Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 144 Everything is in Time

"Red Devils sweep St. Louis, may Jesus bless them"

"Who can force out the complete form of the Red Devil?"

"The Complete Red Devil, on December 12th"

Let's start imagining the All-American Games

《21+22=23+24?》

"In 2016, the strongest team is about to be born?"

Chen Fang frowned and looked at his phone. With the help of Tatum, he subscribed to a toolbox media account that can push high school news across the United States. It will push all basketball news in the area based on your area.

The news includes breaking news from self-media, newspaper media, and radio media.

So, while Chen Fang was waiting, he saw the above scene. These were the most talked-about news, but after Chen Fang looked around, he felt it was magical. It turned out that the United States was so exaggerated.

But it makes sense when you think about it, otherwise how can we increase exposure and hype?

Over the past month, the Chaminade Red Devils have been on a roll, going 16 games undefeated, winning the St. Louis Class 5A City League championship and earning enough points to advance to the state tournament.

The championships are in January, and the team has a short offseason the following month, but will soon begin competing in some cross-region competitions, including the state invitational tournament created by a local Missouri company.

Express Scripts Holding, a large local company in Missouri, is called Express Scripts Holding in Chinese and ranks 500th in the Fortune Global 25.

It sponsors an invitational tournament for American high schools, inviting a total of 12 teams from Midwestern states that have performed well this year to participate.

Title: Quick Prescription Grand Prix, with a total prize of 100 million W, the top four will receive 70 W, and the champion will receive a huge prize of 30 W.

The prize money for the American High School Invitational Tournament is directly allocated to the entire team, including the coaching staff, players, and managers. The school does not participate in the prize money distribution.

This greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the team, especially for the coaches. Most of the income of American high school coaches depends on the prize money of the invitational tournament, which makes the coaches more willing to pay for the invitational tournament, because in essence, the league is their main job and the invitational tournament is overtime. (A well-run and increasingly powerful sports activity must have a series of relevant matching policies and the participation of the whole society in investment. There are similar ones in China, but the level and organizing committee are indeed still at the kindergarten management concept.)
So when the first stage ended, the whole team started training and preparing for the Quick Prescription Invitational. This time, the opponents they would face were not the kids from St. Louis.

Yes, the title of kid is not self-praise, but a name given by the media after the start of the regular season.

Due to the unexpectedly good performance of Group AB in the preseason, in order to keep the absolute lineup confidential, Coach Bennett, at the suggestion of Perez, began to adopt the classic red and white tactics.

The tactic is that Tatum leads Team A, wearing the home jersey, which is red, and plays in all home games, and Chen Fang leads Team B, wearing the away jersey, which is white, and plays in away games.

(The jerseys of the National High School League are relatively simple, with the school name on the front and the player name on the back, and the color is mainly monochrome. This photo was taken when the 21-year-old Tatum returned to his alma mater to participate in the retirement of his jersey. When he was 16 years old, he participated in the retirement ceremony of Bill's No. 23 player.)
This on-field strategy led to two focal topics.

1: More and more people are starting to discuss, who is stronger, AB?
2: Who are the first five members of the complete team formed by AB combination?

Because both the red team and the white team have a perfect record and are in a crushing position in the game, which makes people feel troubled and frightened, because people are afraid of the unknown.

In 16 city games, the Red Devils beat all the teams like beating a child, making them cry.

As a result, the outside world is full of endless imagination about the complete form of the Chaminade Red Devils, and what the effect of 21+22 will be.

But even the leader Bennett has no answer to this question. In the team competition, AB have won and lost against each other, but there is no real opponent that allows Tatum and Chen Fang to play together.

Therefore, the Quick Prescription Midwest Invitational Tournament has become a point of anticipation.

Although there is still a week before the start of the game, the number of media announced by the organizing committee shows that more and more people are beginning to pay attention to this Midwestern American team that has already gained some fame in the country last year.

7M Sports Network, the largest sports media in Missouri, has opened a Red Devils column and dispatched a three-member tracking reporting team to St. Louis.

Scoops Sports Network, the state's largest sports network, began internal discussions on whether to invite Tatum and Chen Fang for an online live interview.

According to incomplete statistics, the number of topics about the Red Devils has exploded from dozens in October to thousands.

The media deliberately fanned the flames, hyping up the red and white combination and the conjecture of 21+22=23 or 24, which greatly mobilized the number of people participating in the discussion and their enthusiasm.

Even within the team, this topic is discussed privately. Although Bennett has issued a ban strictly prohibiting players from accepting any media interviews, it does not prevent them from chatting with each other.

This kind of chat is bound to have overhearers, so some cunning self-media have charged high prices for the eavesdropping content from passers-by and classmates.

So some very strange little news appeared.

