Volume 1 Western Cowboy Chapter 008 Wayne's Transformation
Eddie Sutton sat in front of his computer in his office with a cup of coffee.
On the computer screen, a video of the University of Texas Longhorns' game last season was playing .
The University of Texas Longhorns were the Big 12 Conference champions last season and also had the best record in team history with 26 wins and 7 losses.
In addition to winning the Big 12 Conference Championship, the Longhorns also made it all the way to the Final Four as a dark horse in the March Madness Tournament!
This is the first time they have reached the semi-finals in 56 years, which shows how formidable the Longhorns' fighting power was last season.
There is no doubt that for the Cowboys, who are aiming for the Big 12 championship this season, the Longhorns are the biggest stumbling block to success.
Although the Longhorns' star player last season, T.J. Ford, winner of both the Naismith Award and the Wood Award, left the team this summer after participating in the draft.
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 kids from the streets of New York, was extremely tough on defense.
When the two sides met 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 has another worry in mind, that is the fresh blood that 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 when he, as a junior, tied up Carmelo Anthony, a senior, in a game.
Who is Carmelo Anthony? He is the NCAA champion last season, the third pick in this year's draft, and a guy who is compared to LeBron James!
Coincidentally, it was Anthony who eliminated the Longhorns in the semi-finals last season.
Many experts believe that if the Longhorns had P.J. Tucker last season, Anthony might not have won the championship.
Tucker's defensive ability is unquestionable. He was as tough as a professional player in high school.
Although he is of average height, his strength is very terrifying.
His terrifying strength and powerful athletic ability allow him to blow up the restricted area despite his height disadvantage.
In high school, Tucker seemed like the next Charles Barkley.
Although Tucker has not played a single NCAA game yet, Sutton has no reason to underestimate such a guy.
What's more, this season the Cowboys lack a strong forward who can match up with Tucker, which makes Sutton even more anxious!
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 that he hoped to unleash the full energy of those players at the four position.
Sutton knew very well that if he didn't find a power forward who could compete with P.J. Tucker, it would be a pipe dream to win the championship this year.
But as of now, he really doesn't have any good candidates.
Wayne was his favorite at the beginning because he had a huge advantage in height over Tucker.
But in yesterday's training, Wayne's performance did not impress Sutton.
He still likes to shoot from the outside.
Although Wayne's ability to assist from a high position impressed Sutton, he hoped to see unyielding inside defense rather than assisting.
However, the preparation training for the new season has just begun, and Sutton told himself that he must be patient.
Those kids still have room to grow.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."
Sutton was thinking, but he vaguely heard a noise coming from outside in the office.
It sounded like the sound of a basketball hitting the wooden floor.
"Someone is coming so early?" Sutton looked at the clock on the wall in astonishment. It was only six forty!
Since today is Sunday, the training time is relatively late and will not start until nine o'clock.
Normally, players would be thankful if they weren't late on Sunday mornings.
But today, there are actually people coming to train early on a weekend?
Sutton pushed open the office door out of curiosity, and saw the Chinese student practicing three-point shots on the empty training ground.
"Ah!? Coach, you are here too!?" Wayne was startled when he saw Sutton suddenly appear.
He had 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 since five in the morning, so he simply went straight to the office to watch the video.
"You are very hardworking . Don't you ever sleep in on weekends?" Sutton looked at Wayne's skin and found that he had been sweating a lot.
"I can't sleep much either. When I think about how far I'm from achieving my goal, I don't want to waste time." Wayne tilted his head and continued to shoot three-pointers.
Because the three-point ability value was increased yesterday, Wayne's hit rate when practicing three-pointers has improved a lot.
Logically speaking, a three-point shooting ability of 68 is not considered high. However, the NCAA three-point line is closer to the basket than the NBA.
Therefore, Wayne's three-point shooting ability of 68 is already very strong in the NCAA.
The future Lonzo Ball, the crooked blacksmith, is estimated to have a three-point shooting ability value of less than 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 crazily.
Watching Wayne make consecutive shots from various positions, Sutton began to seriously consider the possibility of letting Wayne play as a space power forward.
Last season, Wayne took more mid-range shots, but the three-point shooting form shown by Wayne in the past two days made Sutton's eyes light up.
Although Sutton does not expect Wayne to kill the game with three-pointers, he still firmly believes that an inside player should play his power in the penalty area.
But the emergence of a space-type No. 4 position will at least make the Cowboys' tactics more diverse next season.
Just imagine, if Wayne could create space, it would be easier for Tony Allen and Graham to break through.
"By the way, boss, I have a small request that I want to discuss with you." After completing the training task of making 100 three-pointers with only 175 shots, Wayne, sweating profusely, walked up to Sutton who was lost in thought.
"Tell me, what's the matter?"
