When pride still matters

Chapter 37
On May 5, Yu Fei came to Houston with Quint DiMeo and Anthony Lawson.

Just like Yu Fei in his previous life had no favorable impression of Harden and even the Rockets in the post-Harden era, he also has no favorable impression of the Rockets in this life.

The Rockets are a team that cannot afford to lose.

Although the Aerotropolis is a big city, the Rockets are by no means a big market. If the team does not show competitiveness, or the "courage and perseverance" praised by the Texas tough guys, it will be like those typical reconstruction teams. , fans will abandon the team quickly.

The current owner of the Rockets, Alexander, will not allow this to happen. Therefore, even if Olajuwon is too old to play, the team must look forward.Then, Olajuwon fell out with Tomjanovich and asked the team to cut him.Before the management could make a decision, Dameng suffered from blood clots.As a result, his relationship with the team miraculously eased, and when the season ended, Olajuwon believed that he was worthy of a large contract that exceeded the salary cap for his retirement.

On the surface, the Rockets announced that they would reach a new agreement with Olajuwon, but secretly they were already choosing a home for the top star in team history. This marriage was comparable to that of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. The ending will come.

The problem is that Tom Cruise's marriage changed because he had an affair with a vixen outside, but what about Rockets?They only have the No. 13 pick.

Fonde Recreation Center

This is the Rockets' training camp base, where Yu Fei met their head coach, Rudy Tomjanovich.

Later, Personnel Director Dennis Lindsey took Yu Fei to a spacious office.

They will conduct interviews for Fei here.

Last night, Trem introduced the trial training procedures to Yu Fei.He said that some "very particular" teams will have interviews, and some teams even attach great importance to the interview process. In history, there were even top five favorites who fell out of the top ten due to poor interview performance.

"Are you nervous, Frye?" Lindsay asked with a smile.

Will you be nervous about being interviewed by a team that is having a lot of trouble with the biggest star in team history?of course not.

Meanwhile, DeMeo and Lawson were asked to leave the interview room.

This is reasonable. Only by being interviewed alone can the true state of the interviewer be reflected.

Dimeo gave Yu Fei a "please answer me well" look, while Yu Fei waved his hand naturally to express his relief.

Yu Fei said like a fool: "You have a nice voice and everyone is kind. Why should I be nervous?"

"OK, let's officially start."

Tomjanovich's direct approach to the question was refreshing: "What do you think is the worst thing about you as a basketball player?"

Are you too nice and never talk trash, so you don’t get the chance to be beaten to the point of having your brains blown out on the court?
Yu Fei said young and arrogantly: "I don't think there is anything bad about me."

Lindsay then asked, "How do we know you're a differentiator and not just another bombastic guy?"

Wait, who forced me to talk to you here?

Yu Fei smiled lightly and said: "I don't know what else I can do here except talk."

Tomjanovich was also happy after hearing this.

And Lindsay had to ask the next question: "Historically, Asian basketball players have not been able to gain a foothold in the NBA. How do you prove that you can do it?"

"Who was the last Asian basketball player who couldn't make it in the NBA?"

"Misaka Wataru."

Listening to the name, Yu Fei identified him as Xiao Baga.

"How tall is he?"

"5 feet 7 inches."

Yu Fei was too lazy to ask the little Baga—no, which era of the NBA did the old Baga play in? He just wanted to know if all NBA team interviews were so stupid.

Before time travel, Yu Fei felt that the best career a player with ordinary talent could have was to be like the legendary center Wan Shengwei of Peking University.He was selected by a wealthy club and then won three consecutive championships with the team. On the court, he could score the winning goal against Zhou Qi's defense. Off the court, he dared to say that sentence to CBA's Gou Te. The history of professional basketball is full of rubbish. talk.

Yu Fei decided to follow Wan Shengwei's example, so he stood up directly and said to Tomjanovich and Lindsay: "Can we start playing directly? I think this interview is meaningless. I don't want to continue. There are a lot of trials and I don’t want to waste time here.”

Yu Fei indirectly reminded Tomjanovich and Lindsay of a fact.

That is, if Yu Fei performs well in the trial training, it is impossible for his draft pick to fall out of the top ten. It is already a sign of humility to be willing to participate in the trial training of the Rockets who hold the No. 13 pick in the first round.

"How was it?" Lawson asked, "Why so fast?"

Yu Fei said proudly: "I think I impressed them deeply."

Then, Demeo walked over with a gloomy expression.

