Champion, please stay!

Chapter 75, Section 73: Jealousy can completely change a person.
Three minutes ago, Yi Shui was happily playing a three-man game with George Hill and DeAndre Jordan.

just now……

Yi Shui shook his head, deciding not to think about that for now. He would just do his best at the training camp!
This kind of thing can't be left unfinished.

Moreover, in order to perform well in the joint training, he has been preparing for more than a month and has almost used up all his training cards, so he must do his best.

He opened the file: 92 strength at the NCAA level.

It was this skill that allowed them to dominate Beasley, who relied almost entirely on physical attributes in his game.

Otherwise, even if he was confident of winning, he wouldn't have won so easily, and it would have been difficult to crush him.

Even with his current strength of 92, he didn't gain much advantage in hand-to-hand combat with Beasley; it was just that Beasley's fighting style was too mindless.

Just like in the NBA, as long as the opponent can stick to Beasley and not be at a disadvantage in physical confrontation, even without much defensive skill, he can shut down Beasley.

It means preventing death in the literal sense, not just a simple restriction.

Actually, Yi Shui originally wanted to impress people more in terms of strength, but he couldn't.

He only made progress on the 'Power Transformation' program for 9 days. From the 30th of last month to the last training day, the 21st of this month, he didn't dare to push it forward for most of the time.

This was only because he was training at maximum intensity in technique and shooting every day, which minimized the impact of rapid strength gains.

He estimated that his strength, converted to NBA level, would be around 83 to 84, and if Beasley were to give an evaluation, it would be about the same.

His opponent was actually a little stronger than him, mainly due to a weight difference of six or seven kilograms.

Gaining weight to the 'upper limit' determined by the system can be put on the agenda this summer, but first, the 'strength transformation' must be taken care of.

It can enhance both strength and tonnage, thus bringing about positive effects.

After analyzing the situation, Yi Shui returned to the stadium alone.

Walsh chatted briefly and then left. He didn't watch the next two games, which featured popular draft picks, saying he had team matters to discuss.

But Yi Shui is still very interested in the upcoming training matches.

As soon as he stepped out of the players' tunnel, a primary school student rushed up to him.

Curry: "Where did you go?"

Yi Shui thought for a moment, then rejected the excuse of 'going to the toilet' and honestly replied, "I talked to the Knicks president, and it seems he has already promised to select me with the first overall pick."

Envy made Curry's face contort.

He scoffed and said sourly, "I knew it. When I looked for you, I found that the Knicks' management was also gone."

Yi Shui: "Uh...don't you think I'm bragging?"

Curry shrugged and scoffed, "You beat all of us, and today you beat the last opponent who could have threatened you. You're not the first pick, so... so what are we?"

"You? The others are so-so, but you might become my most troublesome opponent."

Curry tilted his head back, looking speechless: "Don't even think about messing with me. I know I'm not as good as you right now, but one day I'll beat you! Just you wait and see!"

Why is it that no one believes me when I tell the truth? Yi Shui felt that being an honest person was not easy, so he asked, "You said you came to see me, is there something you need?"

Curry then remembered the important matter and immediately became excited, saying, "One-on-one! I want to play one-on-one with you!"

Yi Shui replied, "I'd also love to have a one-on-one match with you. Every time we play against each other, your rhythm and drive inspire me... But I'd like to watch a practice match first, a one-on-one between Westbrook and Mayo. Besides, aren't you in the second group?"

"Oh no, I forgot I also have to participate in the second practice match!"

After saying that, Curry jogged back to the sidelines to warm up.

"..."

This... is completely different from the calm and composed elementary school student I remember.

Is it because they haven't experienced the brutal beatings of their early career with the Warriors?

...

Yi Shui is hoping that Turtle can have a big breakout and crush Super Jordan.

But the result made Mayo's top-three draft pick even more secure.

Mayo simply couldn't beat Yi Shui, but against Westbrook, it was the same as the regional stage matches – a matter of control.

Don't even mention Westbrook, even calling Rose wouldn't work.

Curry did have the potential to win, not necessarily because he was better than the other two, but because he could shoot, but he didn't have the ball in his hands.

It's mainly because of Westbrook himself; he's not one to give up!
Even after the coach called a timeout, he still went head-to-head with Mayo when he returned to the court.

After the game, Curry was very frustrated because he didn't get a chance to play. He was originally very interested in the matchup between Rose and DJ Augustin, but he stopped watching and dragged Yi Shui to the training ground for a one-on-one game.

This matchup was actually quite popular. Augustin beat out competitors like Rose, Mayo, Westbrook, and Curry to win the Bob Cousy Award, the "point guard award," which was quite controversial. The organizer, the North American Basketball Writers Association, argued that none of those players were true point guards.

This made the group of combo guards very dissatisfied.

If Yi Shui has nothing else to do, he might watch this matchup, but if he can go toe-to-toe with Curry, he's not interested in this predictable matchup.

After going from best-of-three to best-of-five, Curry ignored Yi Shui after the three-game one-on-one match and went to the nearby court to practice his layup.