"A player from the Red Devils revealed that 22 are dissatisfied with 21 and are trying to seize power"

Chen has begun to get tired of being the second child

Tatum always believes that A is better than B

The students in the school were also enjoying the discussion, which had begun to affect the team's normal preparations for training. Bennett began to summon key players for individual talks.

Chen Fang, who realized it belatedly, frowned, looked through the news on his phone, and sat outside the head coach's office, waiting for his conversation.

The door opened and Tatum walked out. He glanced at Chen Fang who was waiting, then silently pointed inside, indicating that Chen Fang should go in.

Then, when Chen Fang came up to him, he whispered, "Relax and don't care about these media."

"Of course." Chen Fang replied, patted him on the shoulder and stepped in.

Bennett did not sit behind the desk, but on the sofa next to it. It seemed that he did not want to make the atmosphere solemn. His face was full of smiles, and he waved at Chen Fang: "Come, try the tea I made."

"Thank you, coach." Chen Fang sat down, and the two sat side by side. He turned slightly and looked at the coach.

Bennett looked at Chen Fang, feeling a lot of emotion in his heart.

This Chinese teenager who surprised him from the beginning has been constantly refreshing his cognition. Bennett knows very well that when a team has two stars, it is sometimes not a good thing.

Even in the NBA, in order to compete for the championship, the team will break the luxury tax to build a luxurious lineup, but they still have to abide by the rules of who is the boss on the court and arrange the seats in order.

Including shooting rights, control rights, playing time, locker room exceptions, family privileges, etc.

Every detail must follow this rule.

Obviously, the Red Devils have that too, with Tatum being the boss and Raymond being the captain and locker room leader.

But now, Chen Fang's appearance and presence are too strong, resulting in psychological deviations towards the two even within the team.

Who to focus on has become a big problem for the team.

Not only the head coach, but also the players.

As the saying goes, AB is happy for a moment, but the whole team is in a crematorium.

This problem occurred when Chen Fang was asked to lead 7 of the 4 new members to form Team B.

Led by Murphy, Chen Fang is regarded as the boss. It can be seen from the training that this subconscious desire to automatically get close to him and cling to his thighs is very obvious.

Bennett broke up all of AB during training, but it had no effect. Often when he said something, Murphy and others would look at Chen Fang's expression and change to a phrase that was popular in his previous life.

It's the opposite of Tiangang.

The old players of Team A, led by Raymond, also changed their attitude towards Chen Fang during training, and often made some rough moves.

Bennett knew very well that Raymond felt the threat posed by Chen Fang to Tatum and began to take the initiative.

Let’s not talk about the players first. Perez also has a different opinion. He thinks that letting Chen Fang lead the team will allow them to go further. But Bennett certainly disagrees. Tatum is his life’s work, and he has always had a hunch that he may only meet one Tatum in his life.

Bennett would never let Chen Fang pick the peaches, but he certainly wouldn't suppress Chen Fang for this.

He needs to neutralize the two and release his fighting power.

Bennett also wanted to know what the answer was. "This was given to me by a friend who had traveled to China. I can't remember what kind of tea it is. Do you know?" Bennett asked.

A good way to start might be to start with something that is a specialty of China.

Chen Fang glanced at the steaming tea and said, "It's black tea."

He picked it up and smelled it, then took a sip and said, "Zhengshan Xiaozhong, produced in Fujian, is one of the earliest black teas in the world."

Bennett was surprised. He asked, "You can drink it in one gulp."

"Yes, Zhengshan means the top of a mountain, as the name suggests, and it has a very beautiful meaning. I believe that this friend has a special meaning for the coach giving it to him."

"The tea leaves are dark and shiny in appearance, and the aroma is a mixture of smoky, fruity and floral scents. This smell is very special, so you can tell it as soon as you smell it."

"It has a mellow taste with a sweet aftertaste, a soft entrance and a fruity aroma. The more you drink it, the more you want to drink it. It is a first-class good tea and an expensive tea."

"Coach, take a sip and see if it's as I said."

Bennett was very interested. He never drank tea and preferred drinking wine. If it weren't for this crisis, he wouldn't have thought of this. After hearing this, he picked up the cup and smelled it first. Sure enough, it had the smell that Chen Fang said. Then he took a sip and closed his eyes to taste it carefully.

Bennett opened his eyes and asked with emotion: "Do all Chinese people know how to appreciate tea?"

Chen Fang shook his head: "Only a part of it." In his previous life, he had tried every way to make money. Of course, he had also sold tea, and it was financial tea. But the tea was the one that suffered the most.

Letting go of the urge to ask further, Bennett returned to the main topic.

"I heard from my friend that tea, in some ways, represents the quality of the Chinese people, is that right?"

"Harmony, tolerance, gratitude, moderation, wisdom, and tenacity." For Chen Fang, these were the tea-selling jargons that existed in his mind, and he recalled them in an instant. At the same time, he also understood what the coach wanted to express.

"These are all the culture of tea, and also the Chinese philosophy."

