am i proud?

Chapter 94 The most glorious era of men's basketball

On June 2001, 6, Wang Dalin flew to Shanghai. As soon as he walked out of the airport, he saw Su Qun waving to him. Standing beside him was a middle-aged man in his early two meters.

Wang Dalin pulled the box and walked over. Su Qun smiled and said, "Dalin, let me introduce you. This is our national team leader Ji Zhixin. You can call him Director Ji. Director Ji, this is Wang Dalin!"

Ji Zhixin laughed and said, "Who doesn't know Wang Dalin? If he hadn't come back so suddenly, Pudong International Airport would have been surrounded by fans who came to pick him up."

Wang Dalin quickly shook hands with Ji Zhixin: "Director Ji, please don't be so polite, I'm even embarrassed!"

Ji Zhixin couldn't help laughing, and it took him a long time to stop his smile and said, "Dalin, you're transiting from Hong Kong this time, are you tired after taking such a long flight? Let's go back and have a rest first!"

"Okay!" Wang Dalin was also straightforward, and followed them to the parking lot.

They saw that they drove a "Buick" business car to pick him up. The space in the car was quite spacious, and Wang Dalin couldn't help showing a satisfied smile... Actually, he didn't pay much attention to what kind of car he took.

Like how good is his "Raptor"?

That guy Schwartz still thinks it's a "farm vehicle"?
Sitting in the car and driving all the way, Wang Dalin suddenly asked curiously: "Brother Su, why are you in Shanghai? Don't you live in Beijing?"

Su Qun said with a smile: "Isn't this going to be a warm-up match with the Australian team soon? As the director of the basketball department of "Sports Weekly", how can I not come to the scene? Isn't it because Director Ji told me to pick you up when he heard that we are very close!"

Ji Zhixin also said: "Dalin, you didn't go back to Chongqing first when you returned to China this time. Aren't your parents worried about you?"

Wang Dalin said with a smile: "I have been out for more than a year, and my family is used to it! It's okay, I talked to my family before boarding the plane yesterday, and I will go back after the Asian Championships this time."

Ji Zhixin smiled and said, "That's right, you've been out for such a long time, you should go home and fulfill your filial piety! By the way, which team will you join next season?"

Wang Dalin said: "This is not certain. The Heat have already offered me qualifications, but my agent told me not to worry. After the trading market opens, other teams will definitely invite me to make offers."

Just before Wang Dalin returned to China, the Miami Heat's uniform team had already offered Wang Dalin an offer of $62 for his qualifications.

The basic salary of the NBA this year has risen to 47 US dollars, so the offer that the Heat can provide to Wang Dalin is naturally higher than previously expected.

The trading market will open on July 7. Wang Dalin has entrusted Schwartz with full authority to negotiate with the teams. He believes that some teams will give him an offer.As for whether he can sign a maximum salary, it depends on whether Schwartz, the future gold medal agent, has earned his reputation.

As long as Schwartz helps him negotiate, he can fly back to complete the contract at any time. Anyway, the Asian Championships will officially start on July 7, so there is still plenty of time.

The current training venue of the Chinese men's basketball team in Shanghai is the Meilong Training Base, which is located in Minhang District, Shanghai, about 20 kilometers away from the center of Shanghai. It is a good place away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

After arriving at the training base, Ji Zhixin took Wang Dalin to settle in the room first, and then said with a smile: "Dalin, considering that you have playing experience in the United States, and you are about to go to the NBA this year, I will arrange for you to live in the same room with him. Please tell us more about the situation in the United States! Now that everyone is training, you should take a rest first. I will introduce Wang Fei and my teammates to you at dinner!"

Wang Dalin smiled and said, "Okay, Director Ji, you should do your work first!"

After Ji Zhixin left, Wang Dalin took a bath first, lay down on the bed and fell asleep after a while.

Until the sound of the door opening, Wang Dalin was suddenly awakened, only to see a big man with a handsome face enter the room with his head down.

"Hey, you're all asleep? Didn't you bother you?" The visitor smiled and spoke fluently, "Hello, I'm Wang Zhizhi!"

Wang Dalin quickly sat up and said with a smile, "Hi, I'm Wang Dalin! I wanted to see you a long time ago, but I didn't expect to see you today!"

Wang Zhizhi entered the room and changed his slippers and said, "What can I do for you? Both of us are surnamed Wang, and we live in the same room this time. We are really destined!"

Wang Dalin said with a smile: "Director Ji said that I have experience playing in the United States, so I specially arranged for me to live with you!"

