Chapter 2 Before the Draft

After this game, it quickly sparked heated discussions among media people across the United States, and countless well-known media followed up and reported on this game one after another, snatching the freshest news heat.

The Washington Post, "The Race That Never Ends"

The Florida Sentinel, "A Difficult Road to Defeat the Strong with the Weak"

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Under the huge bombardment of the media, Li Shihao was lucky to become the darling of the media, leading the team to an upset comeback, successfully defeating the University of Connecticut to advance to the elite quarterfinals.

Born at the Madison Basketball Plaza, the game has an innate advantage in terms of attention, known as the Mecca of basketball lovers, where countless top basketball stars have put on amazing performances, and ESPN's nationwide broadcast has made citizens living in most of the United States know about the feat a day later.

The United States is a country where openness, freedom and inequality coexist, and when Li Shihao scored 37 points, 14 assists and 5 steals in six overtime games, the American basketball world finally began to face up to this yellow-skinned boy with mediocre physical fitness.

They saw the immense power that lay beneath the boy's plain exterior!

When the game happened, many basketball celebrities praised Li Shihao for leading the team to defeat the University of Connecticut, saying that if Li Shihao participated in this year's NBA draft, he would be favored by the team with a top-10 pick.

But when the media moved the microphone to the topic of Li Shihao's future NBA future, the celebrities who were originally optimistic about Li Shihao stopped talking and gave up their right to speak on it.

Only Stockton, who has been retired for many years, expressed his optimism about this Chinese young man in an interview with the media: "I have seen his game, a good overall view, excellent passing awareness, now he has changed a lot compared to his freshman year, and more importantly, he has a tough heart, if he can keep it, he will become a mortal threat in the No. 1 position!" ”

As a Hall of Famer, Stockton has a huge influence in the American basketball world, and his nearly 20-year career has created his unique charm as a point guard, and he has been the league's assist leader for nine consecutive years.

To be able to get Stockton's appreciation, Li Shihao was unexpected, after seeing the style of the American basketball team, he has been able to shield the remarks of the outside world very well.

For a player, the life of the player is always related to the strength on the field!

After this game, Li Shihao missed the follow-up eight-in-four game due to injury, and Syracuse University lost to the opponent after losing the main defender, and finally stopped in the quarterfinals.

However, this result is already the best in recent years, and Syracuse University has once again bathed in the spotlight of the media, and its popularity has increased a lot among universities in the United States.

During this time, Li Shihao suddenly calmed down, and began to do boring basketball training alone.

His mentor, Jim Boham, shielded him from outside media distractions and left him alone in training for the days leading up to the draft.

As a college league coach for many years, Jim understands the need to give his protégé a pre-draft buffer.

Many talented players in history have been ruined by media exposure! Speech is a double-edged sword, and excessive praise will only make players lose themselves and lose their original position.

On such a quiet day, the time came on April 23, when Li Shihao was training in the stadium, he suddenly received a call:

"Bruce, I'm ready for this year's draft, are you coming?" The words are low but contain faith, and there is no departure from the past.

Li Shihao was stunned, surprised and delighted, is Stephen Curry also ready to participate in the draft this year, that would be great, Curry is a friend he met in high school, and he has the same shortcomings, and his more ordinary physical fitness is considered by many basketball experts to have no potential worth tapping, and they both received many college invitations when they graduated from high school.

But in the end, he went to Syracuse University to become a substitute, and Curry went to Davidson College, one of the two went to the underdog team to become the star of the house, and the other broke out silently on the bench.

Three years later, I didn't expect the two to walk hand in hand at the crossroads of fate again.

"Stephen, I'm also ready to participate in the draft this year, I will continue to play against you in the NBA, I have been hot for next year's best rookie for a long time, I will beat all opponents, including you!" Li Shihao's words were full of joy, and he couldn't help but provoke his friend.

"Bruce, give up your unrealistic illusions, I'll be the rookie king of the year, and Stephen Curry will be the greatest point guard!"

"Hahaha, then wait and see!"

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After learning that Curry would participate in this year's draft, Lee Se-ho immediately approached head coach Jim and informed him of his intention to participate in the draft.

It didn't take long for Syracuse University to announce that the team's main point guard, Bruce Lee, would participate in this year's NBA draft, and at the same time, Curry also held a press conference at Davidson College to officially announce his participation in this year's draft accompanied by his father and the team's head coach.

Countless NBA scouts and city media have gathered to focus on these two places.

Coupled with Bruce Lee and Stephen Curry, the list of participants in this year's draft is not shabby at all, and the strength of the players is not bad at all, and many media have even compared this list with the 03 platinum generation, and many columnists said that even compared with the 03 generation, the quality of this year's draft will not drop much!

22 per game. 7 points and 14. Griffin, the 4-rebounding interior monster, successfully tied the average rebounds per game of current legendary star Tim Duncan in college after being selected as the Big12 Player of the Year, and the draft prediction pick topped the list.

Some time ago, the top 16 star Tabit of Connectivity, with his superhuman defensive judgment, strong deterrent power under the basket, coupled with good offensive skills, as one of the few interior talents in this draft, is also regarded as one of the strong contenders for the top prize.

But what makes many teams excited is the many guard talents that have emerged in this year's draft, and many rookies with different styles will be a good addition to many teams this summer.

Some rebuilding teams are even looking for a building block, and who can guarantee that there won't be another dominant perimeter superstar in this group of players?

When the draft news of Lee Se-ho and Curry was released, the uniform teams of 30 teams distributed across the United States conducted player template evaluations on the two overnight, and conducted complex data research based on the data of the two in college.

By the time the sun rose the next day, ESPN's column had already published the two draft predictions:

Li Shihao No. 7

Stephen Curry No. 8

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