"Coach, please rest assured, I was recruited by Tatum. I came here to play well. The stability and harmony of the team are the most important."

Bennett nodded frequently. Chen Fang caught his rhythm for a moment, but he couldn't interrupt because Chen Fang was saying what he was thinking.

"I will express what I just said in the next training. I believe that this problem can be solved soon." Chen Fang stood up and said goodbye politely.

He said all my lines. After Chen Fang left, Bennett came to his senses and thought in shock.

After going out, Tatum was waiting outside the door, and Chen Fang couldn't help but smile.

She took the initiative to step forward and put her arm around his shoulders, and asked, "Wait for me?"

"Uh..." Tatum was caught off guard and didn't respond immediately.

"Let's go. It's time for training." Chen Fang went downstairs first.

Are you kidding? Whoever wants to deal with Tatum will cut off Chen Fang's future.

The first person who jumped out to settle the score with him was Chen Fang.

Not to mention that Tatum was very decisive in his recruitment. Given Chen Fang's goal, without Tatum, both timing and future opportunities would be compromised.

It doesn’t matter if he continues to be the boss. Chen Fang is very patient. He knows that his time has not yet come.

On this stage, he is not the C position yet. Tatum is in the center. What he needs to do is to train hard, fix his weaknesses and wait for the opportunity. If possible, Chen Fang doesn't mind being the second for a longer time.

This is not because he has no ambition or determination, but Chen Fang is very clear that basketball is a competitive sport, and there is a default rule that first come first served. Unless one is unworthy of the position, the backlash of breaking the unspoken rules will destroy all his efforts.

But the concession at this moment is just like Chen Fang’s overview of tea. Tea can be paired with a variety of ingredients, which reflects the inclusiveness and diversity of Chinese culture.

My era is still in the future, Chen Fang silently said to himself as he stepped onto the court.

Maybe next year, maybe even further away, I have already seen the door, and what I have to do is not to run to it, but to fill the potholes on the road to the door first.

Then he walked to the door, used the strength he had accumulated over the years, pushed the door open, and stepped in.

Training resumed with the return of the two main generals.

During the break in training, Chen Fang expressed his respect for Tatum's status with his actions. He suddenly asked everyone's age, and then half-jokingly talked about Chinese rules.

"In China, elders are respected verbally. I think I should change my name. Jason, you are five months older than me. According to the rules, I have to call you Big Brother!"

Tatum was stunned by Chen Fang's sudden suggestion, which also surprised other people on the court. Lu Yun, who was on the outside, also changed his expression and then showed a playful smile.

"Eldest brother!" Tatum chewed on the term. Elder is usually used when the younger one in the family addresses the older one.

But it is not clear whether Chen Fang knew the context of this word, but Tatum felt very useful. He felt the respect that Chen Fang expressed to him. He glanced at Raymond, who nodded.

So Tatum reached out and shook hands with Chen Fang.

"Brother!" Tatum hugged Chen Fang with one shoulder.

Then, after Chen Fang’s statement, and in the strange atmosphere of the previous period, everyone suddenly realized that this was the time to express their stance.

Others used their local customs and slang to express their respect to Tatum as the leader of his team.

Behind the French windows on the third floor of the arena, Bennett and Perez were holding tea and watching the scene.

"My respect for Chen has reached a new level," Perez said suddenly.

Bennett didn't answer. His expression said it all. Then Perez continued, "He can take it and let it go. He can move forward and backward freely. He is a decent man."

man!

This is Chaminade's motto.

When you receive this title from a senior teacher, it means you are recognized.

If you add decency, it means that you are completely respected.

Picking up the cup and taking a sip, Bennett felt more comfortable than ever before.

"Man, there's still a week left, let's think about it, red and white combination." He shouted with fighting spirit.

Night has fallen, and Chen Fang and Lu Yun are on their way home.

Lu Yun kicked a stone on the road ahead. The stone flew far away and hit the trash can, making a buzzing sound.

"Isn't it said that the United States advocates competition? Doesn't it love fighting? How come they have started to do this, ranking people based on seniority!" He smiled.

Chen Fang did not evade this question: "This is the right choice."

"Besides, the profit ratio of grabbing this is too low, at least from the current perspective." Chen Fang added.

There was a stone in front of him. Chen Fang rushed forward two steps and kicked it. The stone sank into darkness. Suddenly, there was a crisp sound of a telephone pole being hit.

"Ding!"

Naturally, he would immediately show off his luck. Chen Fang turned around and smiled at Lu Yun, "That's what we call a kick."

Lu Yun laughed: "Is it too late for us to switch to football?"

There is always time to do anything, the key is whether you believe in yourself.

Everything comes in time!
　Thanks to the 7 monthly tickets that were soaked in blood. To be honest, this is the first time I know that there are 7 monthly tickets... This refreshes my cognition! I always thought that there were only two or three at most...!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)