Y13 [EN]: Chapter 172

Y13-172 2011 Off-Season

An office in the Dallas team’s training facility.

Youngjae knocked on the door of the office next to the training room. Hearing a voice from inside telling him to come in, he opened the door and entered.

“Trainer Smith. Good morning.”

“Oh, Yoon. What brings you all the way up here? I don’t think you’ve ever come up here before. I see you often in the training room, though.”

Casey Smith, who had been examining numerous papers and his computer at his desk, stood up and greeted Youngjae warmly. He looked at Youngjae, who had come to his office, with surprise.

Casey Smith. The head athletic trainer for Dallas and also the head trainer for the U.S. national team. He was in charge of all physical training, management, and rehabilitation for the Dallas Mavericks. He was also one of the top sports medicine experts in the country. Thanks to him, Dallas had successfully rehabilitated many players and was one of the teams with the fewest injuries. Because of this, Dallas, along with Phoenix, were the two pillars of the rehabilitation factory [teams known for their excellent player recovery programs].

“Actually, it’s about the off-season training plan. I came to talk about that.”

“Hmm. I was keeping that in mind. I was going to contact you in a few more days. I might not be able to contact you after July 1st. I didn’t think a rookie like you would be thinking about this, but I’m surprised you came to me first.”

“Were you planning to call me anyway?”

Youngjae looked quite surprised, but Trainer Smith simply nodded calmly.

“Isn’t that obvious? Normally, I would give you a schedule and modify it via email as I monitor your progress, but that might not be possible this time. If a rookie like you spends the off-season with just a schedule and a brief explanation, I don’t even need to see it to know what will happen.”

Casey Smith laughed heartily and answered Youngjae’s question. As a renowned trainer who had trained countless players, he had already thought it all out.

“Well, since you’re here, let’s talk. First, I want to ask you something. What are you planning to do for physical training during the off-season? What areas do you feel you lack in?”

Youngjae pondered for a moment, then began to honestly talk about the areas he felt he lacked in after experiencing a season.

“As you know, I’m still very lacking in stamina. So, my stats drop sharply when I play for a long time. I’ve felt the lack of stamina in the later stages of games several times. Both on defense and offense.”

“That’s true. But the opposite is that you can play more consistently than anyone else if you’re given limited time, right? In fact, your efficiency is among the best in the league.”

Youngjae shook his head at Smith’s words, which were still spoken with a smile as he tried to comfort him.

“It’s strange to hear you say that, knowing so well. It’s inevitable that I can’t keep avoiding it by only receiving limited time. For example, my shooting release can be maintained consistently for about 20 minutes, but after that, it definitely wavers. The shooting range gets shorter. So, as a temporary measure, I try to reduce the physical distance by extending my arm as much as possible, but that’s not enough. I guarantee they’ll see through it by next season.”

Smith couldn’t help but smile slightly at Youngjae’s words. A player who could assess himself so frankly and honestly despite being a rookie. It was exactly as he had seen, and as the coaches had evaluated.

“Yeah, you’re right. You’re not someone who will stop at being a role player. I’m glad you thought about it first. If you follow the schedule I give you as much as possible, you won’t do less. Many rookies waste their first off-season and see their stats drop in their second year. Especially if they received the spotlight in their first year.”

There were many cases where a player who received the Rookie of the Year award saw their stats plummet in their second year. For example, Tyreke Evans, who achieved 20-5-5 [20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists per game] in the 08-09 season and won Rookie of the Year, saw his stats decline after his rookie season. There were also several cases where the rookie season was the career high.

Of course, due to the nature of basketball, which relies heavily on athleticism and talent, the sophomore slump rate was lower than in baseball. Baseball, as a data-driven sport, often sees players unable to withstand thorough analysis.

“I don’t really think about that. I’m planning to start training right away next month. I don’t really want to rest or play. I’ll think about that later.”

“Oh, well, it’s good to be eager, but don’t overdo it. You know that rest is important too. Of course, at your age, consistent training is better as long as you don’t overdo it. Now, shall we get down to business?”

Trainer Smith gave a piece of advice with a hidden meaning and then took a thin file from his desk and showed it to Youngjae.

“Basically, you need additional bulking up. Of course, without losing your mobility. Given your play style and physical characteristics, if your mobility decreases, it’s all for nothing even if your power improves. As you know, no matter how you build your body, you’ll always be weaker than players with similar builds and muscle mass.”

Trainer Smith’s words signified Youngjae’s limitations. In other words, reducing speed by -1 and increasing power by +2~3 would be more detrimental than staying at zero.

“Let’s think about why you can be our team’s most powerful slasher [a player who frequently drives to the basket]. First, your upper body balance is quite good. Honestly, you get pushed around a lot due to your lack of strength, but your and-one stats [scoring a basket while being fouled and then making the free throw] aren’t relatively low. That means you can maintain your balance and do something even when you’re getting pushed around. But the downside is that you try to make shots while avoiding contact rather than trying to get free throws.”

Youngjae’s free throw acquisition rate was low, but his and-one rate among them was good. He avoided actions or plays to get free throws, but his balance and concentration were good when he was inevitably fouled.

“I just thought that was right for me. I don’t get favorable calls, and since my drives rely on skill and speed rather than strength, I aimed for shots that avoided contact, even if they were difficult, rather than trying to get free throws.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But do you know what one of the essential qualities of a slasher is?”

“Isn’t it disrupting the opponent’s defensive line through penetration, and creating space and making opportunities as a result?”

“That’s the basic one. Additionally, inducing fouls on the opponent’s big men is one of the important virtues for a slasher. Getting free throws isn’t just a high-probability 2-point scoring route. It increases the opponent’s big men’s foul count, making them passive in the paint during offense and defense. This weakens the opponent’s defense and reduces their offensive routes. Especially if the level difference between the opponent team’s starting and bench big men is significant. You felt it during last year’s Finals, right? After Haywood was injured, we struggled quite a bit inside.”

