feeling great, Zhang Hao immediately dove into simulation training.

The game against the Bucks was a prepared plan to use the catching turnaround fadeaway during the game. Though not particularly accurate, he gained a lot and could now use it as a reference to better analyze where he went wrong, making adjustments during training and future games.

Another non-stop day and night passed, and by morning, he returned to the gym for more training. Having finally learned something new, Zhang Hao didn’t want to rest for a moment if it weren’t for considerations regarding his body...

Although the deep sleep state in study mode provided better recovery, it was still just recovery. The body’s usage needs moderation; if truly exhausted beyond a certain limit, a night isn’t enough for proper rest and recovery.

With one week left until the regular season begins, Zhang Hao knows that’s when the real test starts. The rookie wall, for many, is actually a physical endurance issue, causing performance to dip mid-season from lack of stamina reserves after charging blindly from the start.

The worst case is during their rookie year, playing until they get injured from fatigue.

Within the team, after nearly a month of interaction, Zhang Hao can feel the changes in his teammates, which also brings him joy.

Just...

"Look at you, thin as a guard. Now look at the bros, this is what a real man looks like!"