On March 18, the news that "Magic" Johnson became Woody's agent spread in the circle.
This news caused quite a bit of discussion.
Not only because of the fact that "legendary" Johnson serves as Woody's agent, but also because the news itself also contains a message: Woody is going to participate in this year's draft...
The NCAA does not allow players to have their own agents!
Signing an agent for a high school student often means giving up the NCAA, and even "king" LeBron James is no exception to this.
Sure enough, on March 19, Johnson made an appointment with the ESPN reporter team for Woody. Woody made his first appearance in front of the media after winning the championship and admitted in person: "I will skip the NCAA and take my talent to the NBA in advance!"
The reporters excitedly pressed the shutter to record this historic moment:
The first Chinese high school student in NBA history to participate in the draft was born!
During the next period of time, Woody began to make announcements under Johnson's arrangement. He frequently appeared in front of the media cameras and gained a lot of popularity. But Johnson, who was used to seeing big scenes, felt that it was not enough, so he immediately arranged
Courtside tickets for the two Lakers home games. Since it has reached the end of the season and the rankings of each team have basically been settled, there are no gimmicks in this game. Woody appeared on the sidelines and shared a lot of shots.
It is worth mentioning that in one of the games, Woody also met Megan Fox, whom he had not seen for a long time. The two had not seen each other since the last "Christmas War". This chance encounter, plus Megan Fox
-Fox also greeted her cordially, and the media once again brought out the scandal and made it a "cold meal."
Fortunately, Woody didn't bring a bodyguard, and Megan Fox didn't photograph Woody from behind, otherwise the "scandal" would have turned into a "civil dispute."
At the end of March, the enthusiasm about Woody cooled down a little.
Firstly, he has almost run away with some big announcements; secondly, Johnson thinks it is time to "settle" for a while. The popularity must be there, but it is not good to maintain the popularity too deliberately. Obviously he knows what "too much is not enough"
, as a rookie, you still have to have some sense of mystery; thirdly, the NCAA's "March Madness" has entered the most exciting "Sweet 16", and every subsequent game is a focus battle, and even the NBA has to worry about it.
They gave in, let alone Woody participating in the draft.
Woody discovered the benefits of high school students running for election:
In a sense, he is one of the earliest draft picks among this group of newcomers preparing for the 2003 draft!
Most of those college students with good prospects are still competing, but he is already improving on his own shortcomings according to the template that their respective teams have for him.
This information comes from espn.
Woody's "decision" led to the template set for him by most team scouts.
This is still very important.
Especially those whose records this season are not very good, they can definitely get the template set by the high-ranking team. This is a team secret and cannot be bought with money.
Only a media industry leader like ESPN can do this.
The biggest benefit of knowing the templates drafted by teams with high draft picks for him is...
You can learn about these teams' first impressions of him.
At the same time, if these teams send him trial invitations, it means that they hope that Woody will grow into the template they have planned.
Woody can use their template to attack his own "weak spots", or he can use the template to understand the opponent's positioning of his team and decide in advance whether to give up the trial training.
The current public template given to him by most media is the rookie Amare Stoudemire who was selected by the Suns with the 9th overall pick in the first round last year.
He also has great physical fitness and is good at scoring at the basket.
Woody also showed good pick-and-roll awareness in previous games.
Also because Woody has the ability to handle the ball independently and can shoot mid-range shots from time to time, he is called the "enhanced version of Amare Stoudemire."
As for those teams…
The template given to him by the Toronto Raptors scouts was O'Neal Jr.
They believe that Woody has the ability to move as well as the outside, and he has the ability to resist and compensate for his strong peers like Perkins in confrontations. This has always been O'Neal's highlight on the defensive end.
The only shortcoming is that his performance in blocking shots is not as good as O'Neal's.
This season, O'Neal Jr. averaged 2.3 blocks per game, while Woody averaged less than 1 block per game in the high school league.
Of course, there are reasons to explain this. For example: Woody has only been practicing basketball for one year, and his grasp of the timing of blocking shots needs more games to hone.
If this is the case, then this is not really a problem.
Because Woody is only 18 years old!
In addition to being similar on the defensive end, Woody also has similarities with O'Neal on the offensive end:
Good at finishing at the basket and capable of mid-range jump shots.
But in these aspects, O'Neal is much better.
