At the beginning, Grover and Xu Yong said that they wanted to accompany their families, but they actually wanted to see if Xu Yong was worth cooperating.

Now that he has taken the initiative to come to Tempe, it shows that he has made up his mind in his heart.

However, after the two actually met, Grover said that he would put Xu Yong to a two-day test, and he would only decide to go out of the mountain if Xu Yong passed the test.

You are the trainer, the grandfather, you have the final say.

Xu Yongyi should cooperate.

And this so-called test is actually training.

Practice three times a day for 90 minutes each time, the earliest before breakfast, then at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m.

In terms of time, it is relatively close to Xu Yong's previous ones, and 30 of the 90 minutes are shooting training, and the remaining hour is very intense.

Even during training, Grover still has a medical kit next to him, and when the training is over, he will come over to test Xu Yong's heart rate and other physical indicators.

If it's okay, then the next training session, the intensity of this training will continue to increase.

This is a very special way of training, even if Xu Yong is a reborn, he has never experienced it.

The intensity of his training continued to increase, and by the second night, he felt that his strength had reached the limit of his body.

When the training was over, he gasped and propped his hands on his knees.

He felt that Grover was not a trainer, and that it would definitely be good to be a prison guard.

"Don't do that, the weight of your upper body will press on your knees, it will hurt your knee joints too much, and your arms will be clamped inward, which will compress your lungs and make it more difficult for you to breathe." Grover said as he walked towards him.

Xu Yong straightened up when he heard this, he didn't care if it would hurt his knee joint, but he felt what Grover said about the difficulty of breathing.

With such a small detail, this guy is really not comparable to the average trainer.

"If you're really tired, hold on to the lower edge of your gym shorts with both hands as you bend down, so you can rest and not block your breathing." Grover then demonstrated.

Xu Yong nodded, although he knew that what Grover said should be right, but this action was too small, and he still had difficulty breathing.

"So you've decided to be my personal trainer?" Xu Yong opened his mouth and asked, if not, there was no need for the other party to talk nonsense.

Grover smiled and nodded, then put away his smile and sighed, "You're the best of all the players I've tested." ”

Xu Yong smiled, this Grover is weird and nice to say.

"I'm not a compliment, I never try to please my clients, I'm telling the truth." After seeing Xu Yong's reaction, Grover said seriously.

His sentence is full of gold, you must know that the people he has worked with, from Jordan to Hill, to Kobe, Maddy, Wade, each of them is a supergiant.

"So I'm going to ask you with a level of intensity that I've never had before, that you have a chance to be a better basketball player than anyone else." Grover continued.

Xu Yong also put away his smile and nodded.

Whether this was Grover's words, or if it was true, he was ready to keep himself stronger.

Because Xu Yong had just finished training, Grover motioned for the two to sit on the bench on the sidelines and chat.

When Kobe Bryant teaches puppy footwork, it is more of an experience, but trainers are different, they will have their own set of theoretical foundations.

Grover is no exception, but his theories are very different from others.

Because in his theory, he will first distinguish athletes according to certain types, from low to high: passive, master, and ruler.

Grover doesn't define them precisely, but he gives some examples to make a distinction.

For example, a passive can play a good game from time to time, a controller can perform well throughout the season, and a ruler has a career that is always at the top.

For example, the passive person relies on others to evaluate their success, the controller believes that completing the task itself is the best reward for the effort, and the ruler is never satisfied and thinks that he can do better.

"That's what I'm putting you to the test, to see if you have the potential to be a master, or even a ruler." Grover continued.

Judging by the results, Xu Yong clearly has that potential.

After talking about the theory, it is time for the concrete practical training.

Grover will develop a strict training plan for Xu Yong.

The intensity of the training plan is the kind of Xu Yong's training limit before, because Grover's training goal is to help people break the physical limit.

As for the specific training content, he is not talking about training the strength of the lower or upper limbs in general, but will be precise to the muscle groups.

For example, the triceps calf, which is closely related to breakthroughs, and the biceps, which are closely connected to shooting.

