Champion, please stay!

Chapter 8. A Special Training Match (Part 8)
Here it comes, finally the mission!
But as Yi Shui looked at the mission description... he had indeed been kicked out of the main roster and wanted to return to the school team. He was indeed a senior who had been replaced by a junior, but something just felt off.

'Never mind, it doesn't matter. I failed to open the box last time, I'm definitely going to open it this time!'

Yi Shui looked around the training field. When did the coaches arrive? Just in time!

Yi Shui darted towards the coaching staff, and some coaches instinctively took a half step back or involuntarily leaned back a little.

Only one person stared at Yi Shui, who had suddenly stopped in front of him, as if he were a blacksmith in Los Angeles, without even blinking, making the subordinates around him sigh inwardly that he was indeed a Hall of Fame coach.

Yi Shui exhaled the deep breath she had taken before sprinting and said, "Jim, I..."

"There's a practice match after the test, where you'll be matched up against Jerome. Go get ready for the test," Calhoun said, waving him away.

Yi Shui left dejectedly. The coach must have seen him arguing with Dyson, guessed his purpose, and knew him quite well.

Is it really necessary to be so dismissive? It's hurtful!

...

At 9 a.m., all 35 members of the Husky team's assembly list arrived.

Yi Shui heard that the team's recruitment this year had been a disaster, and they hadn't managed to get a single top 100 high school player in the United States. But he counted, and the team still had 10 top 100 high school players in the United States!
04级，第24名但06年才入学的大龄大二学弟AJ-普莱斯、第92名本-斯潘塞；05级，第72名亚德、第77名克雷格-奥斯特里；06级，第18名罗宾逊、第30名克里斯-凯迪、第36名戴森、第55名道格-维金斯、第64名塔比特、第96名嘉文-爱德华兹。

Yi Shui directly grasped the meaning of the saying, "Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse."

而且前100名的抢手天才没捞到，100到200名还是签下了两人——洛杉矶莱恩伍德高中毕业的全美第166名高中生约翰逊-伯德、本地东哈特福德高中毕业的全美第183名高中生强尼-伦纳德。

On paper, they are still among the top in the United States, but it is an indisputable fact that their actual talent is not as good as it was before 06.

The four gifted high school students carefully selected in 2004 and 2005 have all made it big.

However, in 06, in order to counter the core lineup's participation in the NBA draft and the wide-ranging recruitment of six top-6 high school players from across the country, only Dyson was able to contribute immediately in his freshman season.

Thabeet and Robinson were not yet ready to contribute immediately in their freshman seasons, but they showed the potential to be a top-class rim protector and a top-class shooter.

The three remaining high school prodigies from the class of 2006 all performed terribly in their freshman year, not as well as the 'non-prodigy' veteran players in their junior and senior years. By the middle and later stages of the season, they were all placed on the reserve list.

After taking attendance, lead assistant coach Jerry Cook divided the players into groups.

As is customary, sophomores, freshmen, and players who have never been selected for the roster must participate in the selection process, regardless of their performance.

The veteran players from the junior and senior years, upon returning to the team, immediately began training with Clark. They were already pillars of the team and didn't need to go through this formality... Yi Shui was an exception.

Yi Shui saw Yad give him a smug smile as he left with Clark… 'You two-meter dwarf, just you wait! Wait until I grow to 201 centimeters, then let's see if you're still laughing!'

After five established roster members—Yard, Spencer, Osterly, senior guard Nick Frostowski, and senior center Ossaj Omocaro—left the roster, the coaching staff and trainers began testing the 30 club members who were participating in the selection process.

Yi Shui wasn't worried at all about the physical fitness test and proceeded with the tests in a very relaxed manner.

Even two months ago, as long as he wasn't put to endurance tests, all his indicators were excellent.