First of all, O'Neal's footwork under the basket is very beautiful. Among the post players, there are few better than him. In addition, O'Neal's mid-range jump shot is also top-notch. It is the same as Kevin Garnett's "iron-blooded jump shot".
It is his signature skill. Woody's mid-range is more like an auxiliary method!
But again...
The 18-year-old Woody has shown his abilities in these areas, which means that he can achieve results in these areas!
Now, O'Neal Jr. is ranked among the top two power forwards in the NBA. In addition to Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, he can touch anyone, but when he debuted as a high school student, he played with the Trail Blazers.
In the first year, he only averaged 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Everyone comes from a young age.
Clippers scouts believe that Woody can become the next "Chris Webber". Woody's "one-stop backcourt" and various passes from inside to outside prove that he has a very good ball-handling ability.
If he develops his basic passing skills, he is likely to become a very good inside support player.
——He may not have the offensive ability like Chris Webber, but he will definitely be a more reliable penalty area gate than Chris Webber!
It's outrageous yet reasonable, very much like the Clippers...
In addition, ESPN also found out that the Cleveland Cavaliers, who currently have the highest probability of winning the "No. 1 pick", have a somewhat unexpected positioning on him.
Cleveland Cavaliers scouts actually think he could be the next Rodman!
this……
Woody had to wonder if Cleveland's scouts had taken a peek at his system. Otherwise, how could they have pinpointed Rodman so accurately?
You know, in the season that just ended, Woody not only led the league in averaging 17.6 rebounds per game, but also led the league in scoring at 28.6 points per game.
No matter how you look at it, it is impossible to be linked to Rodman, who has mediocre scoring!
As he continued to read, Woody learned that Rodman had also become the "scoring champion" in college. Although he was only a "scoring champion" in the NCAA second-level marginal or even third-level league, compared with the Ohio High School League
, that is "the eldest brother does not laugh at the second brother", no one should look down on anyone.
Cavaliers scouts believe that if Woody cannot fulfill his scoring potential, then the ultimate template will most likely be a player like Rodman.
But if Woody can realize his scoring potential, then he will become an "all-round warrior"...
They gave another template that Woody didn't expect:
Scottie Pippen with enhanced rebounding!
You are Pippen!
Your whole family is Pippin!
Seeing this template, Woody was not happy at the time.
Don't get me wrong, Woody doesn't think "second dick" is bad, well... although it is indeed bad and does not meet Woody's ambitions. But what Woody criticized most about Pippen was that he was at his peak, and other super giants
While everyone is earning tens of millions of dollars in annual salary, he only earns over 2 million.
Could Woody be such a "loser"?
He came to the NBA to make a lot of money!
No more "skin"!
There are still many templates for Lin Lin. After Woody and Johnson read it, the latter gave his opinion: "Next, I will package you as a swingman at the third and fourth positions. When we do additional training, we will also
Try to move closer to these two aspects!”
In the NBA, the most popular position is the swingman at the third or fourth position, who can play both outside and inside.
But most of the players who are known as "three or four" have become "neither three nor four" in the NBA. They are too slow to play "three" and too short to play "four".
Woody's latest height measured at Staples is just over 2.04 meters. Considering his age, he will definitely grow longer, but this height is still too short for the fourth position.
So simply playing the fourth position will definitely be a concern for the team.
But if Woody can show the characteristics of a "swingman at the third and fourth positions": use height to play the third position, and use speed to play the fourth position.
The disadvantage of height no longer exists!
Judging from the results of Gary Vitti's trial training for Woody, Woody really has the characteristics of "three or four". What Woody needs to do next is to use this time to strengthen these characteristics.
The training time passed very regularly and very quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was early April, and the NCAA's "March Madness" came to the finals.
This year’s NCAA set a record:
A freshman led a team that didn't even make it to the championship last season, overcame all obstacles, defeated one opponent after another, and reached the finals.
This university is called Syracuse University!
This freshman’s name is Carmelo Anthony!
Yes, they are the "peerless twins" with LeBron in high school!
For a time, his reputation soared and he became the "top pick".
Especially after leading the team to defeat their last opponent and win the NCAA Finals this season, some media even said bluntly: "If the Cavaliers hadn't won the No. 1 pick, then this year's 'No. 1 pick' would undoubtedly be Carme
Ron Anthony’s, he’s proven himself in a higher league!”