Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 96 Is This Also Called Trial Training?
Although it was only afternoon tea, the two parties had a great time. After dinner, Pritchard cordially invited Ye Feng to go to the Blazers for trial training.After a brief discussion with his agent, Ye Feng decided to follow Pritchard back to Portland the next day. After all, the general manager of an NBA team condescended to personally invite a player who had never played an official NBA game. As a rookie, no matter how reserved you are, you will seem a little ignorant.Duffy is very clear about the reason why Ye Feng did this, but he feels very relieved that such a polite player is his ideal partner. In Ye Feng, he sees the humility and respect that other young geniuses lack.

After making an appointment with Ye Feng to meet at the airport the next day, Pritchard hurriedly took a taxi back to the hotel.Watching the taxi rushing into Los Angeles, Duffy was silent for a while, looked at the tall and handsome young man beside him, and asked in a low voice: "Ye, is it too early to leave for Portland tomorrow? It will let the teams ahead of the Trail Blazers in the draft be aware of their intentions." Ye Feng shook his head and said, "You have to give them a face. The general manager has come to the door in person. I can't justify not being active. If it is for other players If the team is trying to scare the snake, then let them be surprised. No matter how strong a rookie is, there is a certain price. And..." He grinned, "I also want to meet the rumored young talents of the City of Roses and the Trail Blazers Woolen cloth."

The flight was at 07:30 the next morning local time. After communicating with Pritchard, Duffy quickly booked tickets for the same flight for himself and Ye Feng.The straight-line distance from Los Angeles to Portland is more than 1300 kilometers, and it takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to fly, but basically only Alaska Airlines has opened this route.Ye Feng didn't have any luggage to pack if he just went to the trial training. In fact, he specially prepared a suitcase for himself, which contained his jersey, protective gear, sneakers and other miscellaneous things. Just pick up this box and you're done.

On the way to Portland, Pritchard was very interested in talking. He wanted to know what kind of team the Blazers were in Ye Feng's mind.Although he was just chatting, Ye Feng didn't dare to be perfunctory, who knows if this will suddenly become a part of the interview?Caution and respect for facts are paramount.He sorted out his thoughts and said slowly: "Mr. Pritchard, with all due respect, the Trail Blazers have not had a very good record in the past few seasons. The last time they won 50 wins was back to Pippen and Roar." Tianzun' led the 02-03 season. However, the growth of Roy and Aldridge in these two seasons is quite amazing, and their future is limitless. Coupled with Oden who is about to return from injury, I am here to congratulate your team in advance The cornerstone of the team's resurgence."

Pritchard took a deep look at him and said: "Our whole team is quite young, especially our starting lineup. But I don't think they have enough talent. Since Ainge bought Garnett and Ah After Len, the Celtics formed a Big Three lineup that dreamed of going back to the 80s, and if they win the championship this season, it will inevitably cause more teams to follow them. My idea is simple, I don’t like it like Ainge Traded superstars who are in their prime from other teams to assist the original leaders of my team. I would rather cultivate such a combination by myself. Fortunately, my boss has the same idea as me. You know, he's not short of money, and he has plenty of time to wait for his young talents to grow up."

During the chat between the two, an hour and a half quickly passed, and the plane landed steadily on the tarmac of Portland International Airport.After picking up the luggage, the Trail Blazers' business car was already waiting outside the airport. After waiting for all three people to get on the car, the black Chevrolet bullet headed towards the Rose Garden Arena.The Rose Garden Arena was officially put into use in the autumn of 1995. As a basketball hall, it can accommodate 19980 spectators. A total of 650 TV sets are installed in the arena to facilitate fans to keep track of the progress of the game.The middle floor of the arena consists of 70 luxurious suites, each of which can accommodate 22 people.A set of special sound control equipment is hung on the top of the arena. When a game is held, the device can reflect the noise from the audience back into the arena to create a more enthusiastic atmosphere; The angle of the upper reflector can absorb excess noise and ensure that the sound is transmitted in the venue with the best effect.The overall design of the arena is outstanding, integrating luxurious facilities and high-tech equipment.In addition to the Trail Blazers, it is also the home of the WHL (Western Hockey League) Portland Winterhawks.

