If Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon both announced their retirement at the end of August was an elegy for the old days, then Bucks coach George Carr led a dream team full of NBA All-Stars but lacked stable superstars to suffer two straight defeats at the World Basketball Championship on home soil, finishing only sixth, completely changing the American perception of world basketball.

The days when the U.S. sent a bunch of stars to play casually and beat the world's second-best team seemed to be over.

'Reggie has an injury, we've had a lot of problems, the players aren't together, you've probably heard the story here. Somebody doesn't pass, somebody doesn't defend, somebody treats the game like an All-Star Game, we don't have Jason Kidd, we don't have Tim Duncan, we don't have Tracy McGrady, the best five players in the United States aren't on this team! ”

George Carr chose to exonerate himself and did not shy away from placing the blame on the players.

This will bring him a lot of bad feelings, and it will also win a lot of sympathy, at the cost that he will never want to be in charge of the national team again in his life.

For Carl, it was a shame and a nightmare.

It would have been an honor to coach a dream team, and a patriot like him was more than willing to play for his country, but it soon became the most hated thing for him.

Most of the superstars refused to be drafted, the second-tier stars did not cooperate with each other, and European basketball grew far beyond imagination.

It was the first time since 1992 that the Dream Team, made up of NBA stars, suffered a major loss in an international competition.

Carl lost not one, but two, as the Dream Team finished sixth at home.

In Yu Fei's view, Karl's complaints are problematic, even if the players have problems, is the coaching staff okay?

Playing a FIBA game, but using Ben Wallace and Antonio Davis, who have no offensive threat after leaving the paint area, to play the starters, resulting in no room for breakthrough on the outside, and can only gamble on the outside.

Underestimating the strength of FIBA, committing the sin of arrogance in the selection and use of tactics, who loses if he doesn't lose?

Yu Fei doesn't care so much about the win or loss of the American team, he just pays more attention to the coach who has left him full of stereotypes before he has been officially contacted.

Will the cooperation between them be pleasant?

Yu Fei doesn't know, but Carl's stubbornness and strength are destined to have such and such problems with him and the star.

At present, Yu Fei is concentrating on special training.

This summer, his training focus is threefold: shooting, small muscle groups and slightly gaining weight.

Except for the month of the Asian trip, from the end of the Wizards' season, Yu Fei's special training lasted nearly five months.

Except for those small muscle groups that are invisible to the naked eye, what Yu Fei can feel in numbers is the weight.

Yu Fei gained 5 pounds, and now his weight has reached 106KG.

Trainers believe that if Yu Fei mainly plays the forward position, the existing weight is enough to bear the NBA's confrontation and hand-to-hand combat, and if he continues to gain weight, the straight-line speed, lateral speed, agility, action rate, and even coordination and ball sense will be affected.

Yu Fei accepted the suggestion and stopped doing a lot of strength training for the purpose of gaining weight, and increased the training and shooting training of various small muscle groups in the body.

"Fulai, what do you think of the Wizards trading Rip?"

In between training, Lawson talked about what happened to the Wizards last month.

Without warning, the Wizards sent away Richard Hamilton, who had promised Collins weight gain and a focus on strength training.

The Wizards sent Hamilton to Detroit, as has happened in history, to trade Jerry Stackhouse, Jordan's junior, who claimed to have found a home in Motor City.

"What's there to see?" Yu Fei said sarcastically, "That person screams all day long, who doesn't know what he means?" He made it so clear that he was the future of the team just to get the Wizards' top management to pay attention, but he didn't know that the top management didn't care about him at all. ”

"That's right, a guy who doesn't want to stay in the gym at all is destined to be as the old thing wants, he won't gain weight to play the number three position." Lawson grinned and said, "So, you and Michael are a match made in heaven." ”

", don't disgust me!"

