Durant was so scared that he stood up from his seat.
Although he didn't immediately associate it with the biohazard like Lin Ying did, the increasing number of people gathering in front of him still made him feel overwhelmed.
And soon he knew what these people were going to do.
They came for autographs!
After taking the T-shirt and pen handed to him by the first person in shock, he still couldn't believe it.
Am I already that famous?
Although he uses social media quite often, he pays more attention to female celebrities!
This was definitely an accident.
Of course, after he realized what was going on, the shock on his face was completely replaced by a smile.
If you want to be the best in basketball, besides strong ability, fans are also indispensable!
Let’s take two typical examples, Duncan and Kobe.
In terms of dominance, Duncan may be stronger than Kobe, but in terms of popularity.
Sorry, do you think the 6 billion Komi is a joke?
After all, basketball is played for people to watch!
He signed autographs for the fans one by one with great interest.
But the situation gradually got out of control.
Because he only has one pair of hands, but more and more people are signing for his autographs.
Even Lin Ying became the target .
In terms of influence in Austin, the Longhorns already have much more than the Bulls.
In addition, the University of Texas defeated Kansas in the regular season this year and advanced to the "Mad Three" as the league's second seed, which is the peak of its popularity.
Even Durant's outstanding talent is unprecedented in the history of the University of Texas, and he has the opportunity to hit the highest draft pick in team history.
He is not popular? That's strange!
As for Lin Ying, his popularity was already evident in the previous match against Iowa State University.
Unique playing style and eccentric personality.
Another point that cannot be ignored is the impact of Yao Ming playing in Houston.
The song "Yao's Song" fully demonstrates Texas fans' love for Yao Ming. As another Chinese player, Lin Ying will naturally be favored as well.
Well, two people with four hands, they are so tired that their hands are cramping...
At this time, the players on the field have almost finished warming up.
But the audience all gathered in one place, and they didn’t know whether the game would continue or not !
The head coaches on both sides saw that this wasn’t going to work!
They were playing basketball and fans were asking for autographs...if word of this got out, they wouldn't know where to put their face.
The security personnel went up quickly.
Face is secondary. With so many people crowded in one place, they can't afford the responsibility if a stampede occurs.
However, the insignificance of the individual in front of the group soon became apparent.
Not to mention handling the situation, the security guards couldn't even squeeze in to get close to Durant and the others!
One of the staff members on the scene was smart and started shouting directly with the microphone.
But this method...still doesn't work!
This scene is just like the uncles and aunts scrambling for eggs in the supermarket. They have already rushed out, how can they possibly turn back!
Randy Williams, who was standing aside, saw that this was not a solution, so he squeezed over to Durant and whispered to him.
Durant and Lin Ying both stopped signing.
Then Durant asked everyone to disperse first, saying that he would come to the venue for their autographs at halftime, and he would guarantee that everyone would have a share.
This time, the audience was persuaded to go back...
When the crowd dispersed, Durant and Lin Ying both let out a long sigh, shook their hands, and wiped the sweat off their face.
Now they understand why those stars cannot meet all fans' autograph requests.
This is really not a job that ordinary people can do, it's physical work!
"How about we go?"
Randy Williams suggested quietly.
Lin Ying nodded.
With the scene just now, they would not be able to finish signing even if they signed during halftime.
If you can’t finish signing at halftime, you have to sign again after the game.
If they wanted to leave again at that time, it would not be a matter of a moment.
And the key is that signing is tiring!
They had only signed a few contracts and they were already feeling sore.
If all of them are signed, I will definitely not be able to practice the third session in the evening.
Seeing Lin Ying nodded, Williams was about to continue talking about how to escape.
"No, we promised to do it."
Durant expressed a different opinion at this time.
Just like he would say that he wanted to stay and play with Lin Ying for another year, he now attaches great importance to promises.
Williams wanted to give more advice.
"Then sign it."
Lin Ying also spoke.
He was not like Durant who felt that he had to sign the contract once he agreed, but he thought that if such a small matter broke Durant's principles, the gain would be greater than the loss.
