Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 524 Ranking
When the 1996 draft came to an end, NBA players also entered preparations one after another.

Of course, the preparations here are only for a certain group of teams that pursue the championship.

Teams that don't have much potential to compete for the championship, such as the Spurs, have already begun to enter the bad stage this year.

It might be hard to imagine that this team with David Robinson would fail, but in fact, it does.

David Robinson, who was born in 1965, is now 31 years old. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, Robinson is still young and in his prime. Of course, in fact it is true, in the 95-96 season.

The 30-year-old Robinson averaged 25+12.2 points per game and led the team into the playoffs with a record of 59 wins and 23 losses. However, such a team only played ten games in the playoffs. I just played GG hastily.

The Spurs have no potential to compete for the championship.

But considering the Spurs' salary level, it is not easy to introduce strong reinforcements, and the team's current players are seriously "aging".

In the NBA, players over the age of 30 are actually considered "older" players, and their careers have entered the twilight years.

For that time, there was also an urgent need to supplement the younger generation of players.

Coincidentally, Duncan's appearance allowed Popovich to see a possibility.The Spurs are good at cultivating inside players, and Duncan, who has outstanding talent and showed terrifying ability in college, is what they long for.

After Robinson leaves in the future, their new pillar of the Spurs!
Under Popovich's management, San Antonio fans have already known about Duncan's existence, and they also know that the team has set its sights on Duncan in the 97 draft.

Therefore, when the NBA 96-97 season begins, you will be able to see a strange phenomenon, that is, David Robinson, who has always been relatively healthy, suffered an inexplicable foot injury.

Throughout the 96-97 season, the "injured" Admiral only played 10 games.

But the fans in San Antonio are quite happy. The worse the team loses, the happier they are. On the contrary, if the Spurs win the game, these fans will cry out and call the coach "trash".

This year, the entire league knows that the Spurs are messing up, and their goal is next year's draft!

Although the Spurs' performance was unexpected, what was even more unexpected was the Timberwolves.

During this year's off-season, the Timberwolves sent away many players such as Leder, and at the same time acquired Stephon Marbury, who was selected by the Bucks with the fourth overall pick, through transactions and other means, and gave away the fifth overall pick they selected. Ray Allen.

The guard is replaced by a guard. Others don't understand this operation.

But after seeing this transaction, Wu Dao expressed his understanding.

For the Timberwolves, the difference between Ray Allen and Stephon Marbury is too obvious.

With just one set of data, everyone can understand why the Timberwolves, who vaguely regard Garnett as the core of their team, made such a choice.

Since Ray Allen entered the league, he has played for four teams for 18 years. In these 18 years, Ray Allen has averaged only 3.4 assists per game in his career.

Oh, by the way, Kobe Bryant, the representative of the Mamba Mentality who has been regarded by outsiders as someone who dislikes passing the ball, averaged 20 assists per game in his 4.7-year career.
So what about Stephon Marbury, who was acquired by the Timberwolves?

As a guard, he averaged 19 points and 7.6 assists in his career.

When players enter the NBA, their style of play is already obvious, especially college players, who are regarded as ready-to-combat players.

Although Marbury is only 188cm tall, which is a long way behind Ray Allen who is 196cm tall, he can basically be said to be a small colander on the defensive end.

But his ball-holding ability and assist ability are what the Timberwolves are interested in.

As for defense?In the eyes of the Timberwolves' management and coaching staff, they have a "star of tomorrow". Garnett, the best young insider of this era, can make up for Marbury's shortcomings to a certain extent.

In the eyes of the outside world, the Timberwolves traded away Leder and rookie Ray Allen, and brought in Marbury, who is good at scoring and sharing the ball. It must be to break into the playoffs, right?

After all, judging from the Timberwolves' team history, being able to enter the playoffs is already good enough.

But in fact, the Timberwolves had no intention of playing well after the start of the new season, and they also failed.

The reason is simple. After this year's draft, the ace of Oak Hill High School revealed through the school's publicity that he would participate in the draft next year.

This news actually attracted the attention of some NBA teams. In the 96 National High School League, Wu Dao performed well and averaged 40+ points per game. Of course, it also attracted the attention of some people.

But when some teams learned that Wu Dao was a yellow player, and even trained with the second team in last year's ABCD training camp, none of them were very interested in Wu Dao.

