My days of working at the NBA

Chapter 19 Today’s Rising Star

The game against Marquette University won't start until the 22nd, so there will be a day off in between.

So the old man arranged a targeted competition on the afternoon of the 21st.

After the training session, he announced its official end, telling everyone to rest well and prepare for tomorrow's big battle.

To be honest, this kind of targeted training is actually very limited in its effectiveness.

How do you know how Wesley Matthews will perform tomorrow?

How do you know that Jeremy McNeil might suddenly score 30+ points?

You have even less chance of knowing whether Marquette's three-pointers will be accurate tomorrow.

All of this is unknown.

This kind of simulation training is at best just running through the pre-arranged tactics; it doesn't serve any other purpose.

In the locker room.

Carol walked in, wrapped in a large bath towel, humming a tune. Seeing Du Ze in the corner still not washing up, she teased him with a playful expression, "Du, what's wrong? Shy? Don't dare wash up with us?"

Du Ze looked up: "I'll practice one more round later."

no way.

With time running out and the task heavy, the last match had made him realize his serious shortcomings, and he had to correct them immediately while there was still time.

Putting everything else aside, you absolutely must work on getting your ball feel and ball control back.

This will reduce mistakes, make the movements more fluid, and allow you to rack up more data, so that your rough basic skills can be barely passable.

Carol was slightly surprised: "Wow, you feel like a stranger to me."

However, he didn't say anything more, only reminding me: "Don't train too hard. We need you to be in top form for the match tomorrow at noon."

As he spoke, he sat down and took out his phone to look through it.

Not long after.

Lawrence came in too, and seeing that Du Ze hadn't moved, he looked puzzled: "Ward, what are you doing? Aren't you going to take a shower?"

Du Ze smiled and said, "We need to practice more."

Lawrence looked at him with the same eye you would give a stranger: "Tomorrow's the match day, what are you even practicing for?"

The intensity of a formal competition is no joke.

Moreover, this is the kind of tournament where a single match determines life or death.

All coaches will tell their players to conserve their energy, maintain peak performance, and save their stamina for these crucial battles.

So going to do extra training at this time will not only fail to impress people, but will also be hard to understand.

Du Ze said, "I'll just go practice my stance training, it'll be fine..."

Lawrence squinted and finally nodded heavily, but his gaze never left Du Ze.

He is now truly beginning to believe that his good friend's boast about making it to the NBA was not just empty talk.

This is for real.

It's even more real than Ah Zhen's pearls...

Sudden.

Carol sprang up from her seat with a scream that echoed across the floor: "Waaaaah..."

Everyone was startled. Lawrence immediately yelled, "Are you possessed?"

Carroll completely ignored him, ran over to Du Ze, squatted down, and opened the mobile web version of ESPN: "Du, you're on ESPN's Draft Today's Focus!"

Du Ze's eyes lit up.

Lawrence reacted even more fiercely, leaping over like a tiger and snatching the phone away: "Today's Rising Star, Missouri Tigers' Duze? Explosive physical talent, excellent athleticism, keen rim protection instincts, perfect for sweeping and helping defense, a real threat in the paint... Oh my god, it's true!"

Others gradually gathered around, their faces showing excitement.

Only Lyons, amidst his excitement, had a somewhat somber expression.

Clearly, he never expected that Duze, the fourth offensive pick, would be featured on a highly authoritative draft website like ESPN. Meanwhile, he himself, the second offensive pick with far better overall stats than Duze, hadn't even made the cut.

To say I wasn't disappointed would be a lie.

English continued reading: "The downsides are that he's not tall enough, which puts him at a significant disadvantage for a center forward. Also, his fundamentals are rather rough, and his game is somewhat raw..."

Lawrence waved his hand: "It's nothing. He has become a rising star, which means that Du has been recognized by the scouts. As the tournament progresses, I believe Du's future will become brighter and brighter."

Du Ze remained expressionless: "These reports are only for reference. I haven't even predicted the rankings yet, so they're completely unreliable."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Even with predicted rankings, they're not necessarily accurate. How many members of the Green Room were once incredibly successful and had a bright future, but what happened? In the end, they still ended up as second-round picks."

As he spoke, he looked at Carroll: "DeMarre, on the other hand, is basically a done deal to enter the NBA, and he has a great chance of being drafted in the first round this year."

Carroll chuckled: "So, I want to thank you all for all the sacrifices you made for me, but I'm not really that focused on the draft. I value the present more and hope to lead the team to a championship."

That's a very leader-like statement.

However...

That's a bit hypocritical, isn't it?

I just finished showering and couldn't wait to open the webpage to check ESPN's draft information. Is that what you call not paying attention to the draft?

Even a ghost couldn't utter such nonsense.

Lyons continued, "Yes, we should focus more on the game now. Beating Marquette University will put us in the Sweet Sixteen, bringing us closer to the championship, which excites me..."

As he spoke, he made a gesture of clenching his fist and supporting his arm to demonstrate his strength.

This person's hypocrisy is even more serious...

However, his physical talent is far inferior to Carroll's, his defense is not very good, and he is also a senior with a fixed playing style, so his draft prospects are really bleak.

But it's not entirely without a chance.

If the University of Missouri wins the championship, he will be the leading scorer on the championship team and his chances of making it to the NBA will be greatly increased.

Even if they don't make it to the first round, being selected in the second round as an immediate asset is quite a sure thing.

So that's the deeper meaning behind his words.

Let's go for the championship, everyone...

Please give it your all, everyone...

Only by winning the championship will he have a chance to enter the NBA.

Lawrence also became excited: "Champion..."

He didn't have many other thoughts on the matter; he was simply happy that Du Ze had made it onto the draft website, which meant that Du Ze really had a chance to make it into the NBA.

And once he wins the championship, Du Ze will be selected, which is a foregone conclusion.

The others joined in, chanting, "Champion..."

They may not have a chance in the NBA, but winning an NCAA championship is a dream come true.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the locker room was one of unity and determination.

"champion……"

The shouts grew louder.

When Anderson walked in, he was somewhat stunned: "What... what happened?"

Lawrence excitedly shouted to him, "Durant is on ESPN's Rising Star list!"

Anderson was slightly surprised, but quickly regained his composure: "This is very exciting news, but now is obviously not the time to celebrate. The important thing is to prepare well for tomorrow's game and win it."

Lyons raised his arms and shouted, "Beat Marquette!"

Everyone echoed in unison, "Take down Marquette..."