This Forward is Not Serious

On the balcony of the hotel, Lin Ying and Durant were lying on the railing, blowing the cold winter wind.

The University of Oklahoma is not in Oklahoma City, the state capital of Oklahoma, but in Norman County on the outskirts of the city.

There are not many counties in the United States, but the places are not small.

But basically the heart of the city is the University of Oklahoma.

Their hotel is also not far from the school, about two or three kilometers away.

Standing on the balcony, the naked eye can see the direction of the school and the arena.

"are you OK?"

After the cold wind blew for a while, Lin Ying spoke with concern.

To be honest, he was really shocked at the time.

When he spent Christmas at Durant's house, Wanda gave him such a nice and gentle impression.

But when it came to playing Durant, it was really ruthless.

But what I have to say is that those two slaps woke up Durant.

Sure enough, the one who knows the son best is the mother.

Durant reached out and touched his face, but it still hurt a little.

But he shook his head.

This mother beat herself because she was not up to date and couldn't accept failure.

"Do you think we won't be able to get into Crazy Three?"

Durant changed the subject.

"The possibility of entering is 99%."

Lin Ying gave a conservative answer.

It's not Versailles, but it's basically a done deal.

First, they have been ranked in the top 30 on the power list, and second, their league playoffs are actually not bad.

Although we lost against Kansas, there were back and forth on the scene, and not many lost in the end.

If there is no wild card for this kind of performance, then the remaining possibility is that 1%: other leagues have various secret operations, and then they have made them.

But that's extremely unlikely.

Among other things, from the perspective of ratings, the loss of Durant is also a big loss.

As a data analyst, it is quite simple to come to this conclusion.

Compared with this, he is more worried about the later seeding.

What's in there is really inaccurate.

And the water in there is really deep.

If you give them the No. 15 and No. 6 seeds, then they will go straight to 64 to 32 to single out the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, and there is a high probability that they will get the crazy three-day tour experience card.

But Durant didn't think as much as Lin Ying thought, he was still thinking about whether he could enter Crazy Three.

"If we're here at the end of the season, I'll stay and play for another year."

Durant continued.

Lin Ying turned her head to look at Durant, making sure that he didn't just say something casually on a whim, and then said in a very sure tone:

"Regardless of whether we can make it to the crazy three or how far we can go, you should enter the draft this year."

"Why?"

Durant looked surprised, Lin Ying rarely spoke like this.

"It's best for you."

Lin Ying definitely couldn't say it because he was a time traveler with open eyes.

In fact, if he didn't open his eyes, his answer would be this.

Durant's talent is too strong, so strong that he doesn't need to prove anything in the NCAA.

Or in other words, it's a waste of talent for him to stay in the NCAA for another year.

On the contrary, in the NBA, he can get more formal training, improve his ball handling, and grow rapidly.

"No, if we can't play Crazy Three and you can't enter the NBA with me, I will definitely stay and play for another year. I have already decided."

Durant's tone was also very positive.

When Barkley and Kenny Smith came to explain the game between the University of Texas and Kansas, they talked about his entering the NBA.

He glanced at the two of them at the time, thinking that whether he can enter the NBA or not is decided by one person.

At that time he also said it out, and now this is the first time he said it out, that person is Lin Ying.

What he promised at Christmas together, he kept his word.

Lin Ying was stunned.

He looked at Durant with an expression that was definitely not joking.

Could it be that this is friendship?

The fire in his heart was burning again.

An indescribable joy in my heart.

To be cared so much by his only friend is the best thing in the world to him.

He turned his head and took a deep breath, looking at the University of Oklahoma, the place where they fell into the sand, with a firm tone:

"Then let's take another championship!"

...

The finals of the NCAA leagues are over, and 32 championship teams are the first to advance to the "Crazy Three".

But it's still more than a week before "Crazy Three" actually starts.

Because during this week, the NCAA League Committee must not only determine the 33 teams that have received wild cards, but also distribute them reasonably to the four divisions.