And for some reason, martial arts does not have more honors. Things like the Naigao Invitational Tournament and Mr. Basketball All-American have nothing to do with martial arts.

In addition to proving his ability in the high school arena, his starlight can be said to be dim.

Compared with him, those college players, such as Duncan who made San Antonio fans crazy, are the real stars of tomorrow.

The Timberwolves also predicted Wu Dao's draft situation through some channels, and the results were very gratifying. I am afraid that except for them, not many people will be interested in Wu Dao, a high school student!

The Timberwolves were so poor that their target was considered to be Keith Van Horn, the "Second Bird" from the University of Utah who participated in the 97 draft.

In the eyes of the outside world, the Timberwolves have Tom Gugliotta, Garnett and the rookie Stephon Marbury. If you add the "Second Bird", the Timberwolves' strength will suddenly increase. It has become somewhat impressive.

Although there is no potential to win the championship, things like the playoffs are basically something that can be easily grasped.

With Tom Gugliotta, a veteran in his prime, and a group of young players, the Timberwolves immediately became a team with potential.

But the outside world may not have thought that the goal of the Timberwolves has never been "Bird No. [-]".

Laughing, is that "horse pole" worthy of comparison with the "high-ranking killer" they are interested in?
Although Keith Van Horn has an outstanding height of 208cm in college, his weight is only 96kg.

In terms of body shape, he does look a little thin.

The Timberwolves' mess is not incomprehensible to outsiders.

But there was one person who couldn't accept it.

He actually didn't have much of a temper when he was traded to the Timberwolves. The trade to Ray Allen, who was one spot below him in the draft, didn't mean to humiliate him.

And he knows that the Timberwolves have Garnett, an excellent inside player who performed very well in the 95 game and has begun to show potential.

He believes that if they work together well and play well, the Timberwolves will become stronger.

But what surprised Marbury was that he wanted to help the team make the playoffs, perform well on the court, and show his value, but the result was that the team failed!
In the 96 preseason, his and Garnett's playing time was severely compressed. They could often only play two quarters out of four quarters. The team had an advantage, but they would be substituted.

When the team is far behind, they will get more opportunities to play.

Seeing victory after victory slip away from his fingertips, Marbury hates him so much!
And what makes Marbury grit his teeth even more is that he feels that he attaches great importance to the team's owner Glen Taylor. Although he is in place in almost every game, the owner always smiles when he loses.

For a whole season, the Timberwolves had a "horrible" record of 19 wins and 63 losses.

This is even better than the San Antonio Spurs, who also performed badly, with 20 wins and 62 losses!
The Minnesota fans, who originally had high expectations for the Timberwolves, directly drowned the guy on the coaching bench who didn't understand football with their saliva.

The team was in bad shape, and Marbury was very angry. He openly and secretly expressed his dissatisfaction in occasional post-game interviews.

Although the team was in bad shape, he still averaged 15 points and 8.5 assists per game in his rookie season. He is a very eye-catching rookie.

The second-year Garnett also averaged 17 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game.

Although the team's record is very poor, everyone who watches the game knows that the Timberwolves' overall offense is relatively smooth when Garnett, Marbury and others are on the court. No matter what kind of opponent they face, more or less All can produce effects.

The players are good enough, but the tactical system and personnel arrangements are a mess. It is only natural that Coach Bill is criticized.

Marbury was very angry, but Garnett, who was younger than him, acted much calmer. Every time he performed well on the court, he always smiled when he was interviewed after the game, and did not take the victory or defeat into his heart at all. .

His state was completely different from the extremely competitive state during training.

Marbury couldn't understand this smart kid.

After a team training, I found Garnett. "Hey, Kevin, why are you not worried at all about the team's record?"

"Staying in a team like this has no future at all."

"You and I both have talents and abilities. Are you willing to die in such a team?"

Although Marbury is a rookie, he has quite a temper and does not hide his dissatisfaction with the team management's practices in private.

Upon hearing this, Garnett just waved his hand and said casually:
"Train actively and do our best."

"You'll know soon enough."

In the locker room of the arena, Garnett opened his closet, took out a towel, and wiped his sweaty body.

"What?" Garnett's answer made Marbury feel that there seemed to be something hidden.

