lakers championship

Chapter 282
In the early morning of the 23rd, I returned to SkyOcean in Los Angeles, and together with head coach Walton and general manager Kupchak, attended the Lakers 2016-2017 season summary press conference.

The conference will be held at the Lakers training base. In addition to more than 100 reporters attending the interview, the entire conference will also be broadcast live on TNT, ESPN, Tencent and other world-renowned sports websites.

As soon as Tianyang sat on the chair, the fans watching the live broadcast started frantically swiping the barrage.

"He looked in good spirits and wasn't upset about the loss"

"Don't be arrogant in victory and not discouraged in defeat, young man is doing well, come back next year!"

"Good morning everyone (for Lakers fans only!)."

After the three sat down, Lakers public relations director John Black announced the start of the press conference and signaled for the first question to be asked by a reporter from Tencent.

"Tianyang, first of all congratulations on your impressive achievements in the past season. On behalf of the Chinese fans, I would like to express my gratitude to you. My question is: the Asian Cup Men's Basketball Tournament will be held in August. Will you return to China to represent China? team to play?".

Tian Tian's question from a reporter from Tencent caused commotion at the press conference, and the fans who watched the live broadcast also made barrage comments one after another.

"Don't come back, take a good rest, train well, just play the Olympics and World Championships."

"Yeah, a game like the Asian Cup is completely meaningless."

"How should I put it? I still want to see him abuse food."

Tianyang took the microphone: "As long as the motherland needs it, I will definitely find a way."

The answer was concise and to the point, neither refusing outright nor agreeing immediately.

Kupchak took the microphone and added: "The situation of Tianyang is different from that of Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian and other players. Further consultations with relevant departments are needed. It is difficult to draw conclusions for the time being. Thank you. Next question."

Kupchak's voice fell, and the live barrage began to discuss again.

"SkyOcean has not been registered in China before, so the choice is more flexible, which is a good thing."

"Will the Lakers and the NBA try to block it?"

"No, with his status, both the Lakers and the NBA are walking sideways. Didn't you watch Silver's interview before? The league is waiting for him to become a new signature superstar."

At the press conference, John Black signaled the TNT reporter to ask questions.

"Tianyang, an article pointed out that in the past season, you ranked 34th in the backcourt players in the league in the number of successful layups. Compared with your top five three-pointers and mid-range shots, the gap is extremely large. May I ask, will you strengthen your training this summer to further improve your layup skills?"

Tianyang thought for a while, then pressed the microphone and said, "No, because I don't need so many layups. The threat created by my three-pointers and mid-range shots is far greater than layups."

As the voice fell, the ESPN reporter rushed to ask without waiting for Black to signal, "Are you trying to avoid physical confrontation as much as possible?"

Tianyang smiled: "You may not have watched the Lakers game. I have a lot of dunks and big front caps. I choose fewer layups, just to save energy."

The ESPN reporter wanted to ask another question, but Black directly signaled the staff to take the microphone away, and then signaled the NBADRAFT reporter to ask the fourth question.

"Mr. General Manager, what plans will the Lakers have in the summer free agent market? What will be their tendency in rookie selection? Will they renew Randall in advance?"

The reporter asked three questions at once, and each question was more important. The eyes of the other reporters at the press conference suddenly showed anticipation, because many news contents could be guessed based on Kupchak's answers. No longer have to worry about having nothing to write about in the off-season.

Kupchak lowered his head and pondered for about two seconds before answering: "There are two main directions in the free agent market. One is to find a point guard with strong impact to help Tianyang share the pressure of double-teaming; the other is to strengthen the inside defense. , to ensure that Randall’s injury will not cause the team’s defensive strength to be greatly reduced. Based on the second point, we will take time to talk to Randall about the issue of early contract extension. As for the rookie selection, We have too few draft picks, and the Lakers have rapidly promoted from a rebuilding team to a championship team, so we pay more attention to immediate combat power, and hope that rookies can directly enter the rotation and contribute to scoring or defensive teams."

The answers were so dry that the reporters buried their heads in memorization.

