Eddie Sutton was sitting in front of the computer in his office with a cup of coffee.

On the computer screen, the game video of the University of Texas Longhorns last season was being played.

The University of Texas Longhorns were the Big 12 Conference champions last season and also had the best record in team history of 26 wins and 7 losses.

In addition to winning the Big 12 Conference championship, the Longhorns also reached the final four as a dark horse in the March Madness tournament!

This is the first time in 56 years that they have reached the semifinals, which shows how terrifying the Longhorns were last season.

There is no doubt that for the Cowboys, who are aiming for the Big 12 Conference championship this season, the Longhorns are the biggest stumbling block on the road to success.

Although the Longhorns' star last season, Naismith Award and Wood Award winner T.J. Ford, entered the draft this summer and left the team.

But they are still a tough team to deal with.

In addition to T.J. Ford, the Longhorns also have second-year star guard Roy Ivey.

The guard from Queens, New York, like most New York street kids, is extremely tough on defense.

When the two sides played against each other last season, he caused a lot of trouble for Tony Allen.

After T. J. Ford left, Ivey was undoubtedly the leader of the Longhorns.

In addition to Roy Ivey, Sutton also has another worry. That is the new blood who just joined the Longhorns this year, the talented player P.J. Tucker from Enno High School.

P. J. Tucker's most famous performance in high school was that as a senior player, he restrained senior Carmelo Anthony in a game.

Who is Carmelo Anthony? He was the winner of the NCAA championship last season and the third overall pick in this year's draft. He is a guy who has been compared to LeBron James!

Coincidentally, the Longhorns were eliminated by Anthony in the Final Four last season.

Many experts believe that if the Longhorns had P.J. Tucker last season, the champion might not have been Anthony.

Tucker's defensive ability is undoubted. He was as tough as a professional player in high school.

Although he is of average height, his strength is terrifying.

His terrifying strength and strong athletic ability allow him to blow up the penalty area despite his height disadvantage.

On the high school court, Tucker seemed to be the next Charles Barkley.

Although Tucker has not played in an NCAA game yet, Sutton has no reason to despise such a guy.

What's more, this season the Cowboys lack a powerful forward who can compete with Tucker, which makes Sutton even more worried!

Thinking of this, Sutton paused the game video.

The reason why he told everyone before the start of the season that the starting position might be reorganized was because he hoped to stimulate all the energy of the players at the fourth position.

Sutton knows very well that if he doesn't find a fourth position that can compete with P.J. Tucker, then it will be a fantasy to win the championship this year.

But as of now, he really doesn't have a good candidate.

Wayne was his favorite at the beginning because Wayne had a huge advantage over Tucker in terms of height.

But in yesterday's training, Wayne's performance did not impress Sutton.

His habit of shooting from the outside has not changed.

Although Wayne's high-position support ability impressed Sutton, but rather than support, Sutton wanted to see unyielding interior defense.

However, the preparation training before the new season has just begun. Sutton told himself that he must be patient.

Those children still have room to grow.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

Sutton was thinking, but in the office, he vaguely heard a sound coming from outside.

It sounded like the sound of a basketball hitting a wooden floor.

"Someone is here so early?" Sutton looked at the clock on the wall in shock. It was only six forty now!

Since today is Sunday, the training time is relatively late and does not start until nine o'clock.

Under normal circumstances, the players would have been thankful not to be late on Sunday morning.

But today, there are still people who came to train early on the weekend?

Sutton then curiously opened the office door. On the empty training ground, he saw the Chinese student who was practicing three-pointers.

"Ah!? Coach, are you there too!?" Seeing Sutton suddenly appear, Wayne was startled.

He always thought that there was no one in the training hall.

"Well... I couldn't sleep at home, so I came here." Sutton nodded. He was so worried about the Longhorns that he couldn't sleep at five in the morning, so he simply went to the office to watch.

Started recording.

"Are you very diligent? Don't you even sleep in on weekends?" Sutton looked at Wayne's skin and found that he had been sweating a lot.

"I can't sleep very well. When I think about how far behind I am, I don't want to waste time." Wayne tilted his head and continued to shoot three-pointers.

Since the three-point ability value was added yesterday, Wayne's shooting percentage has improved a lot when practicing three-pointers.

Logically speaking, the three-point ability value of 68 is not high. However, the NCAA's three-point line is closer to the basket than the NBA.

Therefore, Wayne's 68 three-point ability is considered very strong in the NCAA.

Future Lonzo Ball, the crooked blacksmith, probably doesn't even have a three-point ability value of 60 in the NBA.

But in the NCAA, his three-point shooting percentage is as high as 41%.

Now, Wayne can complete three-point training faster and easier, and gain growth points like crazy.

Watching Wayne hit consecutive shots from various positions, Sutton began to seriously consider the possibility of letting Wayne serve as a space power forward.

Last season, Wayne took more shots from mid-range, but the three-point form Wayne showed in the past two days made Sutton's eyes shine.

Although Sutton doesn't expect Wayne to kill the game with a three-pointer, he still firmly believes that an inside player should exert his power in the penalty area.

But the emergence of the space-based fourth position will at least enrich the Cowboys' tactics next season.

Just imagine, if Wayne can open up the space, Tony Allen and Graham will have an easier time breaking through.

"By the way, boss, I have a small request that I would like to discuss with you." After completing the training task of hitting 100 three-pointers in just 175 shots, Wayne, dripping with sweat, walked to the room where he was deep in thought.

In front of Sutton.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

Sutton thought to himself, maybe Wayne would volunteer and want to start?

As a result, Wayne's request was unexpected by Sutton.

"Well... I just want to add ball control training items based on the original training plan."

"Possession?" Sutton looked at Wayne in shock. Does this guy really know what position he is?

It doesn't matter if he likes to shoot from the outside or like to hold the ball and organize like a guard.

Now he actually wants to train on ball control?

Have you ever seen a player who is 2.11 meters tall practice ball control?

Do you really want to be a pentagon warrior?

Of course, Wayne didn't make such a request on a whim.

Since in the game, doing things that are not suitable for players in the position can increase the acquisition of growth points, the same must be true for training.

This also explains why three-point shooting training is currently the training program that adds the most points.

If you complete the ball control training, you may get more growth points.

Wayne has gone further and further down the road of card system bugs.

"Increase special training on ball control? It's not impossible, but...do you really need it?" Sutton did not directly refuse. Who would refuse a player who takes the initiative to train.

And seeing how enthusiastic Wayne was, Sutton really couldn't bear to pour cold water on him.

Student players are different from professional players. They are students first and players second.

If a student takes the initiative to learn, it’s hard for the teacher to say no.

"Of course, I don't want to leave too many shortcomings. Before the start of the new season, I have to work hard to fill in my disadvantages. Strength, weight, including ball control, are all my current disadvantages, and they are also the main goals I need to improve.

In the future, in games, I can't just stand there stupidly every time I catch the ball, right?"

Wayne's eyes were firm and he spoke clearly.

"Look, look, this is what a student player should look like! This enthusiasm, this pure dedication to basketball, this drive to work hard to improve, is rarely seen in young people nowadays!"

Sutton secretly admired Wayne in his heart.

Regardless of whether Wayne becomes the starter or not, Sutton is determined to give this hard-working young man more opportunities!

But what Wayne was thinking in his mind was: "There's another way to earn growth points, I'm going to max them out!"

After the morning training started, Sutton indeed added ball-handling training items for Wayne.

Following a group of defenders, Wayne dribbled lamely through roadblocks, looking like he was asking for trouble.

But when Wayne completed a round of training, he also got his due reward.
To be continued...