Volume 1 Western Cowboy Chapter 021 Old Face

Wayne had not yet decided whether to participate in the draft, and he fell asleep in bed exhausted.

When he opened his eyes again, it was the day of the opening game of the 2003-04 NCAA Big 12 Conference.

Wayne actually didn't because he was too excited!

He woke up three or four times during his sleep, not because he was woken up by noise, but because he woke up suddenly on his own.

Wayne was very disappointed every time he woke up and looked at the clock to find that it was still early in the morning.

When a person is extremely looking forward to something that will happen the next day, he will enter such an excited state that he cannot sleep.

Even if I fell asleep, my sleep was very light and my mind was still active. I couldn't wait to open my eyes and see the next day's sunrise.

And this time when he woke up, Wayne really saw the sunlight.

He sat up from the bed and looked at the date displayed on his Nokia.

Sunday, November 2, 2003.

That’s right, this time it’s not a dream.

The day Wayne has been waiting for has finally arrived!

"If I want to participate in the draft, I can't afford to make any mistakes starting from the first game." Wayne clapped his hands and encouraged himself.

One thing that must be admitted is that Wayne was not a very motivated person in his previous life.

He was an ordinary student, and the 996 work schedule after work also dampened his enthusiasm.

He felt that his days were repetitive and he could see the end. As time went by, he no longer knew what motivation was.

But today, Wayne was enthusiastic.

During this time of time traveling, Wayne was always able to find new goals to motivate himself to work hard.

This time, the goal is to enter the first round!

Wayne had to try it first no matter what.

Unlike the NBA, the NCAA has at least 82 games in a season. Including the playoffs, there are likely to be hundreds of games.

With so many games, there are naturally more opportunities to show off. And even if one or two games don't perform well, it doesn't seem to be a big deal.

But the NCAA is completely different. For example, in the Big 12 Conference where Wayne is located, there are only 35 regular season games in a season.

The final tournament, which is the Big 12 Conference playoffs, has a total of four rounds, and it is still a single-elimination system.

After entering the March Madness tournament, even if you make it to the end, you only need to play 6 games.

What's more, not everyone can make it to the end.

Therefore, if Wayne wants to go from an unknown to the first round of the draft, he can only seize this opportunity of less than 50 games.

Without any American high school basketball background and having played terribly in his freshman year, he only has less than 50 games this season to prove himself in the NBA.

It has to be said that it is extremely difficult to make it to the first round.

If Wayne cannot put on an amazing performance, it will be difficult to convince NBA teams to select him in the first round.

So Wayne didn't dare to delay even a single battle.

From the opening game, we must give everything we can show.

Thinking of this, Wayne prepared to put down his brick Nokia, wash up and go straight to the stadium.

But just as he was about to put his phone on the bed, the Nokia made an extremely retro text message alert tone.

Wayne picked it up and saw that it was a text message from home.

"Today is the opening game, right? Play well and don't be nervous. The coach put you in the starting lineup, which is a recognition of you. Listen carefully to the coach's instructions and pass the ball to your teammates more often. Oh, remember to protect your home.

In a couple of days, I will ask Uncle Liu from your newspaper to collect some news about you. Your mother's silhouette from your American newspapers is all over the house. Have fun playing basketball over there. I'll call you next time. International calls are too expensive. Let's go to bed first. It's still late here. I'll wait for your good news."

Although Wayne has not met his "parents" yet, he can't say that he has any deep feelings for them.

But when Wayne saw the text message on the small screen and read the simple sentences with dialect, he still felt warm in his heart.

In my hometown on the other side of the ocean, there are people waiting for good news from me!

We have to take off tonight no matter what!

※※※

"Chinese reporter?" Old Sutton looked at Sean in front of him with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Yes, they want to meet Wayne before the game starts and want to ask for your consent." Sean shrugged. How could he not be surprised?

Chinese journalists are rare visitors in the NCAA.

Last summer, Yao Ming entered the NBA as the No. 1 pick, building a basketball bridge across the sea between China and the United States.

Since then, more and more Chinese fans and reporters have flocked to NBA arenas.

But the NCAA has not been affected at all, and Chinese fans now have almost no knowledge of the NCAA.

This is mainly because Chinese players who played in the NCAA before did not achieve much results, so they did not receive much attention in China, so it is impossible for Chinese reporters to appear in college competitions.

Originally, the NCAA is only popular in the United States. After all, only local schools have the support of local fans and alumni, and can attract fans.

When going abroad, without the geographical factors and the feelings for the alma mater, the popularity of the NCAA cannot be compared with that of the NBA.

Sutton has been in the college basketball world for so many years, and this is the first time he has encountered Chinese reporters coming to interview him.

That’s right, although Wayne had played for the Cowboys for a year last season, Sutton didn’t see many Chinese reporters, let alone Chinese students who came to watch the game.

Maybe many people don’t even know that the Cowboys have a Chinese student.

But this year...

"Is it so exaggerated? Wei has only played four warm-up games, and Chinese reporters have already been attracted by him?"

"That's right. Since Yao Ming entered the league last season, more and more Chinese basketball reporters have come to the United States. I guess they can't wait to find the next Yao Ming in college."

"That's...exaggerated. Tell them to come to the player tunnel before the game starts. They can meet Wei when the team enters the stadium. But they can't enter the locker room to take pictures or ask questions related to tactics."

Sutton shook his head. Is this the market effect of Chinese players?

Wayne is just an NCAA player who played four good games, but he was able to attract Chinese reporters to interview him.

He really couldn't imagine how much the Mosaic team, with Yao Ming, had reaped from the dividends of the Chinese market.

