One Guard

After the March Madness tournament came to an end, Yiyang's name has already resounded throughout the United States. Every few days, some NBA teams will get involved with Yiyang.

Yesterday, the general manager of the 76ers said that it is not impossible for them to select Yiyang. And tomorrow, it is very likely that Popovich will praise Yiyang again.

The Chinese media are even more excited these days. With Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian both injured and unable to play, Yiyang has become the focus of attention of all Chinese fans.

Where there is focus, there is news. Reporters have been looking for Yiyang all over the United States these days, and some of them even found Yiyang's apartment in the Wood District.

However, reporters found nothing in the Wood area other than dilapidated conditions.

At this moment, the guy who affects the hearts of countless Chinese fans is training every day at the Bulldogs' Schinkel Stadium in Indianapolis.

One day after Bill Duffy signed the contract with Yiyang, he left Indianapolis. There are still two months before the start of the NBA draft. During this period, Yiyang needs to maintain his state, while Bill Duffy needs to have in-depth contact with multiple teams.

While Bill Duffy was running around for Yiyang, Stevens, who was already on vacation, also volunteered to help Yiyang arrange training plans every day.

If it continues like this, then when Yiyang goes to try out for an NBA team, his strength will definitely be even better than now!

Stevens is not only training Yiyang's three-pointers, but Yiyang's confrontation ability training has never been relaxed. After entering the NBA, the intensity of physical confrontation in the game will increase exponentially. Many guys who rely on their bodies in the NCAA league will be at a loss after entering the NBA. What's more, Yiyang's confrontation ability in the NCAA competition is not particularly outstanding.

In order for Yiyang to have the body of a professional player, in addition to training, Stevens also strictly controlled Yiyang's diet. Therefore, although his mother is by his side, due to diet control, Yiyang can only eat those nutritious meals every day, and he can't enjoy the delicacies made by his mother at all.

But Yiyang doesn't feel so sad. If eating less delicious food can make him go further in the NBA, then Yiyang is definitely willing to make such a sacrifice. After all, Yiyang didn't have too many choices in terms of food since he was a child.

Of course, Yiyang's life during these two months is not just boring training and tasteless meals. Hayward, who also participated in the draft this year, took Yiyang to have a good time in Indianapolis. Hayward is a native of Indianapolis. Hayward knows exactly where the most fun is in this city and where the most fun is.

A week of relaxation allowed Yiyang to fully rest both mentally and physically. Of course, this also brought the relationship between Yiyang and Hayward closer.

According to Hayward himself, his manager has already had deep contact with the Jazz. If the Jazz can get a top-10 draft pick this year, then they will definitely use this option to select Hayward!

Hayward is looking forward to his future. Salt Lake City, Jagged Jazz, Jerry Sloan... These things attract Hayward all the time.

But Yiyang is different, more than a month has passed, but there is not much news from Bill Duffy.

After playing with Hayward for a week, Yiyang once again devoted himself to the boring training. Although the training time was not long, Stevens was delighted to find that Yiyang was much stronger than before. And this guy's long-range shooting ability in the open space has also been greatly improved.

The boring training continued for several days, and Bill Duffy finally returned to Indianapolis. But this time, he just took Yiyang to accept the official NBA physical examination.

On May 26, after the NBA lottery drawing ceremony ended, Bill Duffy immediately called Yiyang. "Get ready, too! Our national trial training tour has officially begun!"

It turned out that Duffy hadn't neglected his duty. This guy only took Yiyang to attack after waiting for everything to become clear.

Now, the draft picks for all teams have been determined. The yellow-green battle of the NBA finals is in full swing. For rookies like Yiyang, the trial training that determines their fate has officially begun.

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"He's here?" Popovich in the office looked at his assistant in surprise.

"Come on, let's start shooting and warming up!" The assistant opened the office door for Popovich, and the white-haired old man who was sitting on the chair collapsed out in two big strides. On the Spurs practice field, a yellow-skinned player in a black vest is shooting a basket, while Bill Duffy spreads his arms to Popovich.

"Long time no see, Duffy!" Popovich said, hugging Bill Duffy with open arms. It is not the first time that Bill Duffy and Popovich have met in private. As a famous manager, the general managers and head coaches of the 30 NBA teams are almost all Duffy's acquaintances.

"Where's Forbold? Why didn't you see him?" Forbold in Duffy's mouth refers to the general manager of the Spurs, R.C. Forbold. Under normal circumstances, in addition to the head coach, the general manager of the team will also come to the scene to watch the status of the rookie player's trial training.

"He said, I can make up my own mind on this matter." After Popovich finished speaking, he turned to look at the slightly thin yellow-skinned player. In the Spurs, Popovich has many privileges, choosing the rookies he wants, this is just one of them.

