"Special contract player Zhang Hao ability rating: 62
Physical attributes: Speed 90, Strength 72, Jumping 93, Agility 96, Stamina 90…
Shooting: Three-point 45, Mid-range Shot 79, Layup 83…
Skills: Dribbling 54, Passing 43, Catch-and-shoot 85…"
Zhang Hao looked at his latest ability rating, Dribbling improved by 2 points, Strength by 2 points, Mid-range Shot by 4 points, and Layup by 3 points, resulting in an overall ability rating increase of 2 points.
He hadn't really practiced Dribbling and Layup, but the increase in Strength brought some improvement in these two areas.
And this was just the result of six days of training!
Contrary to Zhang Hao's initial thought that only his Shooting would improve, once he started working on his back muscle and core strength training, he realized that the ultimate improvement wouldn't just be in Mid-range Shots. Maybe because he wasn't majorly training in other areas, those areas wouldn't improve as much, but they would definitely progress due to the training.
Zhang Hao wished he could find another cheat code bug to get more special rewards. Clearly, the regular mission rewards are related to lifespan, but whether there are other mission rewards is still unknown.
Also, there's this usable lifespan... What does "usable" mean exactly? That's also unclear for now.
Currently, Zhang Hao isn't in a hurry. After realizing that participating in competitions as a special contract player could benefit him, he started paying attention to various tournaments he previously disregarded. For now, he's just observing. First, he has to improve his Mid-range Shot, then focus on the upcoming dunk contest and training camp. Even if he doesn't gain anything from them, getting to know some high school talents would be great.
Since he decided to participate and has already signed up, Zhang Hao naturally needs to consider what he can gain in return. Even a little meat is still meat; building good relationships with some guys destined to succeed in the future is worthwhile, even if it's just a matter of becoming familiar faces.
Suddenly, Zhang Hao remembered the player detection feature: can it detect Pierce's strength?
Zhang Hao was genuinely curious!
The subtitles immediately responded.
"Paul Pierce, height 195 cm, weight 108 kg, ability rating 67, offense 72, defense 61,
Physical attributes: speed 85, strength 85, jumping 72…
Shooting: three-point 68, mid-range 69, layup 87…
Skills: dribbling 82, passing 63, low post play 63, high post play 65…"
It could indeed detect!
Zhang Hao, seeing Pierce's rating being 5 points higher than his own, wasn't surprised. Pierce had so many diverse skills, far richer than Zhang Hao's simple catch-and-shoot style.
Indeed, Zhang Hao's specialized skill—catch-and-shoot—was excellent, better than Pierce's, and his athletic ability was also stronger, but Pierce's proficiency was far more comprehensive. Having grown up with two athlete brothers who showed potential to become professional players, as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, their surroundings gradually became filled with young people with at least college-level abilities. Among them were basketball prodigies, and over time, Pierce's skills became increasingly well-rounded.
If they both spent two or three years training in college, a player like Pierce, with a solid foundation in various skills, clearly had a better chance of entering the NBA than Zhang Hao.
In recent days, Zhang Hao was also trying to adapt to this era. Initially, it was really hard to accept not having a smartphone, and to deal with such slow information exchange. In truth, he grew up this way too, but "it's harder to go from luxury to frugality." After so many years in an age where acquiring information was easy, returning to this era made adaptation quite difficult.
But there was no choice but to adapt slowly.
One method of adapting was by getting information through newspapers and TV news, mainly focusing on NBA drafts and NCAA strong teams fighting over talented high school players.
After finishing a pizza, while Pierce continued to game, Zhang Hao turned on the TV to catch the noon news on the American Cable TV Sports Channel.
"According to front-line reporter Alekka Spencer, this year's top favorite for the NBA draft's first pick, 19-year-old star center of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons Tim Duncan, has declined to enter the draft early…"
The host recited the news script as the screen switched to highlights of Tim Duncan's sophomore season games, showcasing his unbelievable strength! His ability to seemingly fly and do the impossible made Zhang Hao see the man on the screen not as someone with steadfast fundamentals and a stone face but rather as a Howard or David Robinson—athletic, agile, and powerful!
To stop Duncan, they either had to prevent him from getting the ball or have two or three guys hanging on him. In college, his build was simply unbeatable, rivalling the impact of O'Neal's presence on screen.
At this point, the screen displayed the draft report American Cable TV had created for Duncan.
Tim Duncan, center, 19 years old, 207 cm, 220 lbs.
Template: minimum David Robinson or Moses Malone, maximum surpassing Hakeem Olajuwon.
"Whoa!"
Upon seeing this draft template, Zhang Hao literally spit it out.
Seeing this draft prediction, if Zhang Hao didn't know Duncan was truly so impressive, he might have thought the media who made this report were crazy.
Upon hearing Zhang Hao use that Chinese term to swear, Pierce glanced over and blurted out an expletive starting with F.
"The guy who gave this draft prediction must be insane, right? Drunk, maybe? Minimum David Robinson? I've watched this guy play, and I'll admit he's fantastic, but compared to Olajuwon? If he surpasses Olajuwon, I'll run naked on the streets of Los Angeles..."