I guess the other teams are getting anxious.

They never imagined that in addition to being used to play basketball, the economic value generated by Chinese players is also immeasurable.

However, Sutton was still very pleased to see Wayne 's popularity soaring like a mosaic stuck in his butt.

He believes that after this season, Wayne's popularity will be raised to a higher level.

In the afternoon, when Wayne arrived at the locker room, every teammate had a serious look on his face.

The same goes for Wayne himself. Although Wayne played well in the previous four warm-up games, as a veteran football fan in his previous life, Wayne still knew the huge difference between warm-up games and regular season games.

For example, you can't compare the intensity of the NBA preseason with the actual regular season.

What's more, the Cowboys' opening game opponent, the University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes, is not a weak team.

Since developing Billups, the Buffaloes have been very prestigious in the Big 12 Conference.

This season, they will also have the opportunity to develop a first-round pick, David Harrison.

David Harrison was already a star player in high school. He was ranked 13th in the United States at the time and was a true five-star high school student.

After entering college, Harrison established his position in the Big 12 Conference with his strong physique and superb low-post offensive skills.

With a height of 2.13 meters and a weight of 112 kilograms, he is invincible in the penalty area.

This body is considered strong even in the NBA, let alone in college.

Last season, Harrison averaged 15.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game and was selected to the Big 12 First Team.

In other words, you can understand that he is the top center in the Big 12 Conference!

Currently, Harrison's draft pick is projected to be between the early second round and late first round.

This type of blue-collar center who provides a strong defense is still quite popular in this era.

What's more, compared to other blue-collar players, Harrison also has good low-post offensive skills.

Such opponents are much stronger than the four we played in the warm-up matches.

Today is the opening game and it is at home, so the Cowboys players naturally don’t want to lose.

So as soon as you enter the locker room, you will be overwhelmed by the serious atmosphere before the big battle.

Even the usually calm old Sutton frowned at this moment. David Harrison was indeed a big trouble for the Cowboys.

His strong defensive ability in the penalty area is bound to curb the impact of Tony Allen and Graham.

On the offensive end, Holmes also found it difficult to defend Harrison, who was a whole circle bigger than him.

At this time, Sutton's eyes fell on Wayne.

On the surface, the thin Wayne is even less likely to compete with Harrison. But Sutton has a plan at this time, and in that plan, Wayne is precisely the key to curbing Harrison.

Of course, that was the last resort. Before that, Sutton still wanted to see if Harrison was really that threatening.

Afterwards, Sutton did not say much to motivate the players in the locker room. The players were already nervous enough in this game.

If you make the atmosphere too tense, it will not be worth it.

Therefore, after explaining some basic tactics, Sutton asked the players to warm up on the court.

Wayne, wearing his No. 11 jersey, jumped twice. He was about to go out when he was grabbed by old Sutton.

"coach?"

"Wei, there are two reporters from your country in the player tunnel who want to see you. You should say a few words to them before warming up."

"Chinese reporters?" Wayne was a little flattered after hearing this. His news spread to China so quickly?

This was in 2003, when the Internet was not very developed.

After all, even in the era of advanced Internet, NCAA has never become popular in China.

My presence will not change the influence of NCAA in China...

Wayne then straightened his jersey and walked out of the locker room.

This is the first time I’m being interviewed by a reporter in my life, so I have to look good.

Wayne was still curious about what kind of reporter it was, but as soon as he stepped out of the locker room door, he saw two familiar faces.

"Hey, Wayne, how are you!" Not far away, a man in simple clothes waved at Wayne, speaking in a friendly Chinese accent.

Next to him, a younger man in a suit and tie smiled at Wayne honestly.

Wayne looked at them and smiled as well.

Aren’t these Director Zhang and Yu Jia?

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be these two old acquaintances.

"Oh, this young man, with such height and physique. Look at Xiao Yu, his conditions are so good." As soon as Coach Zhang opened his mouth, Wayne felt like he was listening to Wei Ping's quotations.

"Hey, let me introduce myself, Xiao Wei. I'm Zhang Weiping, and this is Yu Jia next to me. We..."

"I know you two. I've heard the games you commentated on." Wayne waved his hands. I'm very familiar with you two.

Especially Coach Zhang, Wayne can recite Wei Ping’s quotations backwards!

"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to follow the NBA broadcasts in China. Xiao Wei, before the game starts, let us ask you a few simple questions. After the game is over, we can come down and chat alone."

"No problem. You've come a long way. Tonight..." Wayne thought of the bearded man who bumped into him before. He said he would give him a 50% discount if we went to his place for dinner. "Let's find a place to eat and talk tonight."

"You can have dinner, but we have to treat you. After all, you're not a professional player yet, hahaha. Let us ask you a few questions first, Wayne. The center on the other side in today's game can basically be said to be a top 40 player in the draft."

"He's basically a future NBA player. So, what do you think your chances are of winning today?"

Although I have seen some reports about Wayne in China and heard some exaggerated rumors.

But Zhang Weiping and Yu Jia have no idea what Wayne's true level is.

So they wanted to use this question to test whether Wayne had the confidence to play in the NBA.

As a result, Wayne's answer was very calm.

"Chances of winning? Well... I never thought I would lose."

Zhang Weiping: ???

So arrogant?

Wayne's answer was surprisingly straightforward.

"Anyway, you two should watch the game first. I should go out and warm up. We can talk slowly after the game."

Wayne smiled and waved goodbye to the two of them, then trotted out of the player tunnel.

The moment he ran out, the cheers at the scene doubled.