The Whip of the God of Basketball

On June 5, the 2000 NBA draft training camp officially kicked off at the Impact Sports Center on the West Side of Chicago.

Basketball rookies from all over the United States gathered here from all directions. This is the first big reunion of the current rookies before the start of the NBA draft.

The Impact Sports Center is not too far from the Athletic Association Hotel. Early in the morning on the 5th, Leon followed the Celtics team with a total of eight people, and set off for the destination in a rented commercial vehicle.

Except for a breakfast yesterday, Leon never appeared in the sight of the coaching staff. In fact, they also have their own busy affairs.

Chris Wallace has already contacted Moiseo in private. Moiseo also arrived in Chicago on the night of the 4th. Wallace revealed his willingness to pick Moiseo in the draft.

This is a common thing in the NBA. Before the draft, the team and the rookie exchanged ideas for the song, and finally tied the knot at the conference.

Of course, some high-ranking players often have more than one team interested in them, so it depends on the skill of the general manager of each team and the attractiveness of the entire team.

Judging from the news Wallace got, not many teams are interested in Moiseo. I don't know whether Wallace should be happy or sad.

Frank Vogel is similar to Leon. He is a workaholic and shuts himself in the room for almost a whole day. The main thing he does is to watch videos.

As a video analyst, it is their mission to dig out useful information from precious original video.

Vogel focused his energy on Przbila and Somalia Samaki, who had been favored by the team's former scout Bennett. It seems that the Celtics really, really want a reliable insider.

Only Leon, who directed his inquiry on some defenders. Obviously he didn't know that the NBA has always had a tradition of "if you don't know who to choose, you choose an insider". His basis is only one-the data in his hands.

When he went to the training camp today, he wanted to confirm whether there was an inevitable connection between his data and his intuitive impression.

Pitino looked at Leon reading the stacks of materials in his hands, thinking that this guy was pretending again, and couldn't help but want to ask questions to make things difficult for Leon. But he swallowed the words again, because he had already learned enough about Leon's excellent memory, and he didn't want to ask for trouble to slap himself in the face. illusion.

Therefore, Pitino decided to hand over the job of embarrassing Leon to the reporters in the training camp, and then the Celtics' interview task will be handed over to Leon.

…………………

When Leon and the team arrived at the impact center, it was already ten o'clock in the morning, and the entrance of the sports center was full of various commercial vehicles and media interview vehicles.

At the gate of the center, there are TV hosts and cameras doing program shooting. It seems that even if the newcomers are generally not favored, the training camp before the draft is also highly anticipated.

Leon has fully experienced the commercial nature of the NBA here. He learned that the entire training camp is open to the media. Before entering the center, he was also told not to refuse interviews from reporters, especially in Celtic uniform case.

Although Leon thinks that his chances of being interviewed should be very low, after all, his young appearance, plus his strong figure, wearing a Celtics work T-shirt, no matter how he looks like moving equipment, not a sharp-eyed ball Explore.

The Impact Sports Center is a large double-court basketball training hall. In addition to two basketball courts, there is also a comprehensive fitness test center. The players will have a physical fitness test this morning.

Leon followed the coaching team and first came to the stands next to the basketball court, where the league has specially arranged for the Celtics.

Leon was carrying a small video camera on his shoulders, and it looked like he was just moving equipment.

After arriving at the seat, Leon saw that many rookies had already warmed up on the field, and some of them had even started to test the height, running back and forth in the restricted area, and running three-quarters of the field.

There are a total of four physical tests for rookies. In addition to the above three items that are conducted on the court, there is also a test outside the court, which is the standard weight (185 pounds) bench press limit.

Leon set up the camera and looked at the other seats in the arena. The teams from other teams are almost here, but it seems that everyone has no interest in the physical test.

After a while, Pitino, Wallace, and O'Brien all left their seats and wandered around the rest of the arena, chatting with acquaintances. In some parts of the venue, there are reporters carrying cameras and microphones to conduct interviews, and some writers are sitting next to the coach or the general manager with small notebooks to conduct interviews.

Obviously, the training camp was not organized as intensively as Leon imagined, but loosely organized. The organizers and rookies concentrated on completing their own test projects, and other people did what they liked.

