Volume 1 Western Cowboy Chapter 76: Potential of the Third Position
Larry Bird.
One of the greatest legends in the NBA, even three-year-olds in Indiana know the story of "Larry the Legend."
Although Bird's heyday was in the 1980s, very few fans actually experienced that era.
But no matter how long it has been, as long as you are a basketball fan, you will know Bird's deeds well.
His classic moments of showing off have added a lot of color to the basketball world.
It wouldn't be excessive even to publish an "Encyclopedia of Larry Bird's Pretense" for this purpose.
"Are you here to compete for second place?"
"Teach your brother a lesson without even taking off his coat."
"Today I will play with my left hand, and my right hand will be ready to beat the Lakers."
"I'm going to kill you here later."
Look, is this human language?
He is simply a great people's artist walking on the basketball court.
Reggie Miller, the soul of the Pacers who is now full of dirty talk, was also criticized by Bird to the point of becoming autistic when he first entered the league.
At this moment, this great basketball player, the master of pretense, was sitting next to Wayne, staring at him with an unsettling smile.
Wayne was really afraid that Bird would blurt out a whole sentence: "Let me briefly introduce myself. I am the most popular shooter in NBA history. Yes, the most popular."
Fortunately, Bird is now much more restrained than when he was a player.
Although he sometimes says shocking things, he is no longer so unscrupulous.
"Wayne, Jeff, I'm glad you can come to Indianapolis. Really, thank you very much. After all, not all rookies predicted to be selected in the lottery are willing to come to Indianapolis for a tryout."
Bird first exchanged a few pleasantries, then began to introduce the scenery of Indianapolis along the street.
"See? That's the iconic building of Indianapolis, the Indy 500 racetrack."
“That’s Chinatown, and believe me Wayne, you’ll feel right at home in Indianapolis.”
Bird talked incessantly, and now he was no different from an ordinary middle-aged man.
After a while, the car drove to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
A huge poster of the Pacers' starting five was hung above the stadium.
But when Bird saw the posters, his eyes dimmed a lot.
Yeah, the Pacers just suffered a huge blow.
If they hadn't lost to the Pistons, they would be playing against the Lakers in the finals now.
Bird adjusted his mood and then quickly smiled: "We are here. This is the home of the Pacers. We only started using this arena in 1999. All the facilities are still new."
Although the Pacers have been eliminated, there are still many fans gathered outside the arena.
There's no way around it. Basketball is as popular in Indiana as football is in the UK.
In addition to the vast cornfields, the most common thing in Indiana is probably basketball stadiums.
Every small town in the state has a basketball team and its own league.
On match days, many shops even close to watch the games.
It can be said to be the birthplace of rural basketball in the United States...
The car drove into the underground parking lot of the arena, and Wayne and Schwartz followed Bird into the Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
"We have prepared the clothes and the tryout can start at any time. If you need to rest, we are not in a hurry.
Don't be nervous Wayne, I just want to see your true level, okay?"
It has to be said that the Pacers attach almost the same level of importance to Wayne as the Trail Blazers.
"Well, no need to rest, let's start directly." Wayne didn't want to waste time. After all, after going around in circles, he had almost experienced the whole process of the tryout and there was no need to be nervous at all.
Therefore, there is no need to adjust your mood.
"Haha, you are really decisive, Wayne, just like every time you make a key shot." Bird nodded approvingly.
The key ball...is the Pacers' Achilles' heel.
Wayne then went straight to the locker room, but as soon as he pushed the door open, he saw an old acquaintance.
"Damn, why are you here too?" A strong and sturdy black man who was changing clothes in the locker room widened his eyes.
"Oh, you're here too." Wayne was not that surprised. It was not his first time to try out with other rookies.
David Harrison felt like he had seen a ghost. How could Wayne, who was ranked in the lottery zone in the mock draft, come to Indianapolis!
This damn thing is haunting me!
The scenes of being bloody beaten by the Cowboys in the regular season echoed in Harrison's mind again.
The pain of youth made him feel uncomfortable all over.
"Are you here for a tryout?" Harrison asked.
"Otherwise, I'm here to eat corn?" Wayne was speechless. What a stupid question.
"Are you so unconfident in yourself? You should know that the Pacers only have the 29th pick in the draft this year, right?
Do you think you will fall down? So you come to try out and find a backup? "Harrison smiled jokingly, it seems that Wayne still has an idea in his mind.
He also knew that his mock draft pick was just inflated!