一对一，两边又没有比斯利那种纯无脑身体流，分差其实不大，10比6、10比8、10比6。

But Curry drove to the basket and got blocked every game!
He had just asked Yi Shui how long his wingspan was, and the other person replied, "less than 3 meters," which almost made him furious.

Yi Shui, having narrowly defeated Curry by 3 games, was quite satisfied. He returned to the court and wandered around, chatting with this person and that person, getting to know quite a few people.

I only arrived in Chicago yesterday afternoon, and this morning I was busy with physical tests and showing off my basketball moves for the media to take photos. I didn't have time.

Some of them had a good chat, like George Hill and DeAndre Jordan, who had just played together and had a great time.

Some teams don't get along, such as Hibbert from the same division, and Luke Mbah a Moute and Love from the Bruins.

However, both being Bruins players, Westbrook was quite magnanimous, and Yi Shui was also a man of character; they exchanged contact information.

He didn't see several European players he was interested in, such as Nicolas Batum, who will likely switch to Bartelstein's agency in the future.

Some players that Yi Shui is more familiar with and who have good draft prospects, such as Terrence Williams, Earl Clark, Cunningham, Matthews, Jerry McNeil, etc. from the same division, did not participate in this draft.

He guessed that these people were thinking of playing for another year, building a more solid foundation, and having higher draft expectations... their thinking was outdated.

Nowadays, without the physical attributes of someone like Thabeet who fascinates NBA management, or the immediate impact of someone like Brandon Roy who stands out from the crowd, the longer a player plays, the worse their draft stock is likely to be.

That 'Little Odom' Clark, Yi Shui saw that his projected draft position was already 7th, higher than Big Lopez, but he remembered that Clark almost fell out of the lottery when he later ran for the NBA draft.

However, it really didn't come out.

After finishing the first day of training, Yi Shui returned to the hotel and told Bartelstein about the promise Walsh had made to him.

When Yi Shui first heard Walsh's words, he was actually quite excited.

Bartelstein remained calm upon hearing this, saying, "Without any real action, just words can't be taken at face value. The Knicks haven't contacted me yet, which means this is just Walsh's personal opinion."

However, I heard that Walsh had a lot of influence with the Knicks, and Dolan didn't object when he decided to fire Thomas.

But in your upcoming trials, you still need to give it your all and showcase your abilities. Even if they've already made their decision, you need to solidify their resolve.

...

Bartelstein's analysis aligns well with Yi Shui's thoughts.

Moreover, he is extremely competitive when facing players from the same generation, and he will not slack off or hold back in the slightest.

During the next four days of trial training, he had to be the best in both training and competition.

Curry would come to challenge him to a one-on-one match twice a day, and Westbrook and Rose would occasionally come too, and he would always go all out to beat them.

Unlike the one-on-one match on the first afternoon of the tryouts, where everyone was watching the duel between Rose and Augustin, the subsequent one-on-one matches always attracted a crowd, sometimes including management personnel or media.

An old man in Oakland really wanted Curry to stop being so headstrong...

By the afternoon of May 27th, the five-day Chicago joint tryouts had come to an end.

In this joint tryout, Yi Shui was undoubtedly the biggest winner. From the first afternoon when he dominated Beasley, his status as the top pick was already far ahead.

After the joint tryouts, the management of each team extended tryout invitations to their preferred candidates.

That evening, after dinner, Yi Shui and Bartelstein returned to the hotel and ran into Curry in the lobby.

Yi Shui asked, "Stephen, where are you planning to try out next?"

Curry looked tired and said, "I'm going to stay in Chicago for tryouts first, and then I'll go to Charlotte, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Toronto, New York, Portland, Phoenix, Oakland... there are 11 teams I need to try out for."

Yi Shui was speechless upon hearing this, and said, "There's only one month left until the draft, right? You're going to visit 11 teams, aren't you afraid of exhausting yourself?"

Curry said helplessly, "What else can I do? I'll just go to whoever invites me in the first round. My agent said some teams might have a second round, so time will be even tighter... What about you? Where are you planning to try out?"

Yi Shui replied, "I'm not as popular as you. Almost no teams have invited me for tryouts. So far, only Miami has invited me."

I'm planning to go over in a few days. I learned a lot during this joint training camp, and I want to train for a few days first... Uh... Stephen, what's wrong?"

Jealousy can distort a person's appearance, and Curry's facial expression management system completely collapsed.

Just then, Bartelstein, who had finished a phone call outside the hotel, rushed in, completely ignoring the people around him, and excitedly said, "Brook, you don't need to go to Miami for the tryouts anymore! We've officially received news from New York that they've canceled all tryouts! Dolan called me and said you can use the training ground at Madison Square Garden anytime if you need it!"

Before Yi Shui could react, Curry turned and ran away quickly.

envious! envy!
If he stayed any longer, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist jumping up and hitting Yi Shui on the knee!

Big cities! He wants to go there too!
(End of this chapter)