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Chapter 605: Too Talented

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The NBA announced the player of the week for the second week of the regular season in the Eastern and Western Conferences. The Clippers’ center substitute, Karaby, was awarded the acclaim in the Western Conference.

His last season was not bad, but he was only ever able to get a double-double. This was common in the star-filled Western Conference. Getting a triple-double, on the other hand, was rare. Getting a triple-double was enough for him to get named the player of the week.

Karaby was very happy. At 35, he had regained his youth and been named the best player of the week. He hadn’t even won this title in his prime.

Karaby treated the entire coaching staff and his teammates to a meal; they did not hold themselves back. They all came with the thought of using as much of Karaby’s money as possible. They ordered a table full of luxurious foods.

In the private dining area of the hotel’s restaurant, Karaby happily handed his credit card to the waiter. Karaby had earned tens of millions of dollars in his career, so the cost of such a meal wouldn’t bother him. If he had to treat his team to a meal every time he achieved a triple-double, he would happily go bankrupt.

His teammates were very happy, but Gray was spacing out a bit.

As the substitute center of the team, Karaby had been maintained an average double-double of 10+10 this season. Now, he had gotten a triple-double through his blocking. In contrast, Gray had been plagued by fouls. He played even less than Karaby, a substitute.

Dai Li noticed Gray’s worries. A starting player doing worse than his substitute would obviously make one feel depressed.

Dai Li went to Gray’s side and sat down. After thinking in silence for a few seconds, he asked, “Are you feeling worried?”

“Hhmm?” Gray was slightly absent-minded. He quickly composed himself and replied, “No, no.”

“I thought you were worried about Karaby taking away your spot in the starting lineup,” Dai Li said with a smile.

Gray did not answer this time. He did indeed have this fear in his heart. After all, Karaby’s performances were much better than his and Karaby was much more experienced. As long as Karaby maintained his current performance, he could play in the starting lineup of any team.

Dai Li said, “The reason why I keep you in the starting lineup instead of Karaby is that I recognize your potential. Karaby has done well recently, but he has reached his limit. You are different. I cannot even see your limit.”

Dai Li was not trying to comfort Gray. Gray had a rare genius that only appeared once every 30 years. The detector rated him as an S+ level talent. He definitely had much room to grow.

“However, you need to solve your problem with fouls. You get too many. This fragments your playing time and affects your stats,” Dai Li said. An eccentric expression flashed on his face.

Gray was plagued by fouls. In 20 minutes of playing time, he was able to get an 11 + 8, plus 2.3 blocks. If this were converted to 36 minutes, it would definitely be a double-double.

Taking into account that his playing time was very fragmented, his stats could definitely improve. Dai Li also thought that if Gray could control his personal fouls like the other players inside the three-point line, he could very easily average 20+15.

Gray, who was sitting opposite Dai Li, listened to him. He agreed with him and nodded as he listened. He knew that he committed too many personal fouls.

“Coach, what should I do?” Gray asked.

“According to my observations, your fouls occur when you block and when you fill in. When you are defending during a one-on-one situation, your fouls are under control. You need to improve in these two areas.”

Dai Li extended his finger as he spoke. He then said, “First of all, let’s talk about blocking. You definitely can block, I might even say that you are good at it...”

Gray heard this and smiled timidly. His face looked very old, and a few wrinkles suddenly appeared on his face.

Gray could get 2.3 blocks per game with his 20 minutes of playtime. This proved that he was very good in this respect. If converted to the 36 minutes of playtime of an average player, Gray might get four blocks per game. He was able to be blocked shot leader by just by getting three blocks at the beginning of the year. If he got four blocks in a game, he could enter the hall of fame.

Dai Li suddenly changed his tone, “You should not block for the sake of getting a block.”

Gray hesitated and then tentatively said, “I don’t do anything like that coach. I really don’t. I’m not trying to push up my stats.”

“I didn’t mean to say that you were deliberately trying to boost stats. I mean you always want to block the ball.” Dai Li paused and said, “Sometimes, you don’t need to block at all. You just need to interfere with your opponent’s throw to keep the ball from going into the basket. Then you can get the rebound. Wouldn’t that be easier?”

