"Eric Turner, Wally Szczerbiak is not a point guard. Why are you bringing in so many small forwards and shooting guards? Our team doesn't even have a single point guard who can start. I originally thought Wally Szczerbiak would be a point guard, but it turns out he's just another small forward. Eric Turner, do you even understand? The team doesn't have a usable point guard at all, and now that the school year has already started, there's no way to recruit any more outstanding players. What are we supposed to do now?" Mark Allen had just come out of the gym. When he first saw this season's new players, he was actually quite happy—after all, Vince Carter is an absolute celebrity in high school leagues. Even though Wake Forest is a prestigious school, being able to recruit a star player like Carter is definitely not easy. And James Posey has also shown some real ability in training over the past few days; he has the potential to become the team's starting shooting guard. You could say that Eric Turner's summer recruiting made him very satisfied. Now the team was just missing a point guard. Just as he was looking forward to seeing what kind of point guard Wally Szczerbiak would be, it turned out today that Szczerbiak was yet another swingman. The team already had two excellent swingmen in Posey and Carter; what they lacked was a point guard. Now the last new player was also a swingman, which made him extremely anxious. How is a team supposed to play without a point guard?

"I thought it was something serious, but it's just this? Here, this is the team's starting lineup for the new season." Eric Turner casually picked up a piece of paper from the table and handed it to Mark Allen. He had already set the starting lineup for this season.

"Raja Bell, Wally Szczerbiak, Vince Carter, Stephen Green, Tim Duncan. My god, Eric Turner, what are you doing? What kind of lineup is this? Never mind why Raja Bell is starting over James Posey, but this lineup still doesn't have a point guard!"

Eric Turner smiled, picked up his cup and took a sip of water, offering no explanation. He already had a tactical system in mind.

Chapter 6: Tactical Culture

"Point guard? Isn't there one in the lineup?" Eric Turner put down his cup and said with a smile.

"There is?" Mark Allen looked over it again, but still couldn't find a point guard. In the end, he could only ask in confusion, "Eric Turner, where exactly is the point guard?"

"It's the third name."

"The third name? Huh, Vince Carter? How is that possible? He's a small forward, how could he be a point guard?" Mark Allen said in surprise.

"Mark, do you think Vince Carter's ball-handling is poor?"

"No, of course not, Vince's ball-handling is excellent. But, wait, are you planning to turn Vince into a point forward?" Mark Allen thought for a moment and immediately understood Eric Turner's intention. He wasn't ignorant—point forwards have appeared before. One of the most popular players in the league right now, Grant Hill, is an outstanding point forward. In his NBA rookie season, Grant Hill put up 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists per game—he's one of the best point forwards out there. Another excellent small forward in the league, Scottie Pippen, is also a great point forward.

"I get it, but do you really think Vince Carter can be as good as Grant Hill? You know, Vince was a finisher in high school, not a playmaker. He's different from Grant Hill—in terms of playmaking ability, he's way behind. How could he possibly become a player like Grant Hill?" Mark Allen didn't mention Scottie Pippen but brought up Grant Hill instead—not because he looked down on Pippen, but because Hill's performance and reputation in college were just off the charts. Mark Allen happened to be a college coach, not an NBA coach. Grant Hill's Duke University and Wake Forest were both ACC teams, and ACC coaches knew Grant Hill best. In the ACC, there were two legendary players: one was Jordan, the other was Grant Hill, from UNC and Duke respectively. Grant Hill entered the NBA draft last year, and from 1991 to 1994, he led Duke to two NCAA championships and one runner-up finish.

"Why not? Grant Hill is amazing—he's already nearly perfect. But Vince is also very talented. I think it's worth a try; he can do what Grant Hill does, he has that potential."

"But even if Vince has that potential, right now his playmaking ability and experience are negligible. He can't possibly be an immediate contributor," Mark Allen said worriedly.

"I know, but I'm willing to let Vince give it a try. I'm willing to give him the time and space to grow." Eric Turner's idea to have Carter play point forward wasn't his original plan. In the summer, he tried to recruit Marbury and Terry, but both turned him down. If he just brought in a random point guard, he might as well have Carter switch to point forward. Because of what he knew from the future, he had a lot of confidence in Vince Carter. Carter might not have had much playmaking ability at first, but that didn't mean he lacked the talent for it. However, Mark Allen wasn't from 2012—he didn't know Carter that well.