Chapter 42: Seize the time
At this time, in an apartment in Los Angeles, Dazhi was staring at the TV in a daze.

This season he finally signed with the Clippers, a three-year, $6 million contract. Not only did he make money, he also thought he could get more playing time with the Clippers, or even a starting position.

The reason why he felt he could get more opportunities with the Clippers was because the Clippers’ center, Michael Olowokandi, was a bust No. 1 pick.

But he did not expect that in addition to this bust No. 1 pick, the Clippers also had a large group of capable players in the interior.

No. 1 pick Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Cherokee Parks, Melvin Eli, Sean Lukes, Wilcox and more.

He is not trusted by the coaching staff. Not only does he have no ball to play, but it is a luxury for him to be included in the 12-man roster. He has been on the injury list for a long time and has even been thrown to a lower-level team.

After He Zhongqiu appeared, he immediately learned the news and had been paying attention to it. Tonight's game made him very distressed.

He could see that He Zhongqiu had a stronger physique than him, but he could also see that He Zhongqiu was just a layman in many aspects of basketball, a pure amateur.

But such a layman got the opportunity in the Knicks, was reused, and even got the starting position.

And he is the best center in the country. Before he left the CBA, even Yao Min was surpassed by him. When he was a big shot in the CBA, He Zhongqiu was nowhere to be found. Now these two are doing well in the NBA, but he doesn't even have a chance to make the roster.

It was this strong contrast that made him so painful and confused.

He Zhongqiu was sent to the NBA by Xia Song. He regretted not renewing his contract with Xia Song. Now only Chen Weimin helps him manage his affairs and acts as his agent. He doesn't even have a proper agent.

"Well, wait a little longer, maybe there will be a chance."

In pain and confusion, he could only do this. He had no other way and could not come up with any other ideas.

This is also the weakness of his character that he is not aware of. He is weak, indecisive, unsteady, and unable to judge the situation and make the most favorable decision for himself based on the situation.

If it were He Zhongqiu and Dayao, they would definitely take the initiative to contact Xia Song at this time and get the agent first. With an agent, they would have someone to discuss problems with, and they could also get the agent's network channels, at least the agent is professional.

The Chen Weimin he trusted was just a translator who had no ability or connections to solve the current dilemma, but he believed in this man wholeheartedly and had no intention of making any changes.

……

At this time, it was two o'clock in the afternoon on the 18th in Yanjing. Xia Song was treating everyone in a nice restaurant. He had just had lunch with Wu Jing and drank some wine, and was drinking tea to sober up.

"This Zhongqiu guy has really made it big."

Wu Jing turned the steaming glass in his hand and said with some regret.

Xia Song nodded, then shook his head and said, "Not yet. He is seriously lacking in basketball skills and tactical knowledge, and these are still at an amateur level. If he can't improve, it will be very dangerous and he will be abandoned by the team sooner or later.

My future work focus will shift to the United States. When I’m done here, I’ll have to rush back to keep an eye on him and help him improve as quickly as possible, at least to a professional level.”

Wu Jing smiled and said, "He is quite smart and learns things very quickly. These are not difficult for him."

Xia Song nodded with a smile and said, "That's right. I have to thank you for your recommendation. Otherwise, how could I find such a talented guy?"

"Then this meal is not enough." Wu Jing said immediately.

"From now on, I'll treat you all when we eat out," Xia Song said immediately.

"That's fine, haha!" Wu Jing said with a smile.

"How are you now? It seems like you didn't stay in Hengdian for long this time?" Xia Song asked.

"It was just a supporting role, and it was filmed in ten days."

Speaking of this, Wu Jing said somewhat sadly: "The situation in the mainland has changed in recent years. There are fewer kung fu films and costume martial arts films, but more idol dramas. After a few princess dramas became popular, we in the mainland are no longer willing to make kung fu action films.

Actually, it was like this when Zhongqiu entered this industry. He didn’t shoot many action movies or Kung Fu dramas with roles. He didn’t catch the right time. Otherwise, with his Kung Fu, he would have been famous a long time ago.”

