Champions Creed

Chapter 21: Letting such a player fall out of the lottery is absolutely a crime!
If you open Alan Houston's resume at the University of Tennessee, the first sentence written on it will probably be: My father, who was the head coach of the university.

That’s right, Alan Houston’s head coach at the University of Tennessee is his father Wade Houston.

Because of this, Houston got the opportunity to play in all the starting lineups during his freshman season.

However, unlike the grandson of the God who directly quit the NCAA and waited for the selection of LeBron James, Alan Houston, although he has his old father to support him, is also very competitive.

In his freshman season, he averaged 20.3 points per game and shot an incredible 43.2% from three-point range.

But what happened was that Alan Houston made almost no progress in the next three years.

His four-year college career, both in terms of statistics and playing style, was exactly the same.

Therefore, although he is a super scorer at the NCAA level, Houston's stock price has never been in the top five. After all, in the draft, potential is usually more valuable than immediate combat effectiveness.

However, the advantage of a player like Alan Houston who is ready to fight is that he is at least not too bad, with a neither high upper limit nor a low lower limit.

Even if he can't become a star scorer in the NBA, he will be an above-average shooting guard.

Therefore, the Detroit Pistons value Alan Houston very much.

If you can pick up Alan Houston in the late lottery, it is a sure win and a very safe choice.

Originally, the Pistons had decided to use one of their draft picks to take Alan, but the appearance of Roger made McKinnie waver.

If Roger has the combat effectiveness of Alan Houston and the potential that Alan Houston does not have, the Pistons will definitely reconsider their best candidate.

After a simple physical test, the Pistons also conducted technical tests on the players.

Surprisingly, Roger's shooting percentage in open shots and shots under interference is on par with Alan Houston!
中距离五个点，罗杰和休斯顿无干扰下都是20中20。有干扰下，罗杰20中18，休斯顿20中19。

三分线外，无干扰下两人依然都是20中20，有干扰下罗杰20中16，休斯顿20中15。

Billy McKinney was overjoyed. Alan Houston's shooting skills were considered the best in college basketball, but Roger was not inferior to him at all!
"Shaq is right. If they replace Anderson with Roger, they might really make the playoffs this season." McKinnie laughed.

Pistons coach Don Cheney nodded absentmindedly: "As far as jump shots are concerned, Roger is already at the NCAA level. But basketball is not just about jump shots. I'm more optimistic about Alan. After all, his statistics were achieved in higher-level games."

As a new coach, Don Cheney couldn't directly offend the general manager.

But he believes that the game will soon tell everything.

The game was about to begin, and Roger was assigned to the white team, along with Bobby Hurley, George Lynch, Vin Baker and white center Scott Haskin.

Lynch Hunter, Alan Houston, Doug Edwards, Rodney Rogers and Sean Bradley formed the black team.

Looking at the inside combination on the opposite side, Roger curled his lips.

If history cannot be changed, many years later, the two leaders of the black team will be paralyzed due to car accidents.
It's really unpredictable.

Because there are no substitutes, the next 10 people will play a 28-minute training match.

All the rookies are ready to go, and the Pistons have two lottery picks, which means this is a 10-to-2 matchup.

Everyone wants to grab this opportunity.

At the beginning of the game, Sean Bradley almost snatched the ball from Haskin's head by just tiptoeing.

The Pistons instantly realized that there was no chance that they would select Bradley.

With such obvious talent, it would be difficult for Bradley to fall out of the top five even if he didn't play well for two years.

82年的犹他爵士在选秀大会上挑了个大学场均只有1.3分2.0个篮板的加油站工人，而那个加油站工人后来成为了80年代末90年代初NBA最好的防守者之一，人送外号猛犸象。这一切都因为，他有着224公分的夸张身高。

With such an example in the past, Bradley's ranking will not fall.

It's just like choosing a princess. If you really don't know who to choose, you can always choose the older one.

Therefore, the Pistons, who are only in the late lottery, should focus on selecting guards this year.

McKinney shifted his eyes away from Bradley and locked onto Roger and Alan Houston.

Let’s see what happens!

Lynch Hunter controlled the ball outside the three-point line. Alan Houston tried to cut inside, but in fact he ran back and out, successfully shaking off George Lynch's defense.

