Champion, please stay!

Chapter 280, Section 278: Returning to the Team
"Thirty-four years of perseverance, thirty-four years of hard work, thirty-four years of unremitting struggle, we have finally waited for this day..."

On September 19th, in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Yao Ming, as a representative of the Basketball Association, delivered a passionate speech to the leaders in attendance.

Yi Shui was in the last row offstage, and during the pause in Yao Ming's speech, he and his teammates applauded.

Despite the many flaws, it's still quite interesting to have this happen once every two years. He would love it if there was a segment like this after every World Championship.

The 32 years Yao Ming mentioned refers to the 34 years since the men's basketball team qualified for the 78 World Championship in 1976.

Back then, Chinese basketball looked incredibly promising. In 78, Zhang Weiping participated in his first international tournament and scored an average of 25+ points per game, delivering a world-class performance.

Later, top-tier perimeter players emerged one after another in international competitions... Until the end of the last century, domestic basketball was swept up by the influence of American basketball and began to undergo a major transformation, abandoning the national selection process. In just a few years, after the 04 Olympics, signs of a talent gap began to appear, and the current roster is mostly composed of players selected by the older generation of the Basketball Association leadership.

Change is inevitable, but it's a piecemeal, half-hearted approach...

Yi Shui opened the system screen and looked at the upgraded 'National Idol' - 'Pride of Sports' after winning the World Championship. Its influence has expanded from children who like basketball to all children. Whenever he leads his team to achieve good results in the NBA or international competitions, it will enhance the sports enthusiasm of children in the country.

He doesn't admire the way things are done in China, like in the US and South America, where most children are single-mindedly focused on becoming sports stars. He believes that the approach in the Americas is purely an attempt to 'confine' the lower classes and create a class monopoly.

But it's always a good thing for children to get moving and exercise more. It will improve their physical fitness, and as the overall physical fitness of the population improves, there will naturally be more promising athletes.

He doesn't know when he developed this sense of responsibility, but he didn't think about it too much. He just wanted to play well and inspire more teenagers, young people, and even middle-aged and elderly people in China to enjoy sports. That's all he could do. As a small cog in the machine, doing his job well is the greatest contribution he can make to the country.

After winning the championship on the 13th, Yi Shui and his teammates enjoyed the exotic scenery of a foreign country on the 14th. On the 15th, he spent a day in Istanbul filming a tourism advertisement. He didn't have to do much; he just filmed according to the script approved by the team. On the 16th, he flew directly to Shanghai, returned to his hometown, and was received by provincial and municipal leaders. According to the schedule of the team and the Basketball Association, he came to Beijing on the 18th for commercial activities. Today, he participated in an event with the national team...

After the Blue Association leader's speech, Yi Shui and his teammates received commendations from the leadership.

After attending the gala in the evening, the national team's journey this year officially came to an end.

Back at the hotel late at night, after confirming the flight time to the United States with his domestic management team, Yi Shui lay in bed and reflected on the World Championships, finding much to have gained.

He averaged 30.6 points in 5 group stage games and 34.25 points in 4 final round games, earning a spot on the All-Star team, winning MVP, and taking home the gold medal.

He scored 61 points in a single game, breaking the World Championship single-game scoring record; and 45 points in the final, breaking the final single-game scoring record.

He scored a total of 290 points, making him the second-highest scorer in a single World Championship in history. The first place is held by Oscar Schmidt of Brazil, a superstar scorer in international basketball, who scored 312 points in a single World Championship, averaging 39 points per game in 8 games.

Schmidt holds the records for total points in the Men's Basketball World Championship and the Olympics, the record for points per game in a single tournament, and the highest single-game score in the Olympics (55 points).

Schmidt holds the record for total points not only in international competitions but also in top leagues. He scored a total of over 49,000 points in top leagues in South America and Europe. He was one of the two idols of Milan's young blacksmith, who was just starting to play basketball in Europe at the time. His other idol was Mike D'Antoni.

