Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 169: National Team, Olympics, Hard to Describe
"How many more days can I eat?"

Chen Fang asked with a smile: "Do you want a refill?"

"Just bet on something else!" Trae Young said as a matter of course.

He raised his head and laughed twice, but Chen Fang ignored him.

Wow, this week, Chen Fang spent nearly $10,000 on food. Have these two never had a full meal?
"Today is the last day, forget it. Why do you want to go to Atlanta in May? Do you want to eat somewhere else?" Chen Fang said viciously.

Trae Young and Porter Jr. smiled at each other and started to act stupid.

Both teams rested in Kansas and then went their separate ways, heading to Atlanta, the first stop of the EYCL in May. They were divided into their respective groups, played three group matches, and then played a seeding match with the top team in the other group.

And so on. Half a month later, we went to Indianapolis for the second stop, and in early June we went to Las Vegas for the third stop.

In July, the top 7 teams will go to the finals in Washington, DC.

Over the past week, the relationship between the three has skyrocketed. Trae Young and Porter Jr. have also refreshed their old-fashioned impression of the Chinese. Chen Fang's humor and ability to adapt to changing situations have put the two to shame.

To be honest, these three people are not easy to deal with. When they get together, they cause a lot of trouble.

Porter Jr. is a troublemaker, and his low emotional intelligence is pitiful. (After entering the NBA, he made all kinds of stupid remarks and actions, such as posting a tweet expressing sympathy for the police who knelt and killed a black man on the famous social hot spot of Black Lives Matter, which caused an uproar among many NBA players.)
Don't even mention blowing Yang's trumpet. Just the word "blowing" tells you how mean this guy is.

If it weren't for Chen Fang, a seasoned gangster with a strong ability to respond to emergencies, it is possible that all three of them would have been shot.

In addition, Chen Fang has always been the one paying the bill, so over the past week, the three of them have tended to follow Chen Fang's lead.

Of course, it was not only because of the material, technical and spiritual aspects that Chen Fang gave them, but also the impact he gave them.

The three of them cherished their time together, training together in the gym, and having various one-on-one matches, starting with 7 innings and 11 balls.

For example, a one-on-one duel with the ball outside the three-point line, a five-second one-on-one duel with the ball at the elbow, and a seven-second one-on-one duel with the ball throughout the court. Every gamble you can think of has been played out by them this week.

All three of them gained something, and Chen Fang also took the opportunity to brainwash little Porter, saying that with his talent, he should be a core player and not be second in command. In fact, little Porter is just a piece of the puzzle, and Chen Fang is purely giving him positive energy and acting as a life mentor.

Whether it works or not is another matter, but the image of an elder brother teaching his younger brothers has been established.

As for dealing with Trae Young, this guy is stubborn and headstrong inside, and has the potential to be a big boss. Chen Fang talked to him more about how to integrate into the team and how to provide reverse output to the team. Personal honor is not the most important thing.

In short, this week’s food money cannot be wasted, Chen Fang is just brainwashing you in various ways.

The effect is of course very good. Don't think that foreigners are cunning. In fact, many of them are very simple. Their principle of making friends is intuition. If they judge that you are not good, they will close the door and will not believe anything you say. If they think you are reliable, they will believe you no matter how outrageous your words are.

By today, the only thing missing was the Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood, but the main reason was that Chen Fang didn't dare to do it. These two people were potential villains, and he didn't want to clean up their messes in the future.

One is brainless, the other is fearless. If they were to get along in society, they would be a match made in heaven.

It’s a pity that he has to go to the NBA, so Chen Fang thought about it and decided to give up.

"After this meal, let's say goodbye. Don't tell others that you know me when you go out next time." Chen Fang said.

"I'm planning on getting a tattoo of Chen being my brother." Little Porter said seriously.

“What are you talking about?” Chen Fang was sweating. You are the one who caused the trouble in the future. If I don’t save you, people will laugh at me for being disloyal. If I save you, then both of us will fall into the pit and be scolded by others.

Trae Young was secretly laughing beside him. He suddenly asked, "Are you really planning to skip the NCAA this year?"

"I had this idea. I passed the SAT, so I was qualified."

"Hey, if it weren't for the credits, I would want to go too." Trae Young was a little envious. In fact, including Porter Jr., the level of these three people is enough to go to NCAA, but because of the credit issue, they can only stay for another year.

