Sports Medicine Master System

But one shot didn’t prove anything.

It could have been a rushed shot.

But then, Chen Yu realized it wasn’t a one-off.

On the fourth possession, Curry used a jab step, then an explosive crossover, and went straight into his shot.

His shooting motion was identical to before. It felt like the ball had already left his hands the moment he jumped.

The entire shooting process was so fast that Ford, caught off guard, was a step too slow to contest it.

Unfortunately, Curry missed the shot.

On the fifth possession, Curry tried to repeat the move, but a prepared Ford gave him no chance, cleanly contesting his shot.

One for five.

This result was actually very impressive, top-tier even.

Even Ford was curious and wanted to ask Curry how the kid’s release was so fast.

This definitely wasn’t an impromptu change. He must have practiced it seriously, because the entire motion, from the setup to the release, was incredibly fluid.

At the judges’ table, Jordan turned his head and asked, "Chen, did you adjust his shooting form for him?"

He knew Chen Yu helped players adjust their shooting forms.

Chen Yu had even managed to fix O’Neal’s terrible free-throw shooting.

Chen Yu shook his head. He’d been too busy this year to find the time.

’So obviously, Curry adjusted it himself.’

Old Curry had been running all over the place with Chen Yu and hadn’t had time to pay attention to his son.

’I probably told Curry to make improvements to his original shooting form before, and he figured out how to adjust it on his own.’

The release point was a bit higher, which lowered the chances of getting blocked.

And the release was faster, which also reduced the probability of being blocked.

Chen Yu’s previous instruction to him was simply to work on lowering his chances of getting blocked, so it wasn’t surprising that he adjusted his form with that goal in mind.

And judging by his proficiency, he must have practiced a lot in secret.

Thinking of this, a smile touched Chen Yu’s face. ’This kid... if he has ideas, he could have just come to me. I could have helped.’

The one-on-one continued. On the defensive end, Curry was still a liability. Ford blew past him like he was a sieve.

His physical disadvantages were too great.

Johnson gave his evaluation. Being gracious, he seized on Curry’s ball-handling and ball control, showering them with praise.

He was probably laying the groundwork to justify his vote later.

Curry nodded repeatedly, but in the end, he looked toward Chen Yu, his eyes full of anticipation.

Chen Yu saw it clearly. ’He’s fishing for a compliment.’

"Not bad. It looks like you’ve been practicing a lot on your own. That’s very good."

Chen Yu didn’t try to avoid the appearance of favoritism. Everyone knew he had a relationship with Curry, so what was there to hide?

Curry nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with excitement and thrill.

It was as if Chen Yu’s praise was the greatest affirmation he could receive.

"Alright, let’s vote." Chen Yu exchanged glances with the others. It seemed an instant pass wouldn’t be necessary.

This was the preliminary round. He made a shot; he scored. It would be a crime if he didn’t pass.

He passed unanimously.

The recording continued, ending with contestant number 180.

Oden had yet to appear.

He was the headliner, the player with the most buzz, and he would make his appearance tomorrow.

As for the previous players, with Durant getting an instant pass, Jordan personally coming down to coach, Beasley’s elimination, and Harden’s unexpected asthma attack, there had been enough twists and highlights. It was about right.

This audition would be filmed and split into two episodes.

Each episode would be 90 minutes long, serving as a pilot.

So for each episode, they needed to find some highlights and talking points.

That’s why some of the players’ numbers were deliberately arranged.

After the recording ended and he saw off Jordan and the others, Chen Yu immediately had someone find Curry.

"Steve, your performance today was good." Chen Yu patted Curry’s shoulder, satisfied.

If his performance had been genuinely terrible and Chen Yu had forced an instant pass for him, it would have inevitably drawn criticism.

Not that Chen Yu cared.

But Chen Yu also wanted to see Curry pass the audition through his own hard work and ability.

"By the way, how long have you been practicing that shot?" Chen Yu asked.

Curry thought for a moment and said, "Probably about three months."

Chen Yu nodded to himself. ’I knew he must have been practicing for a while.’

"Come with me."

Chen Yu called out, then drove Curry to the sports lab.

He had found the right direction for adjusting the shooting form. The next step was to drill down into the details and optimize the release, and that was precisely what Chen Yu’s team excelled at.

When they arrived at the sports lab, quite a few players were still there training.

Players like James and his group had also returned to the sports lab to continue training after the audition ended.

Three to four practice sessions a day. The success these guys achieved wasn’t just built on talent.

Exchanging greetings along the way, Chen Yu led Curry deep into the facility.

Nelson and his team were already prepared.

Old Curry was there too. He gave his son a hug and couldn’t help but shower him with praise.

"Go on."

Chen Yu gestured for Curry to warm up and get on the court.

They were going to test his shot again.

There were high-definition cameras, and he was wearing a motion capture suit.

On the court, several training dummies were set up to simulate shot contests.

Once the test began, a bright spotlight from above would illuminate a fixed spot on the floor.

A Trainer would shadow and harass him. When Curry ran to the spot illuminated by the light, Old Curry would personally step onto the court to pass the ball to his son.

Then Curry would catch and shoot.

This was the setup Chen Yu had specifically asked Nelson to arrange.

Because although Curry was the starting point guard at Shadow Mountain High School, he had two main offensive methods: one was driving with the ball, and the other was catching and shooting after moving without the ball.

