Champion, please stay!

Chapter 9.9. Taking on the entire opposing team alone!

"Blocking the side without help defenders, using your tall teammate to block Jerome's narrow field of vision, and disrupting his shot... Brook did a good job on that defense." Calhoun gave the defense high praise. As for almost swearing earlier, well, he was just a little short.

"Brook's block was beautiful, but it's surprising that Bird managed to complete a defensive play with Brook. He seemed unwilling to listen to Brook's instructions earlier," Clark said curiously, watching Yi Shui and Johnson Bird high-five.

"The high-five between Johnson and Brook was just a habit after they blocked the opponent. Johnson's reaction when he saw Brook block the shot was definitely not a pre-arranged play. Brook deliberately left an opening to lure Jerome to drive towards Johnson."

"Is he betting that Little Demon Bird will go to cover the defense? What if Little Demon Bird doesn't go?"

“Even if Johnson doesn’t help defend, Brook can keep up with Jerome’s pace, but the interference might be less effective, and it would be difficult to make a direct block like this. Once Johnson goes to help defend, Brook will most likely be able to stop him. After all, they played together for a season, and Brook definitely knows that once Jerome drives into the paint, all he can see is the basket.”

"Is a single defensive play really that complicated?"

"It's actually very simple. Players with good defensive experience can make such defensive choices in an instant... Brook's defense is indeed much smarter than before. He used to be very straightforward in his defense, but if he hadn't accumulated this much experience, the opportunity given to him last season would have been a waste."

"Is it that simple? I guess I'm not suited to be a player or a coach... Sigh, I guess I'll just stick to being a trainer." Clark felt his coaching dream was a distant dream.

'Your trainer's salary is higher than most team head coaches, what more do you want?'

Calhoun wanted to complain, but he held back; that wouldn't be in line with his personality. He focused his attention back on the court. Team A had already served the ball again, and Dyson was still receiving it.

Dyson thought Calhoun had come to see Yishui, but in fact, Calhoun had come to see him.

Calhoun had Jerry Cook assign Dyson four teammates, all of whom were freshmen and sophomores who hadn't shown all-around abilities in the tests but had outstanding functionalities, simulating an environment where Dyson would have a 'second unit'.

He had no prejudice against Dyson. His reluctance to let Dyson start was purely based on Dyson's playing style. Dyson is only 185 cm tall barefoot, which makes him somewhat of a stretch to play shooting guard. He can't play off-ball and he doesn't know how to play either. He lacks vision when attacking with the ball and is highly arrogant... The sixth man is a more suitable position.

Of course, one of the purposes of this training match was also to test how well Yi Shui had recovered.

As Calhoun predicted, Dyson continued to adopt a singles stance after receiving the serve, but to his surprise, Yi Shui did not continue the successful defensive approach from the previous round, but instead pressed forward to defend!
Isn't this choice a bit too risky?
Sure enough, Dyson seized on Yi Shui's footwork flaw, dribbled between his legs and then pulled back to create space, accelerated and broke past Yi Shui!
Yi Shui turned and chased after Dyson with great determination. Calhoun on the other court seemed quite satisfied with his attitude of not giving up. But even though Yi Shui was a little faster than Dyson, he couldn't catch up with the ball... But suddenly, Dyson stopped abruptly on the right side of the free throw line!
Yi Shui seized the opportunity, stomped out with his left foot, and lunged to block!

Dyson noticed something and tried to lean to the right as he pulled up for a jump shot, successfully avoiding Yi Shui's block. However, he had clearly lost his balance when he released the ball, and the ball... went in! It bounced off the rim, hit the backboard, and bounced into the basket!
When Yi Shui landed, he saw the ball "thump" into the basket and almost lost his balance. He bounced twice on one foot before regaining his footing.

What kind of amazing ball is this? It's outrageous!

Calhoun couldn't help but laugh when he saw Yi Shui's body language and bewildered expression.

He also understood Yi Shui's defensive strategy for this play—he was certain that Dyson wouldn't dare to continue driving to the inside after being blocked.

His ability to read the opponent's attacks, his awareness of making defensive changes, his execution... he suddenly realized that Yi Shui was even more outstanding than he had thought!

Calhoun had intended to observe Dyson, but after only one round, his attention was drawn to Yi Shui.

Dyson is very talented and has the potential to become a super sixth man in the NCAA, but that's about it. Compared to Yi Shui on the other side, his talent is far inferior.

When it was B team's turn to attack, Bill, the sophomore center who had retrieved the ball, passed it to Yi Shui.

Although Dyson scored, everyone could see how well Yi Shui defended, which elevated his standing in the eyes of his teammates in just one round.

Calhoun stared at Yi Shui, wanting to see what the kid's current offensive style was like, and whether it would bring him another surprise.

But after Yi Shui advanced past half-court, he passed the ball to Johnson Bird!

Johnson Bird, a 206cm tall playmaking small forward, was guarded by Dean, a small forward of only 201cm... It can only be said that this choice of ball distribution was very prudent.

However, after passing the ball, Yi Shui did not spread out or cut in, but instead stood in front of Dean and steadily blocked Dean when Johnson Bird broke through with a screen!
Dyson's switching speed and aggressiveness were good, but at only 188 cm tall with shoes on, he was mercilessly crushed as soon as he made a screen.

Johnson Bird drove into the paint, and everyone the opposing team could surround him. He promptly flicked the ball to the left... Yi Shui cut in from the middle, caught the ball, jumped, and slammed it into the basket!
Calhoun clenched his fist and waved excitedly, "That was a beautiful shot!"

When Yi Shui passed the ball just now, although he couldn't say he was disappointed, he still felt a little regretful. He felt that after more than a year of wasting time, this kid had lost his edge and was a bit too cautious. Why didn't he just go for it with the other team's freshmen and sophomores?
So he wanted to dunk!
Indeed, with Team A's defense where everyone swarms the player who drives in, a direct drive would definitely not give you a scoring opportunity. Even if you drive with the ball and set a screen to break through, the situation would be similar. So this kid did the opposite, using the smaller player to screen the bigger player.

This basketball IQ is... damn it! What was that damn kid doing for a season and a half?!
...

Yi Shui never expected that his good performance would only deepen the head coach's resentment, but there was nothing he could do about it; he had to bear the consequences of his previous actions.

After completing the simple dunk, his admiration for that superstar talent increased by 1.
Despite its many flaws, the simple ball-playing techniques it created are indeed impressive and advanced! They won't be outdated even in 10 or 20 years.

Before the training match started, Yi Shui was actually quite worried about how to play this game. At that time, it was certain that his ball-handling attack, which mainly relied on breakthroughs, would hardly work very well in this game with no defensive discipline, and his teammates did not seem to be very strong either.

Until he remembered the future all-time leading scorer who had played alongside his father... This kind of game couldn't be better suited for simple play. On the defensive retreat, Yi Shui high-fived Johnson Bird, who had come to meet him.

Sure enough, you can earn the respect of this arrogant junior as long as you demonstrate your abilities.

When it was Team A's turn to attack, the teammates who had previously tried to curry favor with the team's top scorer from the previous season and discuss tactics were all in vain.

Having just been blocked and then dunked on by Yi Shui, Dyson had no regard for his teammates who were nothing to him.
Just grab the ball and go for it!

Yi Shui tried his best to defend, and the results were good, but it was difficult to stop Dyson from throwing the ball.

This is Dyson's greatest strength as a ball-handling offensive player.

Last summer, the Husky lost a total of 6 key players. All the ball-handling offensive players from the season before last, except for Yi Shui, were gone. And Yi Shui ruined himself. Last season, there wasn't a single player who could consistently shoot with the ball... Calhoun chose to make Dyson the ball-handling core because he valued this advantage.

However, with Dyson's playing style, the other players on Team A started to stand by and watch on offense, and the same was true on defense. Although they didn't cooperate at first, they at least had the initiative to collapse and double-team, but as the game progressed, their initiative gradually disappeared... This scene was just like every game of the Husky team last season after Dyson became the main ball-handling core of the lineup.

On Team B's side, Yi Shui was always willing to pass the ball out, even if his teammates weren't playing well