Volume 4: Golden State Prosperity

After returning from Las Vegas, Adams joked to Zhang Yu that Yi Jianlian had scored so many points partly because he was the only player on the Huaxia Men's Basketball Team capable of creating his own shot with the ball, so the offense was concentrated in his hands. After Team USA had built a huge lead, their defense had also loosened considerably, giving Yi Jianlian many relatively easy scoring opportunities. Zhang Yu had no desire to design specific offensive schemes himself. If he could not order his assistant coaches around... no, if he could not give them opportunities to develop, how could he be considered a qualified head coach? He then had Riley release a job posting for assistant coaches, which quickly spread throughout NBA assistant coaching circles, drawing a flood of applicants. On August 7, in the first round of the group stage, Team USA faced the Huaxia team and opened with a 108-76, 32-point victory. The facts proved that Coach K had been right. Once the Olympics began, the USA men's basketball team tore through its opponents, with players from the Warriors system playing a major role. Zhang Yu's two former assistant coaches, Silas and Kerr, had both successfully become head coaches. Kerr went to the Celtics, who had just signed Durant, and was riding high. Zhang Yu had reminded them not to press too hard at the Olympics, or the excessive exertion would affect their preparations for the following season. Especially against the Huaxia Men's Basketball Team, winning by twenty or thirty points was enough; it would be best to leave them some dignity. When that news reached Huaxia, it gave Huaxia fans a small measure of comfort amid the crushing defeat, and they became even more supportive of the Nets, where Yi Jianlian played, as well