Although he’d said he didn’t want to disrespect David Stern, Chen Yu turned right around and went to Portland. The day after the game, he helped the entire team with their physical conditioning.
’It’s my team, and they’re my players. Their conditioning is off, so why shouldn’t I help them?’
’If I don’t help my own guys, am I supposed to help the competition instead?’
’Besides, as for Stern’s ego... if he was going to be slighted, so be it.’
’If Chen Yu really decided to defy him, what could Stern do about it anyway?’
"Chen, should I be complimenting you on your impressive consulting business?" Hardaway said suddenly, lying on the treatment table.
He had never really taken the Pioneer seriously before, not even after they made it into the playoffs.
The media barely reported on them, so who would have paid them any mind?
But after the Pioneer pulled off an eighth-seed upset against the Spurs and then beat the Phoenix Suns again, Hardaway realized this unheralded young team was far tougher than he’d ever imagined.
He couldn’t figure out how the Pioneer had so quietly assembled so many talented players.
In Game 3, having learned their lesson from the previous game, the Phoenix Suns made a lineup adjustment.
They put Payton in as the primary ball-handler and moved Hardaway back to the shooting guard position.
Their poor perimeter defense in the last game had been a major reason for the loss.
After all, Payton was a nine-time All-Defensive First Team selection and a former DPOY—a top-tier perimeter defender.
The Phoenix Suns needed his defense to shut down Nash’s playmaking.
Before the game, Skiles even made a point of talking to Payton, hoping he would be more focused and on the same page as the rest of the team.
As it turned out, the adjustment was effective.
But it was a classic case of whack-a-mole. While Nash was limited to just 17 points and 9 assists with 5 turnovers for the game, no one expected Randolph—that hot-and-cold kid—to explode.
Coming off the bench, he wreaked havoc in the paint. In twenty-one minutes of playing time, he went 8-for-11 from the field, and with his free throws, he exploded for 19 points!
Neither Chandler nor Brown could stop him.
Chen Yu patted Hardaway, motioning for him to roll over onto his stomach. He then began to work on easing the tension in his back muscles. "You’re not the first one to say that," he said.
After the quip, Chen Yu sighed. "Yesterday’s loss wasn’t undeserved."
In yesterday’s game, the Phoenix Suns changed their lineup, and the Pioneer changed theirs too, starting O’Ku over Randolph.
It was a brilliant move, and Chen Yu had no idea who came up with it.
Chen Yu had spent a fair amount of time with the Pioneer, so he was quite familiar with Rivers and D’Antoni.
D’Antoni was skilled at coaching tactical systems, but he was rather inflexible and lacked extensive experience.
He was really better suited to be an assistant coach.
’And as for Rivers?’
’In my mind, he’s more of a players’ coach.’
’A coach like that can still make it in the NBA. After all, if your tactics aren’t great, that’s what your team of assistant coaches is for.’
’But that doesn’t mean he’s a bad coach; he’s still got some skill.’
’In fact, he’s a great fit for a blue-collar team with no superstars, or at least with stars who are well-behaved and don’t cause trouble. He can maintain complete control, make any adjustments he wants, and every now and then, he’ll have a flash of inspiration and come up with a great idea.’
Take this adjustment, for example. Chen Yu wasn’t surprised that he’d benched Randolph; the kid had a solid offensive game, but his defense was terrible. He couldn’t body up players in the paint, and his help defense was always a step slow.
But Chen Yu had thought that if an adjustment was made, they would bring in Salemport.
As a pure defensive specialist, he was the more obvious choice.
But who would’ve thought that Rivers would use O’Ku?
In reality, O’Ku’s post defense wasn’t bad; he could guard most of the big men in the league.
And on top of his decent defense, he also had the ability to stretch the floor and hit outside shots.
In this game, O’Ku didn’t take many shots, but he was highly efficient. All of his attempts were from the outside, including a three-pointer, and he scored 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting.
Such efficiency could only mean one thing: the Phoenix Suns’ defense against him was flawed.