"So what are you going to do?" Xia Song asked.

Wu Jing said: "I am very confused now. For any action scenes, the director didn't ask for anything. I wanted to do it seriously, but he didn't allow me to do it, so I just fooled around.

For example, in one scene, I had to fall on a stool. I wanted to do it for real, so I asked the props to pull out the nails on the stool and then I would really fall. But guess what the prop master said? He said it was just a stool prop, and if I fell it would be gone. No matter what he said, he wouldn’t let me fall, so he just let me fall to the ground.”

Xia Song wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, so he said quickly, "How about we try over in Xiangjiang?"

Wu Jing smiled bitterly and said, "I have thought about it, but they have always discriminated against us mainland actors. I will talk about it when there is really no other way. I am not considering it now."

“That’s a hard job!”

Xia Song sighed, "I am also worried about how to deal with the problem between Zhongqiu and the basketball management."

……

"Wellington, explain basketball tactics to me."

It was half past ten when they got on the bus. He Zhongqiu asked Philip to teach him tactics. It would take an hour to drive back to the training base, so they couldn't waste time.

"Where's your playbook?" Philip asked.

"At home."

Apart from picture books, He Zhongqiu doesn’t like reading books, especially martial arts novels. Otherwise, why would he drop out of school again and again?
Philip quickly found the coaching staff, asked for a tactical manual, and began to explain the tactics.

Although he is not a coach, he is still able to read from the script. He also played basketball in college and has no problem with various basic tactics and rules.

"Tactics are divided into two types: offensive and defensive."

"Offensive tactics are first divided into three levels: individual offensive tactics, basic offensive coordination, and overall offensive tactics of the team."

"Zhongqiu, you don't know much about tactics now. Your offense in the past two games was almost all personal offensive tactics. This kind of tactic is very restrictive. Usually only core players and stars are qualified to use this tactic, and the proportion is not very large."

"Let's first talk about the team's offensive tactics. There are three types: the first is fast break, the second is transitional offensive tactics, and the third is positional warfare."

"When the offense and defense are changing, you can play a fast break. At this time, the defense has just switched from offense to defense and has not yet established a defensive formation. This is the best opportunity for a fast break."

"If the fast break fails, we have to switch to positional warfare. The few seconds before switching to positional warfare is the transitional offense."

"So these three offensive tactics are actually three different stages of an offense."

……

"You have received a systematic study of NBA tactics theory. Your offensive tactics proficiency increased by +3500, and your level increased by 1, now to level 29. Your defensive tactics proficiency increased by +3200, and your level increased by 1, now to level 36."

Nearing twelve o'clock, the bus arrived at the training base and He Zhongqiu also received a reward.

On the way home, he said, "From now on, use the time on the bus to learn tactics, and you can also use the time in the locker room when you have nothing to do to learn tactics. Wellington, take the tactical manual with you."

"OK."

Philip smiled and said, "Zhongqiu, you'd better memorize this manual. There are only a few dozen tactics. As long as you memorize it and then train with the team for a period of time, after you have mastered the tactical positioning, your tactics will be fine."

He Zhongqiu took a look at the manual and found it okay, only about a hundred pages long, half of which were tactical illustrations, which was not a lot.

He has the system in his hands, so he doesn't need to memorize it by rote. As long as he understands it, his level will be improved. Otherwise, even if he remembers it but doesn't understand it, there will be no reward.

But practical operation is very important. Theoretical learning is only useful at a low level. In the end, it is still necessary to rely on practical operation to truly improve the tactical level.

Philip said: "NBA tactics are not many, but football tactics are terrifying. The tactical manual has hundreds of pages, and there are thousands of tactics for all positions combined."

"WC, I heard that our Chinese Art of War only has thirteen chapters and a few thousand words. Are football tactics more powerful than the Art of War?" He Zhongqiu said in surprise.

……

(End of this chapter)