NBA: The best team doctor in history

Chapter 187: Draft lottery, individual tryouts for Curry and DeRozan

Hearing that Jiang Ming was so stingy, the players became anxious and unhappy.

If you drink so little a day, it’s better not to drink.

But Jiang Ming's next words excited them all:
"When you win, I'll drink with you to my heart's content. Don't just say 100 milliliters, I'll drink 1 liter or even 10 liters!"

Channing Frye:

"Okay, you said so!"

Oden: "Brothers, we must win the championship to show our Director Jiang!"

"Haha, mainly I want to see how well he can drink!"

James Jones laughed and said, "Director Jiang, we are not as good as you in terms of medical skills, but when it comes to the size of our stomachs, we are bigger than you! I'll drink you to death!"

Ibaka showed an evil smile:
"Hey, I've never been drunk before."

Jiang Ming:

"Don't be so sarcastic, wait till you win the championship."

Jiang Ming is well versed in Chinese medicine's Qi theory. In fact, he starts by drinking massive amounts of alcohol, because he can digest alcohol very quickly through breathing and qi circulation.

This is also the reason why so many old Taoists and old monks can drink so much. They drink quickly and pass out quickly.

These young people are all reckless when they drink, but he is really not afraid of anything.

At the end of the meeting, we also talked about Jiang Ming's participation in the lottery meeting, but this was a small matter. The only big thing recently was to choose a restaurant as the place for team building tonight to celebrate the third place in the Western Conference in the regular season.
"What should I eat?"

"Anyway, the funds given by the boss are sufficient."

“Grilled prawns!”

“Seafood platter!”

“Whole Beef BBQ!”

"Conker fish, scallops!"

“Hot charcoal cheeseburger.”

"Kick out whoever said hamburger!"

After 2 days.

NBA 09 lottery conference.

To be honest, after Jiang Ming arrived at the scene, he even felt a little deserted. Or could he say he wasn't motivated?
This is totally different from last year.

He remembered that the Bulls were very happy when they won the No. 1 pick last year, because a super rookie like Rose is still attractive.

This year, even the league has accelerated the drawing process.

"As expected, no one is optimistic about this year's rookies."

Jiang Ming had a chat with the Eastern Conference Pistons' lottery guest. In this guy's opinion, the lottery order doesn't matter, and the draft doesn't matter either, because the top few will be those guys anyway.

The first five people were fixed in his opinion.

Whether the Clippers or the Thunder draw the No. 1 pick, they will definitely choose Griffin.

Although the top pick Griffin has explosive dunks, his wingspan is a particular disadvantage;
Although Hasheem Thabeet, the favorite for the second pick, has excellent height and wingspan, he is not very adaptable to the NBA arena. I heard that his individual tryouts with various teams were not satisfactory, because one team directly brought the starting players to play a training game with him, and as a result, Thabeet, with such a tall figure, had no sense of presence.

Harden, the favorite for the third pick, has suffered from asthma since childhood, and he also looks fat, which makes people think he has no potential;
In his opinion, Evans is a little short. If he were a forward, his physique would be perfect. Moreover, he is too sticky to the ball when playing. If he were a shooting guard, he would not be so sticky to the ball. If he were a point guard, he would be a freak in one-on-one situations.

Jennings is not skinny and trash, he will be knocked over in the NBA.

Instead, the old man praised Rubio highly and felt that he would be the most stable and outstanding rookie in this draft. After all, before Rubio participated in the draft, he had already become famous all over the country for his performance in international competitions, and his ball-handling ability had been tested in various international competitions. He was considered a finished product, much better than the rough draft players such as Teague and Holiday.

In his opinion, several North Carolina Tigers are also very average, because he also said that although these people won the NCAA championship, their talents are very average. However, Lawson may have a higher draft pick and his scoring ability is outstanding.

The most amazing thing is that he said that the remaining players such as Curry, DeRozan, etc. can only be role players. He even thinks that if Patty Mills of the Australian national team has the exposure of Curry, Mills can also become a lottery favorite.

Jiang Ming's expression was very tense, but it was understandable when he thought about the fact that the entire Pistons team believed in defense first.

But it’s no secret that Curry’s reputation has gotten even worse recently as Davidson College was eliminated in the round of 16 of the NCAA.

There are many voices from the outside world that question him, and some even say directly that his body simply cannot match the intensity of the NBA and he will be eliminated before long.

The main reason is that his father also brought him trouble.

After Dell said that Curry Jr. would not go to any other city except a big city, the Grizzlies, Thunder, and Timberwolves were quite angry. They asked you to come for the tryout but you didn't come. Go to hell with you, it's up to you to come or not, I don't want you!

Especially the Timberwolves, who held the fifth and sixth high draft picks after today's lottery draw. In an interview with reporters, they made it clear that even if they wanted two point guards, they would not choose Curry.