It's going to be a big project.

For the 32 teams that have already advanced, this is their final preparation and rest time.

For the remaining teams, it is basically certain that the hopeless teams have already started preparing for the new season;

Those who still have hope are relatively tormented, because no one knows whether that kind of hope will turn into disappointment in the end.

Lin Ying and Durant are also ordinary people, so they must be worried too.

In order to alleviate such emotions, they put more energy into training after returning to Austin.

Regardless of the outcome, there is nothing wrong with training.

Durant is working on his shooting against defenses.

Lin Ying also focuses on training footwork and hooks under the basket.

If you lose in the big12 finals and your skills are not as good as others, then improve your skills.

As long as this technology can be improved a little before the start of "Crazy Three", and it can be used in the official competition, that is the biggest improvement.

Time passed quickly, and five days passed in a blink of an eye.

Lin Ying and Durant had been training in closed doors until Springman came to them with a smile.

He brought only one news, and it was the news they had been waiting for for a long time.

The University of Texas, as the second seed of the big12 league, advanced to the "Crazy Three"!

Durant screamed excitedly when he heard the news.

Although Lin Ying had expected this result, she clenched her hands excitedly after hearing it.

Although the NCAA championship is still far away for them, at least they officially have this opportunity!

There is also good news in the news brought by Springman, that is, a total of three big12 teams have been selected for the "Crazy Three" this time.

In addition to Kansas and Texas, the third team is the Oklahoma Sooners.

This is an accident. You must know that the Shortfooters were eliminated in the first round of the big12 playoffs.

But this also shows that the NCAA league committee pays more attention to the performance of each team in the regular season than the performance in the playoffs.

This is also very reasonable.

As I said before, at this time, it is time to select the strong teams to enter the Crazy Three, not to see who can play better in the single-elimination match.

And that's good news for UT, too.

Because if the University of Oklahoma can also enter, this means that the University of Texas has a high probability of being in the top position in the lower half.

Springman left, but Lin Ying and Durant were a little excited and couldn't control their emotions.

That feeling is really the same as when you check your college entrance examination results and know that you have done well in the exam.

They couldn't even calm down when they were training.

"How about we go to the Bulls game?"

Durant suggested.

Of course, this Bulls team is not the Bulls team in Chicago, which is thousands of miles away from Austin.

Durant and Lin Ying also found out about the Austin Bulls after shouting last time.

But he can't blame him, because this NBDL team only moved to Austin in 2005, the year before they came to Texas University.

They were called the Columbus River Dragons before they moved here, and they changed their name to the Bulls after they got here.

And there is a little bit of Lin Ying's memory that has gone wrong.

At this time, the Bulls were not yet a subordinate team of the Spurs, but a common subordinate team of the Celtics, Rockets and Spurs.

Austin is not small, but the Cedar Park Center, home of the Bulls, is not far from the University of Texas, and it takes less than half an hour by taxi.

Moreover, the Bulls were not very popular when they first came, and the number of spectators in the usual games is not enough. They will distribute some free tickets to specific groups.

This includes the University of Texas players.

It stands to reason that they are so close and there are free tickets, they should go more times.

But they are usually reluctant to waste training time, and the Bulls have no games like Christmas holidays before, so they have not been able to go.

Now that I can't calm down to train, it is also a good choice to watch the game.

Lin Ying agreed.

The two hit it off, and then called Randy Williams, and the three of them drove his classic 5-speed manual car directly to the arena.

Williams went to see it several times last year, and shared the experience of watching the game with them in the car.

Although NBDL is the NBA's development league, there are many NBA players who have been sent down, but the level is actually not much higher than the NCAA.

"Kevin will be the core of the team if you play there."

What Williams said made Durant feel comfortable.

Lin Ying on the side also nodded.

Speaking of this, it has something to do with them.

During the 2005~2006 season, the NBA issued a rule that "high school students are not allowed to participate in the draft".

