"Bah bang bang!"
I don’t know which reporter started it first, but the reporters below all raised their hands and applauded what Durant said.
For an 18-year-old player to say something like this, it was a big shock to them.
At this time, Barnes took out his small notebook again and wrote the words Durant's team's bigotry.
This is something he needs to pay attention to in the days to come.
But Durant looked weird.
I criticize you and you still applaud me?
They are indeed a bunch of boring people.
Durant's questions were pretty much the same, and the meeting went pretty much the same.
Although Lin Ying contributed a tip-in in the previous game against Kansas, he also successfully attracted Barkley's attention.
But it's obvious that the outside world still doesn't pay much attention to him.
In particular, he seems to be more "keep away from strangers" than Durant.
However, Yang Yi was qualified to enter the game this time, asked a few questions to him, and also received material for the next issue of "Basketball Pioneer News".
At the end of the meeting, Lin Ying noticed that a new team had entered.
And the baby-faced figure following the head coach made him stunned for a moment.
Is that Stephen Curry?
Curry and Durant were in the same college class?
Because the two were drafted in different drafts, and they played at the same time in the NBA, he really didn't notice this.
What made Lin Ying even more unexpected was that Durant also cast a look of concern at Curry at this time.
Then Curry smiled and reached out to him in response!
Did they know each other before?
Lin Ying was even more strange at this time.
He and Durant have known each other for so long, but he has never seen Durant mention Curry before.
The meeting ended quickly, they came down to the library and they went up.
But when the two groups of people passed by, Durant didn't say hello or anything.
"I remember that guy."
After leaving the conference room, Durant took the initiative to speak.
"Steph Curry, the kid-like guy who came up behind us."
Perhaps because he was afraid that Lin Ying wouldn't know who he was talking about, Durant added.
When he saw Lin Ying's interested expression, Durant continued talking.
It turns out that the two knew each other back almost eight years ago.
There is a very sensitive topic in the United States called racial discrimination.
Due to historical reasons, the struggle between blacks and whites has lasted for hundreds of years.
Although racism is no longer legally recognized, it is difficult to change the ideas formed over hundreds of years.
Even if the two groups are not directly opposed to each other, they still dislike each other.
Then the story of the two people also happened in this background.
At that time, Durant's elementary school team went to Charlotte to play, and Curry was living in Charlotte with his father, Dell Curry.
They were rivals at the time.
Curry is well-known locally, and Durant asked the coach who was Curry from the beginning.
When he saw Curry for the first time, his first thought was: Oh, he turns out to be a white man without balls.
Because he is white, he naturally has no favorable impressions.
Moreover, at that time, Curry was so thin that he seemed to be knocked down by the wind, and his style of play was always about shooting outside, which Durant even looked down upon.
As a result, Curry scored 35 points in that game and made three-pointers one after another, which suddenly refreshed Durant's understanding.
And after the game, he also learned that Curry is actually a black man, a light-skinned black man that he has never seen before.
Then the two got to know each other.
Although there was no interaction after that, Durant still remembered this very special guy.
When Durant was about to finish speaking, Springman came over.
This meeting will be at the Palestra Arena, home of the Villanova University Wildcats.
He was not qualified to attend the meeting, so he went to the arena for a walk.
Seeing that Durant's face looked much better than when he went in, he guessed that there would be no problem in the meeting.
"I'll take you to see something."
He said slightly mysteriously.
This aroused the curiosity of Durant and Lin Ying, and they both looked at Barnes in unison.
"You go ahead, I'm going to have a cup of coffee."
Barnes had no interest in youth activities.
Anyway, they were not in a hurry to go back for the time being, so Barnes agreed, and the two of them followed Springman and left happily.
Villanova University is part of the Big East Conference and is not in the same league as the University of Texas.
Their school history is better than that of the University of Texas, winning the NCAA championship in 1985, reaching the championship 30 times, and the semi-finals 6 times.
What is special is that when recruiting players, they pay more attention to obedience rather than talent. The result is that although the record is excellent, there are very few NBA players.