This actually implies that Rubio is a must-select. After all, for the Timberwolves, which are in such a mess right now, it would be the best to select a point guard with top vision. Maybe they can become a playoff team.

The Warriors then drew 7th and the Knicks 8th
After waiting for half an hour, it was finally the playoff team's turn to draw.

Jiang Ming pulled the ping-pong balls in the jar and found that there was no such thing as the legendary hot and cold balls. Of course, it is possible that they had been taken away long ago. As a playoff team, they were of no importance to the league.

For example, this year, the Clippers, a big city like Los Angeles, must get a No. 1 pick. It would be a good idea to think about Griffin joining the Clippers.

But it doesn’t matter if it’s 15th pick or thereafter, because the favorites are all at the front anyway.

Jiang Ming got 15 with one draw!

"You're so lucky, brother!" The Piston brother next to him looked at Jiang Ming enviously.

Because Jiang Ming drew the 5th pick in 15% of cases, which is still very strong.

“It’s really metaphysical.”

"Mysterious oriental power."

Even David Stern said that this was the first time a Chinese person drew lots at a lottery meeting, and he drew such a high number at once, which was amazing.

Jiang Ming’s mobile phone is filled with messages of praise from management.

"Comfortable!"

"Dr. Jiang is amazing!"

"This is the effect we want!"

"The alliance is doing you a favor."

"David Stern can deny us face, but he must give you face! After all, he is old."

"Hehe, now we can go check out the rookies in the lottery area."

"15th pick, the tail end of the lottery, it's comfortable, it's still very valuable!"

"It was supposed to be after the 20th pick, right?"

"If the draw went normally, it would have been 24th."

"Jiang Ming is awesome!"

"It's a pity that this year is a weak year. I have to say that the Thunder are quite lucky. They are really going to form a super youth storm this time."

"The Thunder should not be able to snatch Griffin with the second pick, otherwise it would be exaggerated. With Griffin and Dewey, they can be like us."

Jiang Ming is thinking that he can really take a closer look at Curry. Judging from the Pistons' attitude, there aren't that many teams pursuing Curry this year, right? Maybe the Knicks, who got the eighth pick, are the biggest threat?

Because they finally listened to the fans and got a great manager.

It is Donnie Walsh who is here to draw the lots today.

On April 2008, 4, Donnie Walsh became the new president of basketball operations for the Knicks. The famous trader who had discovered Reggie Miller in Indiana decided to change the current situation of the Knicks.

Jiang Ming also heard from McGowan that his first step was to identify a good guy with a tough character, excellent basketball skills and no negative news as the core, and Walsh took a fancy to Curry.

This person is obviously someone who has personally come into contact with Curry, just like how Jiang Ming felt when he came into contact with Curry that day. He is not as unruly as the media wrote that the second generation of a basketball star is imagined to be.

On the contrary, he is humble and polite, not cunning, and not the kind of person who is a prick.

You should know that this character is definitely a plus for rookies. Don't think that NBA scouts don't value the education of players. You should know that many unsold rookies are taken by NBA teams because they are civilized and polite...

Of course, there are also many star players who have so many awesome role players playing for them because of their good personalities, and some of them can develop leadership spirit.

Since the new century, the NBA has become more and more standardized under the guidance of David Stern. There is no need for so many boxers and trash talkers to appear on the court. Basketball has returned to basketball, and it has become more and more important to talk with the ball.

With the New York Knicks now in a situation where all the players are dissatisfied and resentful, they really need more good guys to change the team culture. Curry is really suitable for the team in terms of both playing style and personality?

"It will be troublesome if they want to choose, we don't have the No. 8 pick."

Jiang Ming muttered something and left the venue, because tomorrow was the individual tryout day, and he would be able to see with his own eyes the performances of Curry and other rookies of this year.

The next day.

Trail Blazers' individual tryout day.

Jennings, DeRozan, Lawson, Curry, Danny Green and their agents were called to the agreed training hall in advance, and each of them warmed up seriously on their own.

Just kidding, the Trail Blazers were more motivated after they got the 15th pick yesterday.

This is also a lottery, which rookie would not be active?

The third team in the Western Conference has the 15th pick?
What is the concept?
This means that as long as he is selected, he will definitely have a good record with the Trail Blazers next year and will also get experience in the playoffs.

Unlike other lottery draft teams, which will have a hard time making the playoffs in the second year, will struggle for a few years, and may even have to rely on rookies.

Who doesn’t want to join a strong team?
The 15th pick is not an awkward pick position, and the team will definitely give him time to develop during the regular season!

It’s not like the late first-round picks where you can’t even play on a championship-caliber team.

The first thing Lawson said after meeting head coach McMillan was that he could also switch to point guard. After all, small guards are popular now. He was a point guard in North Carolina, but he can be trained in anything like organization.

