One Year Left to Play

Chapter 596: Chapter 183: Nothing Is Impossible (Part 2)

The mentality of the Lakers right now is rarely seen. They’ve reached 65 wins, but what the coaching staff is doing isn’t researching how to win the championship, but still trying to cultivate a "championship culture."

You could say the Lakers, from top to bottom, never imagined they could reach 65 wins.

The media environment for the Lakers is actually quite good. They’ve reached 65 wins, yet no media outlets have placed the "championship pressure" on them.

The media analyzes their shortcomings, treating them as just an ordinary playoff powerhouse, which, for a 65-win team, makes the media environment very relaxed.

So, although they feel the pressure is quite heavy themselves, as long as it remains within bearable limits, it isn’t considered too much,

Their pressure and their goal are consistent, a simple thing — not to be the "dark horse" team that gets upset.

The goal isn’t high, and the pressure isn’t too bad either. In the minds of the Lakers, the current goal and pressure are achievable and solvable, so Zhang Hao’s calmness easily rubs off on his teammates.

After a day of calm, focused, and targeted tactical preparations, at 6:40 PM, Zhang Hao and his teammates enter the arena together.

Today Zhang Hao is very satisfied with the state of his teammates. Although they almost let a 39-win team upset them in the first game, the pressure from the opponents made them become even more focused.

This is a good thing. Although they won the first game, because of the Kings’ performance in the first three quarters, Zhang Hao no longer sees the Kings as an opponent they can easily defeat... Huh?

As Zhang Hao and his teammates enter the arena, they see the Kings players come in amidst boos, and notice that the fire written on their faces at the beginning of the last game is gone! ƒrēewebnovel.com

The Kings’ initial burst of energy didn’t carry on, and it seemed like losing one game had completely deflated them.

The most obvious player, for Zhang Hao to directly feel the Kings’ collapse, is his fellow rookie, Teus Edney.

The opponents no longer had that look from the last game of wanting to hit back hard, it seemed like they lost their conviction.

And that was indeed the case.

It’s hard to empathize with others. When Edney sees Zhang Hao, he’s reminded of how he and his teammates gave their all in the last game, struggled hard against the Lakers for the first three quarters, seemed like they had a chance for an upset at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but this man in front of him exploded momentarily, making their efforts in vain. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

The burst from before the last game, and the active discussions are all gone...

A slight look of confusion appeared on Zhang Hao’s usually indifferent face.

The Magician had guessed that there was a 90% probability of this scenario with the Kings. From the moment they entered, he had been paying attention to Zhang Hao’s facial expressions, noticing that Zhang Hao was quite perceptive to the Kings’ change in morale.

The Magician came over to Zhang Hao, twisting his waist: "Aix, don’t be careless. It’s normal, but they might also play more freely, shoot better without the overwhelming desire to win. The ball is round; anything can happen. What we need to do is simple: don’t be careless, don’t underestimate the opponent..."

"Mr. Johnson, I won’t be careless. It’s just, where did their resilience and tenacity go?" Zhang Hao’s confusion dissipated, face returned to indifference, and he expressed his puzzlement.

Even though he understood Zhang Hao’s thoughts, the Magician felt that their rookie was slightly asking for it just a bit.

If the Magician knew Chinese, hearing Zhang Hao’s words translated might feel like Zhang Hao was asking — why don’t they eat minced meat?

However, Elvin Johnson, back in his rookie season when he won the FMVP, for a long time dealt with similar situations with the same mindset as Zhang Hao.

Back then, his team’s leader was Jabbar, a reclusive man who wouldn’t even entertain the idea of solving his doubts.

The Magician realized he had become quite used to being the spiritual leader and locker room leader now.

Hearing Zhang Hao’s confusion, the Magician answered: "Aix, not everyone wants to be the best like you do, not everyone has the talent to be the best, like you do.

Every player has their role; the longer they’ve played, the more they understand their positioning, knowing what role they should play in the world of basketball.

Richmond is very tenacious, and his team has always been tenacious, but he’s never had the chance to be the best. He’s just a superstar in Sacramento."

Hearing this description, Zhang Hao nodded, suddenly asked: "Mr. Johnson, what about you?"

"Me?" The Magician looked at Zhang Hao, revealing a warm smile: "I’m a big winner! I’m a champion!"

After answering, the Magician waited for Zhang Hao’s response, but the reply was something he couldn’t predict —

Zhang Hao suddenly turned the conversation: "The Kings players are very smart."

"?"

"Nothing is difficult if one chooses to give up. Thank you, Mr. Johnson, I understand now."

After speaking, Zhang Hao stepped onto the court, picked up a ball, and went for some shooting practice.

"???" Now it was the Magician’s turn to be confused.

What’s going on? How did our rookie become more confident as we talked? And this confidence, why does it sound so strange?

The Magician recalled and could not find any part of what he said that led to this kind of content!