Assistant Alex Clark saw that Yu Fei didn't like this topic, so he interrupted, "The Bucks have changed a lot this year, how do you say they will position Fulai?" ”

Lawson believes that with Cassel being sent away, Robinson, the most senior, being traded, and Ray Allen being out of the team, there is no doubt that Yu Fei will directly sit in the first place with the Bucks.

"Except, I really can't imagine that there will be a rebuilding team to prevent Fulai from being NO.1."

"But will the rebuilding team keep Anthony Mason and bring in a problematic figure like Latriel Sprewell?"

"Okay, how can it be that simple?" Yu Fei glanced at them, "There is nothing that can be determined, in the end, you still have to rely on strength to speak." ”

※※※

For a team like the Bucks, the location of the preseason training camp doesn't matter because there isn't much media that cares about them.

Therefore, they sometimes do not deliberately choose the training location.

This year, for example, they decided to stay at the St. Francis Training Center (Bucks Training Complex), where they held their training camp.

George Carr was laughed at because of his failed Dream Team coaching experience, and some people said that John Thompson should send him a bouquet of flowers (1) to thank him for making new history in American basketball, and since then he has one more person in the column of shame, and he is no longer alone.

The losing national team experience made Carl want to turn his attention to the NBA, and then remembered what Larry Harris did in the Sprewell trade.

Seeing Travis Knight, who was two meters long but useless, Carl remembered Antonio Davis, who was brutally abused by the European white bear at the World Championships.

"Hey, Knight! Why can't you be tougher? Karl's anger erupted, "Do you want me to give you a dress?" ”

As Karl's new head assistant, Ron Adams didn't know if he could do better than his predecessor, Jerry Stotts.

But he does have news for the manager.

"George, there's something wrong with Fry." Adams said.

Carl asked, "What's wrong with him?" ”

"He needs to report the day after the camp starts." "His assistant said he received an invitation to this year's Hall of Fame celebration and that he was going to be there," Adams said.

"Got it"

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, Carl thought that his old friend Larry Brown was also inducted into this year's Hall of Fame.

But Carl won't go to the scene because he doesn't want to show up right now.

As for why Yu Fei had to go to the scene, Carl felt that he had nothing to do with Magic Johnson, who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

Yu Fei in his rookie season is also known by some as a contemporary magician.

And like a magician, who is merciful everywhere and can't wait to be friends with all the people, he will not miss Yu Fei's potential stock.

He would definitely invite Yu Fei to his night of glory.

Thinking of this, Carl was relieved.

Although he doesn't like to have players special, he does have privileges for people like Yu Fei, not to mention that this privilege is not too much.

Then, Adams added, "Anthony Mason will also miss the first day of training camp."

"What's going on with him?!" When it comes to Mason, Carl's attitude is obviously much more impatient.

Adams hesitated, "He said he had no comment. ”

These words directly caused Karl to enter a state of blood rage, and smashed a brand new tactical board on the spot.

Yu Fei subjectively didn't want to participate in the Hall of Fame speech.

Although he had not participated in it before, he had also seen the speech videos carried and translated by enthusiastic netizens on various websites before the crossing.

It can be said that, except for a few people with a sense of humor, most people just thanked everyone here, accompanied by some unfunny jokes, and finally walked into the hall of glory amid cheers and applause.

Who is the best Hall of Fame speech Yu Fei has ever seen? Although he didn't want to admit it, it was Jordan.

Why? Because Jordan liquidated everyone in his Hall of Fame speech. From the passerby who robbed him of his place on the varsity team in high school, to the unhappiness of Van Gundy/Riley/Klaus and others, he responded to them all. Some people say it doesn't look like a Hall of Fame speech, and Jordan doesn't seem graceful to say that. But after Yu Fei came into contact with Jordan for a year, he found that Jordan in the Hall of Fame speech state was infinitely close to the real Jordan.

That was the most unabashed he ever had in public.

As for coming to the Hall of Fame today to congratulate the magician, it is purely out of the need to relax and the need for work.

Relax because Yu Fei has just finished special training, and since the end of the season, he has not really rested, and seeing that the pre-season training camp is about to begin, it is not too much to rest for a day.