I put the gold medal in my bag when I got back to the hotel. The MVP and All-Star trophies are at my parents' house back home, so my mom can show them off.

Winning the championship brought not only honor, greater fame, and more income, but also three system rewards.

One is an upgrade from "national idol" to "sports pride", one is a skill "engine" and the other is a mid-to-long-range shooting talent +1.

中投天赋上限从95提升到96，目前NBA级别的中距离综合投篮能力为87，最准的右侧45度角是91，第二准的左侧45度角是89，正面是88，左侧底线中距离为79、右侧底线中距离为84。

He doesn't shoot from the baseline on either side enough, and his shooting talent from that angle is worse than from the high post. However, he can still shoot when he's open, especially from the right baseline mid-range, where he has a high success rate with open shots.

Long-range shooting, including three-pointers and long two-pointers, has seen its shooting talent ceiling rise from 97 to 98. Currently, the NBA-level overall long-range shooting ability is 93, with the most accurate angle being the right 45-degree angle, which improved to 95 during this World Championship. The second most accurate angle is the left 45-degree angle, which reached 93. The top arc area is 92. Long-range shots from the left and right corners are significantly more accurate than mid-range shots, with the left corner at 87 and the right corner at 89. This is also related to the fact that the shooting range of those two points is very small, and the distance and angle are fixed.

The new skill 'Engine' has the following effect: When initiating a fast break with the ball, passing is increased by +5, and your anticipation of teammates' movement is improved. (The improvement in anticipation is affected by your familiarity with your teammates' fast break movement and receiving habits.)
In fast breaks, Yi Shui prefers to rush to the frontcourt to score.

But Hughes retired after winning the championship, and Duhon went to the Magic for a big contract with a salary of 700 million a year.

Curry isn't good at initiating fast breaks; his strongest ability in fast breaks is his ability to drive and shoot. His second strongest ability is attacking the basket on fast breaks. Although LaVine's fast break dunks often turn into jokes, he is indeed good at using changes in rhythm to attack the basket on fast breaks, and he coordinates very well with Webster's follow-up support.

Chalmers has been learning how to handle the ball in fast breaks from Duhon and Hughes for the past two years. He did quite well when leading the third unit last season, but it remains to be seen how well he can perform when playing fast breaks with the starters.

Newcomer Willie Green only has a few impressions from playing against him and descriptions in the team's roster. His specific playing style will need to be observed during training camp and preseason.

Yi Shui estimated that he would need to push fast breaks with the ball in the new season, so he was naturally happy to have this skill.

However, 7 out of the 15 players on last season's roster were replaced, and 6 out of the 13 players on the rotation roster were replaced. He'll be busy when he returns to the team...

...

The next day at noon, after having lunch with his parents, Yi Shui parted ways at the Beijing airport. His parents returned to their county, while Yi Shui went to New York.

It's been several more months since we last saw each other, and Yi Shui is very reluctant to part, but that's life.

Back in New York, Yi Shui rested for two days. After adjusting to the time difference, she met up with Yad and Robinson, who had come to New York, for a meal.

Neither of them managed to secure a contract from an NBA team during the offseason. Their rookie year performances were both poor, with fewer than 20 appearances and a combined playing time of less than 100 minutes, which is related to their abilities.

However, Yad received an invitation from an Italian Serie A team, while Robinson received an invitation from Yao Ming's Shanghai Sharks.

Robinson was almost ready to give up his basketball career. He returned to Stanford this summer to finish his senior year of college. Unexpectedly, he received a call from Yao Ming and decided to give it a try. Seeing this, Yad also decided to go to Europe to try his luck.

On the other hand, Yi Shui received a call from Price, who was the lowest draft pick, in July, saying that he had received a 2-year, $1.5 million minimum salary contract from the Pacers, with a player option.