Youngjae could now understand why Trainer Smith had said that. At the time, Miami had relentlessly attacked the inside, even risking offensive failures, with LeBron and Wade. Because Mahinmi, who would be called for fouls just for defending, was on the bench, Chandler couldn’t protect the rim as toughly as before and struggled. Eventually, both players couldn’t play 48 minutes despite having 5 fouls each, so Nowitzki had to play center for about 10 minutes. Of course, when Nowitzki was at center, the inside defense was almost non-existent.

“I remember. We struggled quite a bit. The opponent clung to it obsessively. You mean I have to play that role too?”

“Yeah, as you know, we only have two slashers on our team. But ironically, both of them have really weak free throw acquisition abilities. Because of his physical limitations, Barea mainly uses floaters or double clutches, so his ability to get free throws is weak. The reason our team uses you as a slasher isn’t because you’re strong or good at drawing fouls. It’s because of your excellent sense and BQ [Basketball Quotient, or basketball intelligence].”

Trainer Smith opened the third page and pointed to the data with his finger. Youngjae’s low turnover rate and offensive foul stats were written there. Below that, Youngjae’s pass, jumper, and rim attack rates after penetration were divided. Passing was the highest, followed by rim attack, and then jumpers.

“You can see. You have very few turnovers or offensive fouls after penetration. That’s because your first step is fast and your quickness is good, and you know very intelligently what to do here. So it’s hard for opposing defenders to block you properly. Besides, our team has very good spacing and many players who move well off the ball. And you know how to use that well. Because there are many options, it’s difficult to block. But next year, through analysis and focused defense, they’ll block you better than this season. So this method alone has its limits.”

Youngjae’s body fat percentage was low even among NBA players. That meant his muscle ratio was high, but the fact that he was weak and frail meant that his fundamental weight was lacking. In addition, it was necessary to acknowledge the difference in athletic ability that was difficult to overcome even with the same weight and muscle mass.

Coach Casey Smith then explained the documents detailing how Youngjae should train. Various training methods were written, and he explained in detail how much to do.

As the conversation progressed, Casey Smith stared directly at Youngjae and said one thing.

“Yoon. One of your problems is that you don’t think the individual problems you have are related.”

“?!”

“The training with Derrick Armstrong in the Summer League. Remember? You definitely received training there that could bring out all your abilities at once, and you actually improved a lot. But that’s it. Strength and stamina are ultimately muscular endurance. A lack of muscular endurance is ultimately a physical defect. By physical defect, I mean acquired abilities, not the height, frame, wingspan, etc. that you are born with.”

Smith picked up his coffee, swirled it slightly, and said.

“An Americano is simply espresso and water. Two things. You can add syrup if you want. But what’s in this cup is Americano. The espresso and water aren’t separate and distinct, they’re mixed together. It may sound abstract, but Yoon’s training needs to be holistic. Why did Coach Dwayne Casey, or rather, the head coach, add other training without reducing yours even after finding your weaknesses? That’s because your overall body can still grow. Of course, Coach Casey didn’t do it all entirely, but it was a combination of advice and analysis from me and the training team.”

Youngjae and Casey Smith continued to talk, and Youngjae received a lot of data and left the office. The lockout was virtually confirmed, but since it wasn’t official yet, they could still train at the training facility until June 30, so the two concluded their meeting by agreeing to talk more then.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

★Thank you to those who gave advance reservations, recommendations, comments, and coupons!!

@Ha… I tried to keep this part short, but it didn’t work out in the end. I tried to write the story as easily as possible and make the content not awkward, so it ended up being one chapter. I should have cut it off appropriately and written the next part a bit. I apologize for not keeping my word from yesterday’s afterword that I would end the training part at about half.

@You can skip this chapter if it’s too difficult. But I think it will be less difficult than the previous chapter. In terms of terminology and numerically.

※First Step: Refers to the first step when attacking. It is difficult to block players whose first step is fast and wide. Most of the excellent slashers have a good first step. LeBron is a bit of an exception. LeBron’s first step is only average for a top-class slasher.

※Free Throw Get: Free throw acquisition ability

Eunseol Seolya-nim/// Haha, it rained quite a bit during the day today, did you enjoy playing basketball?

Gayeon Eul-nim, h0h-nim, dlzkfn-nim/// It’s a bit difficult, isn’t it? ㅠ.ㅠ If you understand it even roughly, the following may be more fun, but there is no problem even if you skip it. It’s like reading a game novel without looking at the stat information.

Jin Si Hwang-nim, Omari On-nim, CountOfDark-nim, -DarkANGEL-nim, Pai Nensia-nim/// Thank you for your comments. The weather is getting cooler now, I hope you have a good day~

goimosp-nim/// I won’t be able to improve everything at once, but next year Youngjae’s stats will improve and he will receive a lot of spotlight due to growth in various aspects.

Ultra 10-nim, Lapir and Jint-nim/// I think the work you mentioned is ‘Everything can be learned from defeat’. I enjoyed reading that work too. I like baseball next to basketball, so it was fun to see the detailed stats and anecdotes. Our novel is also adjusting appropriately because accessibility increases if it is too difficult. You may have found the last chapter interesting if you know basketball, but it would have been difficult for those who do not look at basketball stats.

Move Aside-nim/// Kobe’s style is more likely to be achieved by an Asian than Wade or Harden ㅎㅎ.

Gangja Il-nim/// As mentioned in the comments a few chapters ago, these days it’s a world of hard-working geniuses ㅎㅎ

Yeosin Yuri Praise-nim/// That’s right. That’s the work.