the rest, only noise

Chapter 36 Unicorn

Reynolds Coliseum

Louie rushed from Boston to the home of North Carolina State University, and the Reynolds Stadium is obviously much smaller than the various large stadiums that can reach [-] seats in the future.

Under normal conditions, only 5600 people can be seated.

What Louis did not expect was that tickets for this game were hard to come by.

Fortunately, he came here a day in advance to step in, and invited the female classmates from North Carolina State University to have a few drinks. By the way, he betrayed the color and asked the other party to help him get a ticket before he could enter it.

Louie found that many teams sent their own scouts.

As long as there is a chance to get the No. [-] pick in June, they will basically pay attention to Sampson.

At first glance, Louie saw a lot of acquaintances. New Jersey scouts, Utah scouts, Golden State scouts, and even the general manager of the Chicago Bulls came in person.

It's no wonder that Sampson is widely seen as possessing Chamberlain's talent and the potential to be the ultimate winner of Russell's style.As a combination of two giant beasts, he doesn't have the cynical, chattering, and nonsense eldest temperament of Kareem.

According to a scout, Sampson's NCAA debut a while ago knocked out a senior center with NBA potential.

Also sent a shocking block on the top of the rebound.

Tonight, the opponent's lineup indirectly gave him a good stage.

North Carolina State does not have a strong insider, and the tallest among the starters is Art Jones PF, who is 2 feet 01 inches. In conversion, it is only [-] meters [-].

"Lu, you are here too!"

This voice, Louis knows who it is without looking at it.

Jack McMahon, the old man is here too.He's weird, because Philly shouldn't have such a front-end pick.

"Uncle Jack, where are you running from?" Louis asked with a smile.

"Ralph is the most unmissable player of the decade, of course I want to come and see it!" McMahon's conclusion is somewhat surprising.

But on second thought, although Magician and Bird are excellent, at this time, people don't know how much they will grow on this foundation in the future.

And Sampson is indeed a talent visible to the naked eye.

"You're also optimistic about him?" Louis asked.

"Of course, and in fact, you don't need to observe him. This guy will definitely become a talent, and it will definitely not belong to you."

"why?"

"Do you think he's like one of those short-sighted young guys who jumped into the NBA after a year or two of NCAA?" McMahon seemed to be a big fan of the rule that players don't have to go through four years of college before entering the draft. "He's fine. , also has a bright future, but it's just an embryo right now."

Louis was noncommittal.

McMahon went back to his seat after talking to him.

After the game started, Louie took out a pen and notebook.

In the attack on the "dwarf country", Sampson established his dominance from the very beginning.

He blocked a throw from North Carolina State ace Hawkeye Whitney SG like a hawk.

Then, go down like a 1-meter guard.

"His agility is impressive, his hands open like he's gliding on the ground, he has cat-like swiftness, incredible athleticism, the best ever."

Louis couldn't believe he would record this observation.

But unless there's a second 2-foot-24 player in front of him that displays that athleticism, Sampson is the best ever.

What sets him apart from the rest of the elders is this uncanny athleticism and exaggerated coordination.

Even more exaggerated is yet to come.

Sampson took the ball from outside the paint area, dribbled the ball, and shot straight up, his head seemed to be flat, and poured the ball in.

From then on, the alumni who spontaneously came to cheer for North Carolina State felt that they had seen the most absurd thing in the world.

The 2-meter Sampson is the best insider, rebounder, shot blocker, stealer, attacker, and defender on the field. And he completed a high-level ball turn in the 24th minute of the first half. The scene of the one-arm dunk under the basket made the Reynolds Stadium silent.

"Comprehensive skills, can dribble with both hands, can solve defenses one-on-one like a defender in the open area."

"The shooting ability has yet to be developed."

"The ability to hold the ball is very outstanding, and can briefly take over the basketball half court."

"Have the ability to respond."

"Weak body, lack of confrontation ability, need to hang meat on both upper and lower limbs"

Louie has detached himself from the original shock, looking at everything about Sampson from a scout's point of view.

He admits that Sampson has the gift of achieving greatness.

But he wants to use an inappropriate metaphor that Chinese fans can understand - like Zhou Qi.