Seeing the two people's reactions, Williams sighed helplessly.
Young people!
However, since they chose not to leave early, they focused their attention on the game.
Here we have to mention the history of NBDL.
In the future, 28 of the 30 NBA teams will have their own independent development league teams, which can be said to be quite prosperous.
But now, this league has only been established for more than five years, with a total of only 9 teams, one of which joined this year.
So you will see that the Bulls are shared by several teams. This is not an exception, but is almost the same across the league.
For example, the Idaho Stampede, the Bulls' opponent tonight, is also shared by the Trail Blazers, Jazz and Nuggets.
However, unlike the Bulls, the Pennant team currently has no players transferred from the NBA.
Then the game became Novak's show.
He would shoot whenever he received the ball from the outside and every shot he made went in.
The four words "cutting melons and vegetables" are the most appropriate description.
At the end of the first half, Novak made 4 of 4 shots from beyond the three-point line and scored 18 points in the first half.
This is just the 32nd pick last year!
Lin Ying now felt that what Williams said in the car was too conservative.
With the current level of the Development League, if Durant comes, he will most likely be the league's top player!
All we can say is that every alliance has a process of development and growth.
The same is true for NBDL.
"Ying, I think you will definitely be selected this year."
At the end of the first half, Durant turned to Lin Ying and said.
Purely speaking of individual player ability, most NBDL players are stronger than NCAA players.
But in terms of tactical quality and execution, NCAA is far better than NBDL.
The reason why Novak shot so comfortably in the first half was that the opponent's defense couldn't keep up.
Most of the time, a pick-and-roll on the Bulls side would give Novak a chance to shoot.
If it weren't for the fact that other players on the Bulls were rushing to attack, scoring seven or eight goals in the first half would not have been a problem.
Novak can do this, and Durant thinks Lin Ying can do it too.
What’s more, what makes Lin Ying better than Novak is that he is not only good at three-pointers, but also good at defense and passing.
Novak was selected 32nd last year, and it was easy for Lin Ying to enter the first round.
Lin Ying nodded, but said nothing.
Durant said this to make him happy, and he certainly wouldn't refute it.
But things are not as simple as Durant said.
Just like when you play games and bully weak opponents, the more people you bully it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will become stronger.
Novak is not good at anything except three-pointers, but his three-pointers do not belong to the NBDL stage.
That's the kind of shot that can be arranged by the head coach in the NBA to take the buzzer-beater at the last moment, and it can be made!
However, this half of the game gave him confidence.
He was previously worried that he had not yet developed his dribble-dribbling skills and had only scratched the surface of his low-post skills, which would affect his draft prospects.
But the example of Novak shows that there is room for players with a single skill in the league today.
If he can play to his strengths in the upcoming "Crazy Three" and even have a representative game of his own, he may really have a chance to enter the first round as Durant said!
At the end of the first half, Durant and Lin Ying went to the center of the court to sign autographs for other people as agreed.
The stadium was particularly considerate at this time and brought them tables and stools.
NBDL generally does not arrange halftime performances, so their move can be considered as a way to warm up the scene.
Soon, Lin Ying and Durant felt their hands sore again.
And some fans asked to take photos with them.
This job is doubly difficult.
Of course, this is not the most exaggerated thing. The most exaggerated thing is that players from the Bulls came to ask them for autographs!
Durant and Lin Ying were stunned when they looked up and saw it.
The two looked at each other and read a message from each other's eyes:
They really had their heads stuck in the door to watch the game!
By the start of the second half, less than one-fifth of the signatures had been signed.
They returned to the stands and the remaining four-fifths would have to wait until after the game to be signed.
Now Durant has a mask of pain on his face, this game is unbearable to watch!
Williams looked at his expression and wanted to laugh as well.
In fact, the reason why these people are so keen to get autographs is not entirely because they like them.
In addition to liking, there is another key factor: value.
Both Durant and Lin Ying have the opportunity to play in the NBA.
