Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Wu Dao suddenly became free during the off-season. Although his agent and the team arranged many activities for him, he did not need to make any special preparations. Sometimes, just appearing on camera and posing was all he did for the day.

The shooting of brochures and posters, and some local TV talk shows, these things actually do not require any special preparation for martial arts.

Compared with the time spent on recording the program and taking photos, the time spent on traveling is actually the most time-consuming.

Once a player becomes famous, making money becomes a natural thing.

The old saying is true: if you chase money, you will never catch it in your lifetime; if you want to make money, you have to wait for money to chase you.

The core point of this statement is that when a person's level and achievement in a certain aspect reaches a certain level, money will naturally come to him.

In his basketball career, Wu Dao has already reached this stage. Now he can be said to have achieved financial freedom. At least, at this stage of his life, he no longer needs to worry about money.

During his free time from participating in various activities, Wu Dao had the idea of ​​visiting relatives and friends.

Many of my friends who used to play basketball with me at Xiangbei High School have embarked on the same path as me and went to the United States to play basketball.

In the past period of time, Wudao has focused on self-improvement and has less communication with his old partners.

When people get along with each other, they need to interact with each other, otherwise they will inevitably become strangers.

Wu Dao is an extremely focused person, but this does not mean that he will give up the most sincere friendship in his youth.

Wu Dao, who entered the NBA, a place of fame and fortune, was actually already a working professional. At this stage, it was actually very difficult for him to make true and pure friends in the league.

Even Garnett and Marbury, who had similar backgrounds and had known each other since childhood, could not resist the temptation from the outside world and fell apart.

Garnett's dog-like personality and Ray Allen were very affectionate when they got along well, but they broke up directly after the relationship broke down. Another example is Michael Jordan and Barkley. In the early years, the two had a very good relationship, almost like wearing the same pants, but when things went wrong, Michael Jordan and Barkley would draw a clear line.

There are too many examples like this in the NBA league, and there are many players who have been backstabbed by their teammates.

Jordan was backstabbed by Pippen, and Wade was backstabbed by James.

Just look at the relationships built in the world of Vanity Fair!
At the end of June, after being busy with various activities, Wudao finally had some free time. Coincidentally, Longzi had also completed her freshman summer courses, so Wudao took Longzi and planned to tour the country.

I've been here for so long, but I haven't really had a good tour of the place.

By the way, take a look at old friends who are developing in the United States.

Taking Takako with him, Wudao planned to send Sakuragi back to Oak Hill High School and visit Coach Smith at the same time. This coach has assisted Wudao a lot in his growth, so he must bring a gift to thank him properly.

Moreover, as the head coach of Oak Hill High School, his network of relationships is also very large. If he can get the support of Coach Smith, it will definitely be much easier to get Hanamichi Sakuragi to Duke University.

Don't underestimate the coaches of famous American high school basketball schools. Their power is beyond ordinary people's imagination.

Coach Smith will also do his best to help talented young players.

The good development of the students under his guidance can often benefit the coach. Famous and prestigious coaches are popular everywhere. For example, Coach Smith, I don’t know how many parents want to send their children to play under him.

The reason is very simple, because Coach Smith has already proved his ability.

Wu Dao, this outstanding disciple who just won the NBA championship, has now replaced all his former disciples and become his golden signboard.

Do you doubt Smith's coaching ability? Find out who discovered the ace of this year's NBA championship team before chatting with us! ?

Sakuragi Hanamichi has already planned to start "concentrating on training" after returning to Oak Hill High School. With a clear goal, Sakuragi Hanamichi is not lacking in hard work and effort.

What Wu Dao didn't expect was that after arriving at Oak Hill High School, he saw an unexpected person.

Mito Yohei!

When Yohei appeared in front of Wudao in casual clothes at the Oak Hill High School basketball stadium and greeted him with a smile, Wudao was stunned.

Seeing Wudao's shocked expression, Yohei smiled and explained, "I was worried about Hanamichi, so I came to the United States."

