No.1 in basketball scoring

Zhang Yang closely examined the other person's face, and it did look a bit like him! It must be that one—the traditionalist in basketball from over a decade later!

It wasn't surprising he hadn't recognized him as DeRozan before; DeRozan had a very nondescript appearance, the commonplace face among black people.

DeRozan, hearing the other's exclamation, wasn't surprised; it was normal for someone around his age to have heard of him, and in the field of basketball, he was very confident.

He corrected, "No, not the first in Southern California, but the first in California."

Zhang Yang upon hearing this: 彡(-_-;)彡

So you stop being socially awkward when rankings are mentioned, huh!

Snake-like players are really interesting.

Putting away his criticism, Zhang Yang said, "I didn't expect to run into you here. Didn't the news say you joined Compton High School?"

From 6th to 8th grade, DeRozan was very well-known among the middle school students in Southern California, especially Los Angeles County. Inglewood High School in Los Angeles and California High School, the two most athletically prestigious high schools in the Southern California region, both extended olive branches to DeRozan, yet he chose to stay at his hometown high school.

DeRozan also started opening up and responded, "My grandmother's house is in Hidden Mountain City, just off the park on the left turn beside that river. I come here every winter and summer vacation, Compton isn't safe."

Zhang Yang nodded, indicating he understood. He didn't know what Compton was like, but in the land of the free, most cities are not what you'd call safe.

He asked, "Do you come here to train every morning and evening? We could train together; it's nice to have company."

DeRozan shook his head, "I come here every evening, but not necessarily in the morning. Sometimes in the morning I have to help my uncle sort out the newspapers; he's a paperboy."

"..."

Great, not only is he socially awkward, but he's also great at conversing.

Zhang Yang could tell that this self-proclaimed number one in California was really making an effort to talk to him.

But he was trying too hard, not only did he give away his address, now he's even divulging his family's jobs. If they continued talking, this genius might just spill his social security number as well.

Zhang Yang didn't continue the conversation, afraid he might scare the other away, and went back to the middle of the court to continue practicing his breakthroughs and layups.

Just as Zhang Yang thought, DeRozan too breathed a sigh of relief after the chat ended.

But DeRozan also felt a tinge of disappointment; because of his personality, he had few friends and seldom chatted with others, apart from that one good friend, he rarely talked this much with anyone.

He moved to a nearby court, warming up while watching Zhang Yang train.

After watching for a while, he was somewhat surprised; compared to the start of the morning when he first began practicing his breakthroughs and layups, the stability of his dribbling and control of his speed had significantly improved.

But another issue thereby became more noticeable...

He couldn't restrain himself and approached him, saying, "Jack, there's something wrong with your layup technique."

Immediately after saying it, he regretted it. Might talking so straightforwardly about the other's mistake just after meeting offend him?

Then he heard the other ask, "I'm not very good at playing, can you teach me?"

He was receptive to advice and willing to ask questions. Although he was about to be a sophomore, which was slightly older than DeRozan who had just graduated from junior high, there is always something new to learn, and expertise to be attained. The master is the one who has achieved excellence, and without a doubt, DeRozan was significantly better at basketball than him, so he decisively asked for advice when needed.

DeRozan breathed a sigh of relief and felt a surge of fondness for his new friend. He organized his thoughts and said, "When you get inside, you rush to make your shooting move. With your jumping height, you could start the motion as you leap. You also hurry to release your shot after jumping, and with such a quick shot, it's hard for you to control the power, and you're not making use of your jumping ability..."

Zhang Yang had an epiphany after hearing this.

It was still an issue of 'habit'.

Now, his physical condition was far better than in his previous life, with much greater height and wingspan, and improved speed and jumping. He also felt his drive and layup were a bit awkward, always feeling as though he couldn't harness his strength, but he couldn't pinpoint the issue. Reading textbooks and watching videos hadn't helped... But with DeRozan's pointer, he immediately understood.

In his past life, he was only 5'9" with average speed and jumping ability. Back then, his approach to layups was to 'rush shoot'; he would start the shooting motion as soon as he broke through and had begun his jump shot by the time he took off, with the ball flying towards the hoop at the peak of his jump.

This was also related to the basketball environment back then, where during streetball, the defenders would all focus on the person with the ball. As soon as someone drove in, whether an opponent or teammate, everyone would collapse inside, and the driving player had to shoot quickly.

If he continued to train that way, it wouldn't be impossible, and he might become a 'rush shooter' expert.

But the biggest problem with this kind of shooting was that the shooting motion was incomplete, leading to low stability.

Being a rush shooter expert doesn't necessarily mean being unskilled. He remembered the 'Sports Car' from GDP, who primarily executed rush shots inside, and had an incredibly high shooting percentage from the inside during his youth. However, such examples were rare, with only the French Sports Car making a name for himself that way; most players who liked close-range rush shots had an inside shooting percentage similar to Alan Houston.

Zhang Yang decided to adjust the rhythm of his layups. He didn't want to gamble on whether he had the same rush shooting talent as the French Sports Car. If he wanted to play that way, he could develop the rush shot technique after mastering the conventional method. If he truly pursued a professional career, he would need to continuously enrich his offensive techniques...

Zhang Yang asked DeRozan to help him adjust his layup technique, and DeRozan did not refuse.

Men, after all, like to teach, to persuade prostitutes to reform, to coerce the virtuous into vice...

…

Under DeRozan's guidance, Zhang Yang adjusted his layup habits.

As this body was just beginning to play basketball, and although influenced by his previous basketball memories, the body had yet to develop muscle memory. He consciously controlled his movements, making adjustments not so difficult as long as he was patient.

If he waited until the body also developed habits, the difficulty would increase significantly, and "double the effort for half the result" wouldn't even begin to describe it.

At first, DeRozan had casually helped Zhang Yang, but to his surprise, Zhang Yang displayed incredible perseverance. He repetitively practiced the basic drive and layup maneuvers, persisting through the tediousness and boredom without a single complaint. He even celebrated the tiny, almost imperceptible improvements... This sincerity made DeRozan take things more seriously, and he started adding complexity to the training, introducing moves like the three-step layup and spin layup.

Zhang Yang had no complaints and instead practiced even more vigorously, inspiring DeRozan to teach with increasing enthusiasm.

One liked to teach, and the other was eager to learn; the two hit it off, and two hours flew by in no time.

As 8 PM approached, the two, still reluctant to end, had to finish their training for the day.

As they left the park, Zhang Yang thought of something and asked, "DeMar, does helping me train interfere with your training?"

DeRozan shook his head. "No worries. You don't have to worry about that. Helping you with the fundamentals is also a way for me to rebuild my own foundation. It's beneficial for me as well."

Zhang Yang saw some sense in that and didn't fuss, saying, "Continue tomorrow morning?"

DeRozan nodded. "See you tomorrow morning."