It was rare to find one last year, Kyle Lowry.
Then what Springman took them to see was not something related to these school histories, but a photo.
"Why is there a picture of Chamberlain here?"
Durant was also surprised when he saw the photo.
On the wall of the corridor, there is a full-length photo of Chamberlain.
In the photo, Chamberlain spreads his arms and looks domineering.
Before James, the nickname "Emperor" belonged to Chamberlain.
He is 2.16 meters tall and has a wingspan of 2.34 meters!
Not to mention other things, this static physical talent is like a monster in the basketball field.
"I don't know, maybe it's a photo from a previous NCAA game."
Springman guessed casually.
However, this should also be the most likely scenario.
Because photography technology was backward in the past, there were very few images of Chamberlain playing.
With such a special full-length photo, it makes sense to frame it and hang it on the wall.
"Kevin, do you want to take a picture?"
Springman happened to bring a camera and proposed to Durant.
Durant nodded immediately after hearing it.
He walked up to the photo and spread his arms, doing the same thing as Chamberlain.
Durant's current height is 2.08 meters and his wingspan is 2.28 meters.
Although there is a slight difference in height, the difference in height and wingspan is even more terrifying.
Springman found a good angle to take the picture and nodded vigorously.
"I'll develop the photos when I get back."
Springman said and handed the camera to Lin Ying and Durant to see.
When Durant becomes famous in the future, this photo will become very meaningful.
Durant also smiled and nodded after seeing it.
"Ying, you take a picture too."
He then turned to look at Lin Ying.
Lin Ying hesitated and shook his head. This kind of photo didn't suit him.
"Lin, please take a picture too. These are your memories in college. You will want to show them when you enter the NBA."
Springman said with a smile.
He also came from his student days. Although he failed to play in the NBA, this can be regarded as an experience.
Before Lin Ying could think about it, Durant had already pulled him in front of the photo.
Then, just like that, Lin Ying also took a photo with the same look as Durant.
Compared with Durant's smiling face, Lin Ying had a daily expressionless face, with a hint of grievance.
Durant and Springman laughed at this.
But really speaking, Lin Ying is very suitable for such photos.
With a height of 2.01 meters and a wingspan of 2.20 meters, he also has a weird wingspan like Durant and Chamberlain.
…
After returning to school after the media conference, the first thing Durant did was to share all the details of his time there with his teammates during the training session.
And he made a decision in front of everyone.
If there was another meeting like this without inviting the whole team, he would definitely not go there again.
Both Barnes and Springman heard these words. They looked at each other and could only shake their heads helplessly.
It seems that I won’t have to go to this media meeting in the future.
But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Let the players focus on the following games, and their results are more useful than any exposure.
…
Time flies so fast and it’s early February.
After defeating Kansas, the University of Texas did not get carried away and remained focused on and off the court.
The result is that the team's triangle tactics are getting better and better, and their record continues to improve.
They quickly reached second place in the league, just behind the University of Kansas.
This was a position they would never have imagined three months ago.
And good things come in pairs. Barkley has often mentioned them on the show since he last watched the University of Texas game.
In addition to Durant, another reason for him to do this is that the University of Texas refreshed his understanding of the triangle offense.
Under these dual effects, the popularity of the University of Texas continues to rise.
Their ranking on the "Power List" also continues to rise, and they have entered the top 30!
This means that even if they fail to win the Big12 League championship, they still have a high probability of getting the "Crazy Three" wild card!
Although that was not the goal they pursued, it also gave them an insurance policy.
…
On this day, the University of Texas plays host to the Oklahoma Sooners.
When it comes to this team, Lin Ying's first impression will be Blake Griffin.
Griffin led the team to the Elite Eight in his sophomore season, but unfortunately lost to the year's champion, the University of North Carolina.
But now Griffin is still playing in high school, and the University of Oklahoma... of course also has Griffin!
Griffin's older brother, Tyler Griffin, plays on this team!