Last season, Price played 60 games, averaging 17 minutes of playing time, scoring 5.8 points and 2.7 assists.

Yi Shui really didn't expect that after him and Thabeet, the Husky team that shocked the whole of America would be able to gain a foothold in the professional arena, and that it would be Price.

Besides Yad and Robinson preparing to go to overseas leagues, Yi Shui also had dinner with Swift in Qingdao during their previous training camp. Swift did not get an NBA team contract during the offseason, and at over 30 years old, his athletic ability has obviously declined.

The Qingdao team, which has only been in the CBA for two years, has its eye on Swift and has finalized a one-year contract with him.

Based on Yi Shui's understanding of the CBA's level of physicality, which is comparable to international competitions, he estimates that Swift, who doesn't like physical contact on the defensive end, might need to be tougher to adapt.

Previously, many American foreign players who performed well offensively but were too weak defensively were cut after playing for a while.

However, when he returned to China, he found that players like Birdman, Swift, Duhon, and retired Hughes were very popular among Chinese fans. Perhaps Chinese fans were more accepting of Swift's soft defense.

After they won the championship, the commercial value of the players who had played for them in China was higher than that of the Rockets players back then, while the Rockets were completely abandoned by domestic businesses because Yao Ming joined the Warriors.

During the 08 Olympics, at least eight out of ten sporting goods stores in Beijing displayed advertisements for a Houston Rockets player. This time when Yi Shui returned to Beijing for a business event, he could hardly see any Rockets advertisements.

On the 24th, after resting for three days, Yi Shui arrived at Madison Square Garden at around 9 a.m. to rejoin the team.

When Yi Shui reported for duty, he learned from Clark that after Curry returned to the team on the 20th, all the other players on the team had returned except for him.

It wasn't that Clark complained about his late return to the team, but rather that, as instructed by the coaching staff and management, he told his teammates that they were very positive about the new season.

Yi Shui learned from Clark that the first to return to the team were four first- and second-year players.

Rookies Landry Fields and Jeremy Evans, along with second-year players Gibson and Danny Green, rested for two weeks after finishing the Summer League in early August, and returned to the arena in late August to prepare for the new season.

Gibson, Danny Green, and Fields all have a very strong drive, and Clark gave them all high marks.

Gibson suffered a major setback this summer. Three childhood friends who had supported each other and grew up together were killed in a gang shootout in California in early July. He was also often distracted during the Summer League. Fields constantly encouraged Gibson and helped him out of his predicament during the Summer League.

Having bounced back, Gibson has set a challenging goal for the new season: to compete for the starting power forward position.

For the past month or so, Gibson has been working hard on his mid-range shot and free throws. Because of his low starting point, he only had a 30% mid-range shooting percentage in his rookie year, and only took 116 mid-range shots in 72 games, making 35 of them. His free throw percentage in his rookie year was also only 64%, averaging 2.8 free throws and making 1.8 per game. His improvement is quite obvious. Mainly, his positive attitude and strong desire to improve made Clark, a trainer who came from college, very fond of him.

Danny Green and Fields both want to make the 12-man roster, or become the top reserve outside the active roster like Swift did last season.

As for Jeremy Evans, in Clark's words, he saw that the other rookies were working hard, so he felt embarrassed not to work hard either, and he came to the gym with a mediocre attitude towards training.

Yi Shui has a detailed understanding of every teammate, even those on the fringes.

He felt that the biggest problem with this new teammate was probably his exceptional athletic talent. At 206 centimeters tall, his running and jumping abilities were even stronger than last year's number one draft pick, Griffin.

Moreover, his speed and explosiveness are outstanding. Even though he weighs just over 90 kilograms, he can still jump up and score easy baskets in the NCAA interior where there is no three-second rule.

Despite lacking ball handling skills, shooting ability, and basic defensive skills, he relied solely on his athleticism to become a top 100 high school student in the United States and receive a full basketball scholarship to a Division I university.

