Chapter 158 A Summer's Wait

After participating in the event, Tang Tian went back to his parents' house.

He didn't go home immediately. Instead, he first went to a real estate agency and looked at a villa. After buying it, he put it under his parents' names.

Then, after buying some gifts, he finally knocked on his parents' door.

It was a small apartment of eighty-some square meters, a room filled with the scholarly aroma of books.

His father was a teacher, and his mother was a teacher as well.

It was somewhat incredible that this body came from such a scholarly family, grew so tall, and even took a liking to basketball.

But just like not all stars are the sons of stars, heroes come from different places throughout history.

Once he got home, Tang Tian was very diligent, showing concern, helping to mop the floor and wash dishes, and even peeling oranges and slicing apples while chatting.

Having lived a lifetime, he knew the hardships of being a parent and did everything very well.

The smile never left his mother's face, and his father kept saying that his son had become more sensible after becoming famous.

Tang Tian only stayed at home for one day.

Before leaving, he left the villa keys and a letter on his parents' bedside table.

The content of the letter was simple, mainly telling his parents that he didn't have much time to come home because he was away, and he wanted them to take care of themselves.

When he left, his parents couldn't help but shed tears.

Living abroad, the opportunities to meet with family were truly few.

After saying goodbye to his parents, Tang Tian boarded a plane to London with Karl and Huang Zhen, who had come to join him.

The men's basketball team was training and resting in London after finishing its European training camp.

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was on July 27th, and the men's basketball team's first game was against Spain on July 29th.

That meant there was less than half a month left before the men's basketball team's first group match.

The time Tang Tian had to train with this team even exceeded the realm of "tight."

Although the men's basketball team had made special arrangements, it was unknown how much help Tang Tian could bring to the national team.

When the plane landed at London International Airport, Tang Tian first met with the head coach of the men's basketball team, Deng Huade, at the team's hotel.

Deng Huade was a chubby little guy with a rather comical look.

"I've been waiting for you all summer! I've missed you so much!"

Deng Huade gave him an American-style bear hug right away.

Someone else might not be used to it, but Tang Tian was already very accustomed to it.

After all, what was a hug compared to getting his butt slapped and his head touched?

"Bob, the summer has just begun."

Tang Tian also showed off his American humor.

Deng Huade laughed heartily after hearing it.

Needless to say, Tang Tian was the Chinese player he felt the most comfortable talking to.

The two sat down and chatted for a while, mainly about the progress of training.

Tang Tian also asked Deng Huade about some of the team's tactical system.

Deng Huade's tactical system was much better than Tang Tian had imagined, especially on the defensive end, with both large-scale and small-scale zone defense and help defense tactics.

It seemed he was more than just a motivational coach; he also had some unique insights on defense.

"We can go even further and directly focus on the defensive counterattack tactics of the Thunder and Heat."

Tang Tian said at the end of his conversation with Deng Huade.

Under Deng Huade's guidance, this Chinese team's defense was actually quite good internationally.

But in terms of positional warfare, apart from Yi Jianlian or Wang Zhizhi's one-on-one plays, there weren't many options.

Even with his addition, it would be like the fans said, running into open spots but not receiving passes, or even not being able to run into open spots at all.

A truly good head coach doesn't stick to one set of tactics like D'Antoni or Phil Jackson but learns to adapt to the situation and find the most suitable tactics for the team.

Making the right dish with the right ingredients is the ability of a top coach.

This is also why the US men's basketball team uses Coach K, Popovich, and even Van Gundy, but never coaches like D'Antoni or Jackson.

"Yes, absolutely!"

Deng Huade said, slapping his head.

In fact, immersed in defense, he had thought about similar tactics, and the national team had even used them during the Asian Games with good results.

But outside of Asia, the national team's defense wasn't that strong. If they couldn't defend, there was no point in talking about defensive counterattacks.

But now that Tang Tian had arrived, it was different.

Who was Tang Tian? An NBA All-Defensive Second Team player, averaging 1.6 steals per game in his rookie season, and the man who stole James' game-winning shot in the Finals!

What he could bring to the men's basketball team's defense was definitely a qualitative change!

The two then talked about some details of the tactics.

Deng Huade was still talking eloquently at first, but later he was basically just listening to Tang Tian.

He didn't even realize it until he left the hotel.

When did NBA players become so knowledgeable about tactics?

When he was an assistant coach for the Hornets and Cavaliers six or seven years ago, the head coaches at the time didn't give him this kind of feeling!

After sending Deng Huade away, Tang Tian lay in bed to rest, and he also had some expectations for this Olympic journey.

Originally, even if he had defense, the national team didn't have a fast-break engine like Parker and Ginobili, and the effect of this tactic wouldn't be as good as imagined.

But it just so happened that he had just exchanged for Fingertip Art (Divac), which would allow him to become a fast-break engine himself.

This gave the tactic a chance to work.

Even if the individual abilities were a bit lacking, as long as the fast break was fast and they were willing to share the ball, this tactic could still give the men's basketball team a fighting chance.

In fact, while on the plane, because he couldn't get online, he also roughly analyzed the men's basketball team's group and qualifying situation.

The first game against Spain would be a bit difficult. The strongest Chinese men's basketball team with Yao Ming couldn't do it back then. In addition to strength, they would also need luck to do it.

Russia and Australia were also out of the question. These two teams didn't have many NBA players, but the physical confrontation was something that even he couldn't take advantage of, let alone the other players on the national team.

So, if they wanted to advance to the top 8, Brazil and Great Britain, which were relatively weaker, were the ones they had to win.

Brazil was severely aging, and the defensive counterattack should work very well against them.

As for Great Britain, it would probably be a hard fight. After all, they were the host country, and even if they didn't explode on their home court, the refereeing would definitely be biased.

Because only 12 teams participated in the Olympics, there were 6 teams in a group, and the top 4 teams would qualify.

As long as they won these 2 games, they could basically lock in the top 8.

The top 8 was already the best result for the Olympic men's basketball team. For Tang Tian, who had joined temporarily, that result would be enough.

Of course, that was the good result. Both Brazil and Great Britain probably thought so too.

If they were really talking about strength, even with his addition, the Chinese team was still the softest persimmon in this group.

As he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly thought of the Heat again.

If he was on the Heat now, a forward who could defend, shoot, and pass, what kind of reinforcement would Riley need?

That's right, if he could beat the Heat again this year, Riley would probably be jumping mad.