He is also the reason why Griffin gave up the famous schools of North Carolina and Duke and finally joined the Sooners.
In addition to Tyler Griffin, this team also has a player named Michael O'Neal who is also very good on the outside.
They are currently ranked third in the Big 12 Conference, behind only Kansas and Texas.
This is a focused battle within the big12 league.
But more than that, what attracted more attention in this game was the presence of a big fan on the sidelines.
He is really big, huge, "little giant" Yao Ming.
When he came out of the tunnel and saw Yao Ming, Lin Yingyou was stunned for a while, and finally came to his senses after Durant pushed him.
Although Yao Ming is now playing in Houston, I have not interacted with him before, so this happened relatively suddenly.
But when he walked out of the tunnel and looked over there, his eyes were attracted by a person next to Yao Ming who was trying to wave to him.
Yang Yi.
Lin Ying understood immediately when he saw Yang Yi.
This was probably Yang Yi's "matchmaking".
Yao Ming then extended his hand and said hello to him with a smile.
Lin Ying was a little at a loss, and finally managed a smile and waved to Yao Ming and the others.
Durant on the side looked disgusted when he saw it.
Your smile is uglier than your cry.
A small episode before the game. After the warm-up and opening ceremony, the game between the two teams started quickly.
Compared with the opponents they played against in the past month, the University of Oklahoma is obviously much stronger.
However, the University of Texas played relatively easily and quickly established a lead.
The most fundamental reason is that no one at the University of Oklahoma can match Durant.
The triangle tactic may be said to be complicated, but it may also be said to be simple.
If someone can match up with Durant, Texas will have a tough time;
But if no one can match up, it will be easy for Durant to score.
And after experiencing the second match against the University of Kansas, the coaching staff learned from experience and flexibly switched between the 1.0 and 2.0 version of the triangle tactic.
This change makes it more difficult for opponents to defend.
Durant restrained the defense, and others at the University of Texas also had room to perform.
Lin Ying made two three-pointers in the first quarter, and the defensive end also blocked Tyler Griffin and Michael O'Neal one after another.
At halftime, the University of Texas led the University of Oklahoma by 11 points, 37-26.
In the second quarter, the University of Texas was in better shape. Not only the starters, but also Abrams, who came on the bench, also hit shots one after another.
Lin Ying showed more of his organizational skills in the second quarter, scoring 5 assists in the half.
At the end of the game, the University of Texas defeated the University of Oklahoma 73-53 at home, easily winning this league focus game.
Durant had 21 points and 7 rebounds, Abrams had 17 points, Lin Ying had 11 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, and Augustin had 10 points and 5 assists.
A very interesting phenomenon is that the University of Texas fans at the scene did not seem very excited at the end of the game.
After the team won consecutively, they have become "accustomed" to such victories.
To use an analogy, I couldn’t eat meat before, but if I eat meat, I can be so happy that I doubt my life;
But if you eat meat every day, you won't have a big reaction when you see them again.
After the game, Lin Ying did not rush back to the locker room, but waited on the bench for a while.
Yang Yi would probably bring Yao Ming to see him. It would be better to chat in the locker room than on the court.
Durant was also happy when he saw this scene.
The changes in Lin Ying can be seen, and now he no longer resists contact with people outside the team.
"Remember to ask Yao for advice. He is a super center in the NBA."
Before he returned to the locker room, he patted Lin Ying's shoulder and warned him.
Lin Ying nodded.
Although he has his own plan, it would definitely be helpful if he could get some advice from Yao Ming.
Just because we haven't interacted with each other before, I don't know if Yao Ming will be willing to do it.
After a while, Yang Yi led Yao Ming down from the stands with a smile on his face.
Just when Lin Ying was struggling with how to say hello, Yao Ming spoke first:
"You know what? Watching you play ball reminds me of someone."
If speaking is an art, Lin Ying is bronze and Yao Ming is the king.
The first words he spoke had already brought the distance between the two of them closer.
Of course, Lin Ying looked at Yao Ming with a confused look on his face.
Chapter completed!