Sutton thought, maybe Wayne would volunteer to start?
As it turned out, Wayne's request was something Sutton hadn't expected.
"Well... I just want to add ball control training to the original training plan."
"Control the ball?" Sutton looked at Wayne in astonishment. Does this guy really know what position he plays?
It's fine if he likes to shoot from the outside and organize the game with the ball like a guard.
Now he actually wants to deliberately train ball control?
Have you ever seen a 2.11-meter-tall player practicing ball control?
Do you really want to be a pentagonal warrior?
Of course, Wayne did not make this request on a whim.
Since doing things that are not suitable for players in that position during the game 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 item with the most added points.
If you complete ball control training, you might get more growth points.
Wayne has been going further and further down the path of exploiting system bugs.
"Add specialized training for ball control? It's not impossible, but... do you really need it?" Sutton did not refuse directly. Who would refuse a player who actively trains?
And seeing Wayne so enthusiastic, 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 is difficult for the teacher to say no.
"Of course I do. I don't want to have too many shortcomings. I have to work hard to make up for my disadvantages before the new season starts. Strength, weight and ball control are my current disadvantages, and they are also the main goals I need to improve. In the future, in the game, I can't just stand there stupidly every time I receive the ball, right?"
Wayne's eyes were firm and he spoke very logically.
"Look, look, this is what a student player should be like! This passion, this simple persistence in basketball, this drive to improve, these are rarely seen in young people nowadays!" Sutton secretly admired Wayne in his heart.
Regardless of whether Wayne can eventually start, Sutton has decided to give this hard-working young man more opportunities!
But what Wayne was thinking was: "Another way to gain growth points, I'm going to use them up!"
After the morning training started, Sutton indeed added ball control training for Wayne.
Following a group of guards, Wayne dribbled clumsily through one roadblock after another, looking like he was asking for trouble.
But when Wayne completed a round of training, he got the reward he deserved.
One round of ball control training allowed Wayne to get 50 growth points, which is more than the growth points he got from three-point training!
In this way, Wayne can get a considerable number of points as rewards just by completing regular training every day.
Besides, more skills are better than less. Although I practiced ball control just to gain points, if I can really improve my ball control attribute in the future, it will be beneficial and not harmful.
In the blink of an eye, a week passed.
After a week of accumulation, Wayne has completely digested the remaining 10 extra point opportunities from the last upgrade.
He only spent 2 points on three-pointers, and for the NCAA, a three-point ability value of 70 is more than enough.
For the rest, Wayne continued to block it.
At present, Wayne's blocking ability value has reached 62.
The blocking ability of 62 is not high either, but combined with Wayne's height and 2.30-meter wingspan, it is still enough to cause a great deterrent in the college arena.
That’s right, Wayne’s wingspan data is very impressive. He was shocked when he measured his wingspan yesterday.
There is really nothing to say about his static talent, but it's a pity that his basketball talent is too touching.
At this time on the training field, the Cowboys' daily "reservation" 3-on-3 cross-court confrontation is underway.
Both the Suttons and their sons stared at Wayne because he had just blocked a volleyball shot on John Lucas!
Although John Lucas III is only 1.83 meters tall, he is very good at avoiding blocks. Not just any big guy can avoid him.
When Lucas had a one-on-one duel with Wayne a few days ago, he did not let Wayne get the upper hand.
But this time, Wayne seized the opportunity precisely and defeated Lucas.
Similar incidents are happening more and more frequently in recent days.
People suddenly discovered that the basket that Wayne had been guarding recently was a bit difficult to play under.
It's not just Lucas. There are only a handful of people in the entire team who have not been bullied by Wayne in the past few days.
Wayne's performance made Sutton extremely happy, because Sutton didn't see this from Wayne last season .
During the past week of training, Wayne has been surprising people almost every day.
"Did you see his defense, Sean?" Eddie Sutton curled his lips slightly. He simply loved Wayne's violent blocks in the interior these days.
In fact, Wayne still has many deficiencies on the defensive end, such as not being fast enough, having difficulty in confrontation, and not being accurate enough in positioning.
But his beautiful blocks time and time again concealed those shortcomings.
Marcus Camby's Law works.
As long as you block enough shots, outsiders will have the impression that you are a "good defender."
"Wayne seems to have evolved in all aspects. His three-point shooting is now very stable, and his defense is not weak at all. At the same time, he is one of the most hardworking players." Sean Sutton agreed with his father and praised Wayne.
"Yes, the most diligent people will always get good results."
As the Sutton father and son were chatting, another "pop" sound was heard on the court.
This time, the unlucky one was the utility guard Warren. His layup was directly pressed on the backboard by Wayne.
It's so ruthless.
Sutton couldn't help but applaud as he watched Wayne block the shot. The appearance of his starting lineup for the new season has gradually become clear.
