Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 211 Who cares?

If 64 to 32 means there are 32 winners, then in terms of quantity, USC's victory is not much to speak of.

Chen Fang's data of 23 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds also looks attractive, but not to the point of being terrifying.

But everything became completely different after March 3th.

After Troy thought it had eliminated Saint Mary's 84-71, people laid out all the results and suddenly made a surprising discovery.

All four participating teams of the PAC-12 (also known as the Pacific Conference) won without exception, and they all entered the Sweet 16.

The NCAA's "Sweet Sixteen" is named mainly because of its alliteration, that is, the first letters of the two words "Sweet" and "Sixteen" are the same, making the name sound more pleasant and eye-catching.

In addition, the word "sweet" also implies the achievements and expectations of these teams in the competition. Entering the top 16 means that these teams have performed well in the fierce knockout stage and won more attention and recognition.

Historically, the last 16 is the initial goal of all teams participating in the tournament, no matter if they are dark horses or giants, reaching the last 16 is something they can account to everyone, including themselves.

But the fact that Parker made it to all four finals made countless people feel unbelievable and unacceptable.

This not only represents the Parker League's superior strength in the NCAA 32 league, but also indicates that this year's NCAA tournament may see an unprecedented record.

In the 1985 NCAA tournament, three teams from the Big East reached the Final Four: the Georgetown Hoyas, the Villanova Wildcats, and the St. John's Red Storm.

While no year has ever seen all four teams from the same conference, 1985 was close, which shows how dominant the Big East was that year.

In the end, Villanova University defeated Georgetown University in the final to win the championship.

And last year, it happened that Villanova won the championship. Fate always repeats itself in some inadvertent angle, giving you the illusion that you have caught its trace for a moment.

It only took five days for the Parker Alliance to go from being completely unmentioned to suddenly becoming a hot topic across the United States.

(I need to elaborate on this plot setting. The fact is that except for USC, the other three teams all entered the top 3. At that time, the heat aroused was very high, and the Parker League was recognized by the whole league. Because of Chen Fang's appearance, USC would naturally not fall in the top 16 round. Because he replaced Arizona as the champion, he also became the No. 32 seed and came to the Western Conference, forcing the other three teams to change divisions. UCLA went to the East, and it was no problem to beat Baylor University, because after all, he only lost to Kentucky in the South. The reason why Lonzo Ball was the second pick was also because his ability to lead the team was recognized in this tournament.)
(As the runner-up, Arizona naturally went to the Midwest. It switched divisions with the Ducks, and the more formidable Ducks came to the South. In this way, the opponents faced by the four teams were less difficult to advance to.)
(Also, there is an old saying that the losing team is the most terrible. Because it will make them reflect and review, and find out their mistakes. In the league game, Chen Fang gave a warning to all three teams, so that they would do better in the next tournament. From a logical reasoning point of view, this is in line with the development trajectory of things. This plot explanation is actually part of the content of the article and is not considered water text.)
As the league champions, the USC Trojans began to be respected, and Chen Fang's ability to lead a team also rose to a new level. In ESPN's latest updated draft list, he has jumped into the top three, on par with Tatum and Fultz.

In the Chinese media, it was a foregone conclusion that Chen Fang would be the top scorer in 2017. Various news reports citing relevant American media reports were like bombers, with more than a dozen news reports dropping bombs every day.

This situation reached a climax on the 25th, but as the saying goes, the more famous you are, the more trouble you will have.

At noon that day, an interview suddenly set off the entire sports network.

Chen Fang, a very clever counterfeiter

The blood-red title, the explosive content, the bizarre yet convincing logical arguments and angles, suddenly made the whole thing seem to be in a shaky situation.

The subject of the interview was Scorpius Carlson, the editor-in-chief of Scoops Sports Network, who was known as Chen Fang’s biggest anti-fan in Missouri last year, and his subject of the interview was Wallace, the scout who was fired by Chen Fang without hesitation.

"We all know that you used to be Chen Fang's agent." Carlson got straight to the point and threw out a revelation. He knew very well how to quickly capture the hearts of fans.

"Yes, I met him when he first came to Chaminade to play. He was eager to be famous and hoped to get an offer faster. For this, he was willing to pay me to hype him up."

