During this time, Zhang Zifeng's performance was not outstanding, but it was definitely not bad.

In addition to averaging 19 points per game, he also contributed 6.7 assists and occasionally made 1.7 steals.

Although it was a little worse than the crazy performance at the beginning of the season, this consistent form has also been recognized by experts and fans.

Countdown to Ray Brown? - USA Today sports column.

At the start of the new season, when Embiid was reimbursed for the season, we began to wonder if the 76ers in the new season will continue to chase next year's No. 1 pick.

But after Butch selected the Chinese Zhang Zifeng, Zhang Zifeng's excellent performance at the beginning made us think that we could have an exciting season, and we began to look forward to it and began to become a little excited.

But as the season progressed, problems for the team followed.

The team was poorly organized, and it was necessary to move a rookie scoring guard, Zhang Zifeng, to point guard to organize the offense.

The team lacked a good power forward, and Holmes and Covington did well, but they proved to be just a good role player off the bench.

The most serious thing is the confusion of the team system, which has changed six starting lineups since the start of the season, and it has not been finally fixed yet.

Brown, the team's head coach who caused all this, is to blame.

In addition to not being able to fit the team and build a mature and effective team system, his on-the-spot command ability is also very poor.

When the 76ers habitually collapsed in the third or fourth quarter, Brown couldn't come up with an effective way to save the team.

If the team wants to return to the playoffs, the 76ers are advised to change a head coach.

The release of this column was immediately reprinted by various local media in the United States, and 76ers fans also talked about changing the head coach.

Ray Brown has also read this column, and at the moment he is in the office and is deep in thought.

The economy was sluggish these years, and there were only 30 teams in the NBA, but there were hundreds of coaches, and there was a lot of competition.

The assistant coach he hired, Mike D'Antoni, was the one who took the head coach, and after being fired by the Lakers, he couldn't find a job, and finally had to come to the 76ers as an assistant.

I'm not as qualified as Mike D'Antoni!

If fired by the 76ers, Reiter Brown doesn't know how many years he'll have to wait before he can find another job as a head coach.

Ray Brown wants to keep this job, in addition to getting a high salary, and he also wants to prove himself.

As long as you can prove your strength, even if you can't continue with the 76ers, you can find a coaching job on other teams.

But you need to stay in the team, continue to be the manager, and only if you continue to be the manager will you have a chance to prove yourself.

Sitting for too long, Brown felt a little tired, he walked to the window when he stood up, and saw Zhang Zifeng who was still training hard in the training gym.

Brown thought for a moment, "Maybe I should talk to Jack?" ”

Since being moved to the point guard position by the head coach, Zhang Zifeng has found that his style of play needs to make a big change. In the past, at Duke University, although I needed to attack with the ball, I also created open space through running many times, waiting for teammates to pass and shoot goals.

But with the 76ers, teammates are still waiting for their passes!

Therefore, Zhang Zifeng found that his previous elegant running position is not very useful now, and he needs to strengthen his emergency stop jump shooting ability.

One big difference between the NBA and NC+ is that NBA teams hire a lot of trainers.

As the core of the team, when Zhang Zifeng wants to train and improve his skills, the team is willing to spend money to help Zhang Zifeng find a suitable trainer.

Some of these trainers are college reserve players, and they will come out to work in their free time to earn money. Or those who lost the NBA and couldn't find a club player to work as a professional trainer to earn money to support their families.

Under the confrontation drill of the trainer, Zhang Zifeng has been strengthening his hit rate in this area during this time.

After a hard day's training, Zhang Zifeng said goodbye to trainer Mark and was about to leave the stadium when he was stopped by Ray Brown. "Jack, do you have time, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Hearing the head coach stop him, Zhang Zifeng stopped, walked over and said, "Coach, what's the matter?" ”

"Let's go, go to my office and say!" Brown said after guiding Zhang Zifeng to his office, giving him a bottle of sports drink. 'I want to ask you a little bit about the team, and you know that the team has had a lot of ups and downs during this period, which is not conducive to our results.

Zhang Zifeng was stunned for a moment and said, "Coach, I don't understand much about this team!" ”

Brown said nonchalantly, "Jack, you're the heart of the team. You should be able to appreciate what the team is lacking in at the moment. Say what you think, not just for the team, it's for you. When the team's results go up, your performance can be affirmed by more people, and the fans will like you more! ”

Zhang Zifeng pondered for a while and said, "Coach, I think we need a good playmaker. I'm not saying I'm not up to the task, I just don't think it's good for the team's offense. ”

While USA Today reported on the team's playback lineback, Brown didn't think much about the backline in his plan.

In his opinion, Zhang Zifeng did a good job at point guard and didn't think too much about guard.

But now that he heard Zhang Zifeng say this, Leyter Brown has to think about the point guard.

"Aside from the point guard, what do you think the team needs to improve?" Brown continued.

Zhang Zifeng thought about it seriously and said, "I think the big forward in the team is a shortcoming, Holmes defends well, but his offense is too bad." Covington has a good offense, but he doesn't defend well and his ability to grab rebounds is terrible. What we need is a power forward who can grab rebounds, defend and, preferably, shoot a hand! ”

"That's a good point, but what about the rest!" Brown nodded earnestly.

"Our system is very chaotic and we don't have the right configuration to play small-ball. With the exception of Stauskas, everyone else's shots were inconsistent, and if they didn't feel good, ours would have completely collapsed. I think what we're going to do in the coming season is to be defensive, to build a solid defence. Use defense to drive the offense! I believe this will give us a chance to challenge for a playoff spot! ”

"Jack, you're right, God knows why I was so stupid to play small-ball. Jack, you're going to be a great coach when you retire! Brown complimented.

"Maybe, but now I think I should try to play well!" Zhang Zifeng said with a smile.

"Jack, I'll take your opinion seriously. However, Jack, you should also pay more attention to your training, people's physical capacity is limited, don't overtrain, it will affect your career! Brown admonished.

"Thank you for your concern, Coach Brown!"

……

As he drove back to the residence, Zhang Zifeng made a phone call to Zheng Xinguo and said, "Coach Brown came to me today, and he consulted me about the team. ”

The other end of the line said, "Well, Brown is a smart guy and should know how to do it!" Jack, you don't have to worry about the rest, you just need to keep playing well! ”