Without waiting for Gray to answer, Dai Li already lifted up his second finger. “We are now going to talk about defense. You have a major problem with guarding. You are too obsessed with guarding an opponent. You want to block off his path completely. You have the ability to do so, but it bears the risk of getting more fouls. In fact, many times you just need to interfere and put some pressure on your opponent to make him lose his rhythm. That’s enough. That would be considered successful defense.”

Dai Li changed his tone and then asked, “Do you think that, as a defender, you should guard against the ball or the player?”

“That...” Gray obviously hesitated.

In basketball, there were 10 players on both sides. TThe most important thing in this sport was the basketball itself. The goal of the attacker was to put the ball into the basket and the defender’s goal was to stop the ball from entering the basket. Simply put, the defender should guard against the ball.

In the development of basketball over the years, the answer had become less clear. The players on the field had different roles to play. They needed to cooperate and implement strategies. In the end, the game was still being played by people. In the NBA, guarding against the player was mainstream. Regardless of whether there was a ball in the opponent’s hand, the defender should guard against the attacker he was responsible for. Nowadays, even junior high school students knew they needed to guard against the people that were in front of them. The defenders should be guarding against the people instead of guarding the ball.

“Guard against the people,” Gray replied.

Dai Li smiled and said, “But you like to guard the ball.

“When I asked you this question, you hesitated a bit. Obviously, you also know about your bad habit.”

Gray nodded. Of course, he knew.

The coaches in the NBA were not useless. If Dai Li could realize this, other coaches would realize it too. They definitely used this to exploit Gray.

Dai Li became serious. “If you know, why not change?”

Gray lowered his head and was silent.

Dai Li was able to understand Gray.

Sometimes, being too talented might not be a good thing! Dai Li lamented in his head.

What made Gray stand out was his talent. He was tall and had a large wingspan, a strong body, exquisite technique, an amazing jump, and quick moves. He really was a genius that only appeared once every 30 years. This wasn’t something that people said without reason.

Gray’s habit when defending was that he would always rush towards the ball, instead of guarding against the players. This was because he was too talented.

For example, when an opponent rushed underneath the basket to attack, other defenders thought about how to interrupt their opponent. The first thing that came to mind was interfering with the opponent when they shot the ball. Gray thought about how to block the ball. Because of his height and wingspan, he was able to block the ball easily.

Blocking, when compared to interrupting a shot, required more technical movements, increasing the chances of committing a foul.

For example, when defending or filling in, other players tried to prevent their opponents from advancing, closing the space the attackers were able to maneuver in. If the defenders could force the opponent to pass the ball or force them to shoot, the defense was considered a success. However, Gray wanted to put maximum pressure on the attackers when defending. He was not afraid of confronting anyone because he was strong enough and fast enough. If his opponent was nimble, he was able to keep up.

The probability of getting fouls was greater when maximum pressure techniques were applied and the opponents had no room to maneuver. After all, the ball was in the attacker’s hands, and they were the ones who had the initiative. It was much easier for the attackers to make the defenders commit a foul than the other way around.

Gray was seven feet tall. When defensive tricks used by the players outside the three-point line were used by Gray, it was magnified. If done by someone shorter, the referee might not notice it. When done by Gray, the referee definitely saw it. He would then get a foul.

At the end of the day, Gray had a lot of fouls because he was too talented. Any other player inside the three-point line, a player who couldn’t jump, couldn’t block, and sometimes shouted to intimidate their opponents, just went underneath the basket and waited for a rebound.

Gray was not like this. He was able to touch the board just by jumping. Why wouldn’t he block his opponents?

Any other player with a big physique wouldn’t put all their effort into guarding the point guard. Point guards were fast and nimble, they wouldn’t be able to keep up. It was hard for players with big physiques to guard against those with small physiques. Guarding against a point guard was just asking for trouble! Being able to interfere with them for a while was considered good enough.

Gray was different. Although he had a big physique, he was as fast as a point guard. He was taller and stronger than them. Of course, he would want to pin them down!