Champion, please stay!

Chapter 94, Section 92: Tactics consist only of offense.
On October 2nd, the Knicks officially began team training.

D'Antoni, of course, sticks to the old formula – run-and-gun offense.

After a morning of training, the three rookies agreed to have lunch together.

Curry said dejectedly, "Are we too stupid, or are they too lazy? It seems like we're the only ones who diligently memorized the tactics manual."

During his college years, his use of tactics was among the best of all college students in the United States, demonstrating excellent tactical awareness and skills.

D'Antoni's run-and-gun offense is the most potent in basketball today, and Curry has been aspiring to play it ever since he was drafted, watching a lot of Suns videos.

After receiving the tactics manual on assembly day, Curry barely slept the first night, studying each tactic repeatedly with great enthusiasm. After a week, the manual was almost worn out.

Today, at the team's first practice together, Curry was incredibly excited about his performance in the team's tactics.

But things didn't turn out exactly as he had imagined!
During the tactical meeting, D'Antoni started by explaining the basics of tactics, and by the time he finished explaining the simplest tactical combinations, it was almost 11 o'clock.

He was puzzled. Was something so easy to understand really that complicated?

In the subsequent tactical training, he found that it really was true.

The 20-minute tactical coordination drill that started at 11:30 was a complete mess.

Chalmers responded, "Stephen, you're not expecting everyone to memorize the tactics manual, are you? Some people might read it and forget it the next day. Take it slow, everyone will get used to it as they practice."

Yi Shui chimed in, "We can just remember it ourselves. Don't ask others to. For some people, asking them to memorize the tactics in advance is making things difficult for them. They are better at memorizing tactics through their bodies."

And it wasn't just the three of us who remembered; Chris, and the newly arrived Chris and Marquez, their training preparations looked pretty good. Big Q didn't even need to learn; he could start playing right away.

Seeing that his two teammates from the same year didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with their first team practice that morning, Curry began to wonder if there was something wrong with him.

This is mainly due to the difference in university experiences.

The Husky team, where Yi Shui plays, and the Pine Eagles team, where Chalmers plays, both recruit high school students primarily based on talent, especially physical talent. They don't care about intelligence for the time being, and it's common for coaches to teach the most basic teamwork step by step.

Curry's Wildcats team lacked natural talent and had to rely on tactical coordination. When drafting players, they mainly selected those who were tall and intelligent. Moreover, when he joined the team, the other main players were already juniors or seniors, and they had already mastered the tactics. Initially, he was even the one with the worst tactical coordination...

...

During the lunch break, while browsing the news, Yi Shui saw that the Bulls had offered Hinrich as their core asset in a bid for Conley, which was rejected by the Grizzlies, causing a huge uproar.

In the original timeline, the Bulls won the number one draft pick, and everyone knew they were about to begin a new chapter. Apart from the two stars of 04 and Noah from the 07 draft, all other veteran players with solid skills would be eliminated.

But here, the Bulls got the 10th pick, which should have been the 10th from the bottom. People's opinion of the Bulls is that after collapsing for a year due to Kobe's "I want to go to the Bulls" statement, the Bulls will try to regroup and start afresh with their current strong roster.

Yi Shui had also wondered if the Bulls would rebuild around the core trio of Eric Gordon, Luol Deng, and Noah, based on their existing roster, but he didn't expect them to be preparing to dismantle the team.

That probably means the conflict between the players and management has become irreconcilable.

The team training continued in the afternoon. D'Antoni was truly patient, teaching each role player how to run positions one by one.

Yi Shui wasn't worried about this at all. If even the head coach couldn't handle this, there was nothing he could do but leave it to Walsh to continue patching things up.

Curry noticed Yi Shui's attitude and saw that Chalmers did the same. He also noticed that his teammates Duhon and Daniels, who were both excellent tactically, didn't seem to think anything was wrong. Duhon even took the initiative to help the coaching staff coach his teammates...

He began to accept the situation.

As evening approached and the team's first day of training was drawing to a close, new players arrived from the city.

The runner-up for the 00 draft has arrived!
D'Antoni rushed to conduct physical tests on Swift and called the team doctor for a check-up, wanting to finish the examination today so that the trade could be officially completed without wasting tomorrow's training time.

Yi Shui went to watch his new teammate, who was dubbed "mini Garnett" during the draft, undergo physical testing.

He noticed that Swift showed no sign of being traded; in fact, she was all smiles… which didn’t seem surprising.

After the trade last night, he checked Swift's recent situation. The former second overall pick, who will turn 29, had gradually lost his place with the Grizzlies last season, averaging 6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. His playing time and stats were the lowest since his rookie season.

Leaving Mengcun and coming to the Big Apple now, even if the future is uncertain, is definitely happier than staying in Mengcun.

But Swift's physique... This is the first time Yi Shui has seen a player who is about the same height as him but thinner!

