Chapter 55: The game behind

The first week after the end of the Celtics' 01 season is also Leon's most busy week. According to the schedule, he will first go to Austin, Texas. After staying there for two days, he will go to Washington to see you. When I saw Auerbach, I was ready to become an assistant coach for the Celtics. Although the old man phoned him to inform him that he had become an assistant coach for the Celtics, the official appointment has not yet come down. Auerbach must have a lot of preparatory work before that. The assistant coach and the scout are different. This is a basketball. The key step for managers to reach the top is like a player being selected in the draft. It took Frank Vogel seven years to get to this point, while Leon has only been in the game for one year, and his previous basketball experience was blank.
So Leon knew how much effort Auerbach had to put in to settle everything, which is why he called in the middle of the night. When everything was almost done, he could not save the news until the next day. Tell Leon.
　　 Early the next morning, Leon called the airline to book a flight to Austin at noon. Because Boston to Austin is not the main route of American Airlines, Leon can only book flights to JetBlue Airways-this is a low-cost airline whose main business route is Central America and the Caribbean. One year of scout career, apart from anything else, the plane is definitely enough. For Leon, the level of familiarity with each airline is basically the same as the level of understanding of Celtic players. So when he arrived at Austin Airport on the afternoon of May 3, he immediately called and booked a flight from Austin to Washington on May 5.
After booking his own itinerary, Leon had time to enjoy this trip to Texas for a while. Before Wojnarowski arrived, he could still hang around in Austin. After all, this was his first time in Germany. Coming from Texas. After putting his luggage at the hotel, Leon decided to go out and stroll around.
Unlike the Wild West in people’s impressions, Austin, the capital of Texas, is a small clean and green city. There are no red rocks or prairie horses. The air is not as cold and heavy as Boston, and it is not as sunny as Los Angeles. , It only gives people a simple and fresh feeling. Moreover, the weather in Austin today is very good. When the sun is about to set at more than four o'clock in the afternoon, the bright clouds illuminate the whole city. Leon came to a grassy park to sit down and admire the coming sunset while thinking about the way forward.
It was the right choice for Auerbach to make Leon a scout. This year's flying career has allowed Leon to touch all aspects of the basketball circle, from the glamorous arena floor to the dirty and awkward dressing room. , From those superstars who appear on the cover of headlines all the year round, to the unnamed juniors who are in the low-level leagues to eat basketball meals, from New York to Los Angeles, from Boston to Philadelphia, from Chicago to Minneapolis, the huge basketball world of the United States From the inside to the outside, from light to darkness appeared in front of Leon.
Especially after becoming a member of the scouting team of the Development League, he has more in-depth contact with the bottom part of the basketball world, and understands the cruelty of the world. Behind the shining stars are a large group for dreams and People struggling with life. For example, Leon knows a guy named Jeff Shepard. He was the MOP in the 1998 NCAA finals. He was nowhere near the limelight in college basketball, but in the NBA, he was swept out after only 18 games. Went to Italy to play, and then returned to North America to play in a club in Toronto. As a Boston scout, Leon once went to watch his game to consider whether he can be recruited into the team as a bench supplement. Sheppard also very much hopes to return to the NBA, but his strength is not enough to give him a foothold. Finally Leon told him regretfully that he could not play in Boston.
This is still a successful person, even if Shepard can no longer go further on the basketball court in the future, but after all he has been brilliant, he has his own pride that is worth remembering, and Leon also knows more unknown people. , Their dream is to find a job in some lower leagues. When he was searching in various small arenas as a scout in the development league, he could see the desire in the eyes of those young people, the desire for success, reputation and money.
In addition to these young people, there are also some past professional players, such as the former top man George Muresan. After retiring in the 00 season, he ran to France to play. Leon once and Chris- Wallace once met the Romanian giant when he went to France to look for a good rookie. He said that he would like to return to the United States to play if he had a chance. But considering his physical condition, no American team is willing to accept him anymore.
Leon flipped through his mobile phone. There were probably more than 500 numbers in it. Some belonged to the young people, some belonged to their agents, and some belonged to former NBA players. He thought maybe there will be more of them tomorrow. Two numbers above. Since Wojnarowski let him come, he must have discovered another good player, but Leon knows that the so-called good here is defined by the level of the development league, and the real talented players have long been exhausted. Everybody knows.
　　 Leon sat in the park for more than an hour and received a call from Wojnarowski. He rushed from Houston to Austin and asked Leon to meet at a Mexican restaurant.
　　 When Leon arrived at the restaurant, Wojnarowski was not the only one sitting in the box, another member of the scout team, and Presti, a video researcher from the Spurs.