"We might be in the wrong place," DeMeo said. "Fry, do you know Eddie Griffin?"

"I know, that forward from Seton Hall University." Yu Fei said, "He will also participate in the draft this year, right?"

Demeo asked: "Do you know how the outside world evaluates him?"

Yu Fei said nothing, but wanted to hear the details.

"They say Eddie Griffin is the mature version of Frye Yu." Dimeo carefully observed Yu Fei's expression and found nothing unusual.

Yu Fei shrugged and said, "I've known about this for a long time." Yu Fei not only knew that Griffin was a player who was very similar to him from his height and wingspan to his playing style, but he also knew that the outside world had been following him since last month. Compare the two of them.

Griffin is more attractive to NBA teams because his talent has passed the NCAA test.

And Yu Fei is only a high school student, so the risk is greater.

Since the styles are similar, those who participate in the competition at a higher level are naturally more favored.

This news is not new. What Yu Fei wants to know is why Dimeo said they were in the wrong place.

"Their head coach." DiMeo glanced at Tomjanovich, who was preparing for the trial. "He publicly said that if the Rockets had the No. [-] pick, they would select Eddie Griffin. .”

"Do you believe it?"

"I believe this is flattery."

"What you said is too ugly." Yu Fei laughed, "The word "show good" is more appropriate."

Demeo asked unexpectedly: "Aren't you angry?"

"Why should I? The draft is a two-way street. They prefer Eddie Griffin. Why is Houston my first choice?"

After that, Yu Fei first took a physical test, won a lot of votes, and then participated in the competition.

Most of the people who came to Houston for a tryout today were seniors. The only one Yu Fei felt was capable was Stanford University center Jarron Collins C.

Yu Fei didn't mind competing on the court with these guys who were late in the second round or even had almost no draft prospects. He was full of firepower, playing from the outside to the inside, from the 28st to the 11th position. He scored 6 points, 4 rebounds and [-] rebounds. Assisted and blocked [-] shots.

After the match, Yu Fei took a shower, changed his clothes, said hello and left.

He didn't even give the Rockets a chance to have dinner together.

That evening, Tomjanovich and the coaching staff held a meeting for more than an hour to discuss Yu Fei's performance today.

One of the main arguments for Griffin being better is that he proved himself in college.

Today, Yu Fei played a dominant performance against a group of senior students who have proven themselves in the NCAA. This is also convincing.

Name: Yu Fei/Yu Fulai (Fry)

Birthday: 1982 12 Month 30 Day

身高：6尺9(206CM)、穿鞋身高6尺10（208CM）、臂展7尺3（220CM）

Weight: 222 pounds (99KG)

Height reached in place: 8 feet 9 (274CM)

Vertical bounce without running: 30 inches (75CM)

Looking at Yu Fei's physical test data that was almost identical to Eddie Griffin's, Rudy Tomjanovich fell into deep thought.

To be fair, Yu Fei did not leave a good impression on Tomjanovich, mainly because his interview performance was too bad.

Yu Fei showed an attitude that he didn't like Houston and was impatient for the interview.

However, Eddie Griffin is not perfect, otherwise he would be recognized as the No. [-] pick, not just the No. [-] pick in Tomjanovich's mind.

Suddenly, Yu Fei's interview performance came to Tang Shuai's mind, and a feeling of disgust and boredom emerged, which was the aftershock left by Kermit Washington on Tomjanovich's head in 1978.

Tomjanovich overwhelmingly favored Eddie Griffin because Griffin was far more of a big man than Yu Fei.

The strength Yu Fei showed today is amazing. He is skilled in controlling movement, can launch attacks from the outside, and can serve as a high-level command tower. He has demonstrated all his skills. He has shown almost everything, but he has not shown that he is capable as an insider. Dominant.

Can his strengths be used in the NBA?
No, his size is destined to prevent him from becoming an NBA-level ball handler. There is only one Magic Johnson.

Tomjanovich's mind was entirely on Eddie Griffin, and he no longer thought about Yu Fei.

"Did we send an invitation to Eddie's agent for a workout?" Tomjanovich asked.

Daniel Lindsay said helplessly: "Yeah."

"When will the trial start?" Tomjanovich asked excitedly.

"He turned down our invitation to try out," Lindsay said poignantly.

Tomjanovich's eyes returned to Yu Fei's physical examination chart.

He suddenly felt that this impatient but arrogant young man was actually pretty good.

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(End of this chapter)