That rule requires high school students to complete one year of high school and be 19 years old to participate in the NBA draft.

In other words, when he and Durant finished high school, it happened to be the year when high school students could not run.

Of course, this has little to do with them, because even Durant has no idea of ​​skipping the NCAA and running directly.

On the contrary, Oden was already interested in each other with the Raptors.

As a result, a piece of paper stipulated that he could only go to college, and then he was always on Durant's head.

So if it weren't for that rule, Durant would already be the No. 1 pick in the 2007 class.

This is the current situation, but before Lin Ying crossed, the NBA had already allowed high school players to play NBDL directly.

Many top talented high school students also choose to give up the NCAA and play NBDL.

Although the NCAA broadcast fees are sky-high and advertising endorsement fees are also skyrocketing, they have nothing to do with players.

Even if you have any deals with sponsors in private, you will be banned by the NCAA and even lose your eligibility for the NBA draft.

But NBDL is different, not only can accept the endorsement contract in advance, but also get salary!

Later facts also proved that top high school students are fully capable of playing NBDL, and they are not inferior in the confrontation with those adult players.

So this hypothesis of Williams is fully established.

Half an hour is very fast, they are chatting and driving, and the time is up in a blink of an eye.

The game hadn't started yet, so they entered the arena a little earlier and found a place with a good view to sit down.

As mentioned before, the attendance rate of NBDL is low, the tickets are cheap or even free, and the income is pitifully small.

Except for those players who have been delegated, they have NBA contracts, and most of the rest only cost $10,000 to $20,000 a year.

That's right, there is no missing a zero, which is lower than the wages of most ordinary Americans, and it is more likely to be a fine for NBA players.

Cuban often received a ticket from Stern, which cost $25,000.

Of course, this is also the closest place to the NBA, and those who play here are basically chasing NBA dreams.

So it is not difficult to understand why Williams often comes here to watch the ball.

For a player like him with mediocre talent but still has a basketball dream, this is probably where he will work after graduating from college!

After they sat for a while, fans came in one after another.

What made them a little strange was that the fans all looked at them when they came in, and then whispered to each other for a while.

These one or two are okay, but if there are more, it will be too strange.

Durant couldn't help but looked at Williams, then at Lin Ying, and finally pointed to the top of his head:

"Is my hair messy?"

Lin Ying stretched out her hand to rest her forehead.

You are the board size!

What they didn't expect was that there were quite a few people watching the game today.

The arena with a capacity of 3,000 people was already about one-third full in a short while.

Just when they were wondering, the players on both sides came out to warm up.

That's when they understood.

Because they saw Steve Novak on the Bulls side!

Novak is a rookie for the Rockets and has little chance in the NBA.

But they are very familiar to Lin Ying and the others!

Novak is the famous three-pointer in the NCAA!

As far as one statistic tells it all, Novak University made 368 of 793 three-pointers in four years, and the shooting rate was 46.4%!

The key person is still a power forward!

And it's no wonder why so many fans are here today.

Novak is not a big player in the NBA, but his three-pointers are like bugs in the NBDL.

Well, the one who can shoot is called Dad.

At this time, more fans entered the stadium, and people began to sit down beside Lin Ying and the others.

"excuse me?"

A voice rang in their ears.

Just when they thought it was an excuse to get up and give up their seats.

"You're Kevin? Kevin Durant?"

But what the other party said next made them stunned for a moment.

Durant smiled and nodded when he heard it.

He didn't expect anyone here to recognize him.

"God, it's really Kevin Durant!"

But the man's next reaction startled Durant.

Lin Ying and Williams also shook their heads.

If you recognize it, you will recognize it, why are you shouting so loudly and scary!

But what none of the three of them expected was that after he shouted, the other audience all looked towards them in unison.

Then, Lin Ying saw the scene in front of her and unconsciously remembered the name of a movie:

"resident Evil"!