Even Westland didn't know where he went, leaving only Leon and Vogel sitting in their seats.

Since yesterday, Vogel didn't pay much attention to Leon. This weird guy from New Jersey who speaks New England dialect obviously doesn't like Leon very much. It's not because Leon's arrival delayed Vogel's promotion to the ball He didn't care about the position, otherwise he wouldn't have been working as a video editor in Kentucky for five years.

It was Vogel who was suffocating in his heart, feeling that he loved basketball more than Leon, knew the sport better, and was more worthy of the title of Celtics scout.

He thinks that Leon is just a boastful basketball keyboard player who has become a Celtics scout by looking at the data and bragging. Maybe he is also a guy who is good at flattering people.

The two just sat blankly in the stands and watched the rookies on the field taking physical tests one by one. Those young faces were full of childishness. The best wave of basketball rookies of the year is the star of hope in the basketball world.

"Speedy Claxton, it's really fast, about a little over three seconds, it's really a little bit, but it looks a little thinner." Leon stared at the field where the three-quarter sprint ran, muttered in his mouth.

After hearing this, Vogel also looked over there, and saw a small black and thin man who had just finished running, his face was full of excitement, and it seemed that he was indeed running very fast.

"Who is he?" Vogel asked subconsciously, because the distance was a little far away, he couldn't see the little man's face clearly, and this guy didn't look very familiar, Vogel thought for a while that his watch list seemed to be no such person.

"Speedy Claxton, graduated from Hofstra University, point guard, good at speed, good at breaking through and scoring, but his vision is limited. I have seen his profile and photos, although I can't see his face clearly, But the figure can match, you know, you don’t have to rely on face to recognize people.” Leon replied while continuing to stare at the test on the field.

Vogel snorted coldly after hearing this, and said: "A little more than three seconds, how much is a little bit? 3.1 is also a little bit more, and 3.2 is also a little bit more. The difference is huge."

Leon was silent for about five seconds, then turned around and said to Vogel affirmatively: "It's about 0.06 seconds more, it should be a little bit."

…………………

The physical test in the morning ended soon. Everyone took a break at noon and had lunch. The main event in the afternoon began, and the real training was about to start.

Speaking of training, it is actually a public show. The most important thing for rookies in the training camp is not to improve their skills through training, but to show their strength through training.

At this time, Leon felt that the reason why everyone was so loose during the physical test in the morning was not because everyone didn't pay attention to it, but because the physical test was not worth mentioning to rookies and the team.

This is what Leon heard from Jim O'Brien. He said that many rookies who rank in the top three in the physical examination table will not even be able to play in the NBA because there is no one to choose them. Even if they try out, no team will want them in the end. .

Hearing this, Leon has a deeper understanding of the cruelty of NBA competition.

The afternoon training was hosted by the famous NBA trainer Tim Glover. At the same time, senior trainers from each team were invited to assist in the training. The afternoon training was mainly for the training and testing of basketball skills.

Different from the pure measurement of the players' physical abilities in the morning, the afternoon will really evaluate their basic basketball skills. More than 70 rookies are grouped according to their positions on the court, that is, point guards, shooting guards, and small forwards. , power forward and center group.

Among them, the first four groups were tested in the four halves of mid-range, three-pointers, running, lateral movement, low defense, face-to-basket attack, and back-to-back attack. Each group trained according to the player's position.

The training of the center group was postponed, and those big men were temporarily arranged to sit on the sidelines and watch the show. This is also the practice of the rookie training camp.

Przybila, Jerome Moiso and Samaki, who the Celtics are most concerned about, are all assigned to the center group, so the coaches feel a little bit unmotivated.

"Wesland, show me the physical test data." Pitino, who really had nothing to do, decided to look at the freshly released physical test data.

"Sigma Carton, three quarters of the field in three seconds, really fast. But why doesn't this guy go to Olympic track and field, come play basketball, I don't think any team will draft him, What a waste." Pitino looked at the physical test data and said with emotion.

As O'Brien said, many rookies who rank in the top three in the physical test table will not even be able to play in the NBA.

At this time, Vogel, who was sitting aside, leaned his head over, glanced at the physical measurement form, and quickly found the name he was looking for under the Sigma-Katon.

"Speedy Claxton, three quarters sprint...3.06 seconds..."