Wang Zhizhi took off his coat and said, "That's kind, I was just looking for someone to ask how the situation in the United States is going! Wait a minute, I'll take a shower first!"

Wang Zhizhi took a shower very quickly, and within 10 minutes, he came out of the bathroom in a vest and shorts, sat down on the bed and asked, "What do you think of the city of Dallas? I heard that the people there seem to be quite xenophobic, especially towards the Chinese!"

Wang Dalin said: "That's right, it's like this in Dallas. But don't worry, you go there to play ball, so it's okay if you don't come out for a stroll when you have nothing to do?"

Wang Zhizhi frowned slightly and said, "I don't like shopping, I'm just worried that the fans will scold me if I can't play well!"

Wang Dalin patted himself on the chest and said, "Anyone like me can gain a firm foothold in the NBA. What are you worried about? Basically, you have to have confidence in yourself. You are the No.1 basketball player in Asia!"

Wang Zhizhi showed a hearty smile and said, "It's true!"

He just led the Bayi team to win the CBA league championship again this season, and it is the time when he is full of ambition.

In the Asian basketball world, Wang Zhizhi really has no opponents at this stage. If he wants to further improve himself, he must either go to the European League or go to the NBA.

In fact, the Mavericks had already selected Wang Zhizhi in the draft in 1999, but because of some special reasons in China, and Wang Zhizhi was also a soldier, he didn't want to leave immediately.

After two full years, various problems were finally settled in China, and Wang Zhizhi was finally able to go to the United States to pursue his basketball dream.

Seeing that Wang Dalin has already played in the NBA for one season at the age of 19, Wang Zhizhi felt indescribably envious. He is almost 5 years older than this kid!

Life can have a few back stroke?
I have already wasted the most precious two years of youth, if I don’t go to the NBA soon, the “boy chasing the wind” back then will soon become the “uncle chasing the wind”!

Sure enough, Ji Zhixin came over during dinner. He brought Wang Dalin to the cafeteria and introduced everyone in the national team to him one by one.

Among China's "Three Great Mobile Great Walls", he already knows Wang Zhizhi, and it is the first time he has met the other two.

Bateer was as strong as an iron tower. Among the people Wang Dalin had met in his life, except for O'Neill, he had never seen anyone who could grow so thick.

这位出生于1975年11月，现在还没满26岁，正处在职业生涯中最巅峰的时期。上赛季CBA联赛中他场均可以得到23.1分12.7篮板3.0助攻，比起“亚洲第一”的王治致也毫不逊色。

Battelle has a strong body, tough style, excellent defense, and he also has a fairly accurate mid-range and long-range shot.

Of course Bateer's shortcomings are also obvious.

Probably because he is too heavy, so his moving speed is slow, his jumping ability is relatively low, and his wingspan is too short, so he is destined to be difficult to succeed on the higher-level basketball stage.

It doesn't matter in the CBA league, and these shortcomings will be infinitely magnified in the NBA.

Many small players who fly into the sky can take the rebound from his head, and it is difficult for him to give effective interference or directly block the shot when others jump.

And how fast are NBA players?Who can Battelle keep up with?It is estimated that he can barely compete with O'Neill's Big Mac race.

Batel shook hands with Wang Dalin with a smile, and said with a smile: "Dalin, you look thin, but your hands are really strong!"

Wang Dalin said with a sneer: "In the United States, if you want to specialize in strength training, you can't do it if your upper body strength is too poor!"

After hearing this sentence, Wang Zhizhi frowned slightly. Although he is skilled, his strength is weak. It seems that after going to the United States, he needs to exercise his strength.

Yao Ming was tall and thin at this time, like a big bamboo pole. He came over and patted Wang Dalin on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Dalin, I really envy you. You are already playing in the NBA at such a young age!"

Wang Dalin smiled and said, "Dayao, why are you envious of me? If you want to go to the NBA, as long as you announce that you will participate in the draft next year, I bet you will be the No. [-] pick in the draft!"

Yao Ming's embarrassing face turned into an emoji: "How can I be so good? As long as I can be the main player in the NBA like you, I will be satisfied!"

Next, Wang Dalin met Hu Weidong, Liu Yudong, Gong Xiaobin, Li Xiaoyong, Fan Bin, Zhang Cheng, Li Nan and Zhang Jinsong in turn.

Everyone was very polite to him and greeted each other a few words, and then Ji Zhixin took him to meet coach Wang Fei.