"Spend money on hype? Oh, God, what a cunning and smart Chinese." Carlson laughed.

"Yes, he is very smart. He knows his strengths and weaknesses. Just like when he plays, he is very smart in avoiding all weaknesses."

"Weaknesses, does he have any? Now all the media are praising him, saying that he has no weaknesses. His template has changed from George to Kobe, and from Kobe to James. To be honest, I'm tired of this shameless flattery."

"Yes, this is excessive. Because I am his agent, we spend a lot of time together. I know this kind of praise is very weak. He is far from reaching that level, let alone James, Kobe, and George."

"Are you still his agent?"

"No, I've been fired by him. In fact, he didn't pay me, not a penny. It was just a verbal promise." Wallace looked very angry and he took out a long bill.

"Look, all the travel expenses I spent to find him an offer are recorded. I swear to God, this Chinese man is a liar."

"Why did he fire you?" Carlson asked. In fact, they had been rehearsing the lines for a whole day before the interview, and he knew the rhythm very well.

At this moment, the director was gesturing to him, telling him that the ratings were rising sharply, which undoubtedly made Carlson even more excited.

"He wanted too much. In fact, I had already exceeded my expectations. I sent samples to many D1 university coaches. They were all willing to offer Chinese players, but Chen Fang didn't like them at all. He wanted a core position, playing time that he could control, a scholarship, generous admission packages, etc."

"With all due respect, I can't remember any NBA superstar ever being treated like this in college," Carlson became angry.

"Let me see how Chinese are treated at USC." As Carlson turned around, the big screen behind them began to slide show some photos.

"An exclusive parking space, a villa with an annual rent of 8 US dollars, a dedicated training team of three, extra-special nutritious meals, and this." Carlson pointed proudly at a censored photo of a girl.

"An additional admission notice. The Chinese girlfriend was not admitted based on her grades, but because of Chen Fang's request. He tied his recruitment threshold to the premise that his girlfriend would also be admitted with him."

These revelations left those who watched them dumbfounded.

"OK, I'm not an entertainment reporter, I'm a sports person, let's talk about the real core content of sports. Just like what you said before, Mr. Wallace, what is Chen Fang's flaw?"

"I must admit that he is very good, not only in terms of his basketball IQ, but also his emotional IQ."

"His problem is actually very obvious, that is, he is not good at confrontation."

"Haha, it's true that Chinese people have no bodies. We have never seen them excel in face-to-face sports. They prefer some sports that involve remote competition." Carlson laughed and made a table tennis gesture.

"Yes, he doesn't have physical confrontation, so from beginning to end, he wisely chooses not to confront. He won't defend the opponent's key players, nor will he waste energy on defense. He will play fast breaks and provide assist defense, which are simple and cheap things."

"He let his players do all the hard work. He did that at Chaminade and it was even more so at USC."

"So I say he is a very smart man. He has taken all the benefits, including highlights, blocks, steals, and slam dunks. He knows how to market himself." Every word of Wallace hit the hearts of the fans who had just met and understood Chen Fang.

Then, Wallace expressed his views on the spot through the big screen behind him and the game footage.

"He is always on the wing because it is the easiest position. He only needs to use his wingspan to intimidate the opponent so that he dare not shoot and can only choose to break through and pass the ball. His inside teammates have always been providing him with a second layer of protection. Therefore, judging from the data, the rate of points lost to him is infinitely close to zero."

“Of course, we also have the rare footage of him defending at the top of the key.”

The scene switched to the Red Devils' early state games. Wallace pointed at Chen Fang who was defending at the top of the key and said, "Look, he couldn't even hold his own against a guy who weighed less than him. He was easily broken through."

Then, there was the scene of Chen Fang versus Fultz in the Huffington Post Elite Tournament.

In the video, Chen Fang was easily knocked away by Fultz, and the latter made an easy jump shot.

"There were a lot of these scenes in the early days of high school, but later on, you'll find that he doesn't go to the top of the key anymore. He'll let his teammates go and he'll just stay on the wing."

"That's why I say he's smart."

"Don't be fooled by his blocks and steals. In essence, Chen Fang just used his teammates to fight desperately, and he was the one who made the final throat-slitting move."

"Thank you for your analysis. According to what you said, Mr. Chen is very aware of his weaknesses."

"Yes."

