the rest, only noise

Chapter 776
Louie's speech was powerful.

Although some teams do not want their own players to play for the national team during the offseason, in this case, they cannot be tolerated.

Because Louis expressed his position on behalf of the Knicks, he will fully support the formation of the Dream Team.

If necessary, the entire Knicks team can represent the United States, provided that other stars in the league will not object.

Since 1987, the Knicks have played five consecutive seasons until at least May. What other teams can say?

The resolution to allow American professional players to participate in international competitions was passed unanimously.

The next thing is about the formation of the dream team.

Although professional players are allowed to join the team, a certain position is also reserved for college basketball.

Selection committee members representing college basketball want a 50-[-] mix of pros and [-] percent collegiate players.

"Pfft~~"

Louie laughed out loud.

"Coach Lu, what's so funny about that?" asked Leighton Nottingson of the selection committee.

"Actually, I have drawn up a list of players who are eligible to be selected for the Dream Team before I came here." Louis took out a stack of documents from the document bag he carried with him, "I just took a few copies, please have a look."

"Here's the guy I think is eligible to be on the Dream Team."

The list of candidates for the dream team drafted by Louis was passed on to everyone.

Benjamin Wilson, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Reggie Miller, Dennis Rodman, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, Isiah Thomas, Ralph Sampson, Larry Bird, Tragedian, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, Charles Barkley, Danny Manning, Hank Geithers, Karl Malone, Akeem after naturalization Olajuwon, Dale Ellis.

This is a 20-man roster.

When Nottingson saw the people on the list, his face suddenly collapsed.

Originally, his bottom line was to make the dream team have at least three college spots, but look at the names on it.
"Coach Lu, what's your opinion?" Nottingson asked in a low voice.

"Since it's a fantasy team, there shouldn't be too many young student players. I know college basketball is the future of the league, but it's about national honor, so we should select the best players to participate. As for college students, I think there should be at most one place for them."

After that, they began to discuss the list that Louis had brought out.

Although it is not complete enough, it has indeed included all the players who are eligible to be selected for the dream team.

Except for the college student who hadn't made a conclusion yet, the rest of the candidates were already on this list.

Representatives of various clubs began to discuss.

First of all, they have to determine the top six players of this dream team.

The process is not difficult.

Before the players themselves agreed, the league took the lead in finalizing the six core members.

They are Tragedy Division, Sampson, Jordan, Bird, Wilson, Ewing.

Then, they start talking about the head coach.

In the initial conception, the coach who will lead this team should come from a university, and he should be a famous academic coach with profound tactical literacy and the ability to suppress the personality of a star.

For a long time, this was a matter of course.

Coach K's voice is very high.

Louie was silent, he waited.

Later, Jack Kruger, the top executive of Madison Square Garden, asked loudly: "Who stipulates that the coach of the dream team must find a college coach? Can't professional coaches? I mean, don't you really think that the coaches who are really qualified to lead this team are in the NBA?"

Jerry West reacted instantly: "What do you mean?"

"If it's a fantasy team, then it shouldn't just have the fantasy roster, it should have the best coach. Once we get into that, I don't think anyone is going to be the best with Messiah on the floor."

Messiah, a secondary nickname that only lives in Louis's news and personal feature articles.

In the summer of 1984, he came to New York from Boston and was ridiculed by countless people.

Bob Ryan says he buried his career for money.

The New York media, with which he had a bad relationship, sarcastically called him the Messiah, but no one expected him to make a difference.

But a few years later, the word Messiah changed from a joking and ironic meaning to a sacred one, and was quoted by sports writers and commentators in New York.

Louie's stature in New York sports circles is so high that anyone calling him "Little Lu" would be criticized.

"Coach Lu, what do you think?" Lewis Shafier, Louis' loyal dog, asked cooperatively.

Louie knew the matter would not be decided in a day.

Since they are all recognized as the best head coaches in active service, shouldn't they be a bit airy?

"I think this matter should be considered in the long term." Louis said with a faint smile, "I have no plan to coach the Dream Team, but who knows what will happen in the future?"

※※※

At the end of the annual meeting, Kruger asked Louis: "Why don't you make a statement on the spot?"

Louie wanted to run for the head coach of the Dream Team, only Jack Kruger knew, which is why they came to the annual meeting.

Otherwise, at the level of the annual meeting, they are not interested in getting involved.

"There is a saying in China called 'playing hard to get'." Louie explained, "If you want to get something, you should act casually on purpose to make him let his guard down, and then catch him."