He believes that only by strengthening these muscle groups can he perform more easily and efficiently in the game.

Of course, Xu Yong will also have doubts, such as the biceps, which is specially designed for this training to affect the shooting feel.

But Grover's explanation is that the feel can be maintained with other balance exercises, and the explosive training of the biceps not only makes it easier to shoot, but also greatly improves the finishing ability.

Even the shooting training is different from others.

Generally speaking, the trainer will simulate the passing style of a teammate to pass the ball to the client, so that the client can perfectly integrate with the team's training.

But this is not the case with Grover, who is very difficult to catch the balls he passes, and even needs the client to move to catch the ball.

His reasoning is simple, you can't get too many comfortable passes in a real game, more often than not, they are disrupted or destroyed.

It's only by getting used to this in training that you can play as you want in the game.

These were all new and somewhat shocking to Xu Yong, but he knew that they would definitely work for him.

Finally, regarding the weight gain plan, Grover said that Xu Yong did not need to worry, because he would not only arrange Xu Yong's training, but also have a strict diet plan.

Weight gain is part of the plan, but it's going to be gradual and continuous throughout the season, rather than bursting.

Xu Yong: It's up to you, let's sign the contract quickly!

The two finally signed a contract of 3 years and 2 million.

Generally speaking, the price of top trainers in this era is only 450,000 a year, and Grover's price is half more expensive than them.

But people are worth the price, not only in terms of ability, but also in terms of ability, and the average trainer will have several customers, but Grover is one-on-one, and the mobile phone is turned on 24 hours a day, and he is on call.

So the money is definitely worth it.

……

Time flies, it's mid-September in a blink of an eye, and the training camps of each team are about to start one after another, and several people in Tempe are also preparing to start their new seasons separately.

When Xu Yong returned to Chicago, Yao Ming had already arrived, and he had found a house in the suburbs.

Then, he couldn't help but complain to Xu Yong.

"I thought Houston was congested enough, but after living here for a few days, I realized that I was still young."

Xu Yong couldn't help laughing when he heard it, otherwise why do you think I would choose the city center?

Los Angeles is congested, and Kobe Bryant uses helicopters as a means of transportation in order to train in a hurry, but Chicago is the most congested city in the United States.

The two met to catch up, and Xu Yong became a guide and took Yao Ming for a walk around Chicago.

After two days, the two of them went early on the day the team's training camp officially began.

By the time they arrived, there were already people training inside.

Go in and take a look, who else is it not Ross who is throwing three points crazily?

"Derek, you've just thrown a summer here?" After looking at Rose's hit rate for a while, Xu Yong couldn't help but speak.

Rose's three-point practice is enough, not to mention anything else, it must be more accurate than in the same period.

Rose smiled and put down the ball in his hand, asked the trainer to wait for him, and then came over to say hello to Xu Yong and Yao Ming.

He didn't talk much, but he could feel that he was excited.

But everyone is excited about this change, last season was a playoff-level team, this season directly contended for the championship, full of energy.

After a while, other team members came one after another.

Artest was the first to arrive besides them, and seeing Yao Ming was like seeing him as a brother, holding Yao Ming and laughing there.

At this time, Artest has not won the championship, and his arrival so early shows that he is also extremely eager for the new season.

After Artest, the next one to come was "Big Shark" O'Neill.

O'Neill first had a bear hug with Yao Ming, and then smiled and bumped fists with Xu Yong.

It's different from when Xu Yong met him on the court last season, and O'Neal's smile was heartfelt.

For him at this stage of his career, happiness is already the first priority, as for whether he minds playing as a substitute? He's not Aaron Iverson.

While we were talking, the team's Allen came, Tony Allen.

Aaron seems to be much more low-key and humble, and he looks more like Rose.

However, with James Johnson in front, Xu Yong knows that this kind of person generally does not talk much.

Then there's O'Neal, who is big, but also introverted.

At this time, the three big men were standing together, and these three people were on the same team, which was really a picture that I couldn't imagine before.

In less than an hour, the Bulls all arrived one after another, in addition to those with official contracts, there were some veterans who came to hug their thighs, as well as some young players and undrafted players.