"You Chinese are really good at studying." Little Porter started again.

"You're also good at ABC?" Chen Fang glanced at him.

"That's about right." Little Porter had no idea.

"Even if they are good at studying, they are still different from us Chinese." Chen Fang began a new brainwashing.

"From my point of view, these ABCs are all castrated. Anyway, I have been in the United States for almost a year, and I don't want to meet any ABCs."

"Why?" Trae Young was quite puzzled.

"I don't like keeping dogs." Chen Fang said something puzzling.

Trae Young was the first to react, so he chuckled twice and stopped talking.

(Why has the ABC look become a group impression? The core is that these second- and third-generation Chinese Americans born in the United States are born to like to smile flatteringly with their mouths split open, the so-called American fake smile. This long-term practice leads to serious deformation of the facial features, especially above the upper cheekbones. And who among the Chinese would use their mouths to force a smile and keep it up for a whole day? Normally, they just use a smile with their eyes to express kindness.)
Chen Fang didn't feel anything before, but after having more contact with ABCs, he felt so disgusted, as if he was dealing with dogs and slaves. Especially, this group of ABCs were extremely powerful. They looked coldly at him, and when they saw the white people next to them, they grinned and squinted their eyes. When they turned around and faced Chen Fang again, they had a pursed mouth expression, which was really disgusting.

"Let's go. I'm hungry!" Chen Fang didn't want to continue this topic.

※※※

Outside the bus, Chen Fang hugged Trae Young and Porter Jr. goodbye.

"Eat more, you need to exercise to become stronger!" Chen Fang said in a half-lecturing tone.

Trae Young grinned to express his disdain.

"Just practice holding the ball more. Roy is a good coach. I envy you!" Chen Fang also encouraged Porter Jr. This buddy was going to New York. Huang Mamba came to recruit him in person. Maybe it was because he listened to Chen Fang's words about being the core, Porter Jr. finally made up his mind to go to New York and learn skills from Roy.

“See you in Atlanta in May!”

After waving goodbye, Chen Fang got on the bus and sat in the front.

The car started and headed towards St. Louis.

Joe Mazzula's mission has also come to an end, and as to whether he will be the coach in May, no one can say.

In the car, the two continued to talk about tactics. After the bus drove for an hour, Joe Mazzula suddenly changed the subject.

"You're really not coming?"

Chen Fang shook his head: "Still considering it."

"What concerns?" Joe Mazzula seemed very patient.

It is understandable that Chen Fang wants to find a talent for his alma mater, but he has his own concerns.

There are a total of 64 berths in the NCAA tournament, 31 of which are awarded to the playoff champions of the 32 leagues. The Ivy League does not have a playoff, so the regular season champions automatically get the berth.

The remaining 32 seats will be competed for by 36 teams selected by vote. The voting expert group will take into account factors such as schedule, league strength, and game process to select 32 teams from the 36 league teams.

Therefore, it is actually very difficult to play in the March Madness tournament.

Choosing the right league, the right team, the right coach, and the right teammates are all things to consider. If it's just an ordinary American high school player, any school would be willing to go to, but the key is to be a five-star high school student, so you will choose carefully.

You may choose a coach who promises you a starting position and playing time, or a team with strong teammates, or a university because of your feelings and beliefs.

Chen Fang didn't understand any of this. Even though he looked up information and asked people, the more information he got, the more confused he became.

After all, Chen Fang knew very well that if he made the wrong choice, all his previous efforts would be in vain, and his subsequent efforts might have to be doubled.

It can be said that one wrong step leads to all wrong.

When faced with Joe Mazzula's invitation, Chen Fang's concern was that he was not the head coach of West Virginia University, otherwise Chen Fang would have been interested.

Because of his current direction, he can only choose a coach he can trust, rather than teammates, and he doesn't have much sentimentality.

He is now just an assistant coach in the D2 League. To be honest, Chen Fang doesn't dare to entrust his fate to him.

"Coach, I have great respect for you, especially your command style and level. If you were the head coach of West Virginia University, I would seriously consider it."

After hearing Chen Fang's explanation and his true feelings, Joe Mazzula sighed inwardly. Yes, how could a five-star high school student with so much talent blindly obey orders? If he went and something went wrong, he would not be able to cover it.