He achieved a terrifying 69.3% field goal percentage in 126 games over four college seasons, won the Tropical Conference Player of the Year award once, was selected to the All-Defensive Team twice, caught the eye of NBA teams, and was predicted by the media to be drafted by an NBA team in both last year and this year.

Yi Shui remembered that Jeremy Evans later won the Slam Dunk Contest and played in the NBA for several years... There was really nothing he could do about players who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. They might not have practiced basketball much from childhood to adulthood, but they were still able to enter the NBA and get a guaranteed contract. If you don't want to work hard, no matter what others say, it's useless.

However, Yi Shui did not dwell on this and respected the fate of others.

If a teammate is ambitious and hardworking, he will definitely help if he can. After all, he is the team leader, and all his teammates on the court are playing supporting roles for him. He has that responsibility and obligation.

If his teammates are not on the same wavelength as him, he won't interfere like a father. Besides, Jeremy Evans was also born in '87 and will be 23 next month, about the same age as him.

The other five new teammates returned to the team mid-month and began training.

The training directions of the individuals were completely different.

At Ben Wallace's recommendation, Walsh hired Rick Mahone to help Amir Johnson train his defense before the start of the season. Regardless of how the training went, the New York media gave it extensive coverage.

After returning to New York, Frye spent most of his time accompanying his mother, who was the CEO of Fox Entertainment, on various television appearances.

However, he did not slack off in training, practicing whatever the trainers assigned, and he was full of enthusiasm for playing for his hometown team.

Ray Allen... is a loner who doesn't communicate much with management or the coaching staff. He has his own trainer, and Clark doesn't know him very well.

Willie Green is completely different from Ray Allen. He actively communicates with the coaching staff and even volunteered to help them with their work. With D'Antoni's permission, he followed the coaching staff around doing odd jobs. He was also a "cougar" on the court, arriving at the arena first in the morning and leaving last in the evening.

Mike Miller has a great attitude towards training, but he loves to have fun. He came to New York in August and has made it into the entertainment news several times in just over a month.

...

After chatting with Clark for a while, Yi Shui arrived at the training ground at a time that was already past ten o'clock. All of his teammates had arrived, some training and some playing around.

Upon seeing Yi Shui arrive, his teammates all came forward to greet him.

Ray Allen, among others, gave Yi Shui a hug to thank him for inviting him to join.

Besides Curry...

When Curry saw Yi Shui arrive, he glanced at Yi Shui, then turned his head away, snorted, and continued practicing his shooting.

The elementary school student was already prepared to ignore Yi Shui for three hours when he saw him again!

Chandler wasn't too bothered by the loss in the World Championship final. The American team had never performed well in the World Championship, having only won the title twice in 86 and 94, despite participating in the World Championship more than ten times.

For Curry, it's a different story. To be ranked alongside Jermaine O'Neal and Baron Davis from Dream Team V, the four best players from the 03 draft class from Dream Team VI, and the four best players from the 03 draft class from Dream Team VII? He can't accept that!
These four "Dream Teams" are not the same "dream" as the Dream Team 8 two years ago; they are a nightmare team!

Even American media outlets were saying after the World Championships that the Dream Team's resurgence was just a flash in the pan.

New York media even said that the Dream Team's victory in 08 was just good luck, as Embiid was still young...

However, after less than three hours and 30 minutes without Yi Shui taking the initiative to speak to him, Curry started to get impatient.

After finishing the morning shooting practice, it was lunchtime. Yi Shui called out to Curry, and Curry happily went with Yi Shui and Chalmers to the restaurant across the street for lunch.

The 08 squad is not going to fall apart just because of one World Championship match!
During a meal, Curry said to Yi Shui, "Next time we face each other in the Olympics or the World Championships, I will definitely beat you!"

Yi Shui paused for a moment, then replied, "Thank you for your kind words."

