After returning to Tempe, Xu Yong once again adjusted the focus of training during the second day of training.
He put ball handling training first, followed by three-point shooting and physical fitness.
The reason for this adjustment is the same as before.
After making sure that the three-point training is effective, he needs to improve his dribbling ability.
Improving his strength, three-point shooting, and ball control to NBA levels was a goal he had set long before the draft.
At this time, Kuksix's existence becomes very meaningful.
Because dribbling skills, if only trained without the ball, can easily become flashy or even gaudy.
But when used in confrontation, many dribbles will become unnecessary, and those necessary dribbles will gradually become proficient.
This understanding can be attributed to his experience before his rebirth. He has observed many people playing basketball, both in the NBA and CBA.
He found that many CBA players, including some NBA players who play with a toxic style of play, like to dribble the ball randomly, while great players such as Jordan and Kobe rarely dribble more than three times when attacking.
Too much dribbling will not only consume too much physical energy, but also put yourself in a double-team, and it will be easy to turn the pass into a dribble.
To create offensive space within three dribbles or less, the requirements for control and offensive skills will be very high.
In other words, there is still a lot to improve to reach Kobe's level, such as ball control, mid-range, back-to-the-basket, footwork, fadeaway, etc. These techniques must be perfected.
Xu Yong obviously can't do it now, but he can make a rule of a maximum of three dribbles in bullfighting, which will allow him to achieve the goal of refining his control of the ball.
For Cooksix, defending against such a rapid attack will also greatly improve his defensive ability.
This is the training of spear and shield. The spear will become sharper and the shield will become stronger.
…
The Devils’ opponent for the second game was the Oregon State Beavers.
The Beavers ranked second to last in the Pac-10 last season, and they are in the same boat as the Devils.
Moreover, they are not as lucky as the Devils team, who were able to recruit high-quality high school students like Harden and Xu Yong. Their strength has not changed much compared to last season.
So overall, they will have an easier time in the next game.
Moreover, the next game will be played at home.
On the morning before the game, when the players came to the locker room one after another, they found that there was an extra thing in the locker room.
All the team members couldn't help but gather around to watch.
When Xu Yong went in and saw it, he was also stunned.
It turned out to be a ping-pong table!
After a while, Sandek came to the locker room.
In his hands he held a pair of table tennis rackets and a box of brand new, unopened table tennis balls.
"Don't be late for training." After putting his things away and giving some instructions, Sandek turned and left the locker room.
As soon as he left, the players immediately picked up their rackets, and Ship and Cooksicks started playing right away, and they looked quite good.
The popularity of table tennis in the United States has been seriously underestimated. Haven’t you seen that in Hollywood movies where American soldiers are recovering, there must be table tennis scenes.
It’s just that here table tennis is more of an entertainment than a competition, so few people know this.
After a while, Ship defeated Cooksicks and Albert in succession. This guy is really good at everything except basketball.
"Xu, I want to challenge you." He then challenged Xu Yong.
As a Chinese in the eyes of a foreigner, you may not know a lot of things, but there are two things that you almost certainly must know.
One is Kung Fu, and the other is table tennis.
The former is due to the existence of Bruce Lee, and the latter is due to the influence of the Chinese Table Tennis Dream Team.
Xu Yong nodded and stood up. He just happened to know a little bit about those two things that foreigners thought were possible.
Then, surrounded by his teammates, Xu Yong staged a "narrow victory".
As an opponent, Ship could clearly feel that Xu Yong could easily defeat him.
But it is obvious who will hit their teammates hard?
After Xu Yong won, he put down his table tennis racket and did not continue to beat others like Ship did.
But soon, other teammates came up to play.
Table tennis is a game that takes a long time to learn and is difficult to play to a competitive level, but it excels in simplicity and playability. It is one of those sports that becomes more addictive the more you play, which is why it is so popular.
Then during the afternoon training, Harden found Xu Yong and said he wanted to learn how to play table tennis from him.
It was at this time that Xu Yong noticed that Harden had not been on the ping-pong table in the locker room that morning. It turned out that he didn't know how to play yet.
Of course he wouldn't refuse, and after the training was over, he took Harden back to the locker room to teach him how to play.
But compared to basketball, Harden's talent in table tennis is indeed average.
This talent does not refer to physical talent. Harden has no lack of coordination and explosiveness, but his ball sense is too poor.
People who are lacking in this area will need to practice for at least two and a half years before they can get the hang of it.
Of course, this is entertainment in itself, and Harden is having a lot of fun.
The ping-pong table that Sandek made is really worth the money.
…
The next day, the Devils played host to the Beavers.
The result was not too suspenseful and the game was easily won. The pick-and-roll between Xu Yong and Harden was used more by Sandek and became a powerful weapon for the team to capture the city.
It is also worth mentioning that the Wells Fargo Arena was packed with people.
After the Devils won the derby, their popularity exploded. Not only local fans in Tempe, but fans from several major cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area came to support them.
Even though it is a state school, it is a team from the Phoenix metropolitan area after all. If they make it to the championship, they will be the home team.
After two consecutive wins at the start of the season, the Devils team, carrying this momentum, immediately visited Haas Arena at the University of California, Berkeley to face the Golden Bears.
As branch campuses, Berkeley is not as good as Los Angeles (that is, UCLA), but it is still better than Oregon State.
Moreover, the Devil's team, especially Harden and Xu Yong, were clearly targeted.
Harden and Xu Yong performed well in the first two games, but they are not without weaknesses.
Harden was forced to break through on the right more often, and his lack of proficiency with his right hand resulted in a significant decrease in his finishing efficiency, and his mistakes also increased.
Xu Yong has excellent off-ball skills, but his ball-holding skills are weak. Although he has conducted targeted training in advance, just like the previous three-point training, it will not produce immediate results.
After Harden's performance was restricted, his performance was also greatly affected.
And on the Golden Bears side, sophomore Ryan Anderson performed exceptionally well, scoring 24 points in the game.
But the good thing is that the Golden Bears don’t have anyone who can provide more support to Anderson.
The two teams were in a stalemate until the last moment. Thanks to Xu Yong's successful defense against Anderson in the last moment, the Devils team won the game with a score of 60 to 58.
At this point, they extended their winning streak at the start of the season to three games, making a perfect start.
However, they will face a real challenge next. Their next opponent is the champion of the Pac10 League and a prestigious team in the NCAA Division I League. They have won the championship ten times in school history (the most in NCAA history) and are the favorite to win the championship this season - the UCLA Bruins.