field coach

Chapter 5 The Bead
Time passed quickly. In the day-to-day training, the draft meeting arrived in no time.

Although this year is not a super draft year like 1984, many top stars have emerged, including "the god of basketball" Jordan, the "big dream" Olajuwon who is the head of the four major centers, John Stockton, one of the "Utah Shuangsha" who has the first assists and steals in history and has a long standby time.

However, this year there is the arrival of the most dominant inside behemoth in NBA history-"Shaquille" Shaquille O'Neal.

On June 6th, Michael DeWeese followed the old DeWeese to Portland early, and this year's draft will be held here.

The Magic holds the No. [-] lottery. Everyone knows that the Magic wants to choose that strong big man, and the Magic have never shied away from this point. They tell others bluntly, we want O'Neal!

Looking at the players in the small green room, Michael DeWeese knows that this year not only has top stars like O'Neal and Mourning, but also many powerful stars, such as Laettner, Gugliotta, Lafonso Ellis and the like. It is an out-and-out draft year.

Soon, the draft officially began. Of course, when Stern took the stage, the audience still booed. Stern smiled and didn't care.He held the envelope given to him by the magic in his hand, opened it and looked at it.

"In the first round of the 1992 NBA draft, the Orlando Magic selected talented center Shaquille O'Neal from LSU."

O'Neill had already prepared to come on stage, and the staff next to him handed him a Magic team hat, which he took and put on.

He stood in front of the table, his huge body seemed to hold two Sterns.After shaking his hand, Stern motioned for him to give a speech.O'Neill looked at the crowd in the audience with a signature smile on his face.

"Thanks to the Magic, thanks to my parents, and thanks to my teammates in Louisiana."
"Wow~~" There was applause and cheers from the audience. Everyone was extremely optimistic about the prospects of this big man. His talent was truly historical.

After O'Neal stepped down, the draft continued.

"The Charlotte Hornets have five minutes to pick their rookie."

The second pick is actually not much suspense. For a team as young as the Magic like the Hornets, what they need is the cornerstone of the team with the highest potential.And this year's draft, if there is no O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning is the undoubted No. [-] pick.

"The Charlotte Hornets selected Alonzo Mourning from Georgetown with the second pick in the first round of the 1992 NBA Draft."

"The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Christian Laettner from Duke University with the third pick in the first round of the 1992 NBA Draft."

Christian Laettner is a talented player at Duke University. During his college days, he led the Duke Blue Devils to win the NCAA championship for two consecutive years in 1991-92.

He beat the University of Kentucky in one second in the NCAA finals last year and won the MOP of the Final Four.This year he led the Duke Blue Devils to defend the NCAA championship.

He also won all the best awards including the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award.He is also the only college player on the U.S. national team's "Dream Team" roster for this summer's Olympics in Barcelona.

The Dallas Mavericks selected Jim Jackson with the fourth overall pick, and he was also a 25+ strong scorer at his peak.

The Denver Nuggets selected Rafonso Ellis with the fifth overall pick.

The Washington Bullets selected Tom Gugliotta with the sixth pick.

The Houston Rockets selected Robert Horry with the 11th overall pick.

After the Seattle SuperSonics drafted Doug Christie with the 17th pick, Stern took the stage for the 18th pick.

"San Antonio Spurs, select Latrell Sprewell from Alabama Crimson Tide"

That's right, the person Davis wants to select is the biggest legacy of the 92 draft, the so-called "madman" Latrell Sprewell.

Stern then announced that Sprewell had been traded to the Orlando Magic.

Before Sprewell even put on the Spurs hat, he got the news that he was traded in a daze.

Seeing this, Michael DeWeese leaned back in his chair contentedly.

"Mike, are you so optimistic about him?" Seeing Michael Davis relaxed, the old Davis couldn't help asking doubtfully, "It's worth our exchange with Anthony Powe."

"Don't worry, Dad, he won't let you down."

Because of the choice of Madman, Letrio Green, who was originally selected with the 12th overall pick in the second round of history, does not need to be selected.There is no need to trade the second-round pick from the Bulls. As for who the Bulls will choose in the second round, who cares?

After the draft, Michael DeWeese closed his eyes and meditated on the plane back to Orlando.