He has also heard some rumors from the outside world that the Timberwolves' draft target for next year is "Bird No. [-]".To be honest, Marbury also got to know Bird No. [-] at a glance. He was very powerful, but in his opinion, he might not be as helpful to them as he imagined.

"Are you talking about Bird second?"

"I don't think so!"

What can I say about Keith Van Horn's style of play? It's really similar to Larry Bird. He plays in a very cool way, and both are white.

Marbury recognized Keith Van Horn's strength, but he felt that this player did not fit in with the team.

"You mean Keith Van Horn?"

"Hahaha, I don't think so either."

After hearing Marbury's words, Garnett also thought of the speculation from the outside world and said with a smile.Seeing Marbury's suspicious look, Garnett didn't show off. He took out a newspaper from the closet and threw it to Marbury.

"what is this?"

Marbury took the newspaper and found that it was a sports newspaper. The big page was Duncan's draft analysis, as well as some predictions and praises.

"Duncan?"

"Is he the management's target?"

Marbury glanced at Garnett strangely, as if looking at a fool.

Well, if the target is Duncan, Marbury will never have any objection. How did you, Garnett, sit still knowing this news?

He is the star power forward in the university!

If Duncan comes to the Timberwolves, what will happen to you and Garnett?

"how is this possible?"

"The team already has me, so how can it add a power forward?"

"Turn to the end and look at the lower right corner."

"Well, this one."

As Garnett spoke, he helped Marbury flip through the newspaper in his hand. In the small corner of the last page, there was a piece of news.

"The ace of Oak Hill College, the yellow small forward is hitting the NBA!"

A small title, a small page, the content is just a few sentences, talking about some high school achievements in martial arts.

Winning consecutive championships and averaging 40+ per game seems pretty impressive.

But high school students, yellow people.
This item is all a deduction.

The predicted pick for Martial Arts is the 18th pick in the second round
"This" Marbury held the newspaper and was a little stunned. Is this person the target?Not as good as Duncan! Damn it!Bird second is also pretty good!

"He tried out with the Timberwolves in 95."

"Stayed for about half a month."

"He participates in every practice session of our team."

"Tom, how many points per game do you average?"

Garnett seemed to be recalling the past. When he said this, he turned to Tom Gugliotta who was changing clothes on the other side and asked.

"do not know."

"More than 30 points."

Tom Gugliotta replied casually.

Hearing the conversation between the two people, Marbury was immediately stunned, 95?
last year?Still 30+, average per game?
After learning the news, Marbury suddenly understood why the team was in such bad shape.

In 1997, the league was in turmoil.

This year, the Bulls, led by God, posted a record of 69 wins and 10 losses in the regular season, and entered the playoffs with the league's best record.

Finally, they defeated the Utah Jazz led by Malone in the finals and won the championship.

This is the fifth crown of God.

In the regular season, he averaged 29.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

In the playoffs, Jordan averaged 31.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.

God descends to earth and can do anything.

These two words are still adjectives for the 33-year-old Jordan.

At the end of May, the draft lottery was held.

After a bad season, the Spurs either got what they wanted or it was an internal operation. Anyway, just as Popovich expected, the San Antonio Spurs won the No. [-] pick.

The Timberwolves, who also performed badly, only got the fourth overall pick.

In front of him, the Philadelphia 76ers got the second pick, and the Boston Celtics got the third pick.

It was a very high pick, but when Glenn Taylor found out about his pick, he was overjoyed at first, and then he became worried and started asking people to find out what others were saying.

The Spurs, no need to ask, they must choose Duncan. During the lottery, there were San Antonio fans holding Duncan's nameplate at the door.
The 76ers and Celtics, these two teams, are not necessarily the same.

The 76ers are less likely. Their team's small forward Jerry Stackhouse only averaged 20+ per game this year.

Moreover, Iverson is the undisputed ball-handling core of the 76ers. They should not choose high school students, and I have not heard that the 76ers have had contact with martial arts.

On the contrary, it was Bird who was second, and they had been in contact.

As for the Celtics
The possibility is also very small. Antoine Walker, whom they selected in 96, played very well in his rookie season, averaging 17.5 points, 9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Most likely you won't want it.

But don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of what happens.
To be on the safe side, Glenn Taylor decided to take a closer look!
(End of this chapter)