Moreover, when he drew his defender out, it opened up space in the paint. Both Nash and Hughes were constantly driving to the basket, then kicking the ball back out to the high post for O’Ku and Milicic, the two big towers, to take the shot.
In other words, bringing in O’Ku both strengthened their offense and made better use of their spacing.
The core of the Pioneer’s—or rather, D’Antoni’s—tactical system was all about creating and exploiting space.
Of course, the continued strong performance of the Pioneer’s bench was still a major reason why they won.
Lying on his stomach, Hardaway sighed and asked, "Chen, what do you think we should do?"
Chen Yu shrugged. "Don’t ask me. You should go ask Scott."
He’s the head coach. It’s his job to worry about it.
All Chen Yu could do was ignore Stern’s displeasure and get his own players into peak condition.
Sure enough, Stern sent a message to Chen Yu through one of the referees.
"Chen, that’s more or less the gist of it. I’m sure you understand," Scott Foster said, a look of resignation on his face.
The general message was that while it was fine for Chen Yu to help get the Phoenix Suns into shape, the league didn’t want to see a return to the days of teams running their starters into the ground.
Chen Yu clapped him on the shoulder. "Why don’t you go have a chat with Scott?"
With that, he turned and walked toward the luxury boxes on the top level.
Just having Foster deliver the message wasn’t enough; Stern had come to Portland in person.
You could only say he was taking this a bit too seriously.
His excuse was legitimate enough, though. Chen Yu had previously said he would go to New York to have a proper talk with him.
So Stern had said there was no need to go to New York; he would come to Chen Yu himself.
Inside the luxury box, besides Stern, there was a middle-aged white man with a receding hairline.
Upon seeing Chen Yu, he proactively stood up to shake his hand and greet him.
David Kahn.
He was from the Southwest Basketball Company.
Chen Yu nodded slightly. The name seemed vaguely familiar.
He sat down next to Stern.
Stern didn’t mention anything about Chen Yu’s work on the Phoenix Suns players’ conditioning.
He had already said what he needed to say, and Chen Yu had already done what he was going to do. What else could he do? He wasn’t about to have a falling out with Chen Yu over such a trivial matter.
"Chen, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the situation in China," Stern began. "On the soccer front, it looks like your method was the right one. So why aren’t you sticking with it for basketball?"
In the sixth round of the Chinese Super League, Batty made his debut, and sixty thousand people packed the Tianhe Sports Center.
Then, in the seventh round, it was the same story.
Except this time, it was the sixty-thousand-seat stadium of their opponent, Shen Hua, that was filled to capacity.
The people of Guang City aren’t short on cash, and the people of Shanghai are even less so.
Rumor had it that the best seats, near the VIP box, were being scalped for as much as five thousand for a single ticket.
And the original price was only 320!
It was also the first time a Chinese Super League match had a fan rush the field, leading to a scene of security guards chasing him all over the place.
It just goes to show that Batty has an incredible number of fans in China.
It also proved that the "star player economy" model was a viable path.
But when it came to preparing for the Pioneer Basketball Team, Chen Yu proposed a completely different approach.
Instead of signing soon-to-be-retired NBA stars who were out of a contract, he was choosing to select players from the Development Alliance.
In 2001, the NBA established a minor league.
It consisted of eight teams, concentrated in the southeastern United States. With the exception of one privately owned team, the rest were all affiliated with NBA teams.
This league was called the National Basketball Development League, or NBDL.
Many undrafted players, or young players who couldn’t find a spot on a roster, would be sent down to this minor league to develop their skills.
Stern’s intention was to create a reserve talent pool, but in practice, the results were limited.
In the four seasons since its inception, only one of its season MVPs, Devin Brown, had been picked up by the Spurs and successfully returned to the NBA—to say nothing of the other, more ordinary players.
For players who weren’t drafted into the NBA from the start, trying to work their way up from the Development Alliance was nothing short of a pipe dream.
But Chen Yu had his eye on this group of players.
There was no other reason than the fact that their skill level was more than enough for the current CBA.
And on top of that, they were cheap. A salary of twenty to thirty thousand US dollars was an absolute bargain.

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