　　In this small scout team of the Development League, if anyone is the smartest, Leon is the first, then Presti is the second. Like Leon, he has an amazing talent for observation and calculation, as well as an unusual intuition for basketball. Fortunately, his boss, Popovich, is a serious and professional guy who takes basketball seriously, and he also has an extraordinary vision, which gives Presti a good guide and exercise. He can be a member of the scout team is also fully recommended by Popovich.
Unlike Wojnarowski, Leon and Presti are not good friends, perhaps because they are both too smart, and the two played for different teams in the 1997 battle for Duncan. The two teams are even more mortal enemies, and Auerbach still often talks about Popovich’s luck.
The three people exchanged greetings and quickly came to the point. Wojnarowski said to Leon: "This time our goal is Chris Anderson, an insider. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. He was in Playing in China and now returning to the United States to play at the University of Texas in Austin. Presti has seen his game and thought this guy has potential, but the Spurs don’t need such a player. He contacted me and felt that developing the league would be great Suitable for him. I was thinking maybe the Celtics need a player like this. Presti said he is very similar to Rodman."
　　 "Like Rodman? Is that why the Spurs don't need him? Let me see his profile." Leon said as he picked up the Chris Anderson resume and looked at it. Leon was very interested in his playing in China. After all, it was the hometown of his soul. He thought maybe he could find some memories of his own in Anderson.
　　 Rodman also played for the Spurs that year. As a result, he refused to accept Popovich’s discipline and finally ran away, but achieved the Bulls' second three consecutive championships. Leon said this as a mockery. He even doubted if Presti introduced a player like him to mess up the dressing room of the Celtics, because from Anderson's resume, this guy is not a security guard. The player, his experience is more complicated and may have a history of drug abuse, which is taboo for the Celtics, after all, both of their future stars have died of drug abuse.
"We don't need him just because we have Duncan. I just want to sell my personal affection. First of all, I think his talent is really good. Then Rodman is not good in Boston this season? Maybe only you can control such a player, I It's not an exaggeration, the history and heritage of the Celtics can make a person look new." After showing off a little, Presti began to tout Leon and the Celtics, which made Leon alert.
　　 "Anyway, I still have to watch his game with my own eyes." Leon had already begun to speculate about the purpose of Presti's trip.
　　……………………
On May 4th, the day after Leon came to Austin, he went to the University of Texas with Presti and Wojnarowski. Presti had arranged for Chris today. -Anderson had a trial training. At that time, they and the University of Texas coach waited in the training hall for an hour before Anderson was late. The reason was just because he played with his friends last night and couldn't get up in the morning.
　　 Leon looked at the white boy Anderson, with long blond hair, pressed with a hair band like a hippie in the 70s. Leon's memory his father used to have this hairstyle. He is about 6-10 tall, but looks a little thin. He had an unruly face, green and immature, but also a bit wild, and his every move was full of scorn, and it really looked like Rodman.
Anderson's performance in the morning trial training was pretty good. Although his lateness has reduced points, he has shown superior quality in all aspects, especially his defensive sensitivity. Leon can perceive his defensive talent. Especially his cover, in the high touch, continuous bounce and cover tests have shown a very good standard ~ EbookFREE.me ~ Presti said to Leon after the trial: "How Isn’t he a great guy? Although it’s just a rough, offensive performance is not satisfactory, but full of vitality, and has the most lack of inside blocking ability of the Celtics, is a good seed."
Leon is also very satisfied with the performance of this Anderson. He and Wojnarowski decided to include him in the new season's development league draft pick list. Then he will be selected by a development league team, and then Lai Ang considered letting the Celtics get this young man. This is the future, but Leon is now more concerned about what purpose Presti has.
In the evening, the three of Leon decided to have dinner with Chris Anderson. Before the meal, Leon asked Presti: "Now I owe you a favor, but you want to tell me, what do you want? Celtic I’m not the one who has the final say, I’m just a scout."
Presti was able to show the fox's tail completely at this time. He smiled and replied: "I'll just tell you, the draft is still more than a month away, and two weeks later, it will be the draft draw. You Knowing that we can’t get the top 20 picks anyway, but we don’t need high picks. Boston will have three first-round picks. As long as you can give up choosing Tony Parker, we will pay some price. it is also fine."
Hearing this, Leon also laughed. It seems that his trip to France with Chris Wallace had a windfall. In the past, for Tim Duncan Auerbach, he wanted to exchange half a team, but now it’s his turn. The Spurs are bleeding ~EbookFREE.me~ Book friends are welcome to visit and read. The latest, fastest and hottest serial works are all at ~EbookFREE.me~ For mobile phone users, please go to read.