Champion, please stay!

Chapter 40. Although he had grown taller, his agility remained undiminished.

After the final whistle blew, the away team's substitutes and coaches rushed onto the field, and the whole team gathered together to celebrate.

Three months ago, at the start of the season, none of them expected to achieve such results. Their goal at that time was simply to compete for eighth place and try to qualify for the third-best season.

The same goes for Yi Shui. At that time, he didn't even think about the results. He definitely wanted to win every game, but his season plan was to focus on improving his personal abilities.

Looking at the 14 wins and 4 losses on the big screen now feels like a dream.

It was the atmosphere at the scene... If the number of spectators hadn't been reduced by more than half, he would have thought they were winning the second-place game in the league at home.

He quickly reviewed the incredible few months and felt that the six-game winning streak after a 2-2 record was the key turning point.

It was a crossroads; one wrong step and they could have collapsed under the sway of their winning streak. Fortunately, they held on. After losing to the Cardinals, they learned from their mistakes and became more composed. Of course, the coaching staff's continuous adjustments and refinement of the zone defense system were also crucial, providing them with the foundation to remain calm. In the subsequent games against the Black Panthers and the Warriors, they demonstrated even stronger team cohesion... Finally, in the last game, they secured a spot in the upper bracket.

Yi Shui was celebrating with his teammates when reporters and cameramen crowded in front of him, and his close teammates squeezed to the side to get some screen time.

He glanced at the station logo and realized it was New York 2, a local New York State television station under the American Cable Systems Corporation. He had thought the station that had excitedly squeezed in was from Connecticut.

After briefly introducing the workplace, the reporter asked, "Before the season started, you were predicted to only get 5 wins and finish twelfth. Now that the Big East Conference games are over, you have a record of 14 wins and 4 losses. Everyone regards you as a model of a comeback. How do you evaluate the Associated Press's prediction for you now?"

It seemed like praise, but it was actually a trap. New York reporters really weren't any good... Yi Shui shook his head and replied, "We don't care about other people's opinions, we only focus on ourselves. As for a comeback? No, I don't think we've made a comeback, we're just returning to where we're rightfully in the right place!"

...

"The 2007-2008 season's Greater East League regional competition has concluded. Team record: Second in the league. Individual stats: 22 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.5 steals, 3.6 blocks, 3.1 turnovers, 2.6 fouls per game, field goal percentage 45.1%, three-point percentage 38.1%, free throw percentage 84.3%, three-pointers made per game 2.1... The system determines your overall performance level for the regional competition: Medium. Based on your strong desire for improved physical attributes, congratulations on receiving the Medium Season Reward: 1 Physical Attribute Point of your choice."

"You led your team to a second-place finish in the division, securing a spot in the Madness 3 competition and placing you in the advantageous group. Mission: Get out of the mire, objective 2 has been completed. Congratulations on receiving the reward: 1 Intermediate Blind Box."

Around 10 o'clock, Yi Shui, who was applying an ice pack, received a system notification. He quickly opened it to check... This performance was only average? The judgment is really strict!
Seeing his 45.1% shooting percentage, he felt much happier. In the previous games against the Warriors and Wildcats, he had shot 11 of 25 and 6 of 22 respectively, bringing his shooting percentage down to below 45%. In the last game, he narrowly pulled it back.

A mediocre rating is fine, but at least it's a physical attribute point, and it's a self-selected one, so he used it immediately.

"You used 1 self-selected physical fitness point and specified speed. Your speed increased from 91 to 92, and your overall physical fitness increased from 90 to 91."

Looking at Yi Shui's overall physical fitness of 91, speed of 92, strength of 81, jumping ability of 91, agility of 93, and stamina of 89... It has been almost 7 months since his 'second' development. He is already 198 cm tall. His speed and agility have not changed, but his strength and jumping ability have increased a lot. His efforts have not been in vain!

He couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. If this momentum could continue... he had to work hard to keep it going!
In a great mood, he continued opening boxes. He was incredibly excited because he had just gotten an amazing support skill from the intermediate blind box last time.

"You used 1 intermediate blind box... Congratulations on receiving the reward: Enhanced Training (Monthly Card)."

Intensive Training (Monthly Card): After use, you can specify one training item before each day's training session. The training efficiency of that item is increased by 50%. It can be stacked with Talent and Single-Item Training Cards. The effect lasts for 30 days and cannot be interrupted after use.

There was no mention of a grand prize, so it was just a regular reward from the intermediate box. Yi Shui was slightly disappointed, but seeing that it lasted for a whole month, he thought it was pretty good. He was in the process of building his foundation, and while the 50% bonus was a bit low, the duration was long enough. However, he estimated that he wouldn't be able to use it for the time being and would have to wait until the end of the season to use it when he had enough time, otherwise it would be a bit of a loss.

The next morning, Yi Shui returned to Connecticut with the team. They didn't even need to take a plane; they took a two-hour bus ride directly to Stamford on the western border.

Yi Shui returned to his dormitory and checked the rankings of the Da Dong Alliance. The Amazing Team was first, the Husky Team was second, the Warrior Team was third, the Wildcat Team was fourth, the Red Sparrow Team, which had been in second place for a long time, unfortunately dropped to fifth, the Black Panther Team was sixth, the Golden Eagle Team was seventh, the Mountaineering Team was eighth, and the Orange Team, with a record of 9 wins and 9 losses, unfortunately ranked ninth and failed to qualify for the top three spots in the competition.

