The longest river

Chapter 16 Someone Wants to Be a Caddie Today
The state AAU started in April, with a gap of almost a month in between.

Yang Shuai used this time to take the SAT and AP exams.

Unlike the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) in China, which only offers one opportunity, these two exams can be taken multiple times.

In other words, students who want to get into prestigious universities can keep taking exams to improve their scores, but for Yang Shuai, passing is all that matters.

The reason he did that was because he had a series of matches to play, which meant he would have to skip classes for a long time.

In a sense, what's truly as challenging as the national college entrance examination here isn't the exam itself, but basketball.

To stand out from the rigorous selection process in American basketball, one needs not only talent but also a significant amount of dedication, which is why many NBA players don't perform well in the selection process.

April arrived quickly, and Yang Shuai officially began his journey with the AAU in Ohio.

The team he joined was called the Explorers, a team composed of high school students from Athens and Cleveland.

The team's overall strength is average, but Yang Shuai's strength is in a class of its own.

It is no exaggeration to say that Yang Shuai won the absolute trust of the head coach and his teammates in just one training session.

He then repaid that trust in the competition.

In his first game representing the Explorers, Yang Shuai put up an incredibly impressive stat line: 34 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 8 steals.

His near-quadruple-double performance not only landed him on the front page of the Ohio AAU news report, but the AAU also gave him a full-page feature.

However, with the AAU competitions now in full swing across the states and news coming one after another, Yang Shuai's performance was quickly drowned out by the sheer volume of news.

Yang Shuai didn't care about these things. Exposure was secondary; he came here to practice his passing skills.

Just like how the report selectively ignored the fact that he also made six mistakes.

Time flew by and it was already the end of May. Yang Shuai ended his state AAU competition early and boarded a plane to Inglewood.

Unlike before, this time he went alone.

For him, who had never experienced traveling alone in his previous life, this was still a very novel experience.

This was especially true since it was his first time flying.

At first, he was curious about everything around him: the boarding gate, the parking lot, the takeoff, the clouds.

After the initial excitement wore off, having nothing else to do, he logged into the system and checked his own panel.

Name: Yang Shuai

Height: 196cm
Weight: 87 kg
Arm span: 212cm
Control: 47 (47); Passing: 52 (52);
扣篮：59（59）；上篮：57（57）；近距离：52（52）；中距离：50（53）；罚球：62（62）；三分：60（64）

防守：55（58）；盖帽：55（55）；抢断：51（51）；篮板：57（57）；造犯规：40（40）

Second-level interface ①

Through his participation in the state AAU competition, he successfully raised his passing skills to their full potential.

Moreover, he also used the points he earned in the game to redeem a C-level shooting talent.

He feels like he could easily play in the NCAA now.

After arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, Yang Shuai found a phone booth and called Thaddeus.

Thaddeus was busy and told Yang Shuai to take a taxi to the Inglewood High School gymnasium first.

On the way to the stadium by taxi, Yang Shuai peered out the car window, curiously observing the city of Inglewood.

This place belongs to Los Angeles, but this city with a population of only 9 is actually more than ten kilometers away from Los Angeles and can only be considered a satellite city of Los Angeles.

There weren't any tall buildings here; what he saw most were Lakers promotional slogans along the roadside.

It was from the original owner's memories that Yang Shuai learned that at this time the Lakers' home city was not Staples Center, but the Great Western Forum in Inglewood.

The car also passed by the stadium, whose round shape with a ring of columns gave it a bit of a Roman Colosseum feel.

He also saw a large poster of the Lakers, but the people on it were all unfamiliar to him.

After driving through a few more blocks, Yang Shuai finally arrived at Inglewood High School.

Inglewood High School is not large, with only 400+ students, smaller than Cleveland High School.

However, this is Los Angeles after all, and the campus infrastructure and size look quite good.

When Yang Shuai arrived at the stadium, the doors were open, but no one was there.

He prepared to warm up for a while while waiting for Thaddeus to arrive, but when he got there, he found the floor to be quite slippery, probably because there had been previous training but the floor hadn't been mopped yet.

He grabbed a mop from the corner and prepared to clean it up first.

As they were dragging their feet, a person suddenly walked out from the players' tunnel, drenched in sweat, who must have been training there earlier. Yang Shuai recognized the person at a glance.

Although he looked much younger than he remembered, Pierce's constipated face was still instantly recognizable.

Pierce didn't react when he saw Yang Shuai; instead, he went to the basket to get the ball.

By the time Pierce got the ball, Yang Shuai's side of the court was almost mopped up.

Just as Yang Shuai put the mop back in the corner, Pierce's voice came:

"Caddie over there, come and get the ball for me."

Yang Shuai was stunned when he heard this. He looked around and found that there was no one else in the stadium, which made him realize that Pierce was talking to him.

Does he look like a "caddie"?
This was the first time he had ever heard someone address him like that.

He ignored Pierce and went to the storage basket to take a new ball.

Pierce took a three-pointer and then reached out to catch the ball.

However, Yang Shuai did not pass the ball to him. Instead, he dribbled the ball a couple of times and prepared to shoot a three-pointer himself.

"Hey! You don't understand English?" Pierce waved in Yang Shuai's direction again, signaling for the ball.

Yang Shuai didn't want to pay attention to him at first, but looking at that face that looked a bit punchable, he suddenly remembered something.

According to his LeBron James fanboy classmate, Pierce was a notorious big mouth, and that kind of person, like Luther, was an excellent target for scoring points.

Moreover, before he came, Johnson gave him information on the top-ranked players in his class. Pierce was ranked 43rd in the 1995 class, which was perfect for testing his abilities.

"How about we make a bet?" Yang Shuai said, looking at Pierce.

Pierce frowned slightly. Yang Shuai's fluent English indicated that he had deliberately ignored him earlier.

"We'll play one-on-one, five balls, and the loser will help the winner retrieve the balls."

"What the hell? Are you serious?" Pierce couldn't help but laugh after hearing Yang Shuai's bet. He thought it was a complete waste of time.

"Are you afraid of losing to me?" Yang Shuai looked at Pierce with a slightly provocative expression.

"Looks like I'll have to do extra practice today." Pierce stretched his joints a few times.

As the leader of the school team, it's common for him to be challenged by newcomers. Since he had nothing to do today, he didn't mind giving Yang Shuai an "unforgettable" experience.

The two players decided to take the lead with a three-pointer, but Pierce missed the first three-pointer, and Yang Shuai took the initiative to attack.

Pierce served the ball close to the court and then immediately put his hands up for defense.

You can tell if someone can play basketball by how they shoot. After watching Yang Shuai shoot a three-pointer, he realized that Yang Shuai was not the ball boy he was talking about.

Whether Yang Shuai is a caddie or not is not important. What is important is that their bet has already begun, and he can't afford to lose on his own turf to some guy who just appeared out of nowhere.

Yang Shuai first tried to sweep the ball down with a triple threat, but Pierce's power was much stronger than he expected.

Seeing this, he turned his back, then turned right and then changed direction to the left.

Pierce tried to cut the ball, but failed; Yang Shuai's explosiveness and speed also exceeded his expectations.

Moreover, his failed attempt to steal the ball exposed a major weakness: his slow lateral movement meant it was too late for him to cover.

Yang Shuai charged into the paint and leaped high for a powerful one-handed dunk.

"Whoa!" Yang Shuai landed, turned around, and smiled at Pierce.
Looks like I'll be getting a caddie today.

-Dividing line-

①: Defense: Single defense 50 (53); Help defense 60 (63)

Rebounds: Offensive rebounds 56 (56); Defensive rebounds 58 (58)

Drawing fouls: 42 offensive fouls (42); 40 defensive fouls (40)

Dunking: Standing dunk 62 (62); Sprint dunk 62 (62); Confrontation dunk 55 (55)

Layup: Standing layup 52 (52); Breakaway layup 61 (61)

Close range: Throw 53 (53); Hook shot 51 (51); Lap-up 51 (51)

Mid-range: 54 (54) open shots; 54 (54) catch-and-shoot shots; 47 (51) shots under pressure.

Three-pointers: Open shots 66 (66); Catch-and-shoot shots 64 (64); Uncontested shots 58 (62); Long-range three-pointers 50 (55)

(End of this chapter)