After rallying his teammates, Felton returned to his seat parched, and gulped down half a bottle of mineral water with a "thud thud thud."
Rondo hesitated for a moment before saying, "Boss, I don’t think your pep talk earlier did much."
Felton replied, "I know, Jack and Emeka are aware of that too."
Rondo thought he was the first to realize it. Surprised that everyone knew, he asked, "Then why bother saying it?"
Felton had never really thought about this question. Recalling conversations he had with his little brother, he said, "It’s not entirely useless. At the beginning of each phase, declaring a goal gives the entire team a clear direction to strive for, and the pressure and motivation that comes with it are important. Rajon, not everyone is as smart as you, knowing what to do. Without telling some teammates when the game is tomorrow afternoon, they might not even show up at the arena."
Rondo glanced around at his teammates, wondering if anyone could be that clueless... He hadn’t thought about it before, but now that he did, he realized a few of his teammates might just be at that level of cluelessness.
But Rondo still had a question: "Is our real goal to win every game?"
Felton: "That’s the ideal goal."
Rondo: "I don’t think it’s possible. In these eight games, we’ll face five playoff teams. The Pistons, the Toronto Raptors, and the Chicago Bulls are tough to play against. The Nets are fighting for a playoff spot and might explode like the Wizards and the Miami Heat did. Last month, the Nets were second only to us in the East, and the Bucks’ Reed is hard to deal with too... Only the Knight is a bit easier to play against..."
Felton: "I said that’s the ideal goal. The actual goal, of course, will be lowered. Jack, Emeka, and I have discussed that we aim to win at least six games to reach 55 victories, but we must give our best in every game."
Rondo nodded, no longer pressing the issue.
Having partnered for a season, Rondo’s view of Felton had gradually shifted from disdain to respect.
Initially, he thought Felton was just a puppet, but as the season wore on, he saw that it wasn’t so much that someone was using Felton, but rather relying on him to deal with the distractions, allowing them to focus on basketball and life. Felton was truly dedicated to protecting that person, shielding teammates, and bearing the team’s pressure.
Moreover, he could always feel Felton’s progress, whether in skill or in leading the team.
Like today, Felton was clearly guiding his teammates with his own thoughts and methods, not like earlier in the season when he had to consult the number two pick and the 13th pick shooting guard about everything.
He was starting to look more like a real leader!
The next day, April 3rd, it was the 75th game day of the regular season for the Bobcats.
Zhang Yang went to bed early the previous night and got up early today. After a half-hour of light training in the gym, he took a bath. Around 7:30 a.m., the nutritionist delivered breakfast.
During the All-Star weekend, he learned something new from one of the discipline freaks, the Silver Horned King - to eat only nutritionist-prepared meals on game day.
Having learned it, he had to apply it. It’s been a month and a half since the All-Star weekend, and he had gradually formed a habit.
But this breakfast... he just stuffed it into his mouth, chewed hard, drank water, and swallowed it.
Since becoming an athlete, he understood why most players gained weight after retiring, especially those who were very disciplined during their athletic career - they balloon up quickly after retirement.
It really tasted bad...
For those exceptionally disciplined players, gaining weight after retirement isn’t just due to reduced activity. The main reason lies in how strict they were with themselves during their playing days. After retirement, everything tastes delicious to them, they gorge on everything, and even Duncan’s neck thickened after retiring.
Of course, there are exceptions like Ray Allen and Hamilton, who pursue lifelong sports. They remain disciplined after retirement, are cautious with their diet, keep exercising, and maintain good shape.
There’s even Bibby, who was afraid to gain weight during his playing days to avoid affecting his speed, but after retiring, he bulked up like crazy and turned into a giant muscle freak.
After breakfast, Zhang Yang browsed the internet to digest his food.
The hottest event in North American sports was the March Madness finals tomorrow.
Not just basketball - almost all sports websites and forums were overwhelmed with news and posts related to the final between the University of Florida Gators and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
However, today’s matchup between the Bobcats and the Knight was also generating a lot of buzz.
Zhang Yang sensed Stern’s stubbornness.
Since the March Madness reached the Elite Eight about ten days ago, Stern had arranged many headline-grabbing games to compete for attention.
New Bad Boys Legion vs The Big Three, Bad Boys vs the new generation’s king, the third matchup, and today’s reserve goat vs the New Bad Boys Legion were all deliberately scheduled.
Beyond that, there were also recently arranged matchups like number 24 vs number 25, and Yao vs Shaq...
As for the ratings, they still couldn’t beat the NCAA, but Stern stubbornly wanted to compete, unwilling to lose momentum.
Zhang Yang opened the ESPN official website and saw multiple columns analyzing the Knight’s chances of winning and how to break free from the ’Bobcat phobia’.... He still favored ESPN’s uninhibited praise of the KING from last year.
It’s like they’ve made it seem that beating the Knight is a given, and if the Knight manages to win even once, it’s as if they’ve saved the world.
After all, they’ve been working hard to perfect their ’King-devouring tactic’ too!