Basically, Xu Yong can already see the team's 15-man squad for the new season.

Point guards: Rose, Hinrich, Ralph Alston

Quarterbacks: Tony Allen, Kyle Korver, Bill Walker

Junior Front: Xu Yong, James Johnson, Jerry Starkerhouse

Omae: Artest, O'Neal Jr., Ty Gibson

Center forwards: Yao Ming, O'Neal, Asik

What stands out in this lineup is that one is strong.

Of course, there are quite a few problems they may face.

For example, in the rotation of the interior line, there are at most two inside substitutes in a game, but this has three players who need playing time.

Last season, Kwame Brown's form was based on playing time, and if there was no playing time, it didn't matter whether O'Neal was big or O'Neal Jr., he could only be reduced to a mascot on the bench in the end.

Another example is the tactical issue, whether to really play one big and four small, or let O'Neal Jr. play the starting No. 4 position.

And Tony Allen is completely incapable of projection, and how to fight positional battles is also a big problem.

No matter how good you defend, you can't have a counter-attack every round, and Thibodeau is not a coach who is known for his offense.

The team members were still getting acquainted, and after a while, Xibodu was late.

Xu Yong was stunned for a moment when he saw it.

It's not because of Thibodeau, it's the one closest to Thibodeau among the teaching assistants who followed him.

Isn't that Mike Malone?

Malone is not a small person, although he is not well-known in the NBA, he became a coach in college as soon as he graduated, and he has been an official assistant coach in the NBA for seven years.

Previously, he was an assistant coach with the Cavaliers.

But if you look at it this way, it makes sense, James is gone, Brown is unemployed, and Malone must find another way.

Now it seems that his business ability is indeed good, and he directly asked Thibodeau to be the chief assistant coach.

With Malone, the Bulls should have fewer problems.

On the first day of training, Thibodeau did not arrange tactical things, but asked the players to do some regular training to find their form.

And he, like his former boss, Jeff Van Gundy, holds a small notebook in his hand, observes the team and records what they do.

Marlon was talking to him from time to time.

After the day's training, the players went back to rest one after another.

Xu Yong's words will be practiced at ten o'clock in the evening.

When he pulled over the car, he noticed that Rose had also arrived.

Rose is really out of the box for the new season.

The two chatted as they got into the elevator, and then went to the locker room together to change their training clothes and go to the training gym.

Training is a very boring thing, and it can be a lot more fun to have your teammates as you.

They laughed and pushed open the door to the training gym.

It was unusually quiet in the training hall at this time, but when they pushed the door in, they saw a person sitting on the sidelines busy with something, and they didn't notice them.

The bare forehead, reflecting the light like a mirror, is clearly Thibodeau.

The two made eye contact for a moment, then walked over.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Thibodeau looked up.

"You're here to practice?" Seeing the outfits of the two, Thibodeau asked.

The two nodded one after another.

"You're busy with you, I won't bother you." Thibodeau said with a smile.

He looked so gentle.

"Coach, why are you still busy so late?" Xu Yong couldn't help but poke his head curiously.

Rose also leaned over like a curious baby.

"I wanted to cut some demolition materials, but the wires in the office were short-circuited, so I moved here." Thibodeau said and went back to work.

Seeing this, Ross and Xu Yong didn't ask any more questions, but went to train on their own.

More than an hour later, the two finished their training, and Thibodeau's side was almost over, cleaning up the computer.

When the two of them saw it, they went over and helped.

After helping to move the computer back to the office, Thibodeau smiled and asked, "Have you had dinner?" If you don't eat it, I'll invite you to eat it. ”

Dinner?

Xu Yong and Rose were all stunned when they heard this.

Co-authored Thibodeau, I've been cutting materials here since the end of the afternoon training session?!

Even Xu Yong was a little shocked when he realized this.

Thibodeau: This is simply a social animal within a social animal.

And he suddenly remembered that Thibodeau was two out of fifty, and he was not even married, which was really devoted to work.

It's hard not to be in awe of such a manager!

(End of chapter)