Before McGrady left, Xu Yong and he exchanged phone numbers.

"If there's anything you don't understand, you can text me." McGrady reminded before leaving.

After McGrady left, Xu Yong found a trainer to study how to learn the drop step and help him change his shooting gesture.

Yes, although they are both two-motion shots, the details of his original shot are quite different from the pull-up shot.

Since you have chosen to learn the pull-up jump shot, you naturally have to make adjustments to the details, which also requires the assistance of a trainer.

In short, Xu Yong took out all the money he had saved and made an investment for himself in advance.

Just as he was sweating in the training hall, the crazy three gradually came to an end.

The University of Memphis that defeated them first defeated the University of Texas 85-67 in the conference finals, and then defeated UCLA 78-63 in the semi-finals to advance to the finals.

Facts have proved that Xu Yong's original feeling was correct. This University of Memphis team is indeed a level stronger than UCLA.

And it was at this time that everyone realized that Arizona State University was the team that lost the least to the University of Memphis.

The finals were played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, between the University of Memphis and the University of Kansas.

Xu Yong had originally planned to watch the game in person, but after hiring a trainer, his trouser pockets were cleaner than his face, so he could only find a small restaurant to eat while watching the game.

Then he also felt the impact of the NCAA finals from the perspective of a fan.

Because in a small restaurant, there were also about 10 to 20 people gathered around the TV to watch the live broadcast.

This scene is very similar to the scene of watching Yao Ming play basketball in a domestic convenience store.

Memphis is very strong, but Kansas is only stronger, not weaker. In addition to 7 players with NBA prospects, they have 10 players who are four-star or five-star high school students of the year, including 5 five-star players. It is no exaggeration to call this lineup the NCAA Dream Team.

After the two teams started playing, Rose was still unstoppable and helped the University of Memphis establish a leading advantage early on. However, as soon as Rose left the court, the University of Kansas could rely on its strong rotation lineup to equalize the score difference or even surpass it.

The two teams took turns leading. Rose made one of two free throws before the end of the game, which gave Kansas University a chance. Chalmers hit the tying three-pointer and the two sides entered overtime.

The competition was so intense that more people gathered in the small restaurant and the atmosphere was very intense.

However, after entering overtime, Rose's physical energy was too much, and he could no longer easily break into the inside like he did in regular time.

Kansas, supported by a strong rotation lineup, still retains a lot of physical strength.

In the end, Kansas scored 12 to 5 in overtime and defeated Memphis 75 to 68 to win the final championship.

It was a pity that Memphis lost, but Rose showed his strength to the fullest in the tournament and has been designated as the No. 1 pick in 2008.

The live broadcast continued, and the Kansas players cried with joy.

Although he won the championship by using the method of "random punches to defeat the master", this was the result of many people's perseverance.

For example, Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush in the core were both five-star high school students in 2005, and Darrell Arthur and Sheron Collins were also five-star high school students in 2006.

After watching the award ceremony, Xu Yong also left the restaurant.

In addition to his feelings, he also has some expectations about what kind of new players Sandek will bring to the Devils this summer.

With a top 16 record last season, the team should be able to attract four-star high school students to join, right?

About a week later, Xu Yong prepared to leave Houston and return to Tempe.

Before leaving, he treated Maddie to a meal as a thank you.

Of course, a meal is definitely not enough to express gratitude. Xu Yong doesn’t have anything worthwhile now. The only thing he can show off is his identity as a reborn person.

So at the dinner table, Xu Yong and McGrady talked about a topic.

"T-mac, what do you think is the relationship between NBA teams and players?"

McGrady did not expect Xu Yong to ask this question, but seeing Xu Yong's serious look, he gave his own answer: "Employment relationship."

Xu Yong was not surprised by this answer, as McGrady had a very unpleasant relationship with the Magic management before.

He did not judge McGrady's answer, but expressed his own opinion: "I think this relationship is changing."

Xu Yong's statement aroused McGrady's curiosity.

"In the early stages of the NBA, the relationship between teams and players was more of a partnership because they needed to work together to promote the NBA brand. But as the NBA pie grew bigger, teams began to exploit players, and the partnership turned into an employment relationship," Xu Yong explained.

Of course, what he didn't say is that in the future, as the salary cap increases rapidly, players will begin to fight for more benefits, and at that time the relationship between players and teams will return to a cooperative relationship.

McGrady nodded in agreement. From a developmental perspective, this was indeed the case.

"So in this situation, do you think if a player is injured, the team will wait for him to recover? Or will they send him away while he still has trading value?" Xu Yong asked.

"Are you talking about Yao?" McGrady asked back.

"No, I didn't mention anyone in particular." Xu Yong replied.

"You little guy, you haven't even played in the NBA, but you act like you know a lot about it." McGrady smiled and shook his head.

Seeing that McGrady didn't answer, Xu Yong continued to ask himself, "I think most teams will choose to send them away, because when there is enough money involved, the so-called favors will become insignificant. After all, the NBA is a commercial league."

Maddie put away his smile and stroked his chin in thought.

The reason why Xu Yong did this was actually very simple. As a reborn person, he knew that Yao Ming was out for the season that year and that McGrady had to take 6 injections to close the gap in order to avenge the Jazz. But what he got afterwards was the title of "soft egg" given by the fans and the "7-minute time limit order" from the Rockets.

A reminder of his return for McGrady’s teaching him.

McGrady finally nodded and said, "Although I don't know how you got these insights, I must admit that there is some truth in what you said."

Xu Yong also stopped there. McGrady has been a professional player for many years, so he just needs to give him a reminder. As for how to choose, it is up to McGrady.

After finishing his meal with McGrady, Xu Yong took out his cell phone and looked at it.

Someone sent him a text message while he was having dinner just now, but out of politeness he did not take it out to read it during the meal.

"Xu, Jeff and I have decided to play for another year. We are training at school now." The text message was sent by Harden.

As in history, Harden decided to play another year in the NCAA.

Xu Yong put away his phone and smiled.

Although his goal is to improve himself and strive for a good draft pick, it would be great to play with Harden and others for another year.

That way, as he told Sandek, they can really strive for a better record next season.

…

Just one week after Xu Yong returned to Tempe, the NBA Eastern and Western Conference playoffs officially kicked off.

The Rockets, ranked fifth in the Western Conference, met the fourth-ranked Jazz in the first round of the playoffs.

Xu Yong saw McGrady in a total of six games. Just like the games he had seen before his rebirth, McGrady wore thick black shoulder pads and signature red elbow pads, and took slow steps to fight the Jazz on the court.jpg.

Just as he knew, McGrady scored 40 points with 13 of 26 shots in Game 6, but still couldn't prevent the Rockets from being eliminated 2-4.

Xu Yong's reminder was given, and McGrady agreed, but in the end, McGrady made the same choice as in history, with 6 injections and trying his best.

Moreover, after the game, because he did not mention the lockdown in front of the media, fans started to criticize McGrady for being a wimp and a first-round virgin.

It’s really “stupid”.

After reading it, Xu Yong was deeply moved.

If it were a future star, he would have already implemented [load management].

And he should have gotten the blocked shot, and after the first shot he should have let the media brag about it, saying that he had been playing with injuries in recent months and that he plans to have surgery in the summer.

If fans still say so, then I will issue a statement saying that I am considering retiring.

In this case, the fans will only feel sad, so why would they care about winning or losing?

There are still huge differences between people!