"Whoosh—"
"Adjust your breathing, hold on, just two more laps." Zeng Ling's voice echoed throughout the training venue.
"Hoo—ah."
The women's basketball team finally finished their grueling morning run, groans of pain filling the air. After the full-speed run, the players walked slowly, adjusting to their bodies' response. The only sounds on the training field were heavy breathing.
Chu Feiyu dragged her aching feet toward the water fountain outside the venue.
"Feiyu, turn around and change direction," the teaching assistant Tian Yong's voice rang out softly. "Wait at least 10 minutes before drinking water."
"Oh..." Chu Feiyu turned around, panting, and slowly walked towards the center of the training field.
"Rest where you are, and we will meet again in half an hour."
Zeng Ling gave the order without saying anything more, then turned around and sat down next to assistant coach Wang Yuping to discuss the players' physical fitness reports.
"Sister Ping, Zhang Fan and Du Xianglan's jumping height is not a big problem, it's just that their body coordination is a bit lacking."
"Several players on the team still need to practice their Euro step layups. Try to vary the methods as much as possible. While the starters are getting used to the lineup, you can give the substitutes some Euro step training."
"..."
He's always quiet around his teammates, but once he gets into work mode, he goes all out.
Lu Yu now understands even more what it means to be stricter with others and even stricter with oneself.
Half an hour later, the whistle blew three times.
"Assemble." Zeng Ling resumed his stern demeanor. "This level of training will be standard practice for every morning session from now on. Adapt to it as soon as possible. During the two months of closed training, we will need at least three to four different formations to execute different tactics, so we will need sufficient physical stamina."
"Liu Min, Ren Qiqi," Zeng Ling called out, "You two need to improve your physical fitness. The impact you have to withstand in the paint on the world stage is much greater than in the domestic league. Make sure you get plenty of high-quality protein. Sister Hong and Carl will help you plan your diet."
Zeng Ling put the physical fitness report behind her back and said, "Today we'll do the regular system training for the main lineup. All substitutes, step forward." Zeng Ling gave assistant coach Wang Yuping a look and said, "Substitutes, come with Sister Ping to field number 6 for specialized training. Especially the small forwards and power forwards, you need to improve your Euro step."
Only the five main players remained at training ground number 1.
Luo Yan, Lu Yu, Weng Pei, Sun Meng, and Ji Yun lined up in a row.
The sound of basketballs bouncing could be heard from training court number 6, which was located diagonally opposite; the substitute team had already started their training.
Zeng Ling dribbled the basketball, walked to the five-man team, and then said to Wan Dong, the training analyst, and Tian Yong, the assistant coach, who were sitting at the table off the court, "Let's do an analysis of ten jump records for the ball."
"Luo Yan and Ji Yun, come over here and fight for the ball." Zeng Ling dribbled the ball and jogged slowly to the center of the court.
Luo Yan and Ji Yun stood facing each other.
The whistle blew, and the basketball flew vertically into the air from Zeng Ling's hands.
Lu Yu stared at the two people's jumping posture, but in an instant, the two of them leaped up as if they had springs under their feet.
After Luo Yan jumped, her slightly bent arm suddenly stretched out, instantly raising her by half a finger's width above Ji Yun at the perfect moment, and the basketball was swatted away by Luo Yan.
The whistle blew ten times, and the ten contests ended.
Ji Yun won three goals in the contest.
Being able to steal three balls from top center Luo Yan is a very respectable achievement for Ji Yun, who plays as a power forward.
But Zeng Ling didn't say a word. Instead, she picked up a tablet from her work desk, tapped it a few times, and the video of the ball-fighting contest started playing on the half-person-high screen.
"Ji Yun, what problem do you see?"
Ji Yun's slightly smug expression froze instantly, and she stared silently at the slow-motion video.
Zeng Ling placed the tablet on the table, glanced around, and suddenly looked at Lu Yu, saying, "Lu Yu, what about you? Did you figure something out?"
Lu Yu stared at the screen and said, "Ball speed and stability, I guess."
"Heh...it seems the title of best point guard isn't for nothing." Zeng Ling chuckled, saying, "Ji Yun, you seem to have won three balls, but in terms of the quality of those wins, they were all substandard. Did you notice? The basketballs you slapped were spinning rapidly. Even if the ball was heading towards your team's point guard, catching it like that was too difficult, and there was a high probability that the opponent would steal it."
Ji Yun suddenly realized that she wasn't good at receiving and controlling the ball; she was more focused on gaining possession of the ball and had overlooked the difficulty of receiving it.
Weng Pei whispered in Sun Meng's ear, "Old Zeng is suddenly taking care of top students, and he's not used to it yet. Look at how worthless he is with that smile."
"When Luo Yan contests for the ball, the speed and direction of the basketball are controllable, which is very important. Of course, I'm not asking you to go to the Olympic Games and compete with other centers for the opening ball, but contesting for the ball can directly reflect your problems." Zeng Ling said as he walked to Weng Pei's side, and before he finished speaking, he gave Weng Pei a sharp look.
Although he was talking about Ji Yun's problem, it made Weng Pei break out in a cold sweat.
"Ji Yun, your ball-handling style is very aggressive, but you need to pay attention to controlling the pace on the court, especially considering the positions of your teammates and whether they can receive your fast passes smoothly. This is very important." Zeng Ling drew an offensive route diagram in front of the tactics board. "When the main lineup is on the court, Sun Meng in the paint is a key link. Sun Meng, the organization and connection of the inside offense needs to be guaranteed by you."
Sun Meng listened attentively to Zeng Ling's detailed explanation.
Zeng Ling turned to Luo Yan and Ji Yun and said, "The inside players should try their best to help Sun Meng with the defensive pressure. Once Sun Meng is guarded by multiple players, Lu Yu and Weng Pei on the perimeter should not move. Luo Yan and Ji Yun on the inside should take the initiative to withstand the pressure and try their best to force the opponent to stop and box out, at least disrupting one of the two guards. There should be one person under the basket. This process requires multiple rehearsals. The three of you need to clearly understand each other's relative positions, so the offensive rhythm must be stable and not chaotic. If one person is chaotic, all three will be chaotic. We need to clarify the tactical plan during training. I don't want to see a situation on the court where people only chase the ball and not the players."
"Da Yong, in a bit, lead Sun Meng, Luo Yan, and Ji Yun in practicing their inside cutting routes," Zeng Ling called to assistant coach Tian Yong.
Zeng Ling tapped the whiteboard and said, "Lu Yu and Weng Pei, both of you can organize the offense. You can play a combo guard offense on the perimeter. The two of you need to support each other and switch between offensive and defensive roles decisively, understand? Remember, when both of you are on the court at the same time, you are both scorers. You need to be fast when dribbling past opponents, but slow down your passing pace and coordinate with the inside cuts."
Lu Yu and Weng Pei were taken to training ground number 2 by Zeng Ling.
Intermittent sounds of basketballs slapping and shoes scraping the ground could be heard from training courts 1, 2, and 6.
"Weng Pei, focus. When I come over to defend, watch for my shift in center of gravity. Your passing rhythm is still too fast, don't rush to shoot." Zeng Ling intercepted the ball from Weng Pei and threw it to Lu Yu.
When the running pass and long-range shooting drills ended, Lu Yu really felt like her soul was about to drift away.
The "devil" Zeng, whom Weng Pei always talks about, truly lives up to his reputation...
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