However, the season isn't over for teams outside the top eight. There's still the 'Losers' Bracket,' also known as the NIT Tournament, where 32 teams can compete for spots. That tournament is quite popular, and most of the teams are those with outstanding individual stars but weak overall strength. Teams like Dominique Jones and Gransbury from the University of South Florida Bulls, and the two prodigies from the Oranges, are now considered hot stars in the NIT.

The regional stage of the competition has ended, and there are many related news topics.

In league award predictions, players like Harland-Gaudie, Hibbert, Terrence Williams, and even Yi Jianlian are considered by the media to be candidates for the league's Player of the Year.

The frontrunners are Harland-Gaudie, averaging 24.5 points per game, and Hibbert, who led his team to an 8-game and 9-game winning streak, achieving a league-leading 17-1 record. Hibbert is again the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year, Thabeet of the Huskies is also on the list, and DeJuan Blair of the Panthers is the only freshman candidate.

Yi Shui also made it onto a list—a candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year, and his name was the only one on it. In the news predicting the award, he was even considered a candidate for NBC's Most Improved Player, even though he hadn't even played in the qualifying rounds.

Besides these well-known awards, Yi Shui also saw some miscellaneous awards he had never heard of before, such as the All-North International Award, the Eastern Broadcaster Award, etc. He searched for the college award information of big names like Camby, Duncan, Adam Morrison, Oden, and Durant, who had a lot of individual college awards, and found that these miscellaneous awards were not recorded. They must not be very prestigious and could be ignored.

His post-game interview last night also went viral. He just didn't want to fall into the trap set by the New York reporters. Attacking the Associated Press is not a good thing for college athletes. Does he still want to make the All-NBA team and compete for the top three awards? I didn't expect that to go viral.

But when he saw interviews with other top players from last night's final round of matches... he discovered he was actually quite cultured.

However, not all media outlets praised him. The Milwaukee Honest Newspaper really took a jab at him, saying that although he was well-read and academically excellent, he lacked manners, and released a video of him criticizing three of his classmates from the Golden Eagles.

Yi Shui used to feel guilty, thinking he was dragging down the Bucks' team. But he noticed that honest people were criticizing Yi Jianlian more harshly than him, and even suggested that the Bucks trade Yi Jianlian at the beginning of the new NBA season... Is it possible that Yi Jianlian was the one who was dragged down?

...

After two afternoons of training by Yi Shui alone, the Husky team gathered on Wednesday and first announced the schedule that the NCAA had sent to them that morning to the players.

The competition for spots began on February 2nd and continued until March 8th, totaling 13 matches.

The advantage of the teams in the 'upper bracket' is evident; they have 10 home games! Yi Shui thought to himself, no wonder the school leaders came to every game to cheer them on after they made it into the top four. Ten more home games mean money.

No wonder minor league teams are so eager to get into the top league, even though they see other teams that join the top league usually end up in a miserable situation. They still persist because if they succeed, their income will be completely different.

The remaining three games are not played away, but on a bigger stage – Madison Square Garden next door!
Yi Shui glanced through the schedule and realized that he had never heard of many of the schools his home team was playing against.

But he knew his opponents well during the three games he played in the basketball mecca.

Two minor league teams—the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Memphis Tigers—are applying to join the Big East Conference.

The former is the alma mater of NCAA legend Adam Morrison, and the latter has a player named Derrick Rose.

The other team was the top-tier league team, the Georgia Tech Jackets, who were the Huskies' final rivals on their road to the championship in 04.

Marbury, Bosh, and Jarrett Jack all came from this team, which boasts a history of star players... But apart from the years when the famous coach Ron Krug led the team twice, such as the 03-04 season and the 95-96 season, they have never been considered strong. This season, they only have a record of 6 wins and 12 losses in the division stage, and they have been relegated to the side dishes of other top league teams in the upper half of the table.

However, this school is really attractive to geniuses. Yi Shui saw that the Jacket team's current roster has as many as 8 players who were among the top 100 high school students in the United States from 2004 to 2007, including Anthony Morrow, whom he remembered as having a very accurate shot in the NBA in the future.

In terms of the schedule, most of the opponents are not worth mentioning, but the Husky team's coaching staff has actually raised the bar in team training.

Generally speaking, teams in the 'upper bracket' don't directly qualify for the Madness 3 like the top-ranked Amazing Team, but they are practically guaranteed a spot... Except for the Pirates in the 2002-03 season, who had a record of 12 wins and 6 losses and ranked third in the Big East Conference, but then went on to have an absurd 5 wins and 7 losses in subsequent games, becoming the only 'upper bracket' team since the Big East Conference was established that failed to make it to Madness 3.

Calhoun's prideful nature naturally made him averse to associating with pirate crews.

Yi Shui, who has an amazing physical talent, was given an unprecedented amount of training!

Clark explained to him, "Brook, you've played in the Madness 3 before, so you know that the opponents there are completely different from those you've faced before. Even the Wildcats, who are the toughest teams we've ever played against in the league, are just an average team in the Madness 3. We need you to do even better!"

Yi Shui certainly wouldn't refuse; he even used the '7th Day' bug precisely for this kind of training.

If he weren't afraid of being misunderstood as having some unusual fetish, he would have wanted to shout Huang Gai's line: "Whip me, Leon!"

(End of this chapter)