After getting out of the car, Ye Feng was not only stunned by the battle set up by the Blazers, even the well-informed Duffy was dumbfounded.Pritchard stepped forward to introduce the people on his side one by one: "This is the team's head coach Nate McMillan, who was the captain of the Seattle SuperSonics. He sent 25 times in a single game in his rookie season. Assist, the No. 10 jersey has been retired by the Sonics. This is the twin star of our team, a young man with both strength and talent, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, you are all young , we can communicate more. And this one,” he pointed to a middle-aged man wearing glasses and smiling, “the owner of our team, the original partner of Bill Gates, No. 2006 in the [-] Forbes list Six, Paul Allen, the owner of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL, happened to come to Portland today for inspection. He heard that you were coming, and he also wanted to meet you, a potential rookie whom we admire. "

Ye Feng greeted each other one by one, and he felt his face was going to stiffen from laughing.At least the Blazers surpassed the Timberwolves by a large margin in terms of ostentation. Maybe it was really like what Pritchard said, they were determined to bring me back to Portland during the draft, Ye Feng thought to himself.Indeed, for a rookie who is difficult to be selected in the top three, such a welcoming lineup is already too large. It would be an understatement to say that he is flattered. Words such as sincerity and fear must be used to describe Ye Feng. The mood of the lowest-status person in the audience.

After a few pleasantries, the trial training soon began.However, Ye Feng felt very strange. Compared with the meticulous tests of the Timberwolves, the Blazers' physical test was like a formality. He didn't know that Pritchard had obtained the Timberwolves' physical test report through his own channel. , and the team only needs to confirm a few of the more critical data, and those things like height and wingspan can be saved if they can be saved. That's why Ye Feng felt that the Blazers' test was a bit of a show.What surprised Ye Feng was that the Blazers didn't even have a lot of non-confrontation tests. According to McMillan, "We need to see your off-ball ability in confrontation."

Ye Feng does not resist the confrontation test of running off the ball and catching and shooting, because this is also one of his strengths. There is a Westbrook who needs a lot of ball holding in the UCLA school team. Anyone who plays with him Players have developed the ability to run without the ball with one hand.However, this test was not decided by McMillan, he was well aware of Ye Feng's ability, and it was Roy who made the suggestion.Roy himself is a combo guard who is good at both with and without the ball. He is indeed a selfless player, but obviously he prefers to hold the ball in terms of tactical system. There is a certain level of catch and shoot.When Roy saw Ye Feng deftly avoiding various obstacles on the field, using the cover to catch the ball and accurately sending the ball into the basket, he, who has always been known for his maturity and prudence, couldn't help applauding. Come on, Ye Feng is indeed a good partner that countless ball-handling players dream of.

Seeing the splendor in the eyes of his ace player, McMillan smiled slightly. He knew a lot about Ye Feng. The reason why he asked Roy and Aldridge to watch Ye Feng's trial training this time as the head coach was mainly because In order to convince these two potential stars, especially Roy.As the team's starting power forward, Adelaide has almost no conflict with Ye Feng in his style of play, but Roy is different. He has already received unanimous praise from people in the circle and is considered to be the next team for the Blazers. The core, not to mention being a combo guard, to a certain extent has conflicts with a swingman like Ye Feng in terms of possession and style of play.As long as Ye Feng's performance conquers Roy, it is equivalent to conquering the entire Blazers.Obviously, Ye Feng has already done it.

Paul Allen was also sitting on the sidelines in casual clothes, nodding slightly while watching Ye Feng's various catches and shots.As a team owner, he has long known the goals of Pritchard and McMillan in this year's draft, but he has been cautious about this selection.It's not that he doesn't like Chinese people, nor does he discriminate against Asian players, it's just that he's not used to agreeing to his decisions without personally confirming them.Although he is very gentle in the team and takes care of the players and staff a lot, in the final analysis he is a businessman, and he is still a successful businessman. The nature of a businessman is still deeply buried in his bone marrow. Owners who are no different from fanatics when it comes to basketball are rare in the entire NBA.

However, after seeing Ye Feng's performance and Roy's reaction, he finally understood why the team's general manager and head coach praised such a yellow-skinned Asian swingman. The strongest third position, not even one, a team with enough talent in the backcourt and inside, choosing a wing with outstanding talent is a matter that does not need to be considered at all, just like the current Trail Blazers .

(End of this chapter)