After his parents took over the communication work with Tellem, Zhang Yang focused his mind on training.
No matter what, training plus talent was always the right choice.
On the 15th, Zhang Yang amassed 140,000 shooting points and increased his three-point shooting talent as well as the speed of his shooting action.
He immediately tried out the faster shooting... deliberately feeling it, and indeed, the speed was a beat or two quicker.
It wasn’t just the shooting speed that had increased; the time from his jump to the shooting movement had also sped up, without any discomfort. It was as if he had always been that fast, which saved him the trouble of having to adjust.
His shooting speed was originally not slow. With normal shooting pace, an increased speed by a beat or two would definitely make the shots harder to defend.
He recalled his back-down footwork, "A bit slower, a slower action to find more flaws in the opponent." The faster shooting motion seemed to contradict the rhythm of the back-down.
No, a leisurely back-down action followed by a swift release after seizing the opportunity would more likely catch the opponent by surprise—thinking about it was a bit exciting!
But this meant the difficulty of developing his back-down game had increased, not just for back-down moves but for any play style that combined fast and slow rhythm.
After adding 3 points to his three-point talent, he actively recalled that at the age of 10, he had not even formally started practicing threes. At that stage, he could shoot but it was best not to—his level was at a ’top’ three-point shooter for that era. But that was only a level 75 skill, it wasn’t his main focus, and temporarily he did not know what his original ceiling was.
But when it comes to ceilings, the higher the better. Adding three-point talent could also help improve the speed of his three-point training.
Whether he was going to the NBA or NCAA, Zhang Yang felt that shooting ability would be his most prominent feature when he first joined a team.
Going to the NBA, even if the team gave him playing time, at first it would only be as a spot-up shooter. He shouldn’t even dream about being the main ball-handler.
In the NCAA, the better the shooting, the more opportunities there would be. Take Adam Morrison for example.
In the time before the new season, he planned to accumulate more talents. A new task came: 60,000 shooting points for a random +1 physical attribute; 20,000 shooting points to get a basic foundation for defensive lateral movement.
To collect 80,000 shooting points, he estimated it would take between a month and a half to two months, and if his three-point improvement was quick enough, maybe it could be faster.
Next, he prepared to focus on shooting and practiced back-to-the-basket skills during breaks from shooting.
By April 23, Zhang Yang’s family, together with a lawyer specializing in athlete affairs, had met with Tellem several times and finally signed an agent contract.
When Tellem shook hands with Zhang Yang, he said, "When I learned that you were skipping 12th grade to enter college, I knew you wanted to be the most unique one, just like Kobe Bryant."
Zhang Yang was non-committal and asked, "What do I do next?"
Tellem said, "You don’t need to do anything right now, just train well. I’ll start the preparation work. I’ve signed another high schooler. I’ll introduce you guys later. He’ll be 17 years old just like you on the day of the draft."
Zhang Yang thought of a bowling talent and asked, "Andrew Bynum?"
Tellem said, "Oh, Jack, it seems you know a lot."
Zhang Yang pursed his lips: "Another ignorant high schooler you’ve tricked."
Tellem said, "Oh, Jack, I haven’t deceived you, and I can’t deceive you."
Zhang Yang said, "No, I hope you think you’ve deceived me."
Tellem laughed and didn’t say anything more, bidding farewell and leaving.
Zhang Chen and Yang Jing felt much more at ease seeing their son stay alert while talking to the cunning agent.
At first, they were worried that their son had been coaxed by Tellem into making his decision, but now it didn’t seem like it. At most, Tellem had just triggered an idea that initially seemed impossible in their son’s mind.
Over the past dozen days, they had learned a lot about high school draft affairs and found that this path was even more difficult than they had thought. Opting out of the NCAA with a smooth path directly to the NBA and choosing this route wasn’t just hard—it was like knowingly dancing on a blade.
But since their son had chosen this path, it was right to support him.
Their words about not caring how far Zhang Yang could go in his basketball career were sincere; they just worried about their son getting hurt.
However, over the past dozen days, they saw that their son was still training patiently every day as usual, unaffected by the situation... The child had grown up, and he wanted to fly, so they should let him go... uh...
Seeing their eldest son pick up his younger brother and shout "Tyrone," then lifting the little one’s feet and shouting "Swallow Style Flying Kick," followed by "Kamehameha," they placed the younger brother’s hands on his waist and shouted "Kamehameha," Zhang Chen and Yang Jing both fell silent...
In the following days, Zhang Yang continued to train and to forge his skills; during his free time in the day, he would study college majors.
Although he wasn’t going to play in the NCAA, he still had to attend college; not playing in the NCAA didn’t mean he couldn’t go to college.
These days, his parents also had things to do—moving house.
With an additional child at home, the residential space above the restaurant was a bit cramped. Although Zhang Yang might spend less and less time at home in the future, his parents still wanted to keep a room for him, so they were looking for a bigger house.
Originally the plan was to buy a house, but Zhang Yang stopped them, arguing that the housing bubble was too high and bound to burst.
Zhang Chen did some research and discovered that since entering 2005, there had been a sudden surge of foreclosed homes at auction and many listed properties were left without buyers. Wall Street was still madly increasing subprime security offerings... It felt like buying a house at that time might lead to trouble, so they chose to rent instead.