The Magic's roster for this season is:
Centers: Shaquille O'Neal, Terry Catledge, Stanley Roberts

Power forwards: Jeff Turner, Tom Tolbot, Mark Ackles
Small Forwards: Dennis Scott, Donald Loyer, Bisson Dele
Shooting Guard: Nick Anderson, Latrell Sprewell, Greg Kite
Point guards: Scott Skiles, Chris Colciani

Michael DeWeese thought about it for a while and felt that the main reinforcements should be the position of point guard and power forward.

As the league's single-game assist record holder, Skiles can secure the position of the main point guard. If I remember correctly, the Magic will trade for Steve Cole next season, but Cole was not comfortable playing in the Magic and left after only one season.

The power forward positions are all soy sauce positions, and Michael DeWeese feels that it is necessary to reinforce a main power forward.

O'Neal played 81 games in his rookie season, basically close to full attendance, with Stanley Roberts and Greg Kate fully enough.

After the end of the season, Jerry Reynolds and Sam Vincent retired, including those whose contracts expired. The Magic still have a lot of room to operate.

"Backup point guard, main power forward, Cole is a good choice, so who can the power forward choose?" Michael DeWeese thought secretly.

Michael DeWeese's eyes suddenly lit up, and he sat up from his seat suddenly. "That's him!"

"If he can be brought in, the Magic will have the strength to hit the playoffs immediately! But it seems that it is not the time now, and there should be a chance in October. Now let's get Cole here. Although he is just an ordinary spot-up shooter, he is still trustworthy with a three-pointer. And there is no very good choice for the point guard position now, after all, it is just a substitute position."

Michael DeWeese walked over to the old DeWeese seat and sat down.

"What's the matter Mike? What's the matter?" Michael DeWeese's performance recently impressed the old DeWeese. His son has made such great progress, and he is more obedient to Michael DeWeese.

"We need some reinforcement. I think Steve Kerr is good." As for another person, the main power forward candidate, Michael DeWeese decided to go to him in person.

"Cole? Will the knight let him go?"

"Cole doesn't have much playing time in the Cavaliers, so he should be able to win easily. Except for Shaquille, Dennis, Scott, Nick and Latrell in our lineup, all others can be used as trading chips. I plan to use them as the main lineup next season, with Shaquille as the core and Latrell as the sixth man. I think it will have a good effect."

"Sounds good, but you don't want all the power forwards?"

"I have a good candidate here. But it depends on whether he is willing to come. If not, it is useless even if you let him come. I will go to Orlando and find him myself."

"Oh?" Old DeWeese became interested, "Are you sure?"

"Fifty percent sure."

"Then go and try."

After getting off the plane, Michael DeWeese went directly to the training hall. He didn't want to delay every day of training. When he stepped into the NBA, he was going to shock everyone.

After the warm-up, Michael DeWeese began to do shooting practice. He first shot 1000 three-pointers and 500 mid-range shots from random positions, and then began to do ball control training. After the technical training, Michael DeWeese went to the gym again.

After all the training sessions were finished, it was already past 11 o'clock in the middle of the night. Michael DeWeese took a shower and drove back to his residence.

The days passed day by day, and Michael DeWeese sweated in the training hall every day, rain or shine.

Michael DeWeese found that his body adaptability is very good, including the shooting touch and body flexibility are very satisfying to him, and the three-point shooting ability that he likes the most is also increasing to a degree visible to the naked eye.

In a blink of an eye, it was August.

On this day, Michael DeWeese came to the training hall as usual, but found that the training hall was already occupied.

"Who came back to gather so early?" Michael Davis walked into the training ground in wonder and found that it was Dennis Scott.

Jia Wei, who was on the side, came over and introduced the two of them.

"Dennis, this is the owner's son, Michael DeWeese."

"Hello, Michael."

"Michael, this is our team's main small forward, Dennis Scott."

"Hi Dennis, nice to meet you."

After communicating, with Jia Wei acting as the glue in the middle, the two quickly became familiar with each other.

Dennis Scott throws the ball in his hand, and the basketball draws a beautiful arc and enters the frame hollowly.

Michael DeWeese also took a basketball casually, and he was also in a similar position to Scott, taking off, shooting, and hollowing into the frame.

Scott's eyes lit up, he has a unique hobby for three-pointers, but the current league is still dominated by inside singles and mid-range shots, so although he set a record for three-pointers in his rookie season, he did not attract much attention.

Seeing DeWeese like a robot, take off, shoot, take off, shoot, take off in another position, shoot, Scott's eyes are getting brighter.

(End of this chapter)