Coach Wang Fei is over two meters tall and quite handsome. It seems that he was also a handsome guy back then.

"Da Lin, you've finally come to report!" Wang Fei said with a smile on his face, "With you, I'm confident in this Asian Championship!"

Wang Dalin hurriedly said modestly: "Director Wang, don't say that. Our Chinese men's basketball team is strong and strong. Even without me, won't it be easy to win an Asian championship?"

Wang Fei said seriously: "Don't underestimate the enemy! Didn't we lose that time in 97? It can be seen that the phrase 'Arrogant soldiers must be defeated' is justified!"

Wang Dalin said with a smile: "'Arrogant soldiers must be defeated' is indeed reasonable, but strength is strength. I don't believe there is any team in Asia that can beat us now!"

This is not Wang Dalin's blind arrogance. Just this Chinese men's basketball team is definitely a top ten team in the world. It is not surprising that it even scored in the top eight. In Asia, it is the invincible overlord!

Don't even look at who is in the team?
Wang Zhizhi, Bateer, and Yao Ming are the center forwards. Although Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming have not reached the peak of their careers, they really have no opponents in Asia.

Although Liu Yudong and Gong Xiaobin are over [-] years old at the power forward position, they are still at their peak.Especially Liu Yudong, the "God of War", can beat any opponent in the same position in Asia.

There are Zhang Jinsong and Li Nan at the small forward position. They not only defend tenaciously, but also shoot quite well from outside.

Not to mention the shooting guard. Although Zhang Cheng is not well-known, he is also a very good swingman in the CBA league. What's more, there is Hu Weidong, who is known as "China Jordan" in this position?

Lao Hu has just passed 31 years old and is still at the end of his personal peak. His sharp breakthroughs and precise three-pointers are full of power. Even if he competes with NBA players, he may not be defeated.

In the 1996 Summer League, Hu Weidong completely stole rookie Kobe's limelight in the match between the Chinese men's basketball team and the Lakers. He not only gave Kobe a big hat in the game, but also scored 30 points against Kobe.

Although Kobe was just a substitute for the Lakers in his rookie period, in terms of strength, he was more than a substitute, so why should he be at the level of a starter?

From this, it can be inferred how powerful Hu Weidong was in 1996, he definitely has the strength to play the main force in the NBA!

The position of point guard has always been the weakest link in the Chinese men's basketball team, but Fan Bin and Li Xiaoyong are currently top-notch point guards in China.

Among them, Fan Bin is good at organization and has the demeanor of Adijiang back then; Li Xiaoyong is good at personal offense, and has a certain power in breakthroughs and mid- and long-range shots.

They are incomparable with the world's top point guards, but in Asia... they are still very good!

And now there is Wang Dalin, the NBA's best rookie and best sixth man, it can be said that the strength of this Chinese men's basketball team is unprecedentedly strong.

Still the same sentence... dare not say "unprecedented", at least it is "unprecedented"!

Wang Dalin naturally knows that the most glorious time for the men's basketball team should be the 08 Beijing Olympics, but in terms of strength, he believes that the current men's basketball team will not be inferior to the 08 team.

It is true that Yao Ming was already one of the best super centers in the NBA in 08, but at that time Wang Zhizhi's state had begun to decline, Yi Jianlian was still too immature, and Li Nan and Zhu Fangyu were obviously inferior to Hu Weidong and Liu Yudong.

Just like fans always argue about who is better, the American Dream Team or the Dream Team [-], in fact this kind of debate is meaningless, because they both represent the highest level of world basketball at that time.

Some people say that the Dream Team averaged 43.8 points per game, while the Dream Eight team only won 30.9 points per game, and they only won by 11 points in the final against Spain. If it weren't for Kobe who stepped forward several times at critical moments to open the score, they might have lost.

Doesn't this mean that Dream Team [-] is better than Dream Team [-]?
Actually this problem is easy to explain... because the level of basketball has improved in all countries in the world!

In 1992, the basketball level of countries around the world was far behind that of the United States, so the Dream Team won the championship easily like chopping melons and vegetables.

However, in 2008, the basketball level of countries around the world has improved much compared to 1992. The American men's basketball team no longer has that overwhelming advantage. That's why the seemingly powerful Dream Eight team fell into a hard fight against the Spanish team.

If the Dream Team were really brought in to play against the Spanish team, the result would probably be the same, and it might even be lost by accident!

After dinner, everyone went back to the dormitory to rest, and they have to train tomorrow morning...

(End of this chapter)