Chapter 17 Physical Test Report

When Hansen saw his name appear on the list, he was somewhat surprised.

Don't think that 60th rank is low, being on the list already means you're ranked within the top 60 players who registered for the draft this year.

Considering he came from the second-tier league and hadn't started tryouts, this was indeed unimaginable.

However, it wasn't entirely without a trace.

The most direct connection should be the recently concluded Crazy Three.

As the Crazy Three finals proceeded, the earlier game between Barry University and Michigan State University had been dug up again.

Although Michigan State lost badly to North Carolina, their making it to the final game already proved their strength.

And since Barry University, a second-tier league team, had once defeated them, it was difficult not to attract attention.

In that game, Hansen's performance was dazzling enough.

Then consider the broader market background.

Yao Ming had opened up the East Market, and in the 2007 draft, Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue were both selected, and their ranks were not low.

During this period, players from East University were still very much in demand in the draft market.

Besides, this year was also genuinely a minor draft year, with continuous support from Thomas and Tois.

Including the prediction that he would be chosen by the nearby Heat Team, under all these factors, this seemed reasonable.

It was at this time that Thomas traveled to Miami to find Hansen.

"Ten tryout invitations?"

When Hansen heard the news brought by Thomas, he was shocked.

"You don't have to go to all the tryouts," Thomas reminded.

Hansen was still shocked, the point wasn't whether he had to go to all of them, but that his current market value still allowed him to have choices!

He had guessed that Thomas had good connections, but didn't expect them to be this strong.

"Championship teams are not suitable for rookies to develop, and your technical features can't be utilized in teams at the bottom, choose playoff-level teams or teams on the edge of playoffs," Thomas advised.

Hansen accepted this, as the advice was very professional.

He eventually chose six teams for tryouts, namely: the Bobcats, Heat, The Suns, Thunders, Grizzlies, and Magic.

After confirming the tryout teams, next was scheduling the tryouts.

Thomas provided Hansen with a tryout project list in advance to mentally prepare him.

"If you have any questions, you can call me, I'll be online 24 hours." Before leaving, Thomas even made this particular note.

This agent was truly remarkable.

Time came to April, the NBA regular season had closed its curtain, and the League also held the 2009 draft lottery ceremony.

The Clippers, Grizzlies, and Thunders obtained the top three draft picks respectively.

Hansen then started his journey of tryouts.

His first stop was Charlotte.

The Bobcats had the 12th and the 40th picks in this year's draft, and Hansen was aiming for the 40th pick.

The tryout in Charlotte was split into two days, the first day Hansen met three other people who were trying out.

Seth Curry, Danny Green, and Derek Brown.

The day's tryouts consisted of physical and psychological testing, and Hansen thus obtained his first comprehensive physical test report.

Barefoot height: 198.265 cm;

Weight: 93 kg;

Wingspan: 209.855 cm;

Standing reach: 268.78 cm;

Standing vertical jump: 83 cm;

Running vertical jump: 95 cm;

3/4 court sprint: 3.21 seconds;

Four-point movement inside the three-second area: 10.62 seconds;

Palm length: 22.9 cm;

Palm width: 25.4 cm;

As a former four-star high school player, Hansen's physical data was quite impressive.

Especially his four-point movement inside the three-second area, he was the only one under 11 seconds, which was considered an excellent level.

The psychological test consisted of answering questions to evaluate if the players would experience anxiety or breakdowns.

For Hansen, who had undergone nine years of compulsory education, this part was also handled smoothly.

By the second day, there were a few more people at the tryout venue.

Among the players, Hansen met Stephen Curry and Gerard Henderson.

Then, he also saw Dell Curry on the sidelines.

When he saw Dell Curry, Hansen also understood the key figure in this tryout was Stephen Curry.

Because Dell Curry's peak was when he played for the Charlotte Hornets, and afterwards he lived in Charlotte, the Curry brothers grew up here.

This was evident from Dell Curry's positioning, as he stood right beside the Bobcats' general manager Bernie Bickerstaff and head coach Larry Brown.

The second day of tryouts focused mainly on ball drills.

From uncontested shooting and layups to full-court one-on-one, two-on-two, and three-on-three.

In the shooting drills, the standout performer was Stephen Curry, who made 25 out of 25 three-pointers, truly a shooting machine.

Hansen's performance was slightly inferior, but he made 23 out of 25 shots.

This performance caught Bickerstaff's attention and he turned to discuss with Brown.

However, Brown didn't seem too interested.

After the uncontested drills ended, it was time for one-on-one.

The one-on-one followed American-style isolation rules, where the attack starts beyond the three-point line, a maximum of three dribbles are allowed, each offensive possession must not exceed 10 seconds, maintaining possession if the shot is made, but switching possession after a missed shot or rule violation, with the first to 11 points winning.

The matches took place on the same half-court, using a round-robin format.

This not only tested one-on-one skills but also physical endurance.

Curry and Henderson were the first to take the floor.

Henderson, from Duke University, standing barefoot at 1.93 meters with a wingspan of 2.09 meters, an athletic wing with excellent mid-range capabilities and a jumpshot eerily similar to Jordan.

Bickerstaff held a player evaluation form, with Henderson's offense marked as A- and defense as A, an all-rounded player.

It was natural for Henderson to be considered for the Bobcats' No. 12 pick.

Curry was the first to attack.

And then, that was it.

Henderson just couldn't defend Curry!

Curry began by sinking continuous threes under Henderson's defense, forcing him to press forward defensively, then Curry exploited Henderson's overly aggressive stance to keep breaking through to the basket swiftly.

By the end, Henderson had no clue where to position himself defensively.

11 to 6, Henderson quickly fell in defeat.

In the first two seasons at NCAA, Curry relied more on three-point shots, but after switching to point guard, both his ball-handling and finishing improved tremendously.

After Henderson, Brown, Green, and Seth Curry were successively defeated by Curry.

Especially Seth Curry, whom Curry decisively defeated 11 to 0, akin to a familial smackdown.

And even after defeating three in a row, Curry seemed still very energetic.

This left the Bobcats' executive crew utterly stunned.

They knew Curry was excellent, but they hadn't realized he was to this extent.

"From what I see, there's no way we can get him," Bickerstaff turned and said with a resigned smile to Dell Curry.

Playing for his hometown team was Curry's wish, which was why Dell Curry was present at the tryout, a mutual interest between the two.

However, with such skills, Curry was unlikely to drop to the 12th pick.

Hansen was getting ready to step onto the court.

On the evaluation form in Bickerstaff's hands, Hansen was marked with offense B and defense B.

With such ratings, Curry was likely to defeat four in a row.

Just then, a figure appeared at the gym doorway interrupting the tryout.

Bickerstaff and others turned around to greet him.

The rookies also cast excited and admiring glances.

Hansen too was somewhat thrilled, as this was his first time seeing that man in reality.

Though Jordan was now 46 years old and slightly overweight, his aura was still incredibly strong.

He now served as the Bobcats' junior boss, since the major boss didn't care for management, making him the actual administrator of the team.

Jordan nodded in acknowledgment, walked up to the group, then turned and started chatting with Bickerstaff.

At that moment, Curry's eyes also sparkled with desire.

Who wouldn't want to show their skills in front of the basketball god?

Especially since his next opponent was Hansen.

Though he didn't engage Hansen in a verbal duel like Green, Curry was aware of the incidents on his social media.

Hansen's big talk, boasting he was NCAA's best shooter, Curry surely had some thoughts on that.

There couldn't have been a better time than now.

—Separator line—

ps: Crowdfunding a nickname for the protagonist (other than "handsome").