vertical and horizontal point guard

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Before the Draft

After the game, it quickly sparked heated discussions among media people across the United States. Numerous well-known media followed up and reported on the game, robbing the freshest news.

The Washington Post "The Neverending Game"

Florida Sentinel "A Difficult Road to the Strong"

…………

Under the huge bombardment of the media, Li Shihao was lucky to become popular and successfully became the darling in the eyes of the media. He led the team to a comeback and successfully defeated the University of Connecticut to advance to the elite quarterfinals. Against the backdrop of the glory of the times, it has become an excellent inspirational story and has become one of the hot topics in American families nowadays.

This game was born in Madison Basketball Plaza, which has an inherent advantage in attention. This is known as the Mecca in the eyes of basketball fans. Countless top basketball stars have staged amazing performances here, and ESPN national broadcast Citizens living in more than half of the U.S. territory learned of the feat a day later.

The United States is a country where openness, freedom and inequality coexist. When Li Shihao scored 37 points, 14 assists and 5 steals in six overtime games, the American basketball circle finally began to face up to this boy with a yellow complexion and mediocre physical fitness.

They saw the incomparably powerful power hidden in this boy's plain appearance!
When this game happened, many basketball stars expressed their appreciation for Li Shihao leading the team to defeat the University of Connecticut, saying that if Li Shihao participates in this year's NBA draft, he will be favored by the team in the top ten picks.

But when the media shifted the microphone to the topic of Li Shihao's future in the NBA, the celebrities who were originally optimistic about Li Shihao kept silent and gave up their right to speak about it.

Only Stockton, who has retired for many years, expressed his optimism for this Chinese youth in an interview with the media: "I have watched his games. He has a good view of the overall situation and excellent passing awareness. Now he is better than the big players. He has changed a lot in a period of time, and more importantly, he has a big and tough heart, if he can keep it up, he will become a deadly threat in the No. [-] position!"

As a member of the Hall of Fame, Stockton has great influence in the American basketball world. His nearly 20-year career has created his unique charm as a point guard. He has been the league's assist leader for nine consecutive years. rely.

It was unexpected for Li Shihao to be appreciated by Stockton. After seeing the sloppy style of American basketball, he has been able to shield the outside world very well.

For a player, what matters to a player's life is always his strength on the pitch!
After this game, Li Shihao missed the subsequent eight-to-four games due to injury. Syracuse University lost to the opponent without the main guard, and finally stopped in the quarter-finals.

However, this result is already the best in recent years. Syracuse University has once again been bathed in the spotlight of the media, and its popularity has increased a lot among universities in the United States.

During this period of time, Li Shihao suddenly calmed down, and began to do boring basketball training alone.

His mentor, Jim Boham, blocked the interference of the outside media for him and let him spend the days before the draft in training alone.

As a college league coach who has coached for many years, Jim understands that it is very necessary to give his lover a buffer zone before the draft.

Many talented players in history have been ruined by the media exposure!Speech is a double-edged sword. Excessive praise will only make players lose themselves and lose their original positioning.

On such a peaceful day, the time came to April 4. When Li Shihao was training in the arena, he suddenly received a direct call:
"Bruce, I'm going to participate in this year's draft, are you coming?" The words were low but contained confidence, without the usual escape.

Li Shihao was stunned, surprised and happy in his heart. Is Stephen Curry also planning to participate in the draft this year? That would be great. Curry is a good friend he met in high school. He has the same shortcomings as him and is relatively ordinary. His physical fitness was deemed by many basketball experts to have no potential worth exploring, and both of them received invitations from many universities when they graduated from high school.

But in the end, he went to Syracuse University and became a substitute, while Curry went to Davidson College. One of the two went to a weak team to become a star, and the other broke out silently on the bench.

Three years later, unexpectedly, the two walked hand in hand again at the crossroads of fate.

"Stephen, I am also preparing to participate in the draft this year. I will continue to compete with you in the NBA. I have been eyeing the best rookie next year for a long time. I will beat all opponents, including you!" Li Shihao's words were full of joy, I couldn't help but challenge my friend.

"Bruce, give up your unrealistic fantasy, I will be the rookie king this year, and Stephen Curry will be the greatest point guard!"

"Hahaha, let's wait and see!"

…………

After learning that Curry will participate in this year's draft, Li Shihao immediately found the head coach Jim and informed him of his willingness to participate in the draft.

It didn't take long for Syracuse University's school to announce that the team's main point guard Bruce Lee will participate in this year's NBA draft. At the same time, Curry also held a press conference at Davidson College. Accompanied by the head coach, he officially announced his participation in this year's draft.

Countless NBA scouts and city media gathered and dispatched, focusing on these two places.

With the addition of Bruce Lee and Stephen Curry, the list for this year's draft is not shabby at all, and the players are not bad at all. Many media even compared this list with the 03 Platinum Generation. Many columnists said that even if Compared with the 03 generation, the quality of this year's draft will not drop much!
Griffin, an inside behemoth averaging 22 points and 7 rebounds per game, successfully tied the average rebounding data of current legendary star Tim Duncan in college after being elected the Big14 player of the year. The draft forecast topped the list, and many teams that had a chance of getting the No. 4 pick expressed their favor for Griffin.

Some time ago, UConn star Thabeet, who stopped in the top [-], has superhuman defensive judgment, strong deterrence at the basket, and good offensive skills. As one of the few inside talents in this draft, It is also regarded as one of the strong contenders for the No. [-] pick.

But what makes many teams excited is the emergence of many guard talents in this year's draft. Many rookies at the No. [-] position with different styles will become good supplements for many teams this summer.

Some rebuilding teams even have the idea of ​​looking for a cornerstone to build a team. Who can guarantee that the next dominant outside superstar will not appear among these players?
When the draft news of Li Shihao and Curry was released, the uniform teams of 30 teams all over the United States conducted player template evaluations on the two of them overnight, and conducted complicated evaluations based on the data of the two in college. data research.

When the sun rose the next day, ESPN's column had already released the draft predictions of the two:

Lee Se Ho No. 7
Stephen Curry No. 8
…………

　a bit late~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)