"But I believe we still have a chance to work together." This was Chen Fang's intuition. He thought Joe Mazzula was a great man and a real basketball coach.

The topic ended there, and we returned to St. Louis in silence.

Chen Fang got in the Uber taxi and rushed home.

After arriving home, Chen Fang did not go into the house, but went to the supermarket to buy ingredients first, preparing to go home and cook for himself. He ate at restaurants with Trae Young and Porter every day, which really made him cry. Everything seemed to have returned to the starting point, and Chen Fang started living alone.

He goes to school during the day to continue his studies. He wants to learn more AP credits, which can help him reduce a lot of expenses and study time in college, allowing him to focus more on training.

In the afternoon, he went to the gym as usual and trained with his teammates to keep in shape.

At this time, Chaminade had already begun to prepare for the dark moments after the departure of the Red Devils' two kings. Not only was it trying out local self-recommended players, but it was also facing high school students from all over the United States recruited through Perez.

Chen Fang also served as a face and a presence. Not only did he have to conduct interviews and be the last step in the process, but he also had to serve as captain and help the coach manage the team's normal training.

This made Chen Fang feel fulfilled and he enjoyed it. During the day, he was surrounded by many people, and at night, he lived alone. Except for the regular phone calls with Wu Zi, his life was so monotonous.

This situation continued until early April, when a transatlantic phone call broke the peace.

"Olympics?" Chen put the speaker on while doing push-ups at home.

Don't underestimate push-ups because they are common. There are many tricks to them. By using the push-up posture, you can perform various special training exercises.

As a basketball player, the pectoral muscles must not be bulging and expanding. Instead, they should be flat and wide. They must have strength, coordination, moderate size and good recovery ability. They are functional pectoral muscles.

Especially for outside players like Chen Fang, chest muscle training should be more cautious. Once there is a problem, either Fultz or James will say goodbye to the soft touch.

The chest muscles are related to the shoulders, waist and abdomen. Following Wick's suggestion, Chen Fang used push-ups to improve his condition little by little and did not dare to increase his strength at all.

In short, Wick gave Chen Fang four to five years for muscle training and improvement, and repeatedly told him not to be hasty and to proceed step by step.

(In fact, it is best for basketball players to start from a weak body and slowly improve, and as their basketball skills and muscle strength improve, James started to improve his body too early, which resulted in his skills in many aspects being unable to become elite.)
Back to reality, when Chen Fang heard the call from Zhang Shaohong after the appointment, he was surprised.

"The first batch of players have already arrived at the Yunnan Haigeng Base on March 3st. Now it's the second batch. If you want to play in the Olympics, you have to come to this training camp."

"How long will the training last?" Chen Fang asked.

"The training will last until early May."

Chen Fang felt uneasy because this conflicted with the game against EYBL.

"Isn't it still early for the Olympics?" Although Chen Fang was very clear about the logic behind it, he still felt unwilling.

"In fact, the training camp has already started in BJ last year, with screening and confirmation. Now I am going to train the first and second batches, and many of them are just sparring partners. In fact, I know all about it, and I am very positive under various ideas."

“When is the third batch?”

"Not sure, Chen Fang, I need to remind you that no one can parachute in unless you are already the core of the national team, such as Yi."

Zhang Shaohong naturally knew what Chen Fang was thinking. He continued, "If you want to play in this year's Olympics in Brazil, you should come back now. The Sports Bureau is asking about your situation."

"My situation?" Chen Fang was surprised.

"Yes, you may seldom watch the domestic news. Right now, there are two groups of people arguing for you to be recruited into the national team and play in the Olympics."

"Two groups of people? Are they from the public?"

"Of course not. We never consider the public. Letting laymen command professionals is illogical. How can the results be good?" Zhang Shaohong said flatly.

"There are different opinions at the Basketball Management Center. One group believes that you are under 18 years old and do not meet the requirements to join the national team in all aspects."

"Of course, there are people who object, because before you, Zhou and Guo were selected for the national team before they were 18 years old."

"What is the controversial point?" Chen Fang asked.

"The controversy lies in the different competition tasks. Now they chose you to play in the most important Olympics, but at that time they only chose you to play in the Asian level. The opposing side believes that each of the 12 places is very valuable and they will not easily give you a place just based on rumors."

"The supporters finally gave a way out, saying that they would at least let you come back for training and not be too arbitrary."

