"Facing the New York Knicks, who are good at defense, the Bulls' Scottie Pippen scored 36 points! The Knicks' poor defense made him want to be on the offensive end. The reason is that the Knicks lack a
A true leading small forward."
"This season, the Knicks' starting forwards are Charles Smith and Charles Oakley. Let's not mention Smith. Although Oakley is 2.03 meters tall, he is a standard blue-collar insider. If he was young, he might still be able to
He can barely keep up with the speed of outside players, but now that he is old, he is even more horribly slow."
"Pat Riley actually wants to let Oakley guard Pippen, which is simply fantastic. The Knicks' current lineup can be described as old and slow. The lack of a true small forward is a very fatal flaw.
, but Pat Riley doesn’t seem to think so, which has led to the Knicks’ current deformed lineup. If this continues, let alone a championship, it’s unclear whether the Knicks can break through from the Eastern Conference.”
It's a big piece of news, but it actually only expresses one meaning.
The Knicks don't have a suitable small forward.
Doesn't Pat Riley know about this problem? Of course he knows, but the question is, where can the Knicks get so many high-quality small forwards in the league? Will one fall from the sky?
These reporters just stand and talk without hurting their backs. It is estimated that Michael Jordan will make a quick comeback and join the Knicks to satisfy them.
In fact, Pat Riley has been looking for high-quality players at the small forward position in the past two years. This summer, they used the 24th pick in the first round to select small forward Monty Williams, who can be used as a first-round pick.
The rookie at the end of the rotation, Monty Williams, is not ready to fight, and is far less suitable on the court than Oakley as a small forward.
Putting the newspaper aside, Pat Riley rubbed his eyebrows.
There's been some bad news lately.
The Orlando Magic's Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway's inside and outside partnership has become more and more proficient, and is now able to dominate the Knicks in terms of record.
There are also faint rumors from the Bulls that Michael Jordan intends to come back to the team. Although it is just a rumor at the moment, there is no smoke without fire. If one day the whole world is suddenly flooded with news about Jordan's comeback, Riley will not be surprised at all.
In the West, the Rockets, which fought the Knicks in seven bloody games in last year's Finals, also received strong reinforcements in the summer. The addition of "Glider" Drexler made Houston stronger than last year.
If this continues, it may be difficult for the Knicks to compete for the championship this season.
If there is no chance even this season... it will be even more difficult when the contract of the first core Patrick Ewing expires next summer.
Ewing has publicly stated more than once that he is dissatisfied with his current salary and hopes to get a big contract.
In order to retain this representative figure of the team, the Knicks must offer a contract that is satisfactory to the other party, which will undoubtedly further squeeze the Knicks' salary space.
"If we can't win the championship this year..."
Pat Riley has given up, because if this Knicks doesn't even have a chance to win the championship in the two years without Jordan, it won't be possible in the future.
"Dong dong dong."
There was a knock on the office door.
The team's assistant coach, Jeff Van Gundy, walked in.
"Pat, today's training has been arranged...but the players are quite vocal about the additional training, especially Patrick, who has lost his temper several times today."
Van Gundy, who was still very young at this time and in his early thirties, knew his teacher's style very well and knew why he specially arranged for the players to practice extra during the holidays.
The loss to the Bulls on Christmas Day made Pat Riley very dissatisfied, and this was considered a form of punishment for the players.
Throughout Pat Riley's coaching career, his ruthless coaching style permeated all the teams he coached.
Indeed, this coaching style has made him one of the most successful head coaches in the league, but it has also made him criticized and has received mixed praise and praise.
Just like now, many players in the Knicks are dissatisfied with Riley's high-pressure coaching style.
If they were just ordinary role players, that would be fine, but now even Ewing, the team's star player, is like this.
Van Gundy is really worried that the team will have more serious conflicts as a result.
"Okay, I understand."
Pat Riley heard the words and said noncommittally. No emotion could be heard in his voice, as if it was very normal. "Is there anything else?"
"Oh, by the way." Van Gundy suddenly remembered something. "I heard from Larry today that in the past two days, a very powerful Asian has appeared in Rucker Park. He has been competing in duels in Rucker Park, and has won every game so far.
, it is said that his physical fitness and skills are quite strong, and he may have the potential to play in the NBA, so Larry is going to take a look today."
Larry is one of the Knicks' scouts and has been a scout for the Knicks for many years. He has a very good vision and has made great contributions to the Knicks.
"A very powerful Asian? You haven't lost a single in Rucker Park for two days?"
Pat Riley raised his eyebrows slightly.
Although there is a huge gap between professionals and amateurs, as an experienced head coach, he knows very well that those guys in Locke Park may not be very good at playing 5V5, but their level of one-on-one is not bad at all.
, those fancy and very confusing dribbling skills are very difficult to deal with without the 24-second attack time limit.
More importantly, the street ball players in Locke Park are all very arrogant. If a guy with a good level appears, they will definitely rush to challenge them. In this case, they can maintain a complete victory. It does seem a bit unfair.
ability.
But despite this, Riley didn't take this matter to heart.
So far, no streetball player has performed particularly well in the professional arena, and he doesn't have much expectations for this.
Even when he heard about Asians, he no longer had much interest.
Of course, he would not deliberately stop it. He believed that with Larry's perspective, he would give up once he saw the opponent playing with his own eyes.
…
"So many people!"
Larry, who was almost fifty years old, had a hard time squeezing his way into the crowd and was a little surprised by the crowd of spectators in Rucker Park.
When there are no games, there are usually not so many spectators here. After all, the famous streetball players don't come here to play every day.