Especially Durant, who is a second-place pick in the draft and is likely to become an NBA superstar in the future.
If this is not enough, if you have a jersey signed by Jordan or Kobe, how much do you think it is worth collecting? Or how much can it be sold for?
After all, Durant and Lin Ying were not the first ones to start signing!
As the saying goes: The world is bustling with people because of profit, the world is bustling with people because of profit.
Still young!
After watching the second half for a few minutes and seeing that Durant and Lin Ying didn't pay much attention to the game, Williams once again suggested leaving early.
This time...Durant was the first to nod!
It’s not that he doesn’t want to fulfill his promise, but if he does, he might lose his life here tonight!
Williams was experienced. He explained the situation to them and then stood up and left his seat.
After a while, Lin Ying also stood up and left his seat.
Their presence is not that strong and not many fans notice them.
When Durant stood up at the end, he attracted the attention of many fans on the sidelines.
But Durant did as Williams said and covered his stomach with his hands with a painful expression, and it seemed that he had stomach discomfort.
I have a stomachache and I need to go to the toilet urgently, you guys can't have any objection, right? !
After seeing this, the fans also gradually looked away.
So, the three of them slipped into the aisle three times.
And after they went down, they didn't go out of the main entrance. Williams led them directly to the back door of the stadium.
It’s also thanks to Williams that he has been here so many times that he even knows where the back door is.
Otherwise they would definitely not be able to get away today!
Only after they got in the car did the three of them breathe a sigh of relief.
Williams looked at the two people in the rearview mirror and finally couldn't help laughing.
What happened today was a vivid lesson for them.
If Durant encounters such a situation again in the future, he probably won't make a promise easily.
People often make choices without considering the consequences.
But there is no way to regret it, you can only learn from your mistakes.
Of course, they did not gain nothing from coming out to watch the game.
Durant gained experience and lessons, Lin Ying gained confidence in the draft, and Williams...well, he was just a driver.
But you know what, after all this commotion, their hearts also calmed down. They were very focused on the training at night and fell asleep right after the training.
So if you think about it this way, it’s not a loss at all.
…
As soon as he woke up the next day, Barnes gathered the team members together before class and announced something.
There is only one thing that is worth Barnes making such a big fuss about at this time.
The grouping of “Crazy Three” is out!
The 65 teams are divided into four regions: East, West, South, and Central and West.
Then each large area is divided into upper and lower halves according to the parity of the seeds.
This time, the University of Texas was assigned to the Midwest Division and they are the 13th seed.
Just as Lin Ying had expected, they were assigned to a relatively central position, which was pretty good.
The other two teams from the Big 12 are also in this zone.
Kansas is a No. 1 seed and Oklahoma is a No. 17 seed.
This result is a huge disaster for Oklahoma University fans.
Because they have to play a round of qualifying matches to enter the top 64, if they can't win, they will be eliminated early.
Then let’s go back to the University of Texas.
The 13th seed looks OK, but when Barnes finished listing the opponents they might face next, the players' expressions looked like this: V (°Д°V)
If some people don’t understand what a devil’s schedule is, then the University of Texas’ “Crazy Three” journey is the best explanation.
The 17 teams in the Central and Western Region are:
1. University of Kansas
2. UCLA
3. Georgia Institute of Technology
4. Georgetown University
5. University of North Carolina
…
13. University of Texas
…
Looking at this ranking, if there is no upset, the opponents that the University of Texas needs to defeat in order to achieve the "Elite Eight" goal set by Barnes are: Georgetown University, University of North Carolina, and University of Kansas.
The final NCAA results of these three teams in this year's history are: Final Four, Elite Eight, and Elite Eight.
If they want to go one step further and try to enter the final four, they will most likely face UCLA!
This year, UCLA also made it to the Final Four for the first time in its history...
If they want to win the championship as Lin Ying and Durant want, their next opponents will most likely be the University of Florida and Ohio State University...
"Coach, have you offended anyone?"
After Barnes finished speaking, Durant couldn't help but speak.