Hunter also passed the ball to Houston at the right time when Houston ran back. Although it was the first time for the two to play together, Hunter quickly found the rhythm of Alan Houston.

Don Cheney admires experienced point guards like Hunter. With such players, the team's offense will never become a mess.

Alan Houston caught the ball and shot it with his carefully honed shooting motion.

Through day after day of practice, the tacit understanding between him and the basket has become extremely mature.

George Lynch tried his best but Alan Houston scored the first goal of the day with grace.

The three-pointer went into the net and Alan Houston scored effortlessly.

Don Cheney couldn't help but applaud. In Alan Houston, you can see the shadows of those wise people.

His cuts and counter-runs were so perfect, and his shooting was more stable than the foundation of the World Trade Center.

Lynch Hunter and Alan Houston should be a good backcourt combination. If it were him, he would just choose these two.

Of course, the decision was not Don Cheney's, but after the game, he felt that General Manager McKinney would have the same idea as him.

The game continued, and Roger's offensive style was completely different from Alan Houston's.

He did not make any complicated moves, but instead raised his hand to ask Bobby Hurley for the ball.

After getting the ball, Roger dribbled between his legs, changed direction, and then pulled the ball forward with a large force. While the opponent was hesitant, confused, and dazed, Roger had already dribbled past him.

Roger does not have historical-level first-step explosiveness, and most of his dribbling skills rely on excellent dribbling rhythm.

After breaking through to the mid-range, Roger made a steady shot, just as perfect as Houston's.

Attack, attack, attack, this seems to be Roger's basketball motto.

Once he gets the ball, he hardly thinks about anything else but how to put it in the basket.

Don Cheney despised this style of play. This kid really thinks he is a superstar.

In high school, this style of play might work for him, but at the NBA level, did he really think it would be that easy? Did he really think he could make it to the NBA with that unconventional approach?

For some reason, Don Cheney developed a desire to educate young people.

He wanted to tell Roger, the genius hyped up by the media, that basketball is not as simple as you think.

So he clapped his hands and shouted to the court: "Hunter, you defend Roger in the next round." He believed that the key to limiting Roger was to keep up with his speed. As long as there was always interference in front of him, Roger would not be able to score easily. Therefore, using the shorter but faster Lynch Hunter to defend Roger would be more effective.

Pistons general manager McKinney frowned: "You shouldn't do that. We should remain neutral. You are not coaching any of their teams."

Don Cheney disagreed: "I think that's how we should test a player. Put him in various difficult conditions to struggle. Only then will the tryout be meaningful."

"Then why don't you test Alan as well?"

Don Cheney answered without hesitation: "Alan is on another level. There is no point in testing him. We all know he can handle any defense."

But soon, Don Cheney was slapped in the face.

This time, Alan Houston broke through with the ball. Houston also has the ability to attack with the ball, and he also wanted to show it to the Pistons.

But just as he put his hands together to hold the ball and prepare to shoot, Roger raised his arms high and attacked him.

Roger's current one-on-one defense ability is still lacking, but through training and studying game videos, his awareness of assisting defense has improved a lot.

Alan Houston hesitated whether to shoot or not, but this hesitation made him miss the best opportunity to pass the ball.

When he passed the ball, Roger just reached out and touched it, disrupting the pass, and then actively chased after him.

Roger forced Alan Houston, who Don Cheney said "can handle any defense", to make a mistake!
McKinney stared at Roger and walked over to Don Cheney: "It seems you are wrong. Alan is not a panacea."

Don Cheney did not respond. He just hoped that Lynch Hunter could perform better in the next defense and expose the high school student's true colors.

After Roger completed the steal, he ran to the three-point line with the ball. Seeing the 188-centimeter Hunter defending him, he deliberately slowed down his pace.

He did not try to break through with fancy dribbling, but instead went straight for the back-to-the-basket shot!

McKinnie laughed: "This kid is very smart! He knows you want to use a speed player to deal with him, but he directly chooses to use his height advantage to play a post-up singles!"

Don Cheney also laughed: "He doesn't know how to play one-on-one with his back to the basket. This is just a helpless choice!"

But then, Roger easily pushed Hunter to the mid-range position, then turned over and made a beautiful rebound jump shot to score easily.

Don Cheney got slapped hard again!