As a New Yorker, Larry knew very well that there was no game in Rucker Park today. The only one that might be there was the mysterious Asian man who had been singled out in Rucker Park for several days in a row.
"Could it be that... all these people are here for that Asian man?"
Larry was a little surprised.
In fact, he also heard about this news through other friends, and he didn't have much hope in coming here. It's just that there is nothing to do at the moment, so he came here to see the excitement.
But the scene before him was somewhat beyond his expectation.
At this moment, there was an uproar from the crowd.
Immediately afterwards, Larry saw a figure flying up from the crowd and making a powerful and heavy tomahawk dunk, which caused the rim to tremble.
"Wow——! This guy is so strong!"
"Is he stepping on springs under his feet? How can he jump so high?"
Several people around Larry sighed.
And Larry was completely stunned.
"What's this?"
At that moment, Larry could clearly see that this figure jumped to an extremely exaggerated height. At its highest point, his chin was almost flat with the basket!
This kind of bounce is extremely rare even in the NBA.
More importantly... this should be a one-on-one duel, right? In a one-on-one duel, is there such a sufficient space for sprinting and running?
The skin color of the figure just now... seems to be the Asian in the rumors?
Thinking of this, Larry quickly squeezed in and finally squeezed to the front row, where he could see the scene inside the stadium.
At this time, a strong black young man was walking down the court dejectedly.
Larry knew that guy. He was a well-known streetball player in New York. Like many streetball players, he had various problems such as being too attached to the ball, poor passing vision, prone to emotions, and extremely poor defense, so he was not suitable for the professional arena.
But only in terms of dueling skills, the opponent is definitely not bad. Coupled with his strong body and excellent resistance, he is not inferior at all even against professional players in the league.
But looking at it like this, the opponent seems to have lost the game.
Larry's eyes immediately focused on another person on the court.
"That's right! It's him!"
Looking at the unique skin color of another person on the court, or in other words, there were not many people with the same unique skin color as him in the entire field, Larry immediately understood that this guy was the Asian who was rumored to be invincible in Rucker Park these days!
"So high..."
At just the first glance, Larry couldn't help but sigh to himself.
The Asian man in front of me is estimated to be over 2 meters tall. In street courts, there are very few players over 2 meters tall. Most of the top players on these street courts are limited due to height and physical talent.
Career path development.
But the guy from Asia in front of me doesn't have this problem at all.
Not only is he more than 2 meters tall, but he also looks extremely well-proportioned, not thin, and even looks quite strong. He is estimated to weigh more than 100 kilograms.
But precisely because of this, Larry was even more surprised.
Even though he weighs more than 100 kilograms, he can still jump so high. This shows that this guy's jumping ability and explosive power are quite exaggerated!
But when the other party turned around, just enough for Larry to see his face, Larry was stunned, with a look of disappointment on his face.
"This guy..."
The other party seems to be quite young, at least twenty-eight years old.
This will mean that the other party's plasticity will be greatly reduced.
During the NBA draft, a player's age is also a very important evaluation target. After all, after sports competition reaches a certain level, even if he is one year older, his competitive level will be very different.
The peak period of a player's career is the period from the age of 26 to about 32 years old. But if you want to maximize a player's potential, it is not enough to have the peak period alone, at least you must also be in the peak period.
The league will take several years to adapt to the rhythm of competition and training, and to find out its own playing habits and style.
Normally, teams will not consider players over 25 years old unless they have excellent immediate ability. It is just a waste of time and energy.
"What a pity..."
Shaking his head, Larry felt quite regretful.
It's such a pity that we didn't meet such a good young talent at the right time.
…
What Larry saw was naturally Wang Feng.
At this time, Wang Feng did not know that there were already scouts at the scene.
Wang Feng wiped the sweat from his head and looked around.
He didn't speak, but the meaning in his eyes was obvious.
"Who else?"
In the past two days, Wang Feng has challenged countless good players in Rock Park and has never been defeated so far.
His reputation began to grow as expected, attracting more and more streetball experts.
Like the player just now, in Wang Feng's opinion, his offensive skills alone are comparable to those of NBA star players.
Of course, this is limited to 1v1 duel.
In a real game, the situation is much more complicated than 1v1. You have to consider various issues such as the offensive and defensive positions of teammates and opponents on the field, the time of the game, how to retreat if the offense fails, and other issues.
That guy only had pretty good offensive skills, but in Wang Feng's eyes, his defensive abilities were far behind.
"According to this trend, in two days, I'm afraid I will have to pick all the top players in Locke Park." Wang Feng thought silently: "I don't know if the situation is going well or if any NBA team scouts know about me.
name."
In two days, if there is still no movement, Wang Feng will consider taking the initiative to come and recommend himself.
In fact, today he had already felt some unkind looks from the crowd of onlookers around him.
His current behavior is commonly known as ruining the situation in China. If he does something too outrageous, there is a risk of being beaten. What's more, he is still in Rucker Park, where there are many famous "legends"?
It’s just that you’re here to torture the food, but if you continue to do so in a ring for several days, is it endless?
Wang Feng's purpose is to gain popularity so that he can smoothly enter the attention of NBA teams. As long as he can get a chance to try out, it will be a success.
Therefore, there is no need to be so desperate and cause unnecessary trouble.
And at this moment, someone else could no longer hold back and walked onto the court eager to try.
"He is?!!"
"Come on! Blow this guy up!"
"Don't let him continue to be arrogant here!"
Seeing this player walking onto the field, the spectators on the sidelines immediately cheered, and Larry also recognized the player's identity, and his eyes widened in astonishment.
Is this Asian really so strong? Even he was shocked?