The 14-year-old Zhou Qi plays like a small forward, but he is 2 meters tall. In the youth team, his disadvantages in confrontation were not exposed. The advantages of physical talent and the basic skills of guards from a young age make him invincible and invincible. Louis has no doubt that he was No.11 in the world at some stage before the age of 15.

From Liaoning to XJ, the team has never had a good plan for his growth.Louis admitted this.Later, he practiced the skills of the second position for a while, the third position for a while, and regarded himself as a Greek monster for a while, and practiced space five for the Rockets for a while, and then returned to the national team and was asked to be the core. Such a chaotic career plan and too slow growth rate made him unable to survive in the NBA. He did not have dominant offensive ability in the CBA. He could only rely on talent and defensive awareness to become a top player at the Asian level.

In Louie's view, Sampson has the same problems and hidden dangers.

He is too comprehensive, has too many techniques, and has too many possibilities.

From the second half, the game has turned into a slaughterhouse for Sampson.

22 points and 14 rebounds, not over yet.

You know, the NCAA in 1980 was still playing the most primitive non-offensive time limit game.

That is, they can drag on indefinitely in one turn.

Because of North Carolina State's lineup, they're bound to play fast, but playing fast allows Sampson to maximize his athleticism.

Tonight is bound to be a massacre.

"The future is limitless."

Louis originally wanted to use this as the conclusion of this spectator report.

But he added: The future is unpredictable.

In scouting reports, "unpredictable" is not a positive word, but a neutral word with a slightly more negative connotation.

If it is Beasley, Cousins, Rasheed Wallace, and their scouting reports are "unpredictable", it is basically the scouts warning the teams, "This guy has a problem with his mind, choose carefully. ".

For a destined quasi-championship like Sampson, the appearance of such a word means that he has no confidence in his future.

In the eyes of scouts, in the articles of observers, Sampson is the ruler of the next era.

Louis cautiously gave him a "future unpredictable" conclusion.

Just like the sensation Sampson has brought and the impact he has brought to the NBA, many teams are coveting him, but in the current climate, few players will leave school in their freshman and sophomore years to enter professional basketball. .

Therefore, players always have time to hone their skills and get stronger before entering professional basketball.

Sampson is a peerless jade that needs to be polished, but the university has not polished his soil.

Virginia also has no tradition of producing great centers.

Even if there is, it may not necessarily be cultivated.

Because he's not like those centers in history.

Everyone says Sampson can play five positions, including Virginia's coach, but no one really wants him to play outside the paint. That kind of thinking is outrageous.He's taller than all the supercenters in history, but faster than them all. He's probably just inferior to Chamberlain in bounce, and has skills they don't have. Everyone wants him to be a combination of Chamberlain, Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Some guard tips.But he's still a center.

Kevin Garnett in his day could only be the Garnett that fans were familiar with, and in the '10s, he was just another Greek monster -- and there's reason to think he'd be stronger than that.

Sampson is a unicorn ahead of his time like Garnett.

Except for Louie, no one in this generation knows what path he should take. If he stays in college and goes to the NBA after his junior and senior year, he will waste precious two or three years, and then join a high probability. A bottom-record team longing for him to be their savior.That kind of team can't train people, they will only give you the ball, and then life or death, his mission is to lead them out of the quagmire, and he can't do it, because he can't even find his own position.

Thinking of this section, even if Louis didn't know the NBA in the 80s, he knew why Sampson was such a proud man, why he had never heard of it before he crossed.

Even if this person is not the kind of talent that Oden was ruined by injuries, it is very likely that he disappeared for various reasons after a brief bloom of talent.

"It seems that you have a lot of harvest today!"

After the game, McMahon was very happy, happy that there is such a talent in the world.

He looked at Louie, "I noticed that the pen in your hand never stopped."

"No way, Ralph's talent is so dazzling." Louis was telling the truth, but it was against his heart.

McMahon laughed with a fat quiver all over his face.

He was very fortunate, "Unfortunately, you definitely won't get him."

"It doesn't matter, it's an honor for all of us to meet such a player who is ahead of his time."

McMahon asked Louis to have dinner at a nearby restaurant, and Louis agreed.

In fact, in his heart, there is still a word to say.

And this is an important basis for him not to be optimistic about Sampson's future. In this world where no one can show the way for Sampson except him, is there any difference between surpassing the times and falling behind the times?

The philosophers and scientists who were burned to death in the Middle Ages were also beyond their time.

(End of this chapter)