---

出處：https://reurl.cc/eL8N4K (CBS Report)

2023 NBA Draft: Brandin Podziemski goes from bored baseball
standout to fulfilling pro hoops aspirations

By Kyle Boone, CBS Report Jun 22, 2023 at 10:35 pm ET

這篇報導是CBS記者今年6/22選秀大會剛結束時發的。
呼應上篇Podz的Twitter，裡面有講到一些當年的經歷。
連結在上面，還有一些Podz那時打棒球的影片，
全文有點長，放在下面，有興趣可以用Chrome網頁點進去，直接翻成中文看。
這邊只節錄一些重點:

1. Podz家有波蘭的血統(難怪名字有點難唸)，
   從小在中西(北)部威斯康辛州格林菲爾德長大。

2. 小Podz從小就在多種運動展露天份，包括棒球和美式足球等，但不包括籃球。
   他棒球打的很好，尤其展現在投手丘上和跑動速度上。

3. 大概七年級(國一)時，不知道是不是覺得too easy to win (跟喬神一樣?)，
   開始覺得棒球無聊，無意間看CBS轉播籃球比賽被吸引，
   開始在課餘時間開始打籃球，啟蒙是CBS轉播的比賽和遊戲NBA 2K10。

4. 中二時(八年級)開始跟他爸老Podz說要棄棒從籃，老Podz勉為其難答應，
   但私下希望他在籃球路上撞牆然後可以回到棒球男兒的領域。

5. 但一開始對籃球也只是玩玩，一直到高二升高三時才真的覺得熱愛，
   只是高三時並沒有任何一家大學球隊有跟他接觸，也沒有出現在大學球探的目光中，
   那時他導師就一棒給他：[啊就沒人想要你啊]，脆弱的中二生就哭了，
   然後他就悟了，早上5點起來去健身房狂練之類的了，
   進步是明顯的，而且最終在高四那年獲選Wisconsin籃球先生美譽。

6. 最後可能看到他的決心什麼的，終於有多所大學向他伸出橄欖枝，
   最後在2020年12月接受Illinois大學的招攬，
   希望可以在 Brad Underwood 教頭對後衛友好的體系中獲得發展。
   但大一一開始即因為5年級學長後衛 Trent Frazier (後來也沒有被選上NBA) 回歸，
   再加上一些位置重疊的球員加入，Podz並沒有得到預期的上場時間，
   板凳末端的他在 16 場比賽，總共才打了 69 分鐘。
   然後Podz就覺得不妙，不能這樣下去了，然後就轉學到了Santa Clara大學。


   並以場均19.9 分和44% 的三分命中率贏得了Co-WCC 年度最佳球員的榮譽，

   並加入學長Nash和 Jalen Williams (2022雷霆樂透新秀)

看到這篇才想到 Santa Clara 根本就在灣區勇士本家旁邊，

勇士球探會不會太舒適點?
沒事附近逛逛看幾場球賽就回報球團今年首輪選他了這樣?


全文在下面:
*****************************************************
2023 NBA Draft: Brandin Podziemski goes from bored baseball standout to
fulfilling pro hoops aspirations

The Santa Clara star kept a promise to his father when he traded the baseball
cleats for basketball sneakers

By Kyle Boone
Jun 22, 2023 at 10:35 pm ET
screenshot-2023-06-20-at-11-12-39-pm.png
Editor's note: This story was originally published on June 21

John Podziemski is a cheery Midwesterner with a peppy spirit and endless
enthusiasm. On a late afternoon in early May, I call him up to talk about his
son, Brandin, a 2023 NBA Draft prospect who had generated second-round buzz
around that time. John answers the phone early on the second ring with a
jolly, "Good morning, Kyle!" It takes all of 79 seconds of small talk before
he's gushing about Brandin's perseverance over the last two years on a road
that took him from four-star recruit to buried bench piece at Illinois to
breakout star at Santa Clara — a trajectory that now puts him on the
precipice of being a first-round pick Thursday night.

John is, by all accounts, a supportive and loving father who is his son's
biggest cheerleader. Deep into our discussion, however, he comes clean and
admits there was a time when he wished Brandin — now one of the fastest
rising prospects in this year's class — would fail at basketball.

"Honestly, truthfully, God as my witness: I wanted him to fail so badly at
basketball," he says. "So, the first thing I told him is 'You have to play
up.' And then he's like, 'OK, deal.' I just wanted him to fail in basketball
so that he would be done and say, 'I'm coming back to baseball.' I just had
baseball in my mind. We knew nothing about basketball. I couldn't believe we
were even trying it. All we knew was baseball and he was so good at it."

The younger Podziemski was a multi-sport athlete growing up who played safety
in football and was an imposing force on the mound in baseball. He was an
uncommon breed who didn't specialize in one particular sport or even at one
particular position within a sport, a strategic choice by his pops which
helped him become a multi-tool baseball talent who batted with power and ran
with reckless abandon in addition to having a great arm.

Baseball was Podziemski's primary sport because baseball was virtually all he
knew growing up in Greenfield, Wisconsin. He was good at it. Good at
football, too; as a punishing safety he loved hitting people. As he grew up,
basketball wasn't really in the picture. It was only by happy accident he
even stumbled into it thanks to a weekend routine that included CBS games at
his mom's house.

"Growing up I always played baseball," Podziemski said. "I would spend
Saturdays with my dad, Sundays with my mom, and there would always be games
on CBS, so I would watch and found it interesting. ... Watching basketball
inspired me to get a video game just because I thought it would be cool, so I
just watched how guys shot and how it made sense. Then I'd try to implement
it during recess at school. I just learned from the video game how to shoot
and how to play, and over time I improved and refined my shot, got some
shooting coaches input."