The energy contained in this simple sentence is hard for others to imagine.

The famous Mito family. As expected, high school students could own a gorgeous scooter in the 90s.
Compared with athletes like Sakuragi Hanamichi and Budou who have "special skills", it is not easy for a guy like Mito Yohei who has mediocre grades and no special sports skills to enter Oak Hill High School.

However, what is not easy in the eyes of martial arts can be solved by Mito Yohei with just a letter of recommendation.
Yohei, who follows Sakuragi, serves as Sakuragi Hanamichi's trainer, nutritionist, video analyst and many other jobs.

Ask Yohei why he would want to do this. Even if they are true brothers, they would not go to such an extent.

The answer that Wu Dao got was just one simple sentence: "I like to see Sakuragi grow up so fast, and we are the best brothers!"

Well.
What do you call this, Yohei? Daddy fan?
Although Yohei has only been involved in basketball training for a short time, what surprised Wudao a little was that the diet Yohei made for Sakuragi Hanamichi was actually quite good!
After completing the team's established training tasks, Sakuragi Hanamichi often has his own extra training, and this part of the extra training is actually done by Yohei.

When Wudao was chatting with Coach Smith, he realized that Yohei was actually studying with him.
This trip to Oak Hill Academy allowed Wu Dao to truly experience what indestructible friendship is!

After finishing the trip to Oak Mountain, Wudao and Takako went to the University of Arizona in Arizona. Today, Mitsui Shou is a member of the school's basketball team.

In this year's Crazy March, Mitsui Shou actually did not have many opportunities to play. He played as a substitute in this school. Although he had a stable playing time of about ten minutes, Mitsui Shou's performance on the court was not satisfactory.

After all, his physical talent is not among the best. In the NCAA, even a No. 190 player who is around 1cm tall is a monster who can fly and hide.

Although Mitsui's physical fitness has been significantly improved compared to high school, and after two years of training in college, he already has the ability to dunk, but it is still not good enough.

If it weren't for his good positioning and excellent three-point shooting ability, he might not have been able to become a stable rotation player at the University of Arizona.

The place where Wudao and Mitsui Shou met was his private residence.

Yes, you heard it right, Mitsui Hisashi’s private residence in the United States!

A two-and-a-half-story villa, about 300 square meters, with front and back yards probably several dozen square meters. It is a white community with good public security.

Although it is a long way from school, Mitsui has his own car.
I can only say that he is indeed a wealthy college student.
In fact, Asian Americans like Mitsui Shou all come from well-off families. It's just that Mitsui Shou is in the basketball circle, otherwise all his friends are rich.
In the United States, basketball is a sport that is rarely played by white people from wealthy families. Those people prefer sports such as cricket and swimming.

Yes, that's right, here, there is a clear hierarchy between sports.

In the United States, the chaos on outdoor basketball courts is comparable to that of prisons.

Mitsui Shou was very happy to see Wudao coming to visit him. The two had not seen each other for a long time, so it was inevitable that there was some unfamiliarity when they first met. But after a few glasses of red wine, the two people who had a good relationship to begin with returned to the way they used to get along.

Mitsui Shou had no shortage of material conditions, but his dream of basketball career was not going smoothly. Mitsui Shou did not hide anything from Wudao, and he burst into anger and complained:
"Martial Arts, I am different from you. I don't have your talent."

"Height? No! Strength? No! Speed? So-so."

"You play in the NBA, so you should know what level the school basketball in this country has reached."

"For example, our school also has players that are ready to fight that are being eyed by the NBA."

"NCAA is actually a prep class for the NBA!"

"I can't improve my physical fitness! I really can't improve it!!!"

"I don't have any fat on me. Can you really blame me for not working hard for this kind of thing?!"

"Once someone challenges me, my shots don't work!"

"If the NCAA teams didn't run tactics when they played, and they needed three-point shooters to run out of space, I wouldn't have had a chance to play at all."

