stadium ambition

Chapter 48 Unexpected Recruitment
The Drew League was established very early. Su Yang remembers that it can be traced back to the 70s. At the beginning, it was held on a small scale, with only six teams.

Compared with streetball meccas such as Rock Park and Willis Beach, the Drew League is unique in that it does not play foul language music, refuses entry to people with gang backgrounds, strictly regulates viewing order, and treats big-name stars equally.

With the accumulation of time, the Drew League has attracted more and more attention. Since Baron Davis participated, it has become completely popular, and more NBA-level players have participated in it later.

Local high school players in California often form teams to participate in the Drew League every summer after the summer vacation, such as DeRozan, who participated in high school and college, and continued to participate in the NBA later.

Now that Westbrook has invited him to form a team, Su Yang thinks it's totally fine.

The key is to compete with active NBA players in advance, and that scene is quite looking forward to.

"I'll join." Su Yang nodded. "At that time, we will fight for the championship together."

"I think so too." Westbrook looked a little excited. "I want to prove that I am also at the NBA level."

"You are at the NBA level, or even at the MVP level. There is no need to doubt it." Su Yang knew that Westbrook was still substituting for Collison at the moment, and his performance on the field was relatively poor. It seemed that he averaged less than 4 points per game. The national ranking of 137 in high school did not enter the major draft prediction lists at all, and he had to wait until the match against OJ Mayo to attract attention.

"Thank you for the compliment. I heard from James that you are growing and improving very fast." Westbrook turned his head with his hips on his hips and looked at Su Yang seriously. "Before he was singled out, he felt that you were the kind of player with high IQ but average skills, but after playing against you a few days ago, I felt that you have become a difficult player to deal with. Do you have any special training methods? ?”

"I train very intensively. Have you ever heard of Kobe's 666 training method?" Su Yang began to tell.

Westbrook nodded while listening, and finally patted his chest smugly: "I also increase the intensity of training."

The two chatted for a while, Harden also retreated from the court, and Su Yang took the initiative to talk about learning foul-making skills.

"The technique is very simple. First, you must have a strong enough shooting threat. Second, you must have a strong core and arm strength to ensure that you will not lose the ball easily. The last is to read the habits of defenders." Harden raised his finger to his head. "The most difficult thing is to read the habits of defenders. That is a talent. I can't tell you how to do it."

Su Yang nodded, thinking that there is another point that should be thick-skinned, which is not something ordinary people can learn.

"Exactly, let me tell you about your secret of using the starting foot to take off with force." Harden looked expectant.

"It's also very simple. You pay attention to your two feet. The core is to be ready to jump at any time." Su Yang showed in slow motion.

Harden nodded again and again after reading it: "It turns out that it is like this. There is also an auxiliary foot for quick support. I learned it."

"What are you guys talking about?" Westbrook was confused.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and all the players on both sides appeared on the stage, showing that the game was over.

Harper clapped his hands to gather everyone around, and took a data sheet from his assistant.

"OK, let me talk about the problems you showed just now, let me talk about you first..." Harper raised his finger to Harden, "You need to strengthen your right-handed offensive training, otherwise it will be easy to be locked in the offensive line. "

"Of course, you were not restricted just now. That's because the defensive intensity in this game is not strong enough, and the defender is much worse than the physical condition. You have to strengthen your physical confrontation. Don't always think about playing tricks. Remember Living."

Harden bowed his head in silence for a moment, then looked up at Harper: "Why? It would be easier that way."

After saying this, all the players and staff looked at Harden one after another, showing various expressions one after another.

Most of them are surprised. After all, Harper is also a celebrity and rarely encounters public doubts.

Su Yang secretly thought that Harden really had character, if he had been himself just now, he would have chosen to remain silent even if he disagreed.

"Honestly, it's hard for me to tell you why." Harper smiled. "But time will tell, just like Michael Jordan didn't understand why he gave up some of the ball and why he wanted to trade away the players he liked."

Harden stopped chewing, and Harper turned his head to look at Westbrook: "You need to learn to slow down, learn to control your emotions, and then gradually learn more skills. At the same time, you must continue to maintain shooting training. It is best to find a suitable way of shooting. .”

"Okay, sir, thank you for your valuable suggestion." Westbrook nodded, like a well-behaved kid next door.

Harper pointed to DeRozan: "You have good post-up skills, which is very rare among high school students, but you need to reduce the number of unnecessary dunks and increase your long-range shooting ability through training, otherwise you will easily fall into a bottleneck."

DeRozan nodded silently, and Harper continued to point out the problems of Horn, Gabe, Nick Young, Love, Mbah a Moute and others. After a long circle, he finally set his sights on Su Yang, and deliberately glanced at him. I glanced twice.

"Your name is Su Yang, right? I've heard David talk about you several times, saying that you train hard enough to be comparable to some players in the NBA. He specifically asked me to give you some personal advice this time, but after watching you After the performance..."

Harper paused, Su Yang's curiosity was aroused, and other people who didn't care at first also turned their heads to watch.

"To be honest, I didn't find any problems, you are good enough now." Harper seemed a little tangled.

Su Yang was puzzled, why he was so entangled in saying that there is no problem, is it a bit annoying because he can't find the problem?
"Continue to work hard and maintain the current state." Harper seemed unwilling to say more, and skipped it hastily.

It is not easy to ask questions about this matter, pointing out the problem will soon end, and there will be 5 minutes for a break.

Su Yang walked to the sidelines and sat down, thinking why Harper said that. Could it be that he is really a perfect player?
But that's obviously impossible. After thinking about it, I gradually recalled the reporter's comment and the anonymous scouting report in the "Los Angeles Times", which seemed to be closer to Harper's opinion.

