beast basketball

Colangelo's phone call surprised Stephen. After all, he had heard that this guy didn't like him very much. Although he didn't know the exact reason, it didn't mean that Stephen would be able to forgive this guy.

As for the recent calls from fans to recruit him to the Dream Team, Stephen didn't know about it, because he didn't have time to pay attention to it, but this kind of call didn't just appear in the past few days. Such a cry.

At the beginning, some experts believed that Stephen's technical characteristics were very suitable for the dream team at that time. He had excellent perimeter defense and a stable outside shot. Occasionally a breakthrough could also play a role as a surprise player, but this It's just the opinions of a small number of people. The Basketball Association has never considered it when there is no shortage of manpower and the new generation of players are very willing to play for the country.

As Stephen's influence grew, in addition to these experts, more and more fans joined this camp, but it still failed to influence the decision of the American Basketball Association, because after all, Stephen was only a rookie with potential , Although there are not a lot of such players in the league, they are not in the minority, especially Stephen has many strong opponents in the position of swingman.

But it’s different now, Stephen has become an iconic player in this position, a player not inferior to LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, unlike before, just as a substitute for Prince or Bruce Bowen It is not the status to enter now.

Due to the different rules, the most obvious difference between playing in the league and playing in the FIBA ​​system is the breakthrough. Under the current rule system of the league, defensive breakthroughs cannot be defended with hands. Defensive players only need to be a little bit fierce with offensive players. If there is physical contact, a foul will be called, which will never happen in FIBA ​​games.

But the shooting is the same in any game, so when forming a new dream team, those players who can only break through are missing, and at the same time, Krzyzewski, a famous coach among college coaches, is hired to select players. First, you must sign a contract with the Basketball Association, and you must not withdraw at will. At the same time, you must obey tactical commands and arrangements.

In this way, the Dream Team has changed from being loose and casual before, and has become a cohesive and strong team. Different, but for the Americans, not winning the championship is a failure, and they have failed twice in a row.

Therefore, for this year's Summer Olympics, there is no absolute confidence from the basketball association to the fans. The halo of the dream team has basically become history. Now it does not require double-digit wins in each game, and it can win the game And it is enough to get to the final championship and win the championship, but even this goal is not so easy to achieve.

It doesn't matter whether Stephen's ability is what the team needs. In the national team, he certainly can't take half of the team's shots like he did with the Sonics. But his contribution is not just scoring. Like LeBron James Similarly, he can contribute to the team in any item, and this quadruple double is an obvious example.

Colangelo asked coach Krzyzewski, when LeBron James appears more in the fourth position, the team still has a relatively vacant position in the second and third positions, which can be used as the team's sixth man It exists and can also be used as an injury substitute for the second, third and fourth positions.

Moreover, Krzyzewski is more optimistic about Stephen's breakthrough ability. Stephen's breakthrough does not depend too much on the rules. From his fouls and free throws, it can be seen that there is still a certain gap between him and Wade. , and the score is much higher than them, which shows that most of his breakthroughs form scores, not fouls.

Colangelo is a very character and decisive person. After confirming the need to recruit Stephen into the team, he immediately made a decision, gave up his own prejudice, and put on airs to call Stephen. After realizing that Stephen's attitude was very cold, he didn't give up because of this, but tried to persuade him with patience.

"Please forgive us for not calling you before. On the one hand, you have not entered the league when this dream team was formed. The second reason is also because of my mistake. I always feel that you are just a rookie. After the training of the game, although the antagonism of this FIBA ​​game is not as good as the league game, but the tactical cooperation has reached another level of competition, but we underestimated your growth rate, you have already reached it The level of entry is just because we have signed contracts with existing players, and the number of places in the team is limited, we cannot call you into the national team."

"Michael Reed is unfortunately injured and unable to participate in the Summer Olympics held in Kyoto, China this summer. I don't know if you can replace Michael to play for the country. This is an honor, but also a responsibility. You I also know that the situation of our team in the international arena in recent years is not very good, and we need a strong player like you, what do you think?"

