The Godfather of Basketball

"In addition to Yao Ming, I also have some suggestions for the team's overall offense." To Van Gundy's surprise, Tang Tian had another idea.

"You say." Van Gundy did not hide his excitement at this time.

"Yao Ming's progress is obvious to all. His deterrence inside will only increase. At this time, our outside players will get more and more open opportunities, so for them, three-point shooting is a key training program. .”

"Inside deterrence, getting open three-pointers, making open three-pointers, opponents dare not shrink the defense, and the inside offensive space also becomes larger, which complement each other, including McGrady, increasing shooting and reducing breakthroughs can also reduce his injuries. Risk." Tang Tian began to bring up the Rockets' famous "magic ball" theory.

After Tang Tian finished these two sentences, the corners of Van Gundy's eyes began to light up.

As a defensive coach, he didn't have a deep understanding of offense. Tang Tian's words were a bit like seeing the moon through the clouds.

Even Xibodu showed admiration to Tang Tian at this time.

In the following time, Van Gundy asked some detailed questions, including how to pick and roll without the ball if he organizes the offense.

Tang Tian had worked as a coach for more than ten years in his previous life. Coupled with the modern advanced basketball concepts he had mastered, he was confident and talkative, and finally succeeded in conquering Van Gundy.

Although even Van Gundy couldn't believe it, after the interview, he still decided to hire Tang Tian as the first assistant coach of the Rockets.

The salary is 300,000 US dollars before tax, which is relatively high among teaching assistants.

However, Tang Tian signed a one-year contract with the Rockets, so his goal is naturally not just as a simple assistant coach.

In 2006, the Internet was quite developed, and the fact that Tang Tian became the assistant coach of the Rockets immediately caused an uproar.

You must know that in the NBA, no person of yellow race has ever become an assistant coach, let alone the first assistant coach.

Of course, the most important thing is that this teaching assistant is only 22 years old!

This is truly unprecedented.

The media's coverage of this incident has become more and more exaggerated.

Some speculate that Tang Tian is a super-rich second generation, while others speculate that he is the illegitimate son of a Rockets executive and a Chinese...

All kinds of absurd reports are emerging one after another.

There are even so-called expert analysis that this is a move by Rockets general manager Dawson. This year is the last year of Yao Ming's rookie contract. He may use this method to reach an early contract extension with Yao Ming.

More and more people feel that the truth of the matter is like this, and even many people in the country start to envy Tang Tian, ​​and envy why the person who is lucky is not himself.

Amid such public opinion, just two weeks later, the NBA ushered in a major event.

The 2006 NBA Draft was held in the theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. As the first assistant coach of the Rockets, Tang Tian came to the scene with the Rockets team.

In Tang Tian's impression, 2006 was not considered a draft year. There were no superstars, but there were a few first-line stars, such as Aldridge, Roy, Rondo, and Gay.

Every team has a draft room, Tang Tian is sitting next to Van Gundy, Rockets general manager Dawson, his assistants, and Van Gundy are having a heated discussion there.

Tang Tian was more like a spectator. In fact, as a teaching assistant, his opinions were unlikely to be adopted.

The draft begins soon.

The Raptors selected Bargnani from Europe with their No. 1 pick.

The Bulls' second place pick was LaMarcus Aldridge.

The Charlotte Bobcats selected Adam Morrison with the No. 3 pick. This player was later dubbed Mo Yizhong by fans, referring to his ability to score only one goal in most games.

The subsequent draws were the same as Tang Tian remembered.

At the 8th pick, the Rockets selected Gay, but immediately used him to pack Stromile Swift and traded for Sean Battier of the Grizzlies.

This deal caused a lot of controversy in later generations, but Tang Tian felt that this deal was a sure win.

There is no better player option for this pick (Rondo has no shooting ability and is not suitable for Yao McGrady), Gay and McGrady also overlap, the Rockets need immediate combat power, and Battier is not only an excellent role player, but also the most important spiritual leader.

And it is easy to be overlooked that Swift signed a five-year, 30 million contract with the Rockets last year, which was definitely considered a big contract in 2006, but his performance was completely unworthy of this contract. Get rid of this rubbish contract.

The subsequent first-round selection was exactly the same as in the impression. Rondo went to the Celtics, and Lowry went to the Grizzlies.

After the first round was over, Stern went backstage to rest, and the draft entered the performance stage, and the major teams also ushered in the opportunity to rest.

Tang Tian started to move around at this time. The second round is not that important to each team. In fact, even if he is selected in many rounds, he has no chance to get a contract. At this time, his suggestion as the first assistant coach is more or less There is also a little bit of weight.

In the 2006 draft, there was a second-round pick that was obviously particularly conspicuous.

Paul Millsap!

The future All-Star power forward made a big splash in college, averaging 18.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 1.99 blocks and 1.32 steals per game. He was also a final nominee for the Oscar Robertson Award and a nominee for the Wooden Award.

It stands to reason that such a college star player is also in the first round, but in fact, he was not selected by the Jazz until the 18th pick in the second round, and he almost lost!

As for why?

The reason is very simple. As an insider, Millsap is only 1.99 meters tall when he is barefoot on the side. Such a short insider is the kind of "college killer, marginal player in the NBA" in the eyes of most team managers. Typically, too short to play the 4 and too slow to play the 3.

The second round of the draft is about to start, Tang Tian fiddled for a while and was about to speak.

"Tang, you are leading the summer league team. Who do you think is more suitable for the second round?" Dawson, the general manager of the team, looked up at him and said.

Yep, it hit the nail on the head.

"Paul Millsap, Swift was traded, leaving only veteran Juwan Howard at the 4th position of the Rockets, which must be added." Tang Tian said quickly.

"Steve Novak is a better choice. He has a body height of 2.06 meters and is good at three-point shooting. He can open up the offensive space. In contrast, Millsap University plays the 4th position. , is too short." Van Gundy expressed his opinion at this time.

Although it is said to be a second-round pick, the Rockets are the second pick in the second round, which is similar to the end of the first round.