“No, not now. They’ve pretty much practiced enough. If there’s no improvement at this point, no one can guarantee what will happen if they keep practicing for another month.” Mark Allen’s eyes darkened. Eric Turner’s concerns were not unfounded—since there’s been no progress so far, will there really be any in the future? It’s unknown.

“Besides, time waits for no one. I don’t have much time to dawdle with them. The ACC league’s regular season starts next month, and that’s absolutely something we can’t afford to mess up.” Just thinking of that person in the principal’s office sent a chill down Eric Turner’s spine. If the season starts off badly, Eric Turner doesn’t believe that principal will show any mercy. He’s racing against time now. Since both Duncan and Carter, the two core players, are making good progress, it’s time to move on to the next step. Maybe tactical training will help the others suddenly have a breakthrough.

“By the way, Mark, how’s the arrangement for the friendly matches I asked you to set up?” The NCAA schedule in the US is actually a lot like the NBA’s, with both preseason and regular season games. Almost every college will arrange some preseason games before the regular season starts. For Eric Turner, this is the most important part of his plan—using the preseason to hone the team’s triangle offense, finding weaknesses through games, and then making improvements. That’s why he had asked Mark Allen to find scrimmage opponents half a month ago.

“It’s pretty much set. Five universities have agreed to our invitation to play scrimmages. But the last opponent you specifically requested, UNC, turned us down. Do we need to pick a new opponent for the last scrimmage?”

“No, just go with these five. By the way, who’s our first opponent, and when?” Eric Turner asked.

“Next Saturday. The opponent is the University of Connecticut Huskies.”

“UConn?” Eric Turner was startled!

“Yeah, what’s wrong? Is there a problem? They’re a strong team. Although their program doesn’t have much history, their results have been very stable in recent years. This year, they even made it to the national Elite Eight, which is the best result in their team’s history. Their head coach is very ambitious, and they were actually the ones who invited us first,” Mark Allen said, puzzled.

“No, it’s nothing.” Eric Turner shook his head with a wry smile. How could he not know about UConn? NCAA basketball isn’t very popular in China, but after 2004, more and more Chinese fans started paying attention to it. During that period, UConn was definitely one of the top teams in the NCAA. Even a Chinese coach like Eric Turner, who didn’t know much about the NCAA, had heard of their reputation. He just hadn’t realized that UConn was once a team without much tradition—this must be the start of their rise.

“By the way, Bill, even though Mark’s tactical training will take up most of the practice from now on, you shouldn’t slack off on technical training either. It’s best if you and Mark discuss how to combine technical and tactical training. That might be even more effective,” Eric Turner reminded.

Mark Allen and Bill Lambeau both nodded, agreeing with Eric Turner’s view.

“And also, about Stephen Green.”

“What about Stephen Grant?” Mark Allen asked curiously.

“Don’t have him practice passing anymore. Let him focus solely on defense,” Eric Turner sighed. Stephen Green is the only one among the starting five who never made it to the NBA. The Dynasty System doesn’t rate him very highly—he’s just a role player focused on defense. His potential doesn’t allow him to develop all-around skills. If Raja Bell’s potential lets him balance defense and shooting, then Stephen Green can only focus on defense.

Hopefully, the team will keep getting better. Next Saturday’s game against UConn will be a huge test. Eric Turner shook his head again.

Chapter 11: The First Battle

When Eric Turner and the others set up tactical training the very next day, all the players were extremely shocked. They hadn’t realized that the crazy month of technical training was just laying the foundation for them. After Eric Turner announced the new training content, even the usually unflappable Duncan couldn’t keep up his indifferent expression anymore.

Although surprised, after more than a month of working with Eric Turner, the players had more or less figured out his temperament. They knew that resisting or refusing was pointless. So, without any complaints, everyone trained hard according to Eric Turner’s requirements.

Duncan and Carter go without saying—they’re the two tactical cores of the team and Eric Turner’s main focus. Their training is still tougher than everyone else’s. Wally Szczerbiak isn’t very fast and doesn’t like to move, always preferring to stand still. But under Eric Turner’s orders, he has to move off the ball and look for open shots. Raja Bell is similar to Wally Szczerbiak, but the difference is that he works harder and is willing to run. The downside is that his sense of positioning is terrible, and his off-ball movement is ineffective—sometimes even worse than the seemingly lazy Wally Szczerbiak.