"Then why did this happen?" Carlson smiled mysteriously and played a recording.

"Chen never does weight training in the gym. He just holds the barbell and warms up. He refuses to do any weight training. He can't even hold 120 pounds for reps."

(NBA players' bench press test standard for rookie physical tests is 185 pounds (about 84 kilograms). According to NBA regulations, the passing line for bench press during rookie physical tests is 135 pounds (about 61 kilograms), which means that players need to complete at least 135 10-pound bench presses, then rest for 60 seconds, then complete 5 185-pound bench presses, and finally record the maximum number of 185-pound bench presses they can complete.)
(In the 2007 NBA draft, Kevin Durant failed to bench press 185 pounds once.)
"Kurtis Schultz, our strength director, had an argument with him, but it was dropped, so the director never paid any attention to him again. And athletic director Jon Minamin also ran into a wall in front of him. Chen never participated in any physical training. I think he still doesn't even know where the track and field field is."

Carlson spread his hands and showed a playful smile.

"Surprising? The Chinese guy is actually a ball bully. He relies on the fact that he is a five-star high school student recruited by USC, so he can do whatever he wants."

"Okay, dear audience, today's interview ends here. Thank you for watching."

Such explosive insider information was a heavy blow to Chen Fang and USC, who were currently in the limelight.

In less than three hours, the news about USC's illegal admissions and its behavior of allowing the team to become ball-dominant directly ranked fifth on the U.S. hot list, generating more than half a million web pages of topics.

Countless media flocked to the hotel where the USC Trojans were staying, and no one could get out.

Chen Fang's reputation plummeted, and countless people quoted Wallace's original words: Clever liars!

On the 26th, San Jose, California, will host the Elite Eight match between the Xavier Musketeers, a powerhouse from the Big East Conference, and the USC Trojans from the Parker Conference.

Who will win and advance to the top eight in the country was supposed to be the biggest highlight of tomorrow's competition, but at this moment, all the attention was attracted by another matter: Chen Fang's ball-hogging incident and the scandal of illegal enrollment.

In the conference room, Tony, Busen, and all the coaching staff members sat in their seats with grim faces. In the huge room, only Andy's roar echoed.

"Fuck, who is the traitor? Find out. I will cut off his tongue with my own hands!" Andy was extremely angry. This was their best chance, but unexpectedly, they were stabbed in the back by their own people.

As the protagonists of this incident, Kurtis and Jon looked the most angry. They did not expect that they would become the protagonists of the scandal.

But what makes them most frustrated and desperate is that the contents of the revelations are true, but the inside story is completely different.

After Chen Fang entered the school, he did have disagreements with both of them over training, but soon after the physical examination report came out, as professionals, they also accepted the fact that Chen Fang could not do high-intensity training.

Just as Wick said, Chen Fang's body needs a longer time to build and improve, and it cannot be achieved through technology and training in a short period of time.

After the report came out, Chen Fang's training became completely independent, continuing Wick's training. Wick even went to USC and had good communication with the two of them.

But given that Wick was fired by the NFL in the past, this matter was kept very confidential, and the two parties involved were simply unable to bring Wick out and explain the matter clearly.

Compared with this matter, illegal enrollment is something that can only be understood intuitively.

The information provided in Wu Zi's application did not match the admissions standards, but as a default unspoken rule, things that are beneficial to the school usually get some bonus points. As far as admissions are concerned, USC has done even more excessive things than this.

But the reason why this kind of thing is a tacit unspoken rule is that it cannot be brought out in words.

So, both things hit the pain point, the pain point that cannot be justified.

There was a knock on the conference room door.

Busen was sitting closest to the door. He walked over to open the door, and when he saw it was Chen Fang, he was stunned.

Chen Fang, who was in the vortex of the scandal, had a calm expression. He smiled at Busen who opened the door and asked, "Is the coach still mad?"

Just this smile made Busen's heart tremble.

He had never seen such a calm person. At that moment, he realized that Chen Fang had great potential and his future was limitless.

When Chen Fang walked in, the entire coaching team was stunned. Andy suppressed his anger and tried to control his tone as much as possible, "Didn't I tell you to rest assured? Stay in the room and don't be affected by these things. Don't worry, I will take care of it."

