Standing pretty old

Chapter 41

Portland, the city of roses, has fresh air and pleasant humidity.

At the home court of the Blazers, the Rose Garden Arena, the general manager of the Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, greeted Ruan Erniu.He warmly welcomed Ruan Erniu's arrival.

Before the official trial training, he led Ruan Erniu to visit the stadium, locker room, physical therapy room and other venues and equipment of the Rose Garden Arena.

It was also the first time Ruan Erniu saw the team hardware of a formal commercial league.

Pritchard said: "Kraft, do you know anything about the Trail Blazers?"

Ruan Erniu said: "There has been a glorious history, the famous city of tearing, and there have been star players like Drexler who can fight against Jordan!"

Pritchard nodded, and said: "Of course, there have been glory days, and there have also been decadences. Before I took over, it was still a smoky Portland Prison team. The locker room was either a cancer that only focused on swiping data, or carried marijuana everywhere. This is too inconsistent with our beautiful city. And your image is positive and sunny enough, and UCLA's favorites have also reached their peak here!"

Ruan Erniu nodded with a smile, and said, "That's right, I actually wanted to say something just now. My old senior—Bill Walton, won a championship here and is a 50-star NBA superstar."

Pritchard said: "Kraft, I want to ask you a question, are you willing to change your style of play and appear at the 3rd position?"

After thinking about it, Ruan Erniu said, "No problem. As long as the team needs it, I can change my position, but I'm not sure whether I can play the 3rd position. I haven't played this position yet!"

Pritchard said with a smile: "This is just a hypothesis, you don't have to worry too much, I am optimistic about your future! Then I would like to ask you, when do you think you can win the NBA championship?"

Ruan Erniu said: "I'm afraid I can't decide this alone. The championship is the embodiment of the overall strength of a team. I am personally willing to do my best to fight for it, but whether I can win the championship in the end depends on God." arrange!"

Pritchard said: "You have maturity that doesn't belong to your age. I think you will be the fastest player to grow into a superstar among this rookie class!"

Ruan Erniu smiled and said, "I hope it's as you said!"

After that, Ruan Erniu officially joined the Trail Blazers' trial training.In general, Ruan Erniu is quite satisfied with his performance.

After a trip to Portland, Leon Rose decided on Seattle as the next stop for Kraft Nguyen.

Ruan Erniu asked in confusion: "Leon, didn't you say that the Sonics have already selected Durant? Then what's the point of my past?"

Leon Rose said: "I still want to go, you forget that the Portlanders actually have another choice, that is, regardless of it, they want Kevin Durant!"

Ruan Erniu wondered: "Will it be? Durant has acted like that in the training camp, and the Blazers will still want him?"

Leon Rose said: "It's still possible, just because Durant's acting skills are too exaggerated, how can you be sure that the Blazers will not risk everything to get the man they want?"

"Um, it seems that there is such a possibility!" Ruan Erniu was speechless for a moment.

Leon Rose said again: "Don't forget, the Sonics finally sent you a trial invitation letter. They are not the first pick after all, everything is possible!"

Ruan Erniu laughed at himself: "It means that I am a spare tire, and I still have the possibility of being superior in the end!"

After speaking, he obediently boarded the plane to Seattle.

This is a beautiful port city. Most of the Chinese people's image of this place stays in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle", but the city's commercial atmosphere is also strong.

Why use strong?Because the headquarters of many internationally renowned coffee companies, including Starbucks, are located here.Also, there is also the giant of the Internet age-Microsoft.

If you think about it this way, doesn't playing here mean that you have the opportunity to be neighbors with Bill Gates? (People in Hangzhou said that most of them have never met Mr. Ma!)

Ruan Erniu, who was cranky, took a car to the Supersonics' home key arena.

He was also greeted by the manager of the Sonics, Sam Presti.From his face, it can't be seen that Kevin Durant has been set by default.

Leon Rose once said: "The people who come out of the Spurs do not have a fuel-efficient lamp. When dealing with them, you must raise your spirits!"

Because Ruan Erniu had prepared in advance, he more or less saw the way.Presti was full of compliments, but offered no real guarantees.

Ruan Erniu couldn't figure out his true thoughts at all with his words going around.However, as a quasi-professional player, Ruan Erniu still showed a professional attitude.In the trial training, he worked very hard, and there was no slack or dissatisfaction at all.

In this regard, both Sam Presti and Supersonics head coach PJ Carlesimo (the unlucky coach whose throat was locked by Sprewell) are very sure of Ruan Erniu's strength.

Carlesimo covered his mouth and said to Presti: "If it hadn't been discussed a long time ago to recruit Kevin, I think the Celestial Man is really a rare and immediate combat force."

Sam Presti also lowered his voice and said: "But I am not optimistic about his height. Charles Barkley is not so easy to appear. And Kevin is destined to become an enhanced version of McGrady. Of course, If we are cut off by the Blazers, I will choose him without hesitation, Oden's potential injury is really worrying!"

The trial training for the Supersonics ended in this way, and Ruan Erniu was still satisfied with his performance.Of course, whether he can be selected by the opponent in the end, the initiative is still not in his hands.

After taking a small gift from the Sonics and a few Starbucks coupons (all meters are accepted), he set off on the journey again.

According to Leon Rose, this should be his last stop, and invitations from Memphis, Boston, and Milwaukee are all ignored.Because in any case, Ruan Erniu's current market cannot fall below the top 3.

He has only one goal now, a city that has left a lot of color in the history of the United States-Atlanta.

Ruan Erniu studied history at UCLA, and he has systematically experienced the learning model from elementary school to high school in the United States.So I still have a good understanding of this city that influenced the trend of the Civil War.

Even in the United States, there are many urban legends about this place, because tens of thousands of troops from the North and the South once fought and died here.

Of course, it has to be mentioned that the fire in Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind" (ie "Gone with the Wind") was not ordered by the Northern Army general Sherman, but on the contrary, It was Hood, the Confederate general who ordered the fire.And Sherman burned mainly military facilities during the retreat. Although it spread to some civilian buildings, it was nothing compared to Hood's fire.

More importantly, the urban population of Atlanta is only about 1 people.After many months of fierce fighting, there were not many residents in the city.Therefore, Sherman's remarks about massacres are obviously also the idle actions of good people.

But even so, Confederate soldiers hated the Sherman.Years later there were even reports of Confederate soldiers refusing to drive Sherman tanks, and such stories appeared in the newspapers.

(End of this chapter)