Chapter 437: Full of Confidence
McGrady suddenly became so "feeling sad", Yang Mo was a little overwhelmed, he was a little uncomfortable with the old player sighing about the passing of time in front of him, after all, this was still a very distant thing for him. As a young player, these things were not very helpful to him, and could even be considered negative emotions.
McGrady sighed twice, turned around and said to Yang Mo: "Sometimes, people can't refuse to grow old. No one can fight the laws of nature. I'm old, and my body is not as good as when I was young. This is an objective fact. I always thought I could return to the top, but reality keeps saying no to me."
McGrady brought this up again, and Yang Mo didn't know what to say. Being polite wasn't his style, but he was afraid of hurting McGrady if he told the truth, so he could only remain silent and let McGrady continue.
"I admit that I have never let go of my privileged player's airs. I have always played in my own way and I am used to controlling the ball." McGrady continued. He suddenly patted Yang Mo's shoulder and said solemnly, "But I am not who I used to be. I will learn to be a role player in the future, but you have to lead me through the first round of the playoffs. I don't want to be called a second-round playoff virgin for the rest of my life. This is the only regret in my career."
McGrady suddenly said this, Yang Mo was obviously a little slow to react: He was clearly expressing his feelings for the past, how did it suddenly become a surrender? He didn't follow the routine at all.
"ah?"
When Yang Mo uttered a slightly incredulous tone particle, McGrady had already held Yang Mo's hand: "However, my biggest wish is to win a championship ring, and I also hope to get it from you."
"This..." McGrady's sudden expression of 'loyalty' obviously made Yang Mo hard to accept for a while. After all, McGrady has always been a superstar in his mind, and he grew up watching his games. Therefore, he had silently tolerated McGrady's habit of monopolizing the ball on the court during this period. However, he did not expect that at this time, McGrady actually surrendered and was willing to become his younger brother to assist him.
This huge gap in status made Yang Mo feel a little unreal. His former idol had suddenly become his younger brother. This was too...
Yang Mo was stunned for a moment before he said with an awkward smile, "It would be a good thing if you could change your playing style. That way, you'll fit in with the team more quickly. As for the playoffs, as long as we're united, it won't be a problem. Winning the championship won't be a big problem either."
When Yang Mo said this, it was equivalent to tactfully accepting McGrady's surrender and making him a promise in disguise.
After hearing this, McGrady subconsciously tightened his grip on Yang Mo's hand and said, "I put all my hopes on you. This is the first time I've done this in my career. In the past, I always hoped that I would be the one to resolve the game. Now, it's your turn. Come on!"
"come on!"
Then, the two chatted about the team's tactics for a while. In terms of tactics, McGrady's knowledge was obviously not as good as Yang Mo's. Although he had more experience than Yang Mo, his understanding of tactics was always at the level of asking the head coach to teach and answer questions. In essence, he could not compare with Yang Mo's ease.
After talking about tactics for a while, McGrady quickly pulled Yang Mo onto the court and began to teach Yang Mo the technique of pulling up. Yang Mo originally thought that McGrady's technique must be very difficult, but after McGrady's guidance, it was extremely simple. In fact, it was just a step ahead of others and surprisingly weak force. With the support of Yang Mo's abnormal explosive power, he mastered the trick in a short while.
However, this dry pull-up trick is not really useful for Yang Mo, because although Yang Mo has outstanding explosive power, his height is inferior, and his height determines that his shooting point will not be too high, so it is still easy to be interfered. Unlike McGrady, McGrady is tall and has a long wingspan, plus excellent explosive power and amazing jumping ability, his dry pull-up is indeed difficult to defend.
However, even so, this explosive technique still allowed Yang Mo to have a deeper understanding of offense, which increased his starting speed by at least 20%, making his breakthrough even faster.
McGrady obviously did not expect this result. He originally planned to use this to improve Yang Mo's shooting, but he did not expect that the result would make Yang Mo's breakthrough even sharper.
After practicing explosive power control skills for a while, Yang Mo once again spent time on tennis training. He still believed that passing was the ability he urgently needed to improve. Without passing, Yang Mo could never truly lead the team as a whole to break through the opponent's defense. He could only rely on himself to cause individual damage, which was obviously very energy-consuming.
And, most importantly, the Knicks still don't have a real point guard. Tony Allen is more of a defensive stalwart. His organizational skills are only mediocre at best. Don't expect him to use passes to break the opponent's defense.
In fact, the Knicks are currently short of players at every position except for a large number of small forwards. Their only two advantages are Yang Mo and defense.
Before the game began, Doc Rivers, the head coach , circled him on his tactical board. He pointed at the circle and said, "Our defensive focus is on this guy. He's the most dangerous killer. We must focus 70% of our defense on him. If we can subdue him, the Knicks will have lost half the battle."
"But, hasn't he been obsessed with passing the ball recently?" Little Potato Nate Robinson muttered softly. He is a former Knicks player and he thinks he has a say at this time.
"Even if he doesn't attack at all, we should send two people to keep an eye on him at all times, because he is the only one who can kill the opponent on the Knicks. Abandoning him, the key to the Knicks' victory will be thrown into the vast Pacific Ocean."
"But Wilt Chandler, Gallinari, Milicic, Larry Houston and Tracy McGrady can't be ignored either. They can also play well." Little Potato continued to argue with Doc Rivers by relying on the fact that he was once a member of the Knicks.
"I'll say it again, our defensive focus is Super Yang. You can ignore the rest, but you can't miss Super Yang." Doc Rivers glared at Nate Robinson and said sternly, "As for those players Robinson mentioned, it's impossible for them to control the rhythm of the game."
Doc Rivers had said this, so Robinson dared not say anything more. He could only shut up and keep quiet. After all, he had no experience in the Celtics. There were big-name players and some fierce-looking guys everywhere. It was not as friendly as the Knicks locker room. He was always worried that he would be hung up and beaten.
The Celtics' pre-game arrangement was to focus on double-teaming Yang Mo, but Yang Mo made a completely different tactical response before the game.
"I know Doc Rivers very well, and he will definitely focus all his defensive attention on me. So, we have to catch them off guard from the start. Tony, you know the Celtics best. From the start of the game, you should keep passing the ball to McGrady, and I will keep running to create space for you. After Tracy receives the ball, you can consider passing it to Gallinani in the corner or Anthony Randolph in the paint, and let them shoot three-pointers or alley-oops. In short, we have to break away from their established routines and play a unique style of play."
Yang Mo's tactical arrangement made the players nod their heads repeatedly. After two months of running-in, both new and old players were convinced of Yang Mo's tactical talent. However, Stan was still a little worried. He quietly pulled Yang Mo aside and said, "Yang, is it really safe to let Anthony Randolph play center?"
"This has nothing to do with being safe. The key is to achieve victory by surprise." Yang Mo replied with a smile: "I have another trick up my sleeve. Just wait and see."
Seeing that Yang Mo looked confident, Stein nodded without saying a word and also became confident.