The work is Reebok's arrangement.

Larry Brown was also inducted into the Hall of Fame, and according to the pre-obtained information, Allen Iverson will appear as a special guest, which is Reebok's marketing plan.

When Iverson and Brown stage a foul-smelling "master-apprentice reconciliation" drama, Yu Fei can attend the event with him.

As a result, Iverson changed his mind and did not get on the plane, which frustrated Reebok's plans, and Yu Fei would have to attend the event alone after the Hall of Fame ceremony.

According to Quint Demiou, Reebok's top brass is deeply disappointed with Iverson and will have "drastic measures" if the situation does not improve.

Despite Iverson's absence from Brown's Hall of Fame, Brown still honored the rebel in an interview: "I've been with him for the last three weeks, and I've watched him come to the gym, watched him interact with his teammates, watched him practice the court, and watched him try to lead the team on the court. "So he must not be at your Hall of Fame because you're not on the team, there's always someone to lead the team, right?" I've never seen anything like this before. I know what he's been through, especially this year. I think it will make him better and stronger. ”

Knocking a wife out of the house and then going to the house of someone who took her in with a gun and beating that person up, does that make the great AI better and stronger?

Then the Portland Trail Blazers should be the champions next season, next season, and next season.

'I think Allen has a lot of respect for our new players and the veterans who have returned. I really believe he understands that he has to change the way he plays. ”

Not even attending the Hall of Fame ceremony in order to lead the team has changed more than a little.

"I watched him play like a point guard and get everybody involved. Watching him defend hard and speak loudly in practice games, he took the lead by following his example. It's a huge improvement to show up with my teammates every day. ”

Enough, enough, someone didn't want to complain anymore, but he had to say that Brown knew a lot about diplomatic rhetoric, and he was here trying to speak for him when he was in Philadelphia and scolded Iverson like a piece of shit. Well, that's what a good coach should do.

It's just that "showing up with teammates every day, it's a huge improvement" sounds like before Yu Fei entered the NBA, some media said that Kobe Bryant was already a perfect team player, what is the reason? He started joking with his teammates.

Then, the Hall of Fame speech began.

Leaving everyone else aside, the only thing Yu Fei cared about was the magician's speech.

When the magician finally took the stage and officially entered the Hall of Fame, closing the evening's event, his eyes moistened. In 1991, when he told the world that he was "living with HIV," the magician was determined, but this time he couldn't stop the emotions from pouring in, and he couldn't contain them while thanking, among other things, Pat Riley, his parents, and his wife.

Finally, Byrd's interview sublimates the subject.

The Dream Team's crushing defeat at home has made people more nostalgic for the golden age of American basketball.

Bird, on the other hand, said, "Boston should stop hating Maggie, the fighting is over, and maybe you'll see the two of us sitting in a coffee shop and laughing together." ”

"No, no." The magician smiled excitedly and said, "If Larry's back had been better, I'd take him to my garage or Rock Park, and I could still 1-on-1 with him." ”

Bird laughed and said, "I'm always there for you." ”

Then the two burst out laughing.

This scene did briefly reverse the door of time, as if to bring the people on the scene back to 1979.

It was a time that could be called "ancient" for Fei, and he had no interest in it.

Just as he accepted Reebok's arrangement to go to the event, LeBron James sent him a text message.

"Hey Fry, my friends and I happened to be there when your first game against Philadelphia started, could you give me some tickets?"

Yu Fei replied: "Of course, you can have as many tickets as you want." ”

"Thank you bro, it's amazing, I only need eight tickets!"

"No thanks, it's just a trivial matter, the eldest brother should take care of his younger brother, isn't it?"

(1) John Thompson: The legendary coach of Georgetown University, who insisted on selecting people as the coach of the U.S. team in 1988, and then broke the defense of Americans in the Olympics, which indirectly led to the birth of Dream One.

(End of chapter)