Elementary school student: [Hey?] What blessings did I say?

With Yi Shui's return to the team, the Knicks' preparations for training camp have begun to unfold.

As the defending champions, the Knicks had a lot more preseason publicity, and Yi Shui naturally had the heaviest burden. Various TV stations invited him to appear on their shows, and he would always bring Curry and Chalmers along, and even recommend his teammates to appear on the shows... As the leader, he got the meat, so he naturally wouldn't forget to bring his teammates along for the soup.

When the new season jerseys were announced and the official photos were taken, Yi Shui was a little annoyed because they had four sets of jerseys for the new season!
One is the standard version of the home and away jerseys, with the home jersey being white with orange and blue trim; the away jersey is blue with orange and white trim.

The "Championship Commemorative Edition" for the opening game is actually just the regular version with the Larry O'Brien Trophy logo embroidered on it. The home version is only worn for the opening game, and the away version is not even worn.

The third set is the 'Christmas Special Edition', which changes the trim color to red and is only worn on the day of the Christmas game as the away version.

The fourth set is retro jerseys, replicas of the tight-fitting jerseys from the team's early days, which were worn on specific occasions. Yi Shui thinks this set is the best-looking, simple, refreshing, and unpretentious.

Correspondingly, there are several versions of the team T-shirts...

However, New York fans have money, so if more versions are released, he and his teammates can also get a little more money.

After a few days of getting to know each other, Yi Shui gained a better understanding of her new teammates.

Frye and Fields both came from wealthy families, had completed college, and were good-natured and cultured... However, they didn't really like each other; one was from New York and the other from Los Angeles.

Ray Allen, just as I remember, always prefers to be alone, but he doesn't like being ignored, making him a bit difficult to deal with. However, with Birdman and Chalmers around, it's not a big problem.

Jeremy Evans is very passionate when he's dunking or jumping, and he's very energetic when he plays 3-on-3, but he doesn't really care about training, and his basic skills are even worse than Swift's.

Mike Miller, one of the new teammates, is the one Yi Shui gets along with the best; he really knows how to enjoy life.

The old teammates have also changed somewhat.

Birdman, who has secured a long-term contract, is already 32 years old and may retire after this contract expires. As a result, he has become more enthusiastic and truly treats the team as his home. He actively helps his new teammates get acquainted with the team and is very popular with them. Even Ray Allen has a good impression of this teammate who is over 30 but still acts like a naive young man.

As a result, Yi Shui appointed Birdman as the vice captain of the locker room.

The second vice-captain was, of course, Chalmers.

Duhon, Hughes, and Ben Wallace have all left, and Chalmers is the one who has the best relationship with his old teammates.

However, this season they have a third vice-captain – Curry.

Yi Shui was speechless, wondering why elementary school students were arguing about this. A team only has 15 people, and 4 of them are captains...

After winning the championship as the starting center, Chandler's entire demeanor changed. He swept away the gloom of being a "flop" for many years and became very confident.

October arrived, and the Knicks' training camp officially began.

The preliminary preparations had been completed long ago, and the players' individual training had been going on for quite some time. After the training camp started, D'Antoni, Mark Jackson, and Cheeks led the team to begin training offensive and defensive tactics.

By deciding against renewing David Lee's contract, D'Antoni made significant adjustments to the tactical system.

The core lineup has been tentatively set – Curry, Ray Allen, Yi Shui, Amir Johnson, and Chandler, aiming for a balanced approach on both offense and defense.

They have a purely offensive lineup—Curry, Ray Allen, Webster, Yi Shui, and Frye—to handle some extreme situations.

Besides the six core members, Chalmers, Webster, Mike Miller, Birdman, and Gibson are the established main rotation players.

The new season brings significant pressure to adjust the system, which Yi Shui was mentally prepared for. However, the style of this new system... Little Mustache's coaching style is clearly influenced by Big Butt Jackson!

(End of this chapter)