In other words, the potential is relatively low, and it has now reached the most powerful level that can be achieved.

That's why I say there is no problem. After all, where the physical condition is, the expectation itself is very low.

Just like an ordinary passer-by, it cannot be said that he cannot prevent O'Neal's back hit because of lack of skills and training.

Thinking of these, Su Yang suddenly became enlightened.

At most, it is a stereotyped image. I can't prove it now, so I don't need to worry about it.

In a blink of an eye, the rest is over.

According to Harper's instructions, all the players sat down near the center line, and the scene entered the questioning session.

Ordinarily, there is no need to ask questions, but this is an important part of enhancing the trust of mentors and students. Every training camp will have it. Even Jordan will answer some gossip questions in the training camp, such as his North Carolina mentor Dean Smith and the Bulls. Coach Phil Jackson who is better, Jordan bluntly said that Dean Smith is better, thinking that Phil Jackson is just lucky.

Harper didn't take the microphone, stood directly facing the players, and raised his hand to ask questions at will.

Horn was the first to raise his hand: "You were teammates with both Jordan and Kobe. If they were singled out, who would win?"

After the words fell, the players let out a slightly contemptuous laugh, as if they thought this question was very vulgar.

But including Su Yang, all craned their necks to look at Harper, waiting for his answer.

"If you play now, Kobe will win. If you are in your prime, then Michael will win." Harper chuckled. "But Michael won't win too much. If he plays a hundred balls, he will probably win three to four. The main reason is that Michael is physically stronger."

Hearing such an answer, many players were relieved, as if they met their expectations.

Harden frowned slightly, as if he didn't agree with the answer, after all, he was Super Kemi.

Horn raised his hand: "Many people recently said that Shaquille O'Neal benefited from Kobe's three championships at the beginning of the century. Even with other shooting guards, the Lakers can also win three consecutive championships. What do you think?"

Harper smiled and scratched his head: "Your question is really interesting, what do you think?"

"I don't think so. O'Neal's data is indeed better, but the main reason is that he has not encountered a strong opponent in the finals for three consecutive years, and Kobe always faces high-level outside players, so his personal data will naturally be affected."

"If you want to make such an argument, then you need to find O'Neal's data when facing a strong defense, especially the one with poor performance, preferably more than once, can fully prove it, can you find it?" Harper asked.

Horn immediately replied: "Of course, for example, in the 00-01 season, when the Lakers played against the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, Kobe averaged 33.3 points per game, while O'Neal averaged 27 points per game, and in the previous round against the Kings, Kobe averaged 35 points per game, O'Neal averaged 33 points."

"Even including against the Rockets in the 03-04 season, the rookie Yao Ming made O'Neal very uncomfortable, so there are enough data to prove that O'Neal's performance is far worse than in the finals in the face of the western meat grinder, and Kobe's performance is even better."

Hearing what he said, many players looked thoughtful, and Harden looked very excited.

Su Yang feels ashamed, this is the real science honey, even Kobe's data is so clearly remembered.

Harper smiled on his hips: "Then you should have your own answer now, and you don't need to pay attention to what other people say, right?"

Horn nodded again and again, Harden reached out to give him a high five, and DeRozan also clenched his fist from a distance.

Su Yang also thought about this. In all fairness, it was the first time the Lakers won three consecutive championships in the new century. O'Neal was indeed the absolute core, and his statistics far surpassed Kobe's.

And the Lakers won the championship for the second and third times. Kobe and O'Neal must be on equal footing. Kobe contributed more in the Western Conference rounds, especially against the Spurs. A few handfuls of black.

Other players asked questions, mostly gossip, and none of them involved Harper.

The smile on Harper's face gradually disappeared, not because he was angry, but because he was not so happy.

After all, the training camp was held in his own name, so it was a bit unreasonable to keep asking other people about things.

"There is one last question, something you can directly relate to me."

Most of the players were a little confused when they heard this, and the arena became quiet. Su Yang saw the opportunity and raised his hand.

"When Michael Jordan retired for the first time, the Bulls chose you as his successor, but your personal scoring average dropped from 20 to 6.9 per game. Later, you gradually changed your style of play, and even changed to the point guard position. How did you complete the psychological change? ?”

Su Yang really wants to ask this, because he is worried that after he has worked hard to enter the NBA, he will lose his main position. If he sits on the bench all the time, he can only play in garbage time. His status will change too much at once, which may be unacceptable.

Harper was silent for a while: "It may be difficult for others to accept, but I think it's okay."

"My only goal is to win. When I was in college, I still engraved words on my sneakers to remind myself to focus on defense and dunks. Being able to average 20 points per game in the Cavaliers and Clippers is an extra reward from God."

"So even if this reward is withdrawn, I can accept it calmly."

Su Yang nodded to express his understanding, but he didn't fully agree with it in his heart, and Harper's score dropped sharply. Apart from the impact of injuries, the main reason was that Phil Jackson didn't give Harper the same boss status in the Cavaliers and Clippers. .

If you encounter this kind of thing yourself, you will definitely not accept it, and you must seek a deal.

...

The first day of training came to an end, and Su Yang returned to his residence by bicycle.

After dinner, I entered the room, turned on the computer to send and receive emails, and the phone rang.

"Hi, I'm Rodney Gillely, and I've been to your immediate boss, Rudy, and now I have an opportunity for you to play with the No. [-] high school student in the United States. Are you ready? "

(End of this chapter)