"So, you are asking me as well as me?" Chen Fang finally understood what was going on.

He sighed. To be honest, who wouldn't want to participate in the Olympics? But when it comes to really going, Chen Fang is also afraid.

In his previous life, he only listened to negative news as his appetizers. After playing basketball, a group of people at the table criticized the national team, from gift-giving to tactics, from factions to seniority. From that time on, Chen Fang was indoctrinated that playing for the national team was a tough job.

Whether you win or lose, there will be people criticizing you. In short, that place is Sarajevo, the focus of 14 billion people in the country.

"If I can't go to this training camp, will I never have a chance to join the national team again?" Chen Fang asked a possible question.

"Of course not. You will get in sooner or later, but not this time." Zhang Shaohong also had a lot to say. He was really holding this beloved disciple in his hands, afraid that his heart would melt.

"Let me analyze it for you." Zhang Shaohong calmed himself down.

"If you don't go now, you still have excuses and reasons. After all, you lack age and qualifications. But if you don't go in the future, it is very likely that you will never have a chance in your life. You must understand this."

"Of course, there are advantages to going now. You have the qualifications, so you can be considered to have checked in. When the national team gathers again in the future, you will be one of the ones who will be selected."

"Also, I want to remind you of something you may have overlooked."

"The national team and the Sports Bureau don't really care about you. They don't value what you have achieved. Don't think it's me who says this. I can say responsibly that they don't value it."

"The logic is simple. There are so many players with NBA experience in the CBA. Regardless of whether they are eliminated or semi-retired, their level is still there, and it is difficult to decide the outcome of a game. So you are not an NBA player yet, you are just a high school student."

"In addition, there have been people who returned from the United States in recent years, but they haven't achieved anything. Now the industry doesn't think that people trained in the United States are good. It's just because the base is large, so there are more talents."

"So, don't take yourself too seriously now. It's the grassroots networks that are making the noise, but it's useless. Don't let it affect you."

"I know, boss. I am clear about this." After listening for a long time, Chen Fang understood what the boss meant.

"Then I won't go back. I'm going to play in a national tournament soon, which is very important for me to go to the NCAA." Chen Fang also said frankly.

Zhang Shaohong felt relieved when he saw that Chen Fang understood what he meant. He was afraid that this kid was too proud and felt uncomfortable because of this matter.

"Then how do we solve this problem?" Chen Fang was worried about this again.

"It's simple, you don't have to worry, you won't have any trouble at all." Zhang Shaohong laughed on the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Fang's heart couldn't calm down for a long time.

It has been a pure black decade. How could Chen Fang not know how bad the national team will be in the next ten years?

In the 16 Olympics, the team finished last after losing all five games. In the 19 World Cup at home, the team lost the qualification to go directly to the 20 Olympics, resulting in two generations of national players facing the dilemma of no international competitions.

Things went from bad to worse, and by 24 years ago, they were already at a lower-middle level in Asia, and they had no confidence of winning against anyone.

Yao has not had any notable political achievements in these years, which is not only embarrassing for himself, but also depressing for all Chinese fans.

Therefore, when Chen Fang, as a golfer, has to face this known dark memory, his mood is actually the most complicated among Chinese fans in 2016.

At this moment, fans still look forward to a bright future and believe that there will be successors to Chinese players in the NBA. They also look down on the various national teams in East Asia.

Alas, this is the only way for now.

Chen Fang sighed helplessly. Zhang Shaohong said something very right: don't try to be too aggressive, because others may not look down on you.

He remembers the story of Zhao the Caddie.

Unless you make it to the NBA, you really don't have the ranking to face these big guys in China. Okay, then just wait.

Thinking of this, Chen Fang regained his good mood and continued with his push-ups.

Add three more groups, and consider it as a reward for my ordinary origins.

Chen Fang said to himself.

　I only wrote one chapter today. I feel extremely depressed. I overworked my brain last night and had a stress reaction. I actually couldn't sleep.

　　I'm so sleepy. I need to go to bed early today.

　　As for today's content, I want to say that this is the fact. If you don't enter the NBA, don't expect to have a place in the national team. Even if you go, you will be a caddie. What they compete for is qualifications and connections, not basketball skills.

　　To be honest, I am not making a fuss about this topic, but this is the ending of the novel.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)