"How should we deal with this?" Chen Fang walked over to everyone and unexpectedly bowed first. After he stood up straight, he said to everyone, "I'm very sorry for causing trouble to everyone."

"As the protagonist, I want to say a few words." Chen Fang looked at Andy, whose eyes changed. After a few seconds, he nodded.

But he did not sit down. Instead, he chose to stand next to Chen Fang, invisibly telling him his attitude.

"There's an old Chinese saying, 'A tall tree attracts the wind.'" Chen Fang translated it first, and after everyone understood the idiom, Chen Fang continued, "There's no doubt that this is just an attempt to affect our preparations and my condition."

"As for ball hogging and violations, people in the industry know what's going on. As for the fans, I don't care."

The words "I don't care" made everyone confused.

"I play for myself, for my family and for my team."

"I like a line: Tell whom? Who the fuck will I confess when I come out and mix it up? "

"I don't think it's necessary. No one starts playing after having fans. I play my game. I don't need to explain to anyone what kind of game I play."

"Coach, I don't think there's any need for a press conference. The bigger the fuss, the more people will be excited and know about it."

"But is silence right?" Andy disagreed.

"It's not right, but the wrong part only affects me." Chen Fang smiled.

"And I am not affected by this. This kind of thing, in my opinion, is a small matter."

"The more you explain, the more passive you become. All people want to see is that I am excited and scared. I will not fall into the trap. As for Wallace, let me clarify once and for all."

"I paid him in cash to prevent unnecessary trouble. But I didn't expect that this would become a fatal flaw in his argument."

"But if he files a lawsuit, let him do it. At least it's after the tournament and I believe it won't affect us."

After Chen Fang finished speaking, he also took out a stack of bills.

“This is the bill for the dinner I treated you to after I came to USC.”

"As for what he said about me not paying his $2,300 bill, it's ridiculous." Chen Fang sneered, "No teammate would believe that. The money I spent on a dinner party is not worth that much."

After finishing his talk, Chen Fang looked at Andy.

"Coach, thank you for standing up for me. I think we should focus on our next opponent. Xavier won't be easy to deal with."

"Yes, the meeting will proceed as usual in one hour." Andy looked at Chen Fang with relief.

Returning to his room, Elijah looked at Chen Fang nervously. He comforted him, "I have explained everything to everyone face to face. Don't worry. We won't believe it."

"Thank you. You are a very qualified captain." Chen Fang laughed.

Elijah's eyes were full of admiration.

"Really, Chen, until this moment, I really admire you. Your mental quality is comparable to that of a superstar."

Imagine if the same thing happened to him, Elijah would probably go crazy immediately, throw his phone far away, and tremble when he heard the sound of basketball.

But Chen Fang looked at his phone as if nothing had happened and sent a few text messages.

"Some friends will send me messages and call me, so it might be a bit noisy." Chen Fang said while sending messages with his head down.

"How did you respond?" Ilya asked curiously.

"Watch tomorrow's game."

Chen Fang's inexplicable answer left Elijah dumbfounded.

Looking up at this silly guy, Chen Fang had to explain: "Just tell them that I will use the competition to prove that these people are just a bunch of clowns."

Yes, that's right.

Anyone who wants to mess with me is a clown.

Waiting for me to make a fool of myself and become a joke.

How can I, a reborn person, allow you bunch of trash to take away my happiness?

In fact, Wallace did one thing wrong, which was that he shouldn't have involved Wu Zi.

This was Chen Fang's Achilles' heel. The happier he laughed, the angrier he felt inside.

Just wait and see how I'll play with you after the storm has passed.

No poison, no man. It's time to play some adult games.

And Carlson, this white right idiot, will have plenty of opportunities to mess with you.

I really don't believe it. In a capitalist country, is there anything that cannot be bought with US dollars? If not, it must be because there is not enough money.

In fact, from the very beginning, Chen Fang did not have the same sentiment towards the championship as Americans. To him, it was just a formality, and he could accept any level of progress.

But now it’s different, he has the determination and reason to go all the way.

If you want to slander me, go ahead, who cares!

I have hundreds of millions of dollars in my account, and you are only fit to type on the keyboard. If I even pay any attention to you, I lose.

　I will write it down carefully tomorrow. This is the climax of the plot, and some of the foreshadowing left before has just come into play.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)