Champion, please stay!

Chapter 24. Tear him apart!
"Covering the Sky: 1. Your awareness of judging the flight path of a ball in the air has improved; 2. Your jumping and power generation movements when attempting to intercept a ball in the air have been optimized; 3. Your ability to judge whether you can successfully intercept a ball has improved."

Yi Shui fell silent, not only with his mouth, but also with his heart.

I had a hunch when I was looking for a 'loan,' and sure enough, it's another center skill! And a defensive one at that!
'Does having a defensive weakness mean you have to fix it? Isn't there a saying that the best defense is a good offense? Why can't you be more flexible?'

Jumping up and slamming the basket like a little tyrant, wouldn't that block out the sky...? Uh, Stoudemire is on the Suns, and he got beaten by Duncan in last year's playoffs, okay...'

Yi Shui grumbled inwardly, but of course he wouldn't complain. He got the skill through a 'loan,' so what more could he ask for?

Moreover, this skill looks amazing and will definitely greatly enhance his shot-blocking ability... No, wait!
'It seems that not only blocks, but also rebounds count as interceptions?'

"Competing for the rebound with an opponent who is at the point where the rebound will land is considered an interception."

'Just as I thought! All those years of reading comprehension practice paid off!'

...

At 6:30 p.m., half an hour before the game was scheduled to start, the Harry Gamper Arena was already packed with more than 17,000 spectators who had arrived early to await the opening game of the new season.

When the Husky players emerged from the home team tunnel, the fans erupted in wild cheers and screams.

Yi Shui heard many people calling his English name and was extremely excited. The real competition was about to begin!

He was enjoying the atmosphere when someone suddenly called his name.

"Hey Brook, it's been so long!"

With his distinctive Hong Kong accent, foreign accent, and Beijing accent... Yi Shui turned around and saw that it was indeed Joe Alexander.

A mixed-race Chinese and American, born in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan Province, he attended schools in Hong Kong and Beijing. In his first year of high school, he won the MVP award in the Beijing high school basketball tournament. He later returned to the United States to participate in a higher-level high school league. Last season, he was the core forward of the West Virginia High Mountaineering Team... Yi Shui recalled the information he knew about Joe Alexander.

He himself had some impression of this 'Chinese boy,' but not because he had some Chinese ancestry, but because of the templates he was promoted with during the draft—Shawn Marion and Andrei Kirilenko. This guy's future agent was indeed a genius, finding two such outrageous templates, so no one associated him with the 'Big Bird' template anymore.

However, Yi Shui recalled that he was not familiar with this player. Before last season, he took the initiative to greet him, but the other party ignored him.

But not wanting to offend someone who's smiling, he replied, "Long time no see, Joe."

Alexander said enthusiastically, "I heard you've been playing very well lately. That's great! I really look forward to playing against you."

"I am looking forward too."

"I can't wait... Hey, you know what? I went back to Beijing for summer vacation and made a special trip to eat Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste) and Peking duck near my school. That stuff, the old Beijing stuff is the most authentic..."

Yi Shui: "..."

The strange tone of voice, the exaggerated expressions that could be described as animated, and the body language... He felt that this guy was neither American nor Chinese, but more like... Chinese? But he had a pure white face, and his smile was even more incongruous than that of a Chinese person.

He glanced left and right, and sure enough, there was a camera pointed directly at them.

He is currently the most popular player in the Big East League. The topic of "former prodigy returning home" is so popular with Americans, otherwise the owner of the Knicks next door wouldn't have added this game to the broadcast.

So they're just trying to ride the wave of popularity?

Recalling last season when he took the initiative to greet someone and was met with disdain and indifference... Suddenly, Yi Shui had a thought. He opened the system, and a mission appeared!
"In the arena of competitive sports, most people are simple and pure; they like what they like and dislike what they dislike. But there are always some exceptions. They are cunning, opportunistic, and two-faced... Mission: Opportunist Triggered."

"Snobbishness: "

Objective 1: You must outscor Joe Alexander in both points and rebounds in this game. Objective 2: Lead your team to victory in this game.

Reward: 1 Beginner Blind Box.

Bonus Objective: For every block or steal you make against Joe Alexander in this game, you'll receive a 1-hour Double Efficiency Card in Interception Training.

Finally, another mission has arrived! Yi Shui quickly read through it and felt it would be difficult. In his memory, this guy was quite good during college, and the mountaineering team was also quite strong. They had made it to the Madness 3 for three consecutive years, and this season they were also predicted to be in the top eight.

However, his snobbish eye saw through it; was he two-faced?
...

At 7 p.m., amid cheers from the fans in the stadium, the Husky team's new season opener began.

Thabeet lost the jump ball to Jamie Smalley, a seven-foot-tall center, and the Hills went on the board first!
Alexander ran up the court and directly asked the point guard for the ball.

He didn't just want to get a couple of shots before the match; he also wanted to use the recently popular Yi Shui as a stepping stone to increase his exposure!

But he also wanted to establish a certain relationship with Yi Shui. His father worked in China and he would go there for a while every year. He knew how much exposure Chinese players in the NBA had in China... just in case Yi Shui had a chance to enter the NBA in the future?

So he chose to actively and enthusiastically chat with the Husky team off the field, and then relentlessly attack them during the game! He was very confident, believing that he and his team were stronger than Yi Shui.

After receiving a pass from point guard Marazoo, Alexander went one-on-one against Robinson. Having faced him in the same position last season, he knew how poor the tall, skinny guy's defense was. Once his teammates started running and coordinating for him to go one-on-one, he started his drive and changed direction to break through!

He has exceptional athletic ability; otherwise, his future agent wouldn't have dared to use Kirilenko and Marion as his draft comparisons.

Robinson was completely wiped clean!

At the same time, DeShawn Butler, the Hill Climbers' power forward who pretended to pull out to set an off-ball screen on the left, suddenly stopped and made a reverse run, shaking off Yad and rushing towards the inside. Smally, who had spread out on the left baseline, also seized the opportunity to cut in. Thabeet had no choice but to move to the left sideline of the three-second zone in advance and spread his arms to block the two.

Price tried to dribble in from the right flank, but he was a bit too slow. Alexander drove straight into the three-second zone from the right, grabbed the ball, and jumped...

Fans near the baseline let out a wail. They had just been joking that Tabite had pulled up a huge chunk, being much taller than the opponent, yet still lost the jump ball. Little did they expect that the forwards would pull up an even bigger chunk!

I knew from media analysis that the defense of the three and four positions was poor, but seeing it with my own eyes was simply despairing!
Just as Alexander swung his arm and slammed the ball toward the basket, he suddenly saw a hand appear in front of him and slap the ball he was about to press down!
"Snapped"

"bang"

The ball was slapped off the backboard and bounced back.

As Alexander was being covered, he saw the owner of the hand—Yi Shui, whom he had used as a stepping stone!

The fans went from groans to screams! Yi Shui charged into the three-second zone from the left corner of the free-throw line and delivered a spectacular block!
Alexander, disregarding his shock and anger upon landing, grabbed the rebounding ball before Yi Shui, who was a step behind in landing.

Seeing Thabeet stride in, Alexander quickly raised the ball again...

Having just landed and regained his footing, Yi Shui didn't care whether he would become part of the background. He jumped up and swung his hand purely on instinct... "Slap!"... He slapped the ball again!

The ball flew towards the front of the basket, Price grabbed it and launched a counterattack, rushing to the frontcourt and scoring with a layup that resembled that of a small man. The fans in the arena cheered wildly, but not for him.

Yi River!

When Yi Shui landed but didn't stand properly and fell out of bounds with a thud, the fans went crazy!
Their main purpose in coming to the game tonight was indeed to see Yi Shui perform, but they wanted to see him shoot 20 or even 30 times and score high points.

Unexpectedly, Yi Shui gave them a surprise on the defensive end at the start of the game—no, two surprises! A series of blocks!

Requesting monthly votes! Requesting recommendation votes!


(End of this chapter)