The latter made up a higher proportion of his offense.

His playstyle wasn’t that of a standard point guard. The root cause was that his body was too frail, making his on-ball offensive threat too small. Having him run around, using his agility and sharp ability to find open space, actually got him more shooting opportunities.

Now, they were trying to simulate his game environment as much as possible.

Using a little trick like the spotlight was also for the convenience of testing.

Chen Yu’s company had a dedicated tech team that liaised with equipment suppliers, communicated with the training staff, and brainstormed all sorts of training methods.

The main goal was still to save on labor costs.

Otherwise, to fully simulate his game environment, they would have had to find several Trainers to practice with him.

Using equipment also generated data, which was more conducive to analysis.

Catch-and-shoot shots from multiple positions—the wing, the top of the arc, the corner. The high-definition cameras would precisely capture his shooting motion, and the numerous sensors of the motion capture equipment would also allow Chen Yu to understand his force generation.

This test continued for nearly two hours straight, leaving Curry breathless and exhausted.

Nelson gently tapped Chen Yu, then pointed to a piece of data on the screen, his expression somewhat surprised as he gestured for Chen Yu to look.

Using high-speed cameras, they could capture the entire process from when Curry jumped to when the ball left his hands, and then record that time.

And according to the data, Curry’s time fluctuated between 0.4 and 0.5 seconds.

At times, it even dipped below 0.4 seconds.

This speed was extremely fast.

Because this was during a standard shooting motion.

If you were just talking about speed, the NBA had countless buzzer-beaters where players could achieve incredibly fast releases under extreme conditions.

But in a normal game, during a conventional shot, releasing the ball this quickly was no easy feat.

It had a lot to do with his shooting form.

"His shooting form is actually quite old-school," Chen Yu said after a moment, folding his arms.

Curry’s adjusted shooting form had the clear makings of a one-motion shot.

The reason he called it old-school was because when basketball was invented, that’s how people shot. It was only later that it was slowly standardized and evolved into the modern standard jump shot.

Because the jump shot was better at leveraging physical advantages.

You could jump higher, have longer hang time, better body stability, and make all sorts of difficult shots.

Like Jordan, with his various unstoppable mid-air jumpers that were simply indefensible.

As for the one-motion shot, it had its own benefits, but the simplified shooting process could also easily lead to issues like inconsistency.

But its biggest advantage was its quick release.

This was probably why Curry chose to adjust in this direction.

It was also a choice born of necessity, fitting his current lack of physical prowess.

After a pause, Chen Yu added, "Compared to that, I’m actually more concerned with his shooting percentage."

Chen Yu clicked the mouse a few times, bringing up the shooting percentage data on the shot chart.

"Look, his shooting percentage from 10 to 16 feet is, on average, four percentage points lower than his percentage near the three-point line. Logically, his percentage should decline the farther out he gets, because he lacks strength and doesn’t have enough power for long-range shots."

"However, one of the advantages of a one-motion shot is that it’s more suitable for long-range shooting. That’s why he actually shot a better percentage from farther away. So I think, if he’s going to choose this shooting style and feels it suits him, then he should increase his shooting distance."

The type of shooting form you choose doesn’t matter; what ultimately matters is the shooting percentage.

And every shooter, based on their shooting habits and physical condition, will always have an optimal shooting range.

This is why many players are accurate from mid-range but not from three.

Because they’re more comfortable shooting from mid-range; their body is more accustomed to it.

Since Curry was more comfortable farther from the basket—where his form, touch, and physical feel all aligned more perfectly—then he should be trained to shoot from long range from now on.

"It seems genetics do play a part after all."

Chen Yu glanced at Old Curry, who was not far away.

His dad was a famous Divine Archer in the NBA, and now he was starting to show the talent of a Divine Archer himself.

Nelson chuckled and asked, "So, shoot threes then? We’ll adjust our approach in that direction going forward?"

Chen Yu nodded.

If he was going to practice long-range shooting, three-pointers were obviously more valuable.

Especially now that hand-checking was disallowed, the shooting environment on the perimeter would become more open.

His only worry was that the league might change the rule back in a couple of years.

After all, it would be several years before Curry even entered the NBA. No one knew how the NBA would evolve in the future.

But he figured they probably wouldn’t. All of Stern’s moves were aimed at encouraging offense and making the games more entertaining.

"Schedule more triple extension weightlifting exercises for him. Help him find the feeling of generating power from his feet. The issue of his hands being faster than his feet has improved nicely, but he still needs to practice."

Now that the direction for his adjustment was set, his training plan had to be revised accordingly.

With a one-motion shot, the power generation sequence of the feet, legs, and hips is different from a standard jump shot.

To master it, finding that feeling of generating power from the feet is crucial.

Nelson nodded. These were things Chen Yu didn’t need to specifically remind them of; they were more professional in this area than he was.

Watching Curry resting in the distance, Chen Yu let out a soft sigh.

’Actually, compared to adjusting his shooting form, the bigger problem he needs to solve is his height.’

’If he really stops growing, the difficulty of making it into the NBA will be hellish.’

’Maybe he should take a page from Jordan’s book and hang from a pull-up bar.’

Although Chen Yu felt that method was too metaphysical and not scientific enough.