NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 143 is not just 3D

Brand is posting up against Millsap and hitting a turnaround jumper. He may be getting old, but his skills are still there; his midrange game is still as sharp as it was 20 years ago!

Teague dribbled over and passed the ball to Jia Fei on the weak side!

Jia Fei, with the ball facing Scott, made a triple threat and then passed it to Horford in the high post. Suddenly, after a fake move, he cut inside!

Horford tossed the ball into the air!

Jia Fei starts, receives the ball, and completes the alley-oop!

That shot was explosive; the rim shook violently!

Art Mayor on the sidelines applauded Jia Fei excitedly. He didn't get a chance to play, so he was part of the atmosphere team and would be Jia Fei's most loyal protector!

The intensity of the intra-team scrimmages was low, so their offensive efficiency was very high.

On the sidelines, Hawks' new head coach Mike Budenholzer watched the game, stroking his chin as he pondered the appropriate tactical arrangements and personnel combinations for the team.

After the scrimmage, Coach Buden gathered the players together and said, "Guys, you all played exceptionally well today. Keep it up. We're a newly formed team, a young team with a relatively young overall age, and I believe we have a bright future in the new season!" He paused and continued, "I hope that in the future we can play team basketball like the Spurs, with 'players and ball moving'!"

Players generally agree that team basketball is better suited to, especially role players, as it means they'll have a certain amount of ball possession. Ball possession leads to stats, and stats lead to bigger contracts. This is why many players are reluctant to play with ball hogs; without stats, they're left doing the grunt work and taking the blame – nobody can stand that.

Budenholzer is a coach from the Spurs system, so it's not surprising that he studied the Spurs. It would be surprising if a coach from the Spurs system studied the triangle offense or the Princeton offense.

Coach Buden didn't say much. He didn't launch into a long talk about his tactics and coaching philosophy, nor did he offer any motivational speeches. This gave the players a good initial impression of the rookie coach.

On the way back, Art Mayor asked Jia Fei, "What do you think of Coach Budenholzer?"

"What do you think? I think he's alright. As a rookie head coach, I can accept his work attitude and methods. We'll only know how effective it is once the season starts," Jia Fei said. Playing team basketball doesn't prevent him from becoming a star in the future. Even team basketball needs stars; pure team basketball won't take you far. Especially in the playoffs, when everyone starts using short rotations and playing aggressively, when tactics don't work, the difference in star quality largely determines how far a team can go in the playoffs.

Why did the Spurs win the championship? It wasn't just because they played team basketball. In fact, the Spurs weren't the only team that played team basketball. When Duncan first entered the league, the Spurs' championships relied on the twin towers of Duncan and David Robinson, providing them with unparalleled offensive and defensive prowess in the paint. Later, it was thanks to the "Big Three" (Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili). Having star players on top of team basketball is the essential reason for the Spurs' success.

The second day of training still included intra-team scrimmages, and this time Coach Buden tried different player combinations.

Jia Fei trains very hard, and he follows the coach's instructions to run tactics during group scrimmages.

Overall, Jia Fei was very happy with the team's training camp. His teammates were all very selfless and worked hard on defense. The team atmosphere was great, and everyone was working towards the same goal.

On October 8th, the Atlanta Hawks played their first preseason game of the season, facing the defending champion Miami Heat on the road.

In this game, the Hawks' starting lineup consisted of Horford, Millsap, Jafi, Korver, and Teague.

Preseason games are becoming increasingly less competitive and less relevant, but what is valuable is that most teams' starting lineups in the preseason are essentially the same as their regular season starting lineups.

There's not much to say about the game itself. The Heat's starters didn't play for long before a bunch of substitutes came on, and everyone was just giving them experience.

On October 24, the Hawks finished their last preseason game. Interestingly, their opponent in the last preseason game was the same as their opponent in the season opener: the Dallas Mavericks.

Two days after the preseason ended, Jia Fei received a call from head coach Budenholzer, inviting him to the team's tactical meeting room to discuss some matters.

“The coach must have something important to tell you!” Art Mayork said with certainty.

Of course it's important. Jia Fei felt that the coach wouldn't have asked him out alone if it wasn't important. If it wasn't about business, was it some kind of backroom deal?

Upon arriving at the tactics meeting room, Coach Buden was very polite: "Ja, please have a seat. I specifically invited you here to discuss the game."

"Okay!" Jia Fei was still a little unaccustomed to Coach Buden's politeness.

After the two sat down, the video analyst displayed some of Jia Fei's individual offensive and defensive clips from the preseason games on the screen.

It has to be said that NBA video analysts are truly amazing. From the quality to the efficiency of their video editing, they are far beyond what the average amateur can match. It seems that Heat head coach Spoelstra started as a video analyst, which shows that this position is quite promising.

Coach Buden signaled that the video could be paused, and then he turned to Jia Fei and said, "Jia, I watched all your games for OKC last season. You've been playing since training camp, and we've played seven preseason games together. Our coaching staff has also discussed your role and position on the team next season, and we'd like to talk to you about it. What do you think?"

Jia Fei nodded: "Of course, I am a member of the team, and I will obey the coaching staff's arrangements!"

Coach Buden smiled and said, "Thank you for your support. Okay, let's talk about the game. Before, you played a more 3-and-D role in OKC. Apart from fast breaks or occasional second-chance attacks on the weak side, you rarely had the opportunity to initiate offense with the ball or create space for isolation plays. On the defensive end, you had a more significant role. You would primarily guard the opponent's star perimeter players and help your teammates defend the paint."

Jia Fei nodded, admitting that Coach Buden had done his homework very well.

Coach Buden continued, "Your role in the preseason was more 3-and-D, and you weren't very aggressive offensively. You played too unselfishly. We play team basketball, but that doesn't mean we should suppress a player's offensive potential."

"What do you mean?" Jia Fei was very curious about what Coach Buden was trying to say.

Buden smiled slightly: "I hope you will increase your personal offense in the new season. We need you to become a player who excels on both offense and defense, not just a 3-and-D player!"

"I see..." Jia Fei smiled too; he hadn't expected that this was what the coach really wanted to tell him.