One Year Left to Play-Chapter 309 - 102: This Isn’t a Multiple-Choice Question
"Hasn’t it already been rented to me?"
"Yes, it has, but Le Lin likes to take a plane to Los Angeles on the weekends for fun, and she needs to stay here. It seems Dad wants to ramp up business in the Greater Los Angeles Area and the Bay Area, so he’ll be staying here often. Le Lin still has school, so she can only come on weekends."
"..."
Zhang Hao couldn’t comprehend the world of the rich. Just now, he counted that there are 5 rooms on the second floor, so giving one to the landlord’s little girl didn’t matter. He responded, "Alright, alright, this room is yours. What about the master bedroom?"
"Le Lin’s room is the master bedroom!"
"..." Zhang Hao stared into the little girl’s big Casalan eyes for a while, then reached with his unoccupied hand to the front of her head, "Greedy landlord, give me a refund!"
"I don’t have any money."
"Didn’t I just pay the rent?"
"I just ordered a set of dolls and spent it all."
"... With such confidence? That was twenty thousand! That’s 13 months’ rent!"
"No, it’s 12 months’ rent. This December is a free experience for you. Next time you pay twenty thousand, you can only stay for 12 months."
"Greedy landlord!"
"Stingy!"
Aprile Clark couldn’t help but laugh out loud at their conversation.
Looking at the little girl’s unyielding attitude, Zhang Hao couldn’t help but sigh, "A businessman’s daughter is certainly different, knowing how to be a greedy landlord at such a young age."
"Alright, Aix, giving the big room to Le Lin isn’t such a big deal, the other rooms are quite spacious too. See, this room has a good view; the first light of dawn can shine through the floor-to-ceiling window," Aprile Clark said as she took Le Lin from Zhang Hao’s hands, "Le Lin, are you staying at your dad’s place or here tonight?"
In front of Zhang Hao, the little girl acted spoiled in all sorts of ways because she knew Zhang Hao only had a sharp tongue. But in front of Aprile Clark, she was cautious; this was the terrifying sister who would abandon her once her overflow of maternal love ended.
The little girl said obediently, "I’m staying here tonight."
"Good, do you know where there’s a supermarket? I’ll go buy some things."
"There are new underwear and pajamas here, no need to buy them."
"That’s perfect. I’m staying here tonight too, and I’ll come over one or two weekends more often. We can hang out a lot..."
Aprile Clark really started choosing a room. Zhang Hao was somewhat surprised, but what he said earlier wasn’t just pleasantry. When Pierce comes back to Los Angeles, he’ll invite him to choose a room too. After all, during his high school years in Los Angeles, those were his only two friends. Anyways, there were plenty of rooms; downstairs had other bedrooms aside from entertainment rooms, and there were four available rooms upstairs alone.
That night, Zhang Hao bathed early in the room next to Le Lin’s and continued to read the Lakers’ team manual.
He somewhat understood his teammates—not much, but they had played over a dozen games this season, and his team manual, revised and printed by Kupchek with scouts and editors, contained detailed descriptions of teammates’ play styles and noticeable characteristics.
The key was the tactics. He wanted to quickly memorize the Lakers’ tactics, then use his vast and solid positioning lines foundation to find more opportunities within those tactics.
"I didn’t expect Campbell with his massive 127-kilogram build to be a mid-range shooter, taking 3-4 shots per game with a 36% shooting rate. An 81 mid-range shot is quite good for an insider. If only I had low-post skills... No, no, no, that’s a center playstyle... No wonder Divac and Campbell are both centers yet cooperate so well, with a 10-5 opening... huh?
Wait, center skills – isn’t the Lakers a team with the most dominant center history in NBA?
This team isn’t like the Brooklyn Nets, who are perennially poor. The Lakers’ ancestors had prowess!"
Zhang Hao quickly opened the bonus section in the subtitle display, the solitary unused reward—an opportunity to activate the Center Position Technique Learning Mode!
"Center Position Technique Learning Mode Opportunity: Can be used when the host experiences guidance from a top center and learns training methods for a specific skill. The system will gather training, game footage... etc., for that center’s skill, allowing for simulated training in learning mode."
"Are you kidding?"
"This activation opportunity is a reward and does not consume lifespan."
"Oh yeah!"
...
The night passed without incident. Zhang Hao spent 4 hours in the learning mode thinking deeply about how to better integrate into the Lakers.
The thinking progress was relatively quick because the Lakers had played over a dozen games, and every player’s improvement or decline after the offseason was evident, along with their tactical integration.
The current problem was how to maintain the strength without the core inside tactics and the main outside shooter.
Today was the first game, in contrast to his time in the Brooklyn Nets where there was a complete training camp and ample preparation time. The first game after the trade had to rely mostly on on-the-spot performance.
And the opponent... was the Pacers again!
The Pacers had also played 15 games with the same 10-5 record, ranking third in the East.
If it were before, the Lakers wouldn’t have feared the Pacers; although either side could win, the strength was not lacking.
If Zhang Hao were still in the Brooklyn Nets, the win or loss would fundamentally not affect his special status within the team.
But now, the team he belongs to is no longer that team that is joyous upon winning and strives harder upon losing with no heavy goal pressure and everything simple. Now, he’s in a team with intimidating fans; and due to his addition, the Lakers lost a quasi-All-Star level center and a first-rate star level outside shooter.
Setting aside the idea of learning from the team’s legendary centers, if Zhang Hao’s debut with the Lakers doesn’t go well... he feels like the fans might roast him to the moon!
The Lakers fans are not just ordinarily terrifying!