There was one more person following Curry, that was Curry's father, who was chatting with Bert, the president's assistant. He was actually very curious why the Trail Blazers suddenly started to investigate his son, so he came to ask the reason.

Bert also half-seriously said that Dr. Jiang Ming thought your son had good physical potential and could be trained.

"Of course, this is my son."

Dell Curry sat in the audience with his hands behind his back, smiling. He came to see the performance of his rivals DeRozan and Lawson.

Since it was tedious individual physical training at the beginning, Jiang Ming did not go at first. He was seeing patients in the clinic while waiting for a call. However, it was the first time that the Trail Blazers' top management learned about Stephen Curry, the player that Jiang Ming had focused on "instructing".

After all, Jiang Ming told them early in the morning that he would focus on Curry, as this was his T0 choice.

Then Larry Miller and others naturally focused more on Curry.

They may not believe Curry, but they cannot fail to believe Jiang Ming's vision.

His words may very well mean that Curry can play in the league for more than 10 years, at least his body is definitely capable of doing that for that long.

After half a day, they also saw a lot of things.

It's true that he has a good personality.

Dell played in the NBA for 16 years and earned about million US dollars in his career, which is definitely a huge sum of money and also provided a good growth environment for Curry.

This little Curry has developed a cheerful, enthusiastic, generous, humble and kind personality, which meets the basic requirements of the Trail Blazers management for an outside core.

This kind of personality is a bit similar to Roy and Oden.

And what about the level?

When Jiang Ming arrived, the real confrontation training began.

Since the five people called were all guards, the tryout method McMillan designed for them was a full-court dribbling 1-on-2 offense and defense training.

They were divided into groups of three, and they also called Blake to practice with them, because Blake might be the most fair to them, and the other guards of the Trail Blazers were much better at defense than Blake.

After the ball was transferred, Curry was assigned to the same group as DeRozan and Blake, which was considered his worst draw.

Because DeRozan is the strongest among this group, and there is no need to say much about Blake, he is the starting point guard of the Trail Blazers.

The specific rules are that three people play the whole court, one person holds the ball and two people defend. Regardless of whether a goal is scored or not, the next ball possession will be given to the next player. In other words, every player has the opportunity to attack and defend for the management to examine.

The training period is 10 minutes!

"McMillan has something."

Jiang Ming stood up and looked at it with his arms folded.

Although the coaching staff did not specify the evaluation criteria, their performance in these 10 minutes was enough to tell the difference.

Especially when they are all guards, this depends on their ability to face double-team and double-team defense.

Whoever attacks will be double-teamed.

No matter who is defending, they will use double-team defense, which will test the defender's on-the-spot offensive and defensive capabilities.

After being double-teamed for 10 minutes, Curry took a lot of shots, and because DeRozan's confrontation was so awesome, Curry only took the three-point shots that he relied on.

He only made one of the first 12 three-point shots, but in the last 3 seconds, Curry, who had been struggling throughout the game, still insisted on shooting and hit a "game-winning" three-pointer to end his group's training.

On defense, Curry was just average, with DeRozan and Blake both making 6 shots in a fast-paced game.

DeRozan's goals are basically dunks that remove everything, relying mainly on his body.

Blake uses the rhythm to make mid-range shots or layups. Curry has little influence on the two of them, so he can only wait for the right moment to steal the ball.

Overall, DeRozan stands out, even more so than Blake. Of course, Blake and DeRozan are not of the same type, so naturally he is not as good at jumping and dancing as DeRozan.

The next group was much slower because there was a Danny Green who was not very good at dribbling. It was difficult for him to cross half court when he was double-teamed by two agile point guards, so he committed several 8-second violations.

This also made Jiang Ming sigh that it was not unreasonable to predict that they would be selected in the second round or even eliminated. It was reasonable to predict that Jennings and Lawson would be selected in the lottery. It was purely because these two were scoring points and Danny Green could only defend.

But his defense was indeed okay, because three players were constipated in the past 10 minutes, Jennings scored 4 goals, Lawson 3 goals, and Danny Green had 0 goals.

"This kind of tryout is really awkward for a guard like him who doesn't dribble."

Bert next to him was embarrassed for Danny Green, but the North Carolina captain didn't seem discouraged and kept defending actively.

"It's okay. He's just one of our second-round picks anyway, and we don't need him to dribble."

What Jiang Ming saw was his spirit and energy despite his mediocre talent. If it were another rookie, he would have cursed and given up the game. After all, being in a group with two ball control masters was pure torture.

But Danny Green has been trying to use fierce defense to prevent everyone from scoring, which has made Jennings and Lawson a little anxious.

In the words of Larry Miller:
"Except for DeRozan, none of them seem to fit my impression of a lottery pick."

(End of this chapter)