"He is definitely a good guy. I brought him to you at the first stop of the trial training, which is enough to show my sincerity. Of course, it is impossible for you to fall to the 20th pick this year. Picked it up. If you really want to own it, hurry up and start trading draft picks up now." Seeing that Popovich got straight to the point, Bill Duffy didn't beat around the bush.

Duffy knew that if Yiyang could join a team like the Spurs, it would definitely be of great help to his career. Now, the three members of GDP are no longer young, and they need to cultivate a future leader. And Popovich himself is also a coach who can give full play to the advantages of players. See how he made Ginobili, who was only selected in the second round, step by step to the top, and you will know how powerful this wise old man is.

"Whether he is good or not is up to you, Duffy, we have to see to believe. Anderson!" Popovich shouted at the top of his voice, and a young coach hurried to the white-haired old man.

"Get ready for the equipment, physical test!" The white-haired old man waved his hand, and we will soon know how this Chinese is.

When Yiyang saw these instruments again, he was not as curious as when he saw them for the first time. That summer a year ago, when he had just tried out for the Bulldogs, he had already done this.

Starting from the simplest data such as height and weight, Yiyang has already changed.

"The height is 1.93 meters!" The coach named Anderson reported the data to Popovich while measuring. After one year in college, Yiyang's height has grown by two centimeters, which is already quite good for the point guard position.

"The weight is 85 kilograms!" Under Stevens' urging, Yiyang gained 6 kilograms compared to a year ago. However, the body fat content has dropped a bit.

"The wingspan is 2.07 meters!" At the beginning, Popovich's expression was calm, but after hearing the data of the wingspan, Duffy noticed that the white-haired old man frowned slightly.

"3/4 game sprint...3.14 seconds!" Anderson froze for a moment, because according to the revealed information, the time required for Wall's 3/4 game sprint during the Wizards' trial training was also 3.14 seconds ! This Asian is as fast as Wall!

In subsequent tests such as jumping, Yiyang also showed a better level than a year ago. Only then did Popovich know that this No. 1 guard not only has outstanding skills, but also has top-level athletic ability!

After everything was done, Yiyang performed a few more tests with the ball. It is nothing more than fixed-point jumpers, holding the ball around obstacles, passing the ball at designated places, and other basic things. The Spurs did not arrange an impromptu training match for Yiyang, because Popovich knew from these things that Yiyang was definitely worth the Spurs' gamble!

"This kid is not bad." Next to Popovich, a big man with the same expressionless expression as Yiyang suddenly stood up.

"You think so too?" Popovich smiled, and various trading plans had begun to appear in his mind.

"He can bring us more vitality. In short, it's not bad." The big man's face is cold, so you can't tell whether he likes Yiyang or not. Otherwise, how could people call him "Stone Buddha"?

Compared with Duncan who was expressionless on the sidelines and Popovich who was smiling but not smiling, Bill Duffy's smile was very obvious. He saw the expressions of Duncan and Popovich, so he knew that these two guys were moved!

"Okay, the training is over! Come down and rest, too!" This time, Popovich seemed to be much more enthusiastic than before.

Yiyang took the towel from the staff with a blank expression, and silently wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Seeing Yiyang's actions, Popovich liked this kid even more. This guy is completely a Duncan number two!

"How about it, buddy, seeing is believing, right?" Bill Duffy looked proudly at the gray-haired old man in front of him.

"I knew you wouldn't bring people here randomly, Duffy! I'll try my best to find an upward trade to get it. But you know, I don't dare to make any promises to you about things like trades."

After Popovich finished speaking, Bill Duffy's good mood disappeared instantly. What this means is that Popovich may not necessarily choose Yiyang. After playing for a long time, it turned out that Popovich hadn't been fully moved yet. After all, Bill Duffy was very well informed. He has long known that a high-ranking team is willing to make a deal with the Spurs, and this team has officially made an offer to the Spurs. If it weren't for knowing this information, Duffy wouldn't have brought Yiyang to San Antonio, where the draft pick was only 20th.

But Popovich's ambiguous answer made Duffy a little disappointed.

"I understand, buddy. Then, let's leave first. After all, there are still several high-ranked teams waiting for us to try out." Duffy then thought, San Antonio is not Yiyang's only hope. Philadelphia, Minnesota, Oakland... These teams with high draft picks are also full of great interest in Yiyang.

Yiyang's choices are quite rich. Now it's not Duffy begging Popovich to accept Yiyang, but there are several teams that will fight for Yiyang.

The road to trial training has just begun, and Yiyang has already stunned a great coach and a great player.

Everything is yet to be concluded.