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Chapter 35. The Draft Market: Nobody's Discussing It?

Although Yi Shui is the primary target of observation for all teams tonight, his draft expectations are actually far lower than those of the other two.

Hibbert ranked 10th in the latest prediction list for 2008, Lotto 2020 results;

Thabeet's sophomore season hadn't even officially started yet; he'd only played a few preseason games, but his draft stock had already skyrocketed. He was incredibly talented: 221cm tall, above-average mobility for a center, and shot-blocking instincts on par with Mutombo and Ben Wallace. Before he declared he wouldn't enter the draft early, his highest projected ranking was 3rd in 08, only behind OJ Mayo and Michael Beasley.

With these two players commanding such high draft rates, most teams simply don't have the resources to draft them, let alone need to observe them closely. Instead, players with lower expectations are more likely to be closely monitored by teams before entering the NBA.

In the eyes of most management and scouts, Yi Shui is at the level of a second-round pick to the end of the first round... Don't think this expectation is too low. You should know that it has only been a month since Yi Shui defeated Joe Alexander and entered the NBA team's sights. It can already be described as a 'surge'.

Moreover, he showed talent in his freshman year, got lost in the comfort zone of New York's suburbs in his sophomore year, and rediscovered himself in his junior year... The media likes to report on this, and fans love to watch it, but in the eyes of NBA management and scouts, this is not a basketball resume worth praising.

Donnie Walsh started picking on Yi Shui in Dolan's ear because his owner mentioned using the Suns' first-round pick to select his neighbor. He thought it was absurd, especially when he discovered that his owner's only purpose in coming to watch games was actually to watch the games, and he was annoyed by any topic related to the draft... as if he didn't care about draft resources at all.

But now team management and scouts are all calling the owners.

Second round? Dream on! Playoff teams don't even think they can snag a first-round pick; they'd have to be ahead of Hibbert, right?
Or we could move Hilbert back a little.

When it comes to draft picks, some people's picks go up while others' picks go down.

When two players are directly compared, the results are often brutal. Noah, who was predicted to be a top-five pick before the March Madness Finals last season, played one game against Oden and almost fell out of the lottery. In the end, he was picked up by the Bulls at the 9th pick.

Horford, who originally had a tiny chance of upset Oden, completely lost his hopes of being drafted in the top two after playing against him.

Of the centers who faced off against Oden in last year's "March 3rd" draft, only Hibbert saw his draft stock rise, but tonight, Hibbert seemed so... mediocre.

Hibbert's performance was actually not bad. Although he sometimes seemed very impulsive, he still had a certain advantage in his matchup against Thabeet, who was only a sophomore. He was about the same in terms of rim protection, and also had some mid-range shooting, passing, and low-post footwork.

But compared to Yi Shui, whose talent is obvious to the naked eye, he is indeed very ordinary. He can't even compare to a guard in terms of rebounds and blocks!

Did Yi Shui waste a year in his second year of university? Then Hippel looks even more ordinary.

...

After halftime, Yi Shui returned to the field.

Having played the entire first half, he himself isn't confident he can play the whole game with his current all-around offensive and defensive style of play.

But he doesn't need to play the entire game. What he needs to do is withstand the opponent's initial counterattack, and then rest when the opponent's strength wanes and they are exhausted.

After the start of the second half, the Amazings players did launch several counterattacks, but Calhoun made very steady adjustments during the halftime break, not trying to widen the gap, but simply playing a purely attritional style.

After several unsuccessful attacks, the Amazing Team members also began to give up.

Why "also"? Because John Thompson Jr. had already given up, his mentality had collapsed once again, and his adjustments during halftime could be described as perfunctory, something the assistant coaches were already used to... As for the Amazing Team's several counterattacks, they were purely spontaneous, relying on the youthful energy of the players.

At 8:53 p.m., the final whistle blew.

In the second half, the Husky team scored 35-31.

靠着易水的27分11板3助攻1抢断5盖帽；亚德12投7中、罚球4中3，拿到17分8板2助攻；塔比特5分6板4盖帽；戴森11分2助攻；普莱斯7分5助攻2抢断……

哈士奇队以84比63屠杀惊叹队，终结对方8连胜的同时，拿下5连胜，战绩来到7胜2负！
Yi Shui stood up from the bench and walked towards his teammates while clapping. He only reached out his hand when a teammate asked for a high-five. Normally it's fine, but tonight it's being broadcast live across the United States, so he wanted to avoid leaving a bad impression.

他下半场打了13分钟，出手数不多，5投2中，其中三分球1中0，加上2中1的罚球，只拿到5分6板1助攻2盖帽，全场得分定格在27分。

He missed an open three-pointer before leaving the game, which left him somewhat disappointed, as he missed his first 30+ point game in his college career.

But this only made those involved in the NBA further improve their opinion of him.

He made 4 of 5 three-pointers in the first half. In the second half, when the opponent relentlessly stuck to his long-range shots, he stopped shooting and instead switched to off-ball movement to create three-point opportunities, tearing apart the opponent's defense... He demonstrated basketball IQ, teamwork, and selflessness!
Those 11 rebounds and 5 blocks are indeed quite special.