However, he felt discriminated against during the testing process. Others usually only had to be tested twice, or at most three times, but for him, three times was just the beginning. For example, the trainer made him run the 3/4 court sprint a full five times!
What could he do? He just had to run as fast as he could!
Fortunately, his physical strength has improved dramatically. He was able to sprint at full speed five times in a short period of time without getting out of breath. After resting for a while, he felt fine and it did not affect his subsequent running jump test.

When it came time for the basic skills test, Yi Shui was under pressure.

"file……

Overall physical fitness 89 (first-class): Speed ​​91, Strength 78, Jumping 88, Agility 93, Stamina 88.

投篮基本功69（部分及格）：远距离75（左侧45度角76、右侧45度角80），中距离48（罚球75），近距离85。

Basic passing and ball control skills 78 (good): ball control 85, passing 72.

......"

I practiced my basic skills hard for two weeks before the start of the semester. The biggest improvement was in the angled three-pointer. On the 10th, when I scored more than 75 points on the right 45-degree angle three-pointer, it was singled out and improved to 80 points after training on Wednesday afternoon this week. I scored more than 75 points on the left 45-degree angle three-pointer two days before the start of the semester on the 18th.

He estimated that the long throws from the other three areas outside the diagonal angle would be at most slightly over 70.

Aside from free throws, he rarely practices mid-range shots; his shooting training is very purposeful.

He was already pretty good at ball handling and attacking the basket, so even with a lot of practice, his improvement wasn't significant, only increasing by 1 point in each area. His stamina, however, improved by another 1 point before the summer break, as he trained to exhaustion every day for those two weeks. When training with Robinson, Yi Shui had specifically observed his teammate's fundamentals. His ball-handling ability was particularly poor, but his shooting was far superior. His strongest shot, a 45-degree three-pointer from the right side, was only about the same as Robinson's weakest shot, a three-pointer from the top of the arc.

But as he watched and waited, he realized that Robinson seemed to have a misunderstanding about his abilities.

It's true that his shooting fundamentals are far inferior to Robinson's, and the same goes for everyone else!
Even Dyson, who averaged 13.8 points per game last season and was the team's highest, is not a very good shooter. Not to mention compared to Robinson, no one can match Yi Jianlian's right 45-degree angle!

He remembered a scene from his memory. After the end of last season, he looked at the team's overall stats. Dyson was indeed the team's leading scorer, but he only made 4.3 of 12 shots per game, with a field goal percentage of 35.8% and a three-point percentage of only 29.2%.

Am I stronger than I thought, or are my teammates weaker than I thought? Maybe both…

...

This morning, only basic tests such as height, weight, running, jumping, and shooting were conducted, and the tests ended just after 10 o'clock.

While the team members were fully warmed up, Jerry Cook divided the 30 club members into 6 teams and 3 groups to play practice matches.

When the teams were divided, Jerry Cook, following the head coach's instructions, put Yi Shui and Dyson in the same group, with their teammates being either freshmen or sophomores who had not been selected for the roster.

Yi Shui was on Team B. He arrived at the court near the window and saw the other four members of Team A huddled around Dyson, listening to instructions. Then he looked at his own four temporary teammates, who were standing separately… 'We're supposed to be third-year students, can't you give us some face?'

He could only take the initiative and say, "Boys, come on, let's discuss how to fight."

Men are strange creatures; when one of them stands out, everyone else follows suit.

Three temporary teammates immediately surrounded Yi Shui. The 166th freshman didn't move at first, seemingly wanting to be the one with ideas, but he was a step behind. However, seeing that everyone else was surrounding Yi Shui, he had no choice but to follow.

Yi Shui noticed this junior student… 'Johnson, huh? Bird, huh? Wait till we get back on our feet, see if we don't make things difficult for you!'

Putting aside his distractions, Yi Shui said to his temporary teammates, "I'm Brook. I don't know if you know me, but it's best if you don't. Don't follow my example... I'm good at shooting three-pointers from the 45-degree angle on both sides, and my penetration is also pretty good. When you can't keep up, you can pass the ball to me. I'm quite fast. After you get the rebound, you can try to find me. I might already be on my way down."

With Yi Shui taking the lead, the others also knew what to do in the 'pre-match discussion' and shared their strengths.

Calhoun secretly watched from the empty stadium next door while looking at the test report.

Clark also took some time to return from the training field next door. Seeing Yi Shui calling out to his teammates and leading them, he said, "Brook has also learned to lead the team. Not bad, not bad. He has grown up. It's a pity that his reputation is too bad. His team's cohesion is not as strong as Jerome's team, and their teamwork will definitely be affected."

Calhoun replied, "If he had realized it sooner, things wouldn't have turned out this way."

Seeing the head coach's sour expression, Clark asked, "What's wrong? Brook didn't do well in the test? That shouldn't be the case! I heard from the trainer that he trained like a madman this summer..."

He peeked over to the head coach and saw that the test report in the head coach's hand was Yi Shui's. Each item had a maximum score of 5 points, and Yi Shui's report was full of 4 points, with speed reaching 5 points and even the worst item, shooting, having 3 points.

After a brief moment of confusion, Clark understood what the head coach was thinking and laughed, "At least Brook has come to his senses, hasn't he?"

On the other side of the court by the window, referee Jerry Cook had already arrived. He first explained the NCAA rules to the freshmen. The rules of high school basketball are somewhat different from those of college basketball, and the rules also differ in some states, so the coaching staff needs to explain them to the freshmen repeatedly during the season.

Yi Shui wasn't very perceptive in some ways, but Dyson noticed something special about their training match—the referee was the chief assistant coach, the head coach was watching from the adjacent court, and the ace trainer was also there.

Dyson was furious: This guy has been wasting a year! He just put in some effort during the offseason, and these guys have expectations of him again? They want him to replace me?
After the referee explained the rules of the game, he checked the time and signaled the two teams' fresh center forwards to move to the center circle to prepare for the jump ball. When his electronic watch showed exactly 10:15, he blew the whistle and threw the ball into the air.

Team A's center, Kanté, leaped high and flicked the ball backwards first.

Dyson received the ball and advanced into the attacking third, where Yi Shui was guarding the top arc!
Calhoun, Clark, and even referee Jerry Cook all focused their attention on the two.

Dyson's playing style has many problems, and his shooting percentage is so bad it's a headache. He's not suitable as a starter and it greatly affects team coordination. But his ability is not bad. If you only look at his ball-handling and attacking, he was the strongest player on the team last season. The coaching staff has the idea of ​​using him as a super sixth man.

But the prerequisite is that there is a starting shooting guard with enough ability to fill Dyson's position, and Yi Shui, who has "turned over a new leaf," is exactly the candidate they want.

Dyson felt the gazes of several coaches and got excited. Instead of waiting for his teammates to get into position as planned, he started to break through!
Several coaches wanted to see how Yi Shui would defend, but to their surprise, Yi Shui offered little resistance and simply let Dyson break through!

Calhoun, who is straightforward and has a fiery temper, was about to curse on the spot, but what happened next made him shut up.

Dyson rushed to close range and encountered Johnson Bird's help defense. He changed direction while moving, bypassed his opponent, and came to the elbow area. He grabbed the ball and flew to lay up... Yi Shui rushed out from the other side of Johnson Bird and swatted the ball that Dyson had just lifted up but hadn't yet thrown out of bounds! He also knocked Dyson to the ground!

Yi Shui didn't look at Dyson, who had fallen on his butt, but instead looked at the referee, who suspected the play was a foul.

Perhaps because it was a practice match, the officiating wasn't too strict. Jerry Cook signaled that the ball was out of bounds, and Team A continued their attack.

Yi Shui thought to himself, "Oh yeah!" He was thinking of that future superstar who wanted to wear the crown—when speed wasn't a disadvantage, LeBron's "close-door defense" was too effective against small guards who had poor shooting skills and relied mainly on driving to the basket!
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(End of this chapter)