The red wine made Mitsui Hisashi slightly tipsy. Even though Takako was present, Mitsui Hisashi poured out his grievances to Wudao without paying any attention to the people around him.

It was very difficult, his path was very difficult.

Perhaps players like Mitsui Hisashi are a true reflection of the vast majority of Asian Americans.

Yes, Mitsui was really strong, talented, and accurate in three-point shooting when he was in high school.

But high school is high school, college is college, and the Asian high school league has no reference value at all.

After Mitsui Shou came here, everything actually started from scratch.

They need to train their physical fitness and strength, and even their technical and tactical positioning are not at the same level as the University of Arizona.

Mitsui worked hard and quickly mastered the basketball system of Alexander University with his talent. He used his three-pointers to win himself a chance to play, and was able to contribute an average of 1-3 three-pointers per game in the limited playing time.

But that’s where it ends.
Mitsui Shou could no longer see his way forward. He fell into deep confusion and didn't know what to do next.

Return to China?! Or stay here and try to get the almost non-existent chance to enter the NBA.

Wu Dao's visit this time gave him someone to talk to, and he hoped that Wu Dao, as a "veteran", could give him some advice.

Coincidentally, in that era of martial arts, there was indeed a groundbreaking three-point shooter.

The Prince of Free Dunks, the "Primary School Student" Curry.
But the NBA has been developing for so many years, and there has only been one Curry.

Even if Mitsui Shou wanted to replicate his path, it would not be an easy task.

At the very least, Curry is still a heavy defender, and he is a real physical monster. His off-ball running can make a large part of the players vomit.
On this basis, his three-point shots are powerful and threatening.

This is still ignoring his quick shooting ability and stability.
Every player who can leave his name in the history of basketball evolution has an almost "absolute" talent in some aspect. How difficult is it to replicate it!

"Xiao San, there really is no solution to the problem of not putting on weight. Blindly gaining weight will only make you completely lose your speed, and it may even affect your shooting feel."

"Your body is almost in shape. If you want to make significant improvements in fighting this, it won't be effective overnight."

"You still need to continue training, but it cannot become your core competitiveness."

"You have a strong three-point shooting ability. I think you should play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses."

"Basketball is not a one-person sport after all, and the weakness on the defensive end can be more or less compensated."

"I think the focus can be on physical fitness and catching and shooting."

"Become a master without the ball like Reggie Miller, but I suggest you completely give up the long two-point area and only use three-pointers and driving into the basket as a means of scoring."

"Of course, defense must also be taken into account."

"It's impossible to be an all-around ace, so change your mindset and become a firepower turret on the offensive end of a team, which is also a good option."

"Three-pointer, ultra-long three-pointer, quick-shoot three-pointer, use your three-pointer talent to the fullest, maybe you can get through this?!"

There is no elementary school student Curry in this world, so Mitsui’s template is naturally Reggie Miller.

If he develops into a functional player, perhaps there will be a slight turnaround in Mitsui's career.

“Three points?!”

After hearing Wudao's words, the somewhat drunk Mitsui suddenly sobered up.

Wu Dao's magic ball technique made a ray of light appear in front of his eyes. Mitsui was like a drowning man who grabbed the last straw.

After discussing and exchanging ideas with martial arts, Mitsui Shou suddenly became enlightened.

We are not afraid of players having no talent, but we are afraid of players having no characteristics.

It remains to be seen what his future will be like if Mitsui improves his three-point shooting ability.

Wudao and Longzi actually stayed in Arizona for quite a long time, and they visited the beautiful Saguaro National Park and Grand Canyon National Park.

Such natural scenery cannot be seen in a small island country like Japan.

They stayed until mid-July and then returned.

Although the NBA offseason lasts only half a year, Wu Dao cannot be too slack. He plans to expand his training team while he has free time.

By the way, ask about Rukawa who is also visiting the United States.

But this kid Rukawa Kaede seemed to have lost contact, and Wudao had not been able to find out his whereabouts.

(End of this chapter)