He thought Swift was just skinny, but when she weighed herself, he took a closer look and saw that she weighed 220 pounds... almost 100 kilograms!
However, during the running and jumping test, Yi Shui was reminded of the infamous moment when the busted second overall pick dunked over the giant first overall pick. His mobility was still comparable to most guards; Yi Shui felt that even his point guard teammate, Duhon, might not be as fast as Swift, especially in that initial stance and start.

In terms of jumping ability, Yi Shui even felt that Swift was slightly better than him.

He'll be 29 next month. With that kind of physical talent, it's no wonder that even though he didn't develop any skills during his two years in college, he was still highly sought after by teams in the draft.

Then, the next day, Swift showed Yi Shui in person why he had played poorly – his football IQ.

Yi Shui knew that the second-ranked player was lacking in football intelligence, but he didn't expect it to be this bad. It wasn't just a problem with football intelligence; he felt that Swift was like the legendary type of person—someone with intellectual disabilities that didn't affect their daily life.

Since the gathering on the 25th, this is the first time Yi Shui has seen D'Antoni so helpless.

However, sometimes you can't get too close to the "gossip". When D'Antoni saw Yi Shui watching, his eyes lit up and he called him over to help train the dud runner-up.

Yi Shui wondered what use it was to ask him about this kind of thing.

Duhon, Chalmers, Curry, Daniels, and even Nate Robinson have all tried, but Swift just can't get the hang of it.

But once he stepped onto the court, the teamwork clicked...

D'Antoni arranged two five-man matchups, with Yi Shui in one team and Curry, Chalmers, Swift, and David Lee in the other.

The other team consists of Duhon, Daniels, Wilson Chandler, Anderson, and a defensive center on a training camp contract.

David Lee and Chalmers spread out, and Curry and Swift drove in after a screen, passing back to Yi Shui at the free-throw line.

Yi Shui flicked his wrist, and Swift, who had cut in, scored before the opposing center could recover!

D'Antoni beamed and shouted, "One more time! Chris, you guys need to be more aggressive on defense, switch faster, and collapse the defense faster!"

In the next offensive possession, Swift was indeed blocked, but his timing for the cut was still excellent. Birdman had to pull back from the right side to the basket in advance to block him.

Moreover, Yi Shui didn't pass to Swift. Curry saw Birdman collapse and immediately pulled to the right sideline, received Yi Shui's pass, and made a long two-pointer.

After several attempts, it was always Yi Shui attacking while Birdman defended. As long as Curry controlled the pace of the pick-and-roll and drive-and-kick well, Yi Shui timed his move to the high post well, and the opposing forwards didn't collapse in advance and David Lee drew the ball in place, Swift could always cut into the paint at just the right moment to finish the easy basket!
Yi Shui remembered that the years when Swift played quite well were when he was playing alongside Pau Gasol. He lost his position in the middle of last season because Pau Gasol was traded to the Lakers in February of this year.

After the 10-minute practice session, D'Antoni patted Yi Shui on the back and said, "I knew you could do it. If you could activate DeAndre Jordan, you can definitely activate Stromiler!"

No, in the eyes of the current management and head coaches, how bad is DeAndre Jordan? He's even ranked alongside the second overall pick who was considered a bust... Yi Shui replied, "It's still different. Jordan relies on point guards, while Stromiler relies on high-post playmaking."

Upon hearing this, D'Antoni also thought of Pau Gasol, mentioning that there were only a handful of players who could provide high-post support.

After a brief analysis, he said, "That's true. Stromeyer has a poor sense of position. He needs a clear tactical reference point. Teammates in higher positions are always the most conspicuous, so he can determine his movement timing based on your position."

Fortunately, you have a talent for playmaking... God, Brook, you are really amazing, you are always so smart on the court.

"You, Stephen, and David, try bringing on Big Q next time. Adding Stromeyer might improve our offensive coordination. If we encounter a team that plays at a fast pace and can't get our pace up, we can use this lineup..."

Yi Shui felt that the head coach was scolding him, but he had no evidence.

But this lineup... even though he knew D'Antoni didn't care about defense at all, this was still too much!

A frontcourt pairing of Swift and David Lee? Even Ben Wallace could become a scorer!
Given the team's current situation, it would be good enough if they could seize even one advantage.

...

Over the next few days, the Knicks conducted tactical drills and practice games.

D'Antoni is indeed excellent at coaching role players; in just a few days, they've become quite proficient.

After training camp ended on the 7th, a day of rest on the 8th, and a day of pre-season training on the 9th, the first day of the preseason games arrived on the 10th!

On this day, basketball fans' eyes were all focused on New York.

The Knicks' first opponent is the Miami Heat!
After dominating the Summer League with an average of 28 points per game, Beasley's confidence has soared again. In a media interview, he said, "College is a thing of the past. The Olympics are just a game for our US team. When I get to the NBA, I will prove that I am the best player in the 08 draft class!"

(End of this chapter)