"No, Bird insisted that I come and even picked me up at the airport. How could I refuse?"
"Bird...will go to the airport to pick you up personally?" Harrison suffered 10,000 points of damage.
He came to the stadium by himself!
We are all here for trial training, why is the treatment so different?
Harrison couldn't help but clench his fists, and in his mind he put Wayne on the opposite side again.
Since the Pacers invited them all to come, they must have a real battle.
Harrison is trying to save face here!
After all, the Pacers are the last team in the first round. If Harrison is not selected by the Pacers, he will fall to the second round.
Harrison didn't want this to happen.
No matter what, he must avenge himself in front of Wayne today.
This is not about face, but about survival!
Wayne hadn't noticed yet that a pair of eyes full of resentment had begun staring at him.
Because he found something more interesting.
"I said...what are you doing..."
"Wear socks, what's wrong? You don't wear socks when you play basketball." Harrison answered casually.
"Wearing socks...you wore three pairs of socks ! Damn, just for this little bit of height, why bother? You're already very tall!" Wayne has seen guards using socks and insoles to increase their height, and centers have also done so. This is the first time Wayne has encountered this.
"I...you know nothing, I'm just doing this to protect my ankle!" Harrison's face turned red, he stood up and walked out of the locker room to start warming up.
In fact, Harrison didn’t want to prove how tall he is, but he gained weight again this summer!
In order to make his weight look more normal, he could only start with his height.
As long as you are tall enough, it makes sense that you are fat!
Wayne now understands why the heights of NBA players are so mysterious.
Damn, there are tricks everywhere!
After changing his clothes and warming up sufficiently, Wayne began to conduct various tests on the basketball court.
The tests were all the same old ones, and Wayne was very familiar with them.
On another adjacent court, Harrison was working on the same project.
On the sidelines, Bird and Donnie Walsh stood together, looking at the two men separately.
"I told you, Wayne is much better than Harrison. Not only in ability, but also in attitude.
Look at Wayne's body, he's stronger than he was in the semifinals, he must have worked hard to hone his body in the summer. Look at Harrison, he's almost fat as a ball."
Bird grumbled proudly into Walsh's ear.
Bird originally didn't want to try out Harrison, but Walsh insisted on having him come.
After all, the two have not yet reached an agreement on the draft.
Walsh didn't want Bird to waste his chips on a rookie, so he just chose Harrison.
Bird believed that Wayne was the player the team needed, even at some cost.
Therefore, Bird simply arranged for the two to have tryouts at the same time, so that the difference between them could be judged immediately.
Walsh really had nothing to say about this.
It's obvious that Harrison is overweight. It's rare to see a player gaining weight at such a young age.
According to the physical test data, Wayne has advantages in all aspects except height and weight.
Especially in terms of speed, Wayne's performance almost crushed Harrison.
"Wayne's athletic ability is not that bad. You see, you have one less reason to convince me not to choose him. Donny, admit it, Wayne is the player we need." Once Bird starts talking, his mouth will never be idle.
"Oh, so you're going to put this skinny guy against Rasheed or Ben Wallace? He can't adapt to the NBA. If he's as good as you say, why can't he be in the top 10?"
"Because many people have the same idea as you. You only see his physique, but I see his diverse scoring methods, stable shooting, and natural big heart! You haven't forgotten how we lost to the Pistons, Donnie!"
"Big heart? Can you guarantee that he can handle difficulties calmly in NBA games? He may be able to hit key shots in college, but the NBA and NCAA are different!"
"Oh, even so, we can use him at the three position. You know, I switched from the four position to the three position."
The two men argued more and more fiercely, so much so that Schwartz couldn't help but glance at them.
Seeing this, Bird lowered the volume again.
"This is a f*cking draft. I can't guarantee anything. Just like when you picked Miller, could you guarantee he would succeed? Miller was also very thin at that time!
Walsh remained silent. He couldn't win the fight with Bird, and he didn't want to escalate the conflict.
There is no need for that, they just want the best for the team.
"I stand by my point, but you're in charge of basketball...you better be right, Larry."
Walsh turned and left. Since that was the case, he didn't want to see who was stronger between Harrison and Wayne anymore.
He knew that Big Bird already had the answer.
After that, Bird arranged a half-court 3V3 matchup for Wayne and Harrison, and assigned the two to two different teams.
It is said to be 3 on 3, but in fact it is just a changed format for Wayne and Harrison to duel one-on-one.
The other players participating in the 3-on-3 are all players who are predicted to be selected in the second round, with Wayne and Harrison still the protagonists.
Harrison has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. This time, he and Wayne are directly facing each other!
He believes that he will have an overwhelming advantage on the offensive end.
Even if I can't defend Wayne, I can still fight with Wayne.
As a result, when Harrison first came into contact with Wayne in the low post, he found out that he was wrong.
"It's so hard..." Harrison sat back hard, only to find that he had encountered a huge obstacle!
Although Harrison was able to push Wayne away, he was not so calm under Wayne's tough confrontation.
Harrison then gave up the idea of continuing to push inside and turned around to hook the shot.
However, Wayne reacted immediately and jumped to interfere. In the three-second zone, it was not easy to score over Wayne's head.
One "zone deterrence" and the other "tough defense" are enough to make Harrison suffer.
Harrison hit the target with great force on his first attack.
Wayne grabbed the rebound and quickly passed the ball to his teammate outside the three-point line.
Then Wayne also ran to the outside to catch the ball.
It would be a bad idea to play lowly against the "mountain of meat" Harrison.
So, he decided to deal with the fat guy outside the three-second zone.
Wayne, whose ball-handling skills have greatly improved recently, may not dare to show off his skills in front of the outside players, but he can still control the ball and play against a heavy inside player like Harrison.
Wayne easily passed Harrison with a simple change of direction.
Harrison's lateral movement is now very slow, and accelerating in the front part is exactly Wayne's strong point. In addition, Wayne's stride is very large, so after passing him, Wayne only takes one step to get rid of Harrison.
Bird's eyes lit up. Wayne can even dribble past opponents now?
When Harrison caught up, Wayne made a quick stop and then made a light jump shot.
Because of his excessive inertia, Harrison rushed two steps away, and Wayne made the shot without any interference.
Bird's applause immediately echoed in the empty stadium.
Wayne is indeed capable of playing as a small forward.
Harrison gritted his teeth. That guy has become stronger again!
It also got harder.
After that, Wayne showed his excellent outside skills.
Wayne can do both pull-up jump shots and breakthroughs.
Bird couldn't help but wonder, if the 2.11-meter Wayne was really put at the third position, how would others defend him?
In the end, Harrison's team was beaten by Wayne 21 to 10.
Wayne led the team to a big victory, and this 3-on-3 game completely turned into Wayne's personal show.
Harrison was obsessed with forcing the ball under the basket, and although he did eat Wayne a few times, his overall efficiency was not high.
On Wayne's side, in addition to scoring, he can also assist his teammates who cut in.
After the tryout, Wayne looked at the sidelines and saw Bird and Schwartz chatting about something.
As for Harrison's agent...there was no chance for him to talk to Bird at all.
Harrison left in shame. He never wanted to see Wayne again!
Wayne also walked off the court, and the conversation between Bird and Schwartz ended.
"You did a great job, Wayne." Bird patted Wayne on the shoulder.
"Thanks."
"Well, that's all for today's trial. Thank you for your hard work. If possible, I'd like to talk to Jeff for a while."
"Well, Wayne, stay here and don't move. I'll be there soon." Schwartz also echoed.
Wayne was speechless. Although there was nothing wrong with what he said, he still felt like he was being taken advantage of...
Afterward, Bird and Schwartz walked to the side of the practice gym to continue their conversation.
Wayne guessed that they were probably discussing a trade. If the Pacers wanted to get him, the only way was to trade him.
The question is, who can the Pacers trade for? At least, they have to be before the Blazers' 13th pick.
This is not something that can be obtained casually.
Wayne shrugged. That was not something he should consider at this stage.
We have done all that can be done, now we just have to wait for good news.
Two hours later, high school center Robert Swift completed his workout in Seattle.
The result was mediocre, so what Seattle wants now is still a point guard, someone who can fight immediately, and someone who wants to make the playoffs.
This mediocre draft position has troubled the SuperSonics for a long time.
Wally Walker, who was struggling over whether to choose Robert Swift, received a call at this time.
It was that guy calling again.
The other party spoke directly as soon as he came up: "You know I have what you want, don't delay any longer, let's make this deal."
Wally Walker smiled. How could he not kill this fat sheep that had come right to his door?
"You've got to raise the stakes, Larry. Show us how much you're willing to give for Wayne."
Bird cursed inwardly. It was not long before the draft and he didn't have much time left.