Colangelo said very sincerely, no matter what prejudice he has against Stephen in his heart, but as a half-politician in the sports world, such a performance is not a problem for him, he feels that he can impress young people like Stephen It shouldn't be a problem.

Like athletes from most countries, there is no income for playing for the country. Although the American Basketball Association is very rich, it may also reward the players in cash, and do the best in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation. Like athletes from other countries participating in the Olympic Games They will all settle in the Olympic Village, but after allowing professional players to participate in the Olympic Games, the USA Basketball Association has never allowed players to stay in the Olympic Village for a day. They always choose the most luxurious hotels in the area. In the last Olympic Games in Athens, they even included a A luxury yacht to live in, this point is not comparable to other projects of the US national team, so they are quite critical.

But this is something that can’t be helped. Athletes don’t benefit from playing for the country. This has already made many players, especially big-name players, unwilling to join the national team. If they suffer hardships in terms of basic necessities of life, they are willing to do so. You must know these people To say the least, the annual income is around tens of millions of dollars. How could they be willing to share dormitories with ordinary people.

But even so, the previous two Dream Teams were bleak compared to before. There were hardly any big-name players joining, either because they were hurt by excuses, or because they conflicted with their own business activities, and some simply because I didn’t want to. need to have a rest.

The current dream team is mainly composed of players from the [-] class. At the same time, the poor results in the past two years gave them a sense of honor that they are saving the country, just like the heroes in Hollywood movies. These players were attracted to join, but something unexpected happened to Colangelo.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jerry Colangelo, please forgive me for not being able to agree to your recruitment. Although it has always been my dream to play for the country, I am also very eager, but now I can't do it." Stephen's words were very calm, making Cron Ji Luo couldn't hear any emotion, but the meaning of rejection was very obvious.

"Oh, Stephen, are you complaining that we recruited you late? I have explained the reason to you before. You must know that not only we want you to play for the country, but the fans and the public also need you. You I didn’t look at our official website, the number of votes supporting you to join the national team is more than 30, I wonder if this can change your mind.” Colangelo’s slightly threatening words came from the microphone clearly, since He will not allow players to refuse when they are ready to be recruited. If they all refuse like this, who will join the national team? It’s okay for a player to offend himself or the National Basketball Association. Joining the dream team is a kind of pressure on myself, and it is also a kind of pressure on Stephen.

"I am very grateful and grateful to the fans for their support. I also want to play for my country, but it is too late. Regarding this matter, I will hold a press conference to explain to the fans. I also want to thank Jerry Mr. Colangelo's call, I'm sorry I'm going to take a shower." After finishing speaking, Stephen hung up the phone directly.

"Late? What do you mean?" Colangelo was attracted by Stephen's lateness, temporarily put aside Stephen's unhappiness of hanging up the phone, and began to think about what Stephen's lateness meant.

Under normal circumstances, the reason for the player's refusal is only an excuse, but it is not considered late, and a press conference is held to explain this matter, so at least it shows that this will be more important and bring decisiveness What the hell is it? Colangelo's eyes lit up, and he immediately thought of a possibility. It seems that this Stephen is going to play for other countries, and has already entered a substantial progress, so he directly rejected it. self.

Colangelo sat there thinking for a while, no matter which team Stephen goes to, in less than half a year, no matter which team he goes to, it is impossible to bring about huge changes, and Colangelo I don't think it can bring a threat to the US team, which team will I go to?Colangelo took over Stephen's profile and read it. Judging from his complexion, he should go to the Chinese team, but there is also the possibility of going to the Mexican team. However, the Mexican team seems to be unable to participate in the Olympic Games this summer, and he is eager to join The Mexican team is unreasonable, so it must be the Chinese team.

Even with Yao Ming and Stephen, the Chinese team would not be able to pose a threat to the US team. Colangelo smiled. At this moment, he suddenly thought of a possibility, and immediately jumped up from the chair.