On March 18, the news that "Magic" Johnson became Woody's agent spread in the circle.
This news caused quite a buzz.
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 personally: "I will skip the NCAA and take my talents 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 was born!
During the following period, Woody began to make announcements under Johnson's arrangement. He frequently appears in front of the media cameras and has gained a lot of popularity. But Johnson, who was used to seeing big scenes, felt that it was not enough. He immediately arranged courtside tickets for two Lakers home games. Since it was already the end of the season and the rankings of each team were basically settled, there were no gimmicks in this game. Woody appeared on the sidelines and shared a lot of scenes.
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 slightly.
Firstly, he has almost run away from 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 actually 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 the college students with good prospects are still playing, but he is already improving his own shortcomings according to the template of his respective team.
This information comes from ESPN.
Woody's "decision" led to the template set for him by most team scouts.
This is still important.
Especially those whose results 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 it.
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 "weak spots", or he can use the template to understand the opponent's positioning for 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 of Woody's ability to handle the ball independently and make 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.
They believe that Woody has the ability to move as well as the outside, and he has the performance to not fall behind in confrontations against powerful peers like Perkins. He can resist and compensate. This has always been O'Neal's highlight on the defensive end.
The only shortcoming is that his performance on the blocking end is not as good as O'Neal.
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 a 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.
However, in these aspects, O'Neal is much stronger.
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's 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 one of the top three power forwards in the NBA. In addition to Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, he can touch anyone. However, when he debuted as a high school student, he played with the Trail Blazers. In the first year, he averaged only 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Everyone comes from a young age.
Clippers scouts believe 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 you develop the basic skills of passing and passing, you are 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 his template.
Cleveland Cavaliers scouts actually think he will be the next Rodman!
this……
Woody had to wonder if Cleveland scouts had taken a peek at his system. Otherwise, how could we 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 reading, Woody learned that Rodman had also become the "scoring champion" in college. Although he was only a "scoring champion" in the NCAA second-level 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 fulfill his scoring potential, he will become an "all-around warrior"...
They gave another template that Woody didn't expect:
The rebounding-enhanced version of Scottie Pippen!
You are Pippen!
Your whole family is Pippen!
Seeing this template, Woody was unhappy 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 criticizes most about Pippen is that in his peak period, when other super giants were earning tens of millions in annual salary, he only made more than 2 million.
Could Woody be such a "loser"?
He came to the NBA to make big 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 ones are swingmen at the third and fourth positions, 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". Next, what Woody has to do 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 "big favorite" for the No. 1 pick.
Especially after leading the team to defeat their last opponent and win this season's NCAA Finals, 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 Carmel. Ron Anthony’s, he’s proven himself in a higher league!”