……

In a blink of an eye, the press conference ended, the three got up and left, and Tianyang went straight to the weight room.

"Where are you going?" Wharton called.

Tianyang stopped and said in a slightly surprised tone: "It's 10 o'clock. It's time to train your core strength. It used to be like this every day. Is there any problem? Or is there something else?"

Wharton looked at Kupchak, Kupchak shook his head and said: "Not yet, just finished playing for a season, I suggest you relax first, take your girlfriend for a vacation or something, I have a few good ones The place can be recommended."

"I've had a full day off and I've got an appointment with BI..."

Before the words fell, Ingram walked into the three of them sweating profusely, "What are you talking about?"

Upon seeing this, Wharton asked, "Did you just finish training?"

Ingram nodded, "I just did aerobic training, and I'm going to do bench press."

When Kupchak and Walton heard the news, they were both happy and entangled. They were happy that the two young men on the team worked so hard and started training the next day after the end of the season. To be precise, they did not start training again, but continued Keep.

The entanglement is that the two of them practice too much, and if they get injured, it will be a loss to grandma's house.

Back then, Pat Riley trained crazily, causing core players to be injured, and the Lakers lost three consecutive games. It has been written into the Lakers management and coaches' operating manuals.

Wharton looked at Tianyang, then at Ingram, shook his head helplessly, then turned around and pulled Kupchak away, and said as he walked: "We can't persuade you, I suggest that the medical team and trainers Work more overtime, don't be stingy with overtime pay..."

Kupchak shrugged and said, "True, but I think there is one person who can persuade them both."

……

As usual, Tianyang and Ingram returned to the court after strength training and started skill training.

Practiced until 12:[-] noon, Ingram went to a brother party, and Tianyang was the only one left.

After the press conference, the team gave most of the staff a two-day holiday, and the entire training base was a bit empty for a while. Tianyang also stopped shooting and sat on the floor to start thinking.

A TNT reporter asked a question before, saying that he had too few layups and ranked 34th in the league's backcourt. Although he didn't think it was a problem, he also wanted to find out whether he still had technical defects.

After thinking about it, Tianyang got up and went to the event board on the sidelines, analyzing and writing at the same time.

"In terms of offense, I have a long range and a fast shot. I can shoot ultra-long three-pointers, and I can also pull up shots. The proficiency in the use of crossovers and crotch dribbles, coupled with the speed at the forefront of the league, allows me to easily Break through some average defensive players, but when encountering excellent defensive players like Iguodala and Leonard, you must use a combination of methods, and even seek pick-and-rolls. The lethality is not as great as Durant. Unfortunately, I am not that good physical condition..."

"What a pity?"

A voice came from behind, Tianyang looked back, Kobe didn't know when he came.

"Kupchak called me and let me persuade you." Kobe went straight to the point.

"Advise me to take a rest first?" Tianyang guessed.

Kobe nodded, "Yes, but I didn't come here to persuade you today. I know how it feels to lose a game. It's very bad, so I didn't call you. I also know that you will continue to train. Many legendary players in the league It's all like you, you can do it without any problem."

"But you're still here, so?" Tianyang knew there was more to come.

Kobe shrugged, "I want to say, it's okay for you to do this, but it's less helpful to win the championship, and the efficiency is relatively low. It's a bit wrong."

"Oh?" Tianyang was curious.

Kobe walked to the noteboard, picked up a brush and erased all the content written by Tianyang, "In my opinion, you already have all the skills, whether it is attack or defense, as for you think you are not as lethal in singles as Durant So strong, it is indeed difficult to change, but basketball is never a game for one person. The direction of your next efforts should be to help your teammates and make your teammates stronger."

Tianyang thought for a while after hearing the words, "I understand what you mean, the training must be maintained, but the focus must be changed."

Kobe nodded, "That's what it means. I also watched the press conference in the morning. Mr. Ku clearly mentioned that when selecting young players, he will pay attention to immediate combat power. We all know that players with immediate combat power are big players. You didn’t enter the NBA until your junior or senior year, you can think back to last year’s NCAA, who impressed you more?”

(End of this chapter)