Roger did not play post-up very often in high school games before because he was too thin and would be at a disadvantage in singles play.

But Roger, who now weighs 87 kilograms, is more than enough to deal with players like Lynch Henry, who is 10 kilograms lighter than him.

Roger's back-to-the-basket footwork and movements are not as gorgeous as Jordan's, but when it comes to the turnaround jump shot, Roger is still very confident.

In fact, before Duncan, the Iceman, as the first generation star of the Spurs, was a master of rebounding shots.

It can also be said that Iceman is an expert at anything related to touch, and Roger is good at everything related to Iceman.

Roger continued to score, and he was at ease in an innings filled with top college players.

Billy McKinney clapped his hands with a smile: "This kid's offense is very mature and his defense is also active enough. If we missed Roger in the draft, the fans would smash the Palace of Auburn Hills."

Don Cheney didn't say anything. He felt very embarrassed!

He turned his eyes to Alan Houston, hoping he could do something.

Alan Houston tried hard. This time, after attracting Roger's double-team, he did not pass the ball or force a shot. Instead, he chose to break through with the ball.

Roger rushed forward too aggressively and didn't have time to adjust his center of gravity, so he was easily passed by Houston.

But after breaking through to the basket, Alan Houston encountered strong blocking from white center Scott Haskin.

Haskins' height is not as exaggerated as Bradley, but he is also 211 cm tall, which is a huge obstacle under the basket.

Under his strong rim protection, Alan Houston's finish at the basket was unsuccessful.

In the eyes of most coaches, the closer you are to the basket, the easier it is to score.

But this law does not apply to Alan Houston.

If you look at Alan Houston's hot zone map, you will find that almost every position on the court is his hot zone. He can accurately shoot from all angles and distances.

Except for the basket!

The closer he is, the less likely he is to do it!

This is the difference between Alan Houston and the truly top scorers.

Watching Houston clumsily throwing the ball into the basket, combined with his more shooting-oriented style of play in college, McKinnie suddenly felt that this NCAA super scorer was not so perfect.

Don Cheney also sighed. Although Haskins was tall, he was so thin that he looked like a stick figure that would fall apart with a slight collision. He was no match for the muscular centers in the NBA. However, even such a skinny white center could not be dealt with by Alan Houston.

Did I expect too much from him?

Vin Baker picked up the rebound and passed it to Bobby Hurley.

After reaching the three-point line, Roger approached Hurley, as if he wanted to ask for the ball directly.

But suddenly, Roger pushed away Hunter who was defending him and cut into the basket.

Bobby Hurley used his superb surgical pass to get the ball to Roger in the first time. Seeing Roger rushing straight to the basket, the 229-centimeter Bradley ran over clumsily to assist in defense.

Everyone’s eyes widened. The youngest person on the field was going to challenge the tallest person on the field!
Bradley failed to block the ball in Roger's hand, but hit Roger's body, causing Roger to lose balance in the air and forced to spin.

At the moment when his body started to turn and lost his center of gravity, Roger gently threw the ball towards the basket. After the basketball passed Bradley's high wall, it fell in a perfect arc and finally entered the net!
Roger's current confrontation ability is not particularly strong, but the finishing rate at the basket is not directly proportional to the confrontation ability.

You can be a tank-like finisher like James, or a graceful velvet assassin like Parker and Nash.

Roger's current style is obviously more like the latter. He may be knocked around in the confrontation, but the basketball will always hit the target accurately!

He was able to score against Doug Edwards, who was of similar height to him. He was able to score against Hunter, who was faster but shorter than him.

Facing the 229 cm tall Bradley, Roger was still able to score!
He has the same level of shooting as Alan Houston, and also has the ability to finish at the basket that Alan Houston does not have!
McKinney had made up his mind, this was him!

It is an absolute crime to let such a player fall out of the lottery!
"You're right, Tang. No one gets the MVP award based on physical test data. Roger's actual performance is better than his performance in physical and technical tests! These college geniuses, their talents were ruthlessly crushed!"

After falling, Roger stood up quickly and looked towards the sidelines with a smile: "Coach, you said this is different from high school, but I don't think this is any different from high school games. Scoring is still as free as you like~"

Don Cheney's face was full of black lines.

Well, maybe I was really wrong this time.

This high school student is outstanding beyond imagination!
(End of this chapter)