The Best Point Guard-Chapter 60 - 57: It’s a Deal, Double Happiness

The starting five for the Syracuse University Orange Team were:

Number 13, Duanni.

Number 33, Su Xi.

Number 15, Carmelo Anthony.

Number 1, Hakim Warrick.

Number 51, Craig Fosse.

They were dressed in orange jerseys, a reflection of the thirty percent of the fans in the arena who were also clad in orange.

The University of Kansas Jayhawks wore white jerseys with blue trim, and there were slightly more fans in blue jerseys in the Super Dome Arena.

Their starting lineup for tonight was:

Number 11, Aaron Miles, 185 cm tall, 79 kg, a relatively fast point guard. (Went undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft, played briefly for the Warriors, then went to play overseas. In 2015, he returned to the University of Kansas as the director of player development, using it as a springboard to become an assistant coach in Florida for a former Kansas coach, then jumped to become the head coach of the Warriors’ NBDL team, and is now an assistant coach for the Pelicans.)

Number 10, Kirk Hinrich, 193 cm, 86 kg. An NCAA superstar and a strong team player. (Seventh pick in the ’03 draft.)

Number 5, Keith Langford, 194 cm, 93 kg. A strong attacker. (Went undrafted in 2005, did exceptionally well in various European leagues, was selected for the All-EuroCup Team, won a scoring title, and was named Best Scorer twice. He also played briefly in the CBA.)

Number 4, Nick Collison, 208 cm, 108 kg. A do-it-all super big man in the NCAA. (12th pick in the ’03 draft.)

Number 42, Jeff Graves, 206 cm, 118 kg, a heavy center in the NCAA. (Did not enter the draft, and only played 2 seasons at Kansas. I couldn’t find any follow-up info, but he had a very strong presence in games. Not sure why.)

The game began.

The 216 cm tall white center, Craig, beat Jeff Graves in the tip-off, securing possession for Syracuse.

The equally tall Duanni brought the ball past midcourt. The pace in the NCAA is generally slower. The ball was passed to Su Xi, who was now facing Kirk Hinrich.

This was a matchup everyone was looking forward to.

Just as everyone thought Su Xi would pass the ball to the wing, he faced Hinrich—who was giving him two steps of space—and shot directly from beyond the three-point line... The ball traced a beautiful arc.

SWISH!

It was good.

Su Xi’s release wasn’t particularly fast, and he wasn’t known for his shooting accuracy. In the team’s shooting drills, he was only average. But if you gave him two steps of space, thinking he couldn’t shoot at all...

You’d be dead wrong.

That shot made many NBA scouts’ eyes light up. A 19-year-old kid who could play defense, had strength, and could also hit an open three—that was someone worth watching.

Isaiah Thomas even slapped Magic Johnson’s thigh in excitement.

Magic Johnson frowned. "Can’t you slap your own thigh?"

Isaiah Thomas always wore a mischievous look, the constant smile on his face seeming to say: ’Slapping my own thigh would hurt.’

"Every player in the NBA can make that kind of three," Larry Bird mumbled.

Michael Jordan nodded in agreement.

The fans in orange in the Super Dome Arena erupted, chanting, "Su! Su! Su!"

The CCTV camera crew was a bit dizzy, because the "Su" sound the Americans were making was very similar to "shu," which means "lose" in Chinese.

After hitting the three, Su Xi stuck close to Kirk Hinrich.

This was Coach Jim’s arrangement. Coach Jim believed Su Xi’s defensive ability was stronger and that he should be the one to guard the Jayhawks’ core player.

However, the 198 cm Duanni struggled to guard the 185 cm Aaron Miles. Duanni had suffered a major injury, and his athleticism was average at best. Plus, he was a black man of Sudanese descent, with a skin tone even darker than Garnett’s. Because his diet lacked the meat, eggs, and milk that American-born black players grew up with, his athletic talent wasn’t as strong.

Miles quickly broke through the defense, driving into the paint and drawing a foul on Craig.

Craig was a beanpole of a center. Although he was 216 cm tall, he had a very slender frame.

His partner, Hakim Warrick, was also strong on offense but weak on defense, with a very thin build. Therefore, the quality of their paint defense was a factor that had concerned basketball experts before the game.

Although Hakim had a 105 cm vertical leap and a super 218 cm wingspan, he lacked weight and couldn’t body people up. He also didn’t have the ball-handling skills of a small forward. This is why he would later fall to the 19th pick in 2005, didn’t make much of an impact after entering the NBA, and was soon out of the league. He was even rejected by the CBA Sichuan Team during a tryout in 2013 for not being skilled enough. (The CBA’s criteria for selecting foreign players are rather peculiar; they prefer players like J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler who can handle the ball and score fifty or sixty points.)

Miles made both free throws.

Duanni brought the ball past midcourt and passed it to Anthony.

Su Xi ran quickly around the three-point line, forcing Hinrich to follow him. Su Xi’s first three-pointer had strategic importance; it meant Hinrich no longer dared to leave him open.

Anthony charged into the paint... SMACK!

His layup was swatted away by Collison. The ball slammed off the floor and bounced away fiercely. Su Xi and Hinrich both anticipated its path and rushed for it. Hinrich was considered very strong for a point guard, but he was simply shoved aside by Su Xi.

Su Xi grabbed the rebound and drove to the basket. He took a tiger-like jump step and, facing Collison’s head-on defensive pounce, he leaped up and crashed into him!

Collison regretted it instantly.

Both sides of his rib cage were aching.

It was like being hit head-on by a car going 40 mph. He was overpowered. Su Xi’s long arm tipped the ball out. The moment it touched the backboard, the Kansas center, Graves, leaped up and slapped his hand down on the ball.

The head referee called goaltending. The basket was good.

Su Xi had scored 5 straight points.

This shattered the rumors about his poor scoring ability.

Billy Parker, CBS’s star broadcaster, excitedly posed a thunderous question on air: "With that open three, plus that driving, physical layup, can he just walk right into the green room??"

The green room is another name for the lottery selection.

The NBA invites players with lottery potential into the green room on draft night—a special privilege.

Meanwhile, on the court, Su Xi exchanged a look with Duanni.

Duanni was a little confused. He was Coach Jim’s loyal soldier; he never disobeyed the coach’s orders.

But Su Xi ran directly over to guard Miles. If Duanni kept defending him, Miles would start scoring at will, both inside and out.

Miles was a speed-based player.

Seeing Su Xi approach, he gave a contemptuous smile. "Little Sheep Su Xi, I’ve been waiting for you."

"Weren’t you the one who said you were going to take on every player from Syracuse University and win the Final Four MOP?"

Miles said to Su Xi, "Next, I’m going to use a little bit of speed. Let’s see if you have what it takes to keep up."

Su Xi smiled. "Okay."

He’d just received the ’A Promise is a Promise, Double Happiness’ combo package.

He even intentionally gave him half a step.

Miles got the ball and, true to his word, immediately accelerated, sprinting down the court. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

He possessed a powerful, super-explosive burst of talent, formidable even at the NCAA level.

Su Xi’s first two steps were actually a bit faster than Miles’s.

But after that, Miles gained the advantage.

Su Xi pursued relentlessly, feeling the force of Miles’s speed as he dribbled.

The super-speed talent he had acquired from Allen Iverson was also activated.

According to the Little Elf’s evaluation system, Miles’s speed talent was somewhere between ’Excellent’ and ’Top-Tier’.

The value was around 86%.

That was much stronger than Su Xi’s current fusion of 69%.

So, as Miles galloped to the top of the three-point arc, Su Xi—trailing by a step but keeping pace at high speed—felt his own speed talent fusion increase to 70%.

The more Miles exerted himself, the faster Su Xi’s super-speed talent fusion increased.

Su Xi was overjoyed.

Miles quickly drove inside the three-point line. Hakim moved over laterally to block and delay him. Miles was smart; he quickly passed the ball to Graves in the post.

Graves caught the ball, took one dribble inside, then jumped and shot... His movement was a bit slow. The moment he released the ball, Su Xi swooped in from behind him.

Su Xi’s vertical wasn’t high, but he secretly pressed down on Graves’s shoulder with his left hand while his right hand shot out ferociously, snatching the ball that had just left Graves’s fingertips. Like a suction cup, he took it down with one hand.

This scene was broadcast on the four-sided screen at the top of the arena.

The entire stadium was stunned.

Gasps of admiration rose and fell throughout the Super Dome Arena.

The one-handed snatch block had reappeared.

The camera cut to O’Neal on the sideline. O’Neal made an exaggerated expression of shock, stretching out his arms and knocking over a whole row of NBA players.

"Violent basketball! Violent basketball!" he yelled bizarrely. "That’s my real brother!"

That play was definitely a super defensive highlight, enough to make this year’s NCAA Top Ten Plays.

"Fear-inducing defensive instincts!"

"A one-handed grip so strong it’s criminal!"

"I guarantee that when number 42 goes home tonight, he’ll have nightmares about the shadow of Little Sheep Su Xi looming over him."

Billy Parker said with exaggeration on CBS, "Even Ben Wallace is only about that good."

Ben Wallace, in front of his TV, took a stray bullet.

However, his head coach, Rick Carlisle, who was in the stands, had his eyes light up. ’Even though the team already has Billups,’ he thought, ’wouldn’t adding a backup point guard like this make us take off? We still don’t know the position of that lottery pick from the Grizzlies, but based on their record this year, it’s bound to be in the top five.’

’A top-five pick for Little Sheep Su Xi?’

’Seems like a bit of a waste.’

Rick Carlisle was still conflicted.

Sitting next to him, Larry Brown’s expression was calm. This old-school coach never cared about rookies; he had no interest in developing them. He was here purely to show face for the NCAA, and also because someone had paid him to come scout Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison. Funnily enough, that person was quite familiar with the Pistons’ head coach, Rick Carlisle.

’Little Sheep Su Xi?’

’Hmm?’

’Not bad. Good defensive instincts.’

Larry Brown thought to himself.

"He pushed off just now," Michael Jordan said to Larry Bird.

Bird said, "I saw it."

"If Graves had faced him head-on, he wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell," Jordan continued.

"Of course," Bird said, fully supporting Jordan’s comment.

SWISH!

In the frontcourt, Carmelo Anthony received a pass from Su Xi and sank the shot.

But just as the ball dropped through the net, Craig, who had been battling for position with Graves under the basket, also fell to the floor.

He cried out in pain, and the head referee even stopped the game because of it.

The team doctor hurried onto the court.

The previously clear expression on Coach Jim’s face instantly became clouded with worry. Having his starting center get injured when things were going so well was not good news.

They had already lost their superstar perimeter player, McNamara. If they lost their starting center too...

’Can we still win this game?’

Jim began to pray to God.

Over 25 million television viewers across the United States saw him make the sign of the cross.

Then, the camera cut to Little Sheep Su Xi on the court. He looked very calm, even exchanging pleasantries with Graves.

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