Looking back at the comparison between Yi Shui and Hibbert during halftime, NBA insiders don't know what they were thinking at the time, but after the game, they discovered another flaw in Hibbert—he had no leadership ability whatsoever.

Even though Noah was hammered by Oden, he still didn't fall out of the lottery. After Hibbert's ordinary regular season game, several non-playoff teams' management have already adjusted their expectations to outside the lottery.

If Yi Shui knew that Hibbert's draft prospects had declined because of him... he wouldn't feel guilty. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Without Jeff Green, the big dad of NCAA perimeter players, Hibbert would have been a complete disaster in March Madness. His draft position would have eventually fallen outside the lottery. Because of his poor performance in March Madness, he would have missed out on the three major awards, Defensive Player of the Year, and even failed to be selected for the All-American First Team.

A grand stage is a true mirror that reveals all.

…The next morning around 7 a.m., Yi Shui woke up feeling refreshed.

After a tough match, back at the Stanford campus, he could still train until he was almost exhausted in the middle of the night, partly because he wanted to enjoy the feeling of being full of energy when he woke up in the morning.

After taking a shower, he ran to Yad's dorm... This guy was flirted with by Helena, that rich second-generation slut, last night, and hasn't come back yet.

The first half of the regional stage of the competition has ended, and the various NCAA conferences have entered a 'winter break' of about three weeks. It's understandable that fans would go out and have some fun.

However, that rich second-generation and her group of sisters were notoriously difficult to deal with. In Yi Shui's memory, he had always avoided them before. It seems that Ya De has been spending all his time at the training ground lately and is really bored, so he dares to go there.

Next week is the fall semester final exams. Although there are no games tomorrow, Sunday, there is team training. Yi Shui could almost see Ya De walking unsteadily to the exam hall and training ground.

My friend wasn't there, but that's okay. Yi Shui knew where the spare key was. He went inside, turned on the computer, and browsed the news online.

"Without a doubt, Jim Calhoun, the eternal giant killer." —The New York Times

"Knicks' new president Donnie Walsh: Thabeet is the most promising center I've seen in the last 16 years, the last one was Shaquille O'Neal." — The New York Times

"15 points but only 2 rebounds in a single game; multiple team management teams question whether Hibbert possesses adequate rebounding ability." — Associated Press

"Reggie Miller: Brook's three-pointers remind me of Tracy McGrady." — TNT Sports

"Bill Walton: I see superstar potential in Brook." — Time Warner.

"Brook: I'm not considering entering the draft for the time being; I'm focused on improving myself." — Tri-State Bay Campus Newspaper

"Hilarious quote of the year: UConn's vicious dog: My goal is the championship." — Milwaukee Plain Dealer

"Brook: When I'm lucky, I can just throw the ball in with my eyes closed." — Sperm Whale Report

As Yi Shui looked at the numerous news articles praising him, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face, and the regret of not getting 30 points completely disappeared.

The people of Milwaukee seem to really hate him; even after all this time, they still haven't let him go and seize every opportunity to mock him.

Thinking about this made him a little depressed. At last night's press conference, a reporter asked him why he was able to get back on his feet and focus on basketball. He sincerely replied that he wanted to win the NCAA championship... The whole audience burst into laughter, including Calhoun next to him.

Does nobody believe in dreams anymore these days? The world is going to the dogs!
Another thing was that he finally heard about the draft from reporters and learned that more than a dozen NBA teams had sent representatives to the event last night, but he hadn't seen any comments from any team about him.

Thabeet, Hibbert, Ewing, Yad... even Price and Robinson, were all mentioned by team management, but he wasn't.

Even the New York Times, which had previously raved about him, didn't mention his draft stock this time, but instead showered Thabeet with praise.

On the contrary, several veteran commentators from television stations praised him.

It feels very... eerie.

However, he didn't think too much about it. As he said at the press conference, he is currently focused on improving himself and has not considered the draft yet. He will deal with it when the time comes.

He opened the system.

After the competition last night, he received a total of 18 hours of training cards from the competition rewards and personal rewards. Counting the time he had left over from training before, that's exactly 88 hours. He originally thought it was a lot, but considering that the winter break is 3 weeks... it's really not enough!
However, you can practice angled shots more, and take this time to practice mid-range shots as well. You can also work on rhythmic drives once you've gotten the hang of them, as they offer at least double and 1.5x bonuses.

Last night's three tasks, "Who is the best center?" and "Battle of rivals", were all completed, and I got a talent and 1 point of physical attributes. "Get out of the mire" completed the first goal and I got the intermediate blind box. The second goal is still a long way off.

After the game, there was a press conference, a drive back to Stamford, and extra training for the '7th day'. I was so exhausted that I didn't even have the energy to shower when I got back to the dorm and went straight to sleep.

Now, while I'm in a good mood after reading a bunch of news praising him and his team, let's announce the results!
First, physical fitness...

"You have 1 random physical attribute point, in use... Congratulations on obtaining physical attribute point: Jump +1, your jump has increased from 90 to 91."

'Jump ability... speed and agility are more pressing needs for me right now, but oh well, at least it looks cool! Talent, talent!'

"You have 1 random match talent, in use... Congratulations on obtaining the talent: Guardian of the Basket."

'I knew it! Wait, Xiao Hua's talent will be halved as soon as he takes the stage!'

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(End of this chapter)