Podziemski says NBA 2K10 was his video game of choice. It helped spark his
interest in basketball and hone his eventual craft of choice. He played much
of the game as an Indiana Pacer because it allowed him to play with Travis
Diener, a fellow Wisconsinite who, coincidentally, is now helping him prepare
for the draft.

"I remember, I'm working out with Travis Diener up here, and I remember
playing in the video game with him when he was on the Pacers," Podziemski
said. "I was playing a video game as him, and now I'm getting ready for the
draft and he's working me out. It has kind of come full circle."

Eighth grade was the year basketball officially entered the picture for
Podziemski, known best as "Podz" by those closest to him. His father finally
let him play despite his reservations that it may interfere with baseball. A
decision was reached after a conversation the two shared coming back home
from a trip playing travel baseball during the summer in between his seventh
and eighth grade.

"We were coming back from Vanderbilt," John said. "We're driving back and he
said, 'Dad, I've got something to tell ya. You know, Dad, I don't want to
play baseball anymore. It's boring, and it's too easy.' But I always saw him
as a baseball player — and still to this day I do.

"I thought it was just a phase when he told me this," he continued. "Then he
told me he liked a challenge and baseball wasn't a challenge. He told me,
'Don't you wonder how, when I go to pitch and it's a big game, I'd get behind
in the count or I'd load up the bases?' I said, 'Yeah, son, it's because you
didn't have it or you were just warming up.' Then he said, 'No, I did that
intentionally because I wanted to see if I could get out of it.'

"I said, 'That's a gift, Brandin.'"

Still, basketball wasn't exactly love at first sight, even if it presented a
challenge he no longer found in baseball. Brandin picked it up in eighth
grade and stuck with it throughout high school, going on to eventually win
Mr. Wisconsin Basketball in 2021. But playing up against older players
presented real challenges for him and it never became an obsession, at least
not like it is now. Despite his eventual four-star pedigree, he never had
jaw-dropping athleticism or preternatural gifts.

"I started basketball in eighth grade," Podziemski said. "I didn't know if I
really loved it loved it until my sophomore year going into my junior year.
So I kind of played just to play it those first three years."

Thirty-four months ago, basketball offered him no opportunities beyond a new
challenge. He had no scholarship offers. No recruiting service ranked him.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, gaining exposure was challenging for high
school recruits trying to attract coaches whose travel schedules were either
limited or completely non-existent. He played on the Nike EYBL circuit,
typically flush with high major coaches and talent evaluators, but people
weren't showing. On top of that, when he was playing, it wasn't to his liking
… or anyone else's.

"I remember playing absolutely terrible," Podziemski said. "I talked to
Antonio Curro (the Founder of NY2LA Sports and Director of the Phenom
University travel program, who has been a mentor to him) after, and he was
like, 'No one wants you.' A couple weeks later I'm practicing, then I'm still
playing bad. Mentally, I wasn't right. I just kind of cried, let it all out
one day and flipped a switch. I told myself I was going to do this. I wasn't
going to be a bum anymore. I was like, I'm going to do this for real."

The switch-flip within him ignited interest across the country. Kansas
offered. Kentucky offered. No interest quickly turned to overwhelming
interest. Still, he was fueled — pissed off, even — that the interest
didn't come more quickly and that he didn't play well enough to warrant that
interest. So he changed his routine. He started getting up at 5 a.m. to go to
the gym. He asked questions, he made a concentrated effort to improve … and
he did.

"Antonio was like, 'Hey, you're not good enough.'" Podziemski said. "I took
that to heart and it motivated me."

Santa Clara v Brigham Young

Illinois offered Podziemski in December 2020 and instantly became a player in
his recruitment. Less than eight months later, he was signed, sealed and
delivered as a promising young prospect who could flourish in coach Brad
Underwood's high-octane, guard-friendly offense.

The promise didn't last.

Trent Frazier opted to return for a fifth year at Illinois, Alfonso Plummer
joined the team as a transfer, and both Jacob Grandison and Andre Curbelo ran
it back, too. Room for Podz was hard to find. He appeared in 16 games and
played a total of 69 minutes that year before again being told he was not
good enough.

"Coach Underwood kind of just made it known that I wasn't good enough to
play, so I was like, I don't want to risk being 20 and not being able to
play," he said.

Podziemski entered the transfer portal and found a fit and a home at Santa
Clara.

To say the rest is history is to suggest that Podz's destination was the
journey to get to this point. Far from it. After winning Co-WCC Player of the
Year honors as a sophomore while averaging 19.9 points per game and shooting
44% from 3, he is entering rarefied air as a potential top 20 NBA Draft pick
from Santa Clara, which only Jalen Williams (2022) and Steve Nash (1998) have
accomplished. Williams was a massive pre-draft riser who went on to be a
lottery pick a year ago. Podziemski's stock hasn't soared to that extreme,
but in many ways his two-month lead-up to the draft is following a similar
track to Williams. He is one of the few who received a green room invite to
attend the draft in person in New York, along with his family, on Thursday,
indicating he could be selected inside the first round.

The elder Podziemski harkens back to where all of this started.

"I can remember driving back from playing baseball before his eighth grade
year, and he said, "Dad, I promise you, if you let me play basketball, I will
make you so proud,'" he remembers. "And believe me, he has lived up to every
ounce of it. And we've never looked back."

Podziemski is now hundreds of miles away from where his basketball journey
began, both literally and figuratively, on a path that has had twists and
turns thrown at him like a cruel obstacle course. He has navigated it with
grace and executed it in style. And in the city that never sleeps, it's
fitting Podziemski's wildest dreams -- of being drafted into the NBA -- are
soon to come true.

--
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※ 作者: waderu 2023-12-25 19:35:16
※ 文章代碼(AID): #1bYMZtBc (G-S-WARRIORS)
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