Chapter 9 The big gamble begins, the first chip!
1753 Words
Washington, the same cafe again.
After just half an hour of chatting, Wang Shuo and D'Antoni felt that they had met too late.
They have a lot in common and resonate with each other on many of their ideas.
The two chatted from the tactical framework to various offensive details. Wang Shuo used the few pieces of chocolate he had just bought this morning as chess pieces and the table in front of him and D'Antoni as the chessboard, and arranged for D'Antoni a lot of offensive routines he designed specifically for the Wizards.
"Here, why don't we add another pick-and-roll near the baseline?" asked D'Antoni, who was already fascinated.
"Indeed, if we add another pick-and-roll here, once the inside player in the middle follows up, we will have the opportunity to face the opponent's basket directly." Inspired by D'Antoni, Wang Shuo replied after thinking for a while.
Basketball tactics are ever-changing, but they ultimately rely on the word pick-and-roll.
As the saying goes, if you play pick-and-roll well, you won’t have any worries in offense.
In the new season, whether it is trying to help team owner Joe get into the low post or using three-pointers to open up space on the outside, the Wizards have to rely on a lot of off-ball pick-and-rolls to complete their offense.
In D'Antoni's opinion, although Wang Shuo's approach is wild, as long as there is a player suitable for this tactic, this wild approach will definitely open the eyes of his peers.
"Your offensive tactics must have an inside player who can coordinate from the center. Do you have the right person?" D'Antoni has watched the Wizards' games this season. He is very sure that the Wizards currently do not have an inside player who can take on such a heavy responsibility.
Wang Shuo nodded. "As long as the result of the draft lottery is good, I will definitely find a way to get the management to choose Pau Gasol."
Hearing this, D'Antoni's eyes suddenly lit up.
Unlike most American coaches, D'Antoni has always paid attention to European basketball in addition to the NBA, because he coached in Italy in his early years and he himself is Italian-American.
"I've watched his games. He has a very high basketball IQ, flexible steps and soft touch. If we can let him strengthen his three-point shooting ability at the top of the arc and the two bottom corners after selecting him and adapt to the three-point line of the NBA in advance, he will definitely achieve great things." D'Antoni said excitedly.
It turns out that great minds think alike.
In Wang Shuo's opinion, it is a pity that Gasol's three-point shooting ability was not developed until the later years of his career.
In fact, in Wang Shuo's eyes, both Gasol and Yao Ming, who will be joining the NBA next year, can slightly optimize their playing styles.
They don't need to shoot a lot of three-pointers in the game like real shooters or "soft emperor" Embiid, because seven-foot tall players like Gasol and Yao Ming will also have many problems if they take too many three-pointers.
However, Wang Shuo thought it was totally fine to launch a sneak attack or two occasionally, and if it went in, just save energy, and if it didn't, just retreat quickly.
Therefore, now is the time to bring the biggest gambler, Team Owner Joe, to the table and go all-in!
After this cheerful chat with D'Antoni, the Wizards management quickly completed the signing process with him.
An annual salary of $500,000 is not considered high for D'Antoni, who already has a certain amount of experience. The main reason is that D'Antoni did not bargain much, because for D'Antoni, who is in a period of settling down, he values the experience of working with Wang Shuo more.
He is optimistic about the tactical framework that Wang Shuo designed for the Wizards, and he also feels from the bottom of his heart that Wang Shuo will definitely make a difference in the NBA, so he is willing to make certain concessions in personal treatment.
As for why the Wizards only offered D'Antoni an annual salary of $500,000...
In fact, it’s not the Wizards’ management’s fault for being stingy.
Because your regular head coach's annual salary is only $1 million, you can't let the assistant coach's salary be higher than the head coach, right? (Note ①)
Moreover, in the eyes of the Wizards management, half of Wang Shuo's annual salary of 1 million US dollars is taken up by Joe, the team owner's face.
…
On the 10th, as the 00/01 season NBA playoffs became increasingly intense, the Wizards management also drafted a tryout list and asked Wang Shuo if there were any players he liked and wanted to include in the list.
Generally speaking, from April to May every year, after the draft list is officially announced, most NBA teams will invite their favorite players to conduct individual tryouts.
Of course, before the draft lottery results are officially announced, in addition to the teams that have already determined that they will not get a high draft pick, the teams that may get a high draft pick will first invite players whose draft prospects are not optimistic to conduct individual tryouts.
Because for teams that have the potential to get a high pick, especially the top three picks, they don't need to make so many calculations and intrigues at the draft.
Just like the 2003 draft, before the draft lottery ceremony, do you think LeBron James might fly across most of the United States to participate in tryouts with various NBA teams?
After the draft lottery results came out, since the Cavaliers had made their cards clear, other teams would not bother themselves by inviting James for a tryout.
Therefore, the tryout list drawn up for Wang Shuo by the Wizards management led by Unseld mostly consisted of players who were not favored in the draft market forecasts.
Wang Shuo had no opinion on the list, but at the end of the call with Unseld, he hoped to add a player's name to the draft list.
"No problem, I'll ask my assistant to contact his agent later. Oh, by the way, which day do you want to schedule the tryout?" Because Wang Shuo's request was not excessive, Unseld did not refuse.
"As soon as possible, because we still have a lot of work to do next." Wang Shuo replied.
About two hours later, Unseld called again and formally confirmed the tryout time with Wang Shuo.
As a result, as soon as he hung up the call with Unseld, Wang Shuo immediately called the mobile phone number of Joe's team owner.
But compared with Team Boss Joe who treated him as a younger brother a few days ago, today's "old rogue" not only had an impatient tone, but also had a very bad attitude.
gotta.
Wang Shuo calculated with his fingers and guessed that Team Owner Qiao was probably doing "charity" again.
But no matter how impatient Jordan is, Wang Shuo must pull him to his gambling table first.
"Michael, do you remember the rookie I mentioned to you before?" Wang Shuo smiled and said, not frightened by Jordan's impatient attitude.
"What's wrong?" After calming down for a few seconds, Jordan suddenly remembered that he would be making a comeback in a few months and his mentality gradually calmed down.
"He will come to our tryout on the 15th of this month. I hope you can come to the tryout then." Wang Shuo said.
Jordan: “…”
no!
Man, I'm losing or winning millions of dollars every second. You called me just for something as trivial as this?
On the phone, Jordan was about to blurt out "I'm busy", but Wang Shuo interrupted him, "I heard someone say that he grew up watching your games and chose to play basketball because of you.
I think if he can see the No. 1 player in basketball history, the only eternal legend in the NBA, in person during this tryout, he will definitely be able to give his best performance and show his true strength. "
hiss!
Tsk!
The first person in basketball history.
the NBA's only eternal legend.
snort!
Do you think I, Michael Jordan, am the kind of person who likes people to flatter me?
USA, Las Vegas. After hanging up the phone with Wang Shuo, Jordan put on sunglasses, put on a suit, and looked at his lover beside him. His expression suddenly became serious. "I won't go to the cruise party in Miami in two days."
The lover was a little puzzled and asked, "Why, didn't we agree on this?"
Jordan said sternly, "I have more important things to do."
The lover was puzzled and asked, "What could be more important than our good times?"
Jordan pulled his collar, adjusted the frame of his glasses on his nose, and said, "The NBA needs me."
The lover felt a little aggrieved and said, "But you have retired."
Jordan smiled and said, "So, now, the NBA's only eternal legend is going back."
What a joke!
Does Jordan care about others flattering him?
What he was obviously concerned about was that as the top senior in basketball, if he didn't go, the young player who was coming for the tryout would be disappointed, thus affecting his future development.
look......
He, Michael Jordan, is so senior and amiable.
I'm Back!
Get ready to cheer and applaud, the NBA!
…
The morning of the 15th.
Wang Shuo, who took a special look at the almanac before going out, was almost frightened to death by the four big words "Everything is not suitable" on the calendar.
However, after calming down, Wang Shuo put these four words behind him.
Because as we all know, feudal superstition is harmful to people.
Haha, what a joke! In China, if you are useful, you are the Dragon King. If you are useless, your temple will be demolished!
So, what does it mean that everything is inappropriate?
In Wang Shuo's opinion, everything is going well today!
Arriving at the Wizards' training hall on time, after greeting everyone, Wang Shuo found that many players had already started warming up on the court. When he turned his eyes and noticed the young man he temporarily added to the tryout list today, he knew...
Now.
now.
In this gamble called "Betting on the Wizards' Luck," he has already placed his first chip, Gilbert Arenas, on the table.
- Writer