Kruger smiled and asked: "So, this is your strategy?"

"It can't be counted. I just suddenly felt that the head coach of the dream team is not that interesting, so don't worry. I don't want to ask them to let me be the coach of this team." Louis said lightly, "Of course, if they come to ask me, I will think about it."

Kruger laughed out loud.

"That's right, what a dream team, without you, this team can't be called a dream team. If the final head coach is not you, we can make Benj and Patrick refuse to participate." Krueger's words sound extremely politically correct.

Louie gestured to his immediate superior to be cautious.

Louis and Kruger have worked together for six years and have a tacit understanding between them.Kruger's importance to Louie grew day by day.

Before Louie arrived, the Knicks were a moneymaking asset with little reputation.

After Louis came, the Knicks have undergone tremendous changes.

Their branding in New York, the team's market capitalization, the advertisers attracted by team performance and superstars can be ranked from MSG to Central Park.

Kruger wouldn't even look at this kind of business of kneeling and giving away money if it wasn't for a big brand.

And such a commercial effect originally belonged to the Yankees, the Capitals, and the Islanders during the dynasty.

Now the Knicks are as popular as they are.

While the rest of New York City's sports clubs are at their bottom, only the Knicks are at their peak, and their peak seems to have no end in sight.

A flood of new fans embraced the team as city pride.

Kruger, who has been the top executive of the Madison Square Garden Company for six years, has experienced this change the most.He and Louie went to New York together, and witnessed Knicks transform from a joke to a totem that everyone loves.

Therefore, it is only natural that he and Louis have a good relationship.

Kruger didn't understand professional sports, Louie understood, and there was no conflict of interest between them.The better the performance of the Knicks, the more face they have at the top. This mutual benefit and win-win relationship will be fed back to personal relationships.

This is why Trueger will personally give Louis a platform next year.

The NBA's lifting of the ban on local players quickly spread throughout the United States through the media.

"Sports Illustrated" quoted Louie's words, calling the new American men's basketball team the dream team.

In 1991, participating in the national team was an elusive wish for many players.

Because professional players are prohibited from participating, if they want to win honor for the country, they have to stand out in their student days, and then they may be selected for the training team, and then selected for the national team after fierce competition.

The famous Celtics and historical iron king John Havlicchik regards missing the national team as one of the greatest regrets in his life.

A professional league will undoubtedly make players consider the potential risks of participating in the national team.

But after the news spread, the tragedian Johnson immediately expressed his desire to fight for the country.

This made the selection committee heave a sigh of relief. As long as there is a tragedy teacher to start this, the subsequent work will be much easier.

Louis can let go of the dream team for the time being.

Before deciding who to coach, they first have to convince big-name stars to join the Dream Team.

The tragedian had made a good start for them.

Louis himself will focus on the 1991 draft.

Except for Yu Tiancan who confirmed that he wanted to stay in school, several other Chinese players who competed in the NCAA also chose to stay in school.

In his third season at Syracuse University, Hu Weidong successfully established himself as the main force, averaging 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game.In this year's draft where there are many talents, his market is only at the beginning of the second round, so it's better to stay in school for another year and wait until his body and skills are more mature before coming out.

As for UCLA's Liu Yuqing, he has not been reused in UCLA, which is full of talents.

With a height of 2 meters, he is sometimes pushed to the fourth position.But he is a swingman, and he naturally didn't perform well when he was pushed to an unfamiliar position.

This also made Louis dissatisfied with UCLA's coaching staff, which was not what they said when they recruited.

Looking at UCLA's roster, it seems understandable for Liu Yuqing to play the fourth position.

They have several NBA prospects at the second and third spots, but Louie doesn't think they're better than Liu Yuqing.

Just hope he can get more chances after main players like Gerald Madkins SG graduate.

If Liu Yuqing still doesn't get a better tactical status in her sophomore season, she might as well just participate in the draft.

After all, Liu Yuqing was the number one shooting guard in the United States in his class. No matter how fierce the competition in the team is, he can't play the fourth position, right?

Chinese players with draft prospects do not participate in the draft. What Louis needs to worry about is the Knicks' selection this year and potential transactions.

Like the Celtics, after the failure of last season, they have no reason to keep the desperate Isiah Thomas.

But at the same time, they are not willing to cheap other teams.

Lewis Shafier of Miami made a special trip to speak with Lewis about the possibility of trading Thomas.

(End of this chapter)