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Chapter 13. The Return of the Genius (Part 13)
Yi Shui was incredibly impressive to the school team fans at the beginning of his freshman season, but by his sophomore year, he was just as disliked by them.

If the decline in performance was due to injury, fans would feel regretful; if it was due to a lack of talent and a slow start, fans would complain that their expectations were not met; but the reason why Yi Shui was ruined... led by the commentator, fans in front of the TV started cursing.

As they were cursing, they noticed that this good-for-nothing who couldn't control his lower body was actually laughing!

Many fans immediately turned on their computers and started waving their keyboards.

At the start of the competition, Yi Shui was expressionless. He wanted to maintain a cool and aloof persona, since the live camera was on him and he had to keep a straight face.

But when Yad told him something interesting, he immediately lost his composure.

In the first half of the year's battle for high school prodigies, the opposing Wolves emerged as one of the biggest winners, snapping up the two star forwards from St. Mary's Christian High School in Georgia: JJ Hickson, ranked 9th in the nation, and Tracy Smith, ranked 64th.

But the reason the wolves took down two of them was hilarious.

Hickson wore number 9 in high school, and Smith wore number 23. Both were fans of Michael Jordan and repeatedly told the media during high school that they wanted to follow in Jordan's footsteps and join North Carolina. North Carolina also expressed great optimism about these two talents at the beginning of the year, making it seem like a two-way street.

However, the two were unaware that North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were two different schools. When Timberwolves head coach Sidney approached them with a full basketball scholarship, the two eagerly followed this conman to Raleigh.

North Carolina, whose frontcourt was weak last season and was dominated by Jeff Green and Patrick Ewing Jr., had been eagerly anticipating the addition of the two players. However, not only did they not receive them, they also missed out on competing for other talented high school players. They didn't manage to acquire a single top 100 high school player in the country, making their recruitment efforts just as dismal as those of the Huskies.

Yi Shui looked at the sullen-faced man opposite him. When Yad first said to him, "Look at that guy," he thought Hickson was just pretending to be aloof like him. Now he realized that the man was really in a bad mood. Maybe he would feel better after playing more games. It's the first warm-up game of the new season, so it's no wonder he couldn't be happy.

It's a bit unethical to gossip about other people's misfortunes behind their backs, but Yi Shui still couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing Ya De tell the story.

According to NCAA rules, college athletes who transfer schools must be suspended for a season and their scholarships will be revoked. Given Hickson's lack of common sense and the fact that he has no family members who could help him distinguish between the two universities, he must be from a typical single-parent family in the slums. It's impossible for him to transfer and study for a year at his own expense. He probably initially thought that he would go to the prestigious North Carolina for a year to increase his reputation and then enter the draft... In the end, he ended up with the Timberwolves, which was ranked 259th out of more than 300 colleges in Division I in the summer. But from another perspective, he has become famous.

After glancing at Hickson a few more times, Yi Shui remembered who this guy was: James' teammate during his 1.0 era, the unlucky guy who was thoroughly humiliated and verbally abused by Garnett in the 10 playoffs and made to cry.

He played for the Jiangsu team for another year in the 17-18 season, but when the Jiangsu team wanted to renew his contract in the summer of 18, they couldn't find him. Several months later, they saw Hickson's photos on a legal program and learned that he had been arrested for robbing and injuring passersby while drunk during his offseason trip back to China... He was only 30 years old when he started working for the government.

...

Calhoun called his players together and emphasized defense. Soon, the pre-match preparation time ended, and the referee notified both teams to take the field.

As soon as Yi Shui stepped onto the field, the system screen popped up!

"Your return to the university arena has attracted intense attention... Mission: The Returning Genius Triggered."

"The Returning Genius: 1. You must score at least 15 points. Reward: 10 hours of double efficiency shooting training card (can be split)."

2. You need to get at least 10 rebounds. Reward: 10 hours of double efficiency rebound training (can be split).

Another mission!
Training cards, good stuff. He's already used up all his previous training cards.

He's already used the rebounding training card, although he didn't practice rebounding according to Coach Rondo's method.

The main issue was his rebounding technique. He didn't know how to ask Clark to help him with training. However, his basic rebounding skills, such as grabbing the ball and starting after securing it, weren't very good either, so he chose to practice the fundamentals of rebounding first.

Moreover, he felt that Coach Long's rebounding style required a higher level of awareness, and practicing it was secondary.

However, he accepted the second mission objective and opened the file.

"file……

Height: 194 cm, wingspan: 208 cm, weight: 89 kg...

Overall physical fitness 89 (first-class): Speed ​​92, Strength 79, Jumping 88, Agility 92, Stamina 88.

投篮基本功69（部分及格）：远距离76（左侧45度角78、右侧45度角81），中距离51，近距离86。

Basic passing and ball control skills 78 (good): ball control 85, passing 73.

Skill: Iron Wall...

Over the past two weeks, he gained two kilograms, slightly increasing his weight and strength, and as the system suggested, it didn't affect his athletic ability. His shooting has improved somewhat, but not as much as in the first two weeks of school, which is normal; he hasn't had as much training time and has already reached a certain level, so it's considered steady improvement.

He was excited about the task and his motivation for the game was even stronger, but getting high scores in college games is not easy, especially since his Husky team is a defensive team that does not focus on offense.

Gay, Okafor, and Ben Gordon only averaged 15+ points per game in their final year of college, while Villanueva averaged only 13 points per game.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

For the past month or so, he has been training diligently within the team, except for the extra 'day 7 training,' he has been training meticulously under the guidance of the coaching staff.

But when playing a game, shouldn't you develop your own style?

He quickly assessed his existing capabilities...

...

The starting lineups for both teams came onto the field: Huskies: Price, Yi Shui, Robinson, Yad, Thabeet; Wolves: Javier Gonzalez, Courtney Fils, Tracy Smith, JJ Hickson, Ben Macaulay.

When Yi Shui really made his first start, the Husky team fans watching on TV were devastated, and the school forums were in an uproar.

At 3:00 PM sharp, the Husky team's friendly match against the Wolves team kicked off.

Thabeet beat Ben Macaulay to win the jump ball, giving the Huskies the lead.

When Price and Yad initiated a pick-and-roll offense, the commentator, who had been criticizing for a long time, finally shifted his attention.

"Let's look at this offensive play. Jeff's screen is really solid. He broke through, and the opposing guard named Gonzalez couldn't stop him. Is our Jeff going to dunk again? Oh... the opposing double team came too fast, and Jeff got blocked."

Wait, someone's open! He took advantage of the defender being drawn away by Jeff and rushed to the three-point line. AJ passed the ball... No! How could it be him... Uh... It went in..."

The commentator was embarrassed. Just now, Yi Shui moved from the left elbow area to the right 45-degree angle, received a pass from Price, and hit a three-pointer!

Keep criticizing? Obviously not. Praise him instead. We just criticized Yi Shui for about 10 minutes, right? The commentator had a flash of inspiration and started praising Yad's defensive presence and Price's timing in passing.

Yi Shui, on the field, was naturally unaware of the commentator's dramatic antics. He high-fived Yad and Price before retreating to defend.

The opportunity he just had was so good that it surprised him, and it also confirmed that his opponent was weak, no, he should say terrible. His first defensive play was completely disorganized and relied purely on instinct.

However, this wasn't so favorable for his strongest attacking style, attacking the rim...

The offensive and defensive shifts, and the wolf pack attacks.

Hickson ran around the baseline and moved high up, finding himself wide open on the left side of the free-throw line!

Point guard Gonzalez delivered the ball to Hickson in time, which was their first offensive option.

Although Hickson became a laughing stock in college basketball this summer, with even his new teammates mocking him in private, everyone acknowledges the talent of this player. He not only possesses top-notch athleticism but also excellent off-ball movement awareness and a mid-to-long-range shooting ability that is very rare for an athletic big man.

However, in his first game for the new team, Hickson made his first shot, and although he ran actively to create an opportunity, the shot seemed to be an emotional outburst, as he put in significantly more force!

Even the fans watching on TV predicted that the shot would miss, and sure enough, the ball hit the rim with a "bang," but it bounced very high and far, exceeding the reach of Yad and Thabeet who were positioning themselves under the basket!
As the Wolves' other forward moved toward the falling ball, the fans in front of the TV held their breath, praying that their players could defend against the opponent's second-chance opportunity... Suddenly, a figure circled around to the opponent's forward with even greater speed and grabbed the rebound first!
As the camera zoomed in, fans on television could clearly see the figure turning and dribbling past the opposing forward's pressure... It was Yi Shui again!
Many fans who had watched Yi Shui play basketball during his freshman year couldn't help but exclaim in amazement!
Yi Shui didn't pass the ball out; instead, he dodged the opposing striker's pressure and launched a counter-attack!
The opposing perimeter player couldn't retreat, and Yi Shui charged straight into the opposing three-point line unhindered. However, that unlucky genius Hickson had already retreated from the free-throw line to defend!

When Hickson blocked Yi Shui's drive into the paint, the fans watching on TV didn't dare to breathe.

It wasn't until Yi Shui drove into the paint against Hickson's help defense, jumped, and lobbed the ball past Hickson's blocker into the basket that the fans in front of the TV relaxed and cheered with open arms!

The guy Yi Shui just grabbed right in the face and stole the rebound from, wasn't he another unlucky top 100 high school student? Adding to that Hickson, who just got pulled up for a layup right in the face, Yi Shui took down two of the opposing team's geniuses in one go!
This time, the TV commentator didn't care whether he was being proven wrong or not, and shouted loudly, "Is he back? Is that Eastern Star back?"

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(End of this chapter)