Champion Rules

Chapter 8 008: Two more games (please read!)

Wu Lan stroked the largest photo on the sports page of the Political News with her index finger.

The ink-printed Lynch is hanging on the basket, with the pride of Serbia U18, Blagota Sekulic, under his crotch.

Above the photo, a huge Serbian caption reads "Chinese meteorite destroys national youth team's defense line."

Proud, proud and a little sad, Wu Lan never thought that her feelings would be so complicated when she saw her son in the newspaper.

She recalled the long period of time in the past when Lynch had been injured and the light in his eyes had begun to fade.

Looking at the photo of Lynch's ankle and knee with brace, she seemed to still feel the cold air in the hospital.

Fortunately, I never gave up, and most importantly, fortunately, Lynch never gave up.

Now, his persistence has finally paid off.

"That little bastard," Wu Lan wiped his eyes, "he told me his opponent was weak, what are you pretending to be? Look at this guy, look at his opponent, he's big and strong, taller than Vladimir Radmanovich who plays in the NBA, how can he be weak?"

At this point, her traditional Chinese mother's genes made her quickly modest: "Oh, look how excited I am. It could also be that the players of the national youth team didn't play seriously."

"It's certainly possible," the kitchen helper said with a smile. "As far as I know, the Guerrilla National Youth Team occasionally participates in the first team's games, which is like fighting on two fronts. So, they might not be giving their all in these youth team games."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a chill coming over him.

Turning his head, he found Wu Lan staring at him sharply while chopping the chicken on the chopping board vigorously.

I was just being modest, and you agreed with me?

The helper swallowed and forced a smile: "Uh, what did I just say? My memory hasn't been very good lately, hahahahaha."

Wu Lan withdrew her gaze and looked again at the incredibly gorgeous business card on the table.

Professional basketball?
Until this morning, it had seemed so very, very far away to her.

In the next two months, professional basketball came to Wu Lan at an incredible speed.

She found that Lynch had become a regular in newspapers and even appeared on television.

林奇和特奥多西奇近乎残暴的统治了塞尔维亚青年联赛，就在刚刚结束的一场对阵波德戈里察的比赛中，林奇轰下了41分22个篮板11次封盖的三双数据，特奥多西奇则拿下23分12次助攻8次抢断。

People call Lynch and Theo the OK combination of the Serbian Youth League.

Lynch did experience the thrill of being a shark. You know, not every youth team has a heavy inside player over 210 cm tall to guard them.

Most of the time, the players Lynch has to face at the four and five positions are actually guys who are 203 cm to 208 cm tall and not very heavy.

This allows him to easily dominate the paint and demand rebounds and points from them at will.

As for Theo, his jump shot is invincible in youth team games, and his pass always finds Lynch on the run.

Lynch and Theo's personal abilities are both impeccable. Of course, the reason they are invincible is that their cooperation has achieved the effect of 1+1>2.

Lynch's Kevin Garnett-like help defense covered up Theo's poor defensive shortcomings.

Theo's excellent ability to pass the ball allows Lynch to score high points without having to hold the ball.

LBJ and Doncic feed Hayes.jpg is fully reflected in Lynch.

They know how strong they are, but they don't become complacent because of their consecutive victories, nor do they indulge in the joy of bullying the weak.

Because their goals go beyond that.

The day after the Podgorica game, Lynch knocked on Boško's office door before training.

When I entered, Boshko was combing his hair in front of the mirror.

"How can I help you, my superstars?"

Boshko was in a good mood. The team's consecutive victories not only made Lynch and Theo famous, but also made him, the coach, attract much attention.

"Sir, when can we play against the first team?" Teodosic went straight to the point.

"Yes, Mediterranean Commander, let us taste what real steel feels like, let us play in the Adriatic League!" Lynch had long since stopped wanting to play games with the youth team's opponents whose names he couldn't even tell.

Lynch had contacted Misko, who had come to him earlier, a long time ago. Of course, he was not in a hurry to sign a contract with him (underage players in Europe can also sign agents), but just asked him for some advice from time to time.

Simply put, it's freeloading.

In order to win Lynch as a big client, Misko naturally did not dare to neglect it. He asked his American media friends to help build momentum and pave the way for Lynch to land in North America.

But the effect of creating momentum is very general.

Because Lynch has never played in FIBA ​​youth competitions or the adult league in Serbia and Montenegro.

He certainly seemed to be gifted, but Americans felt that Lynch's level of play was questionable.

"If you can perform like this in adult competition, we will definitely hug David Stern in the green room in 2004," Misko told Lynch.

The Adriatic League is the highest level basketball tournament that Lynch can currently play in, and it is also the highest level European basketball tournament except for the European League.

As we all know, the European League brings together the top teams from various European national leagues to compete. It is the basketball league with the highest level, the largest number of fans and the highest commercial value in the world except the NBA.

The Adriatic League, known as the "mini-Champions League," brings together the best teams from seven Balkan countries, including Slovenia, Serbia, and Croatia. For some Serbian basketball clubs, the domestic league isn't the place to compete for the highest honors; the Adriatic League is the true battlefield.

It is precisely because of the existence of the Adriatic League that the countries in the Balkan region have been able to maintain their basketball level at an extremely high level.

If the whole world were to become like the CBA, where weak players would fight against each other in a closed environment, it would be almost inevitable that the level of basketball would continue to decline.

In short, Lynch is now eager to play in the Adriatic League.

During this period, his weight increased a lot, his jumping, speed, physical fitness and back-to-the-basket skills also improved, and he also accumulated 18 talent points.

He thought he was ready.

Boshko was not surprised by Lynch and Theo's desire to join the first team. People always strive for higher positions, which is an eternal truth in the sports world. He knew that sooner or later Lynch and Theo would come to him.

Boshko held up two fingers, and Lynch immediately inserted a cigarette between the two fingers and helped light it.

"What are you doing?"

"Let me light your cigarette. Although I appear careless, I do understand the ways of the world, coach. You know what, I'm a little reluctant to let you go to the first team." Lynch smiled proudly.

The corners of Boshko's mouth twitched. He felt that Lynch was a punishment from God!
"What the hell are you talking about? I mean two games, two games! The first-team coach, Mr. Vlad Durovich, needs to watch at least two more games before deciding whether to recruit you!"

"Tsk, then just say it directly, Mediterranean Commander. Why are you making gestures? It's like you're filming a gangster movie." Lynch's attitude immediately changed 180 degrees.

"I'm telling you again, don't call me that! If you do that again, I'll make you wear a women's swimsuit!"

When Lynch and Boshko once again turned the conversation into a bickering farce, only Teodosic remained clear-headed and asked the most crucial question.

“Why two games?”

“Because there are two super talents in the Youth League that you haven’t defeated yet, and Vlad wants to see you tear those two monsters apart!

The first one is Luka Bogdanovic, a talented small forward of Red Star Belgrade youth team and a member of the U18 national team. He won the King's Cup with the Red Star first team last month.

Make no mistake, he wasn't just there to experience the atmosphere of the first-team bench; he came off the bench in the Copa del Rey final and scored a game-high 23 points.

He is a jack of all trades on offense and has completely dominated the adult game. Although he wasn't as strong as Alexander Gajic when he joined the U18 national team, it's clear that he has already surpassed him.

Currently, more than five clubs from Spain and Italy are ready to spend a high buyout fee to take him away. In North America, the Nike Basketball Summit has been hoping that he can participate.

Boshko talked about Luka Bogdanovic's series of achievements, and then observed Lynch and Theo's reactions with interest.

Watching other people's reactions to something is one of the few small pleasures in Boshko's life.

This kind of fun is not niche, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many videos like “foreigners’ reactions to playing Black Myth” on the Internet 20 years later.

Teodosic's face was expressionless, as always.

Lynch waved his fist and shouted, "Another one from the U18 national team? Last time, Theo and I took out two at once. Tell me, who's the other one?"

Well, it seems that these two guys were not intimidated by Luka Bogdanovic.

So can the next person bluff them?

"The last one," Boshko became serious and did not list a bunch of achievements like he had just introduced Luca.

Because he only needed to say a name to describe how powerful this person is.

"Darkko Milicic."

This name is the Bible of Balkan youth basketball, the Pandora's box that the NBA can't wait to open, and the nightmare of every Serbian young player.

"Take care of them, and Mr. Vlad Durovich will roll out a red carpet outside the basketball arena to pick you up. If you fail, I'm afraid you'll just have to keep listening to my orders here."

"Dake? Just right!" Lynch grinned.

Before, Misko had told him: "Of course, in addition to playing in the Adriatic League, you also have an opportunity to increase your popularity and get rid of Darko."

By now, at the end of 2002, Darko Milicic was already a well-known figure in the United States and a superstar in Serbia.

This is, after all, a player who was in the conversation for a top-three pick in the 2003 draft.

Unlike Lynch, who was already impatient, Teodosic just frowned and said nothing. But the murderous look in his eyes revealed his equally restless heart.

Outside the office window, the last rays of sunlight in Belgrade are gradually fading.

The light passed through the glass and imprinted the shadows of the two people on the wall, one was restless as fire, the other was cold and oppressive.

At this time, the system that had been unresponsive for a long time finally came back to life.

Why can't a middle-aged man compete with a young genius?

[New goal: Win Luka Bogdanovic and Darko Milicic.]

[Reward: 40 talent points.]

Lynch knew that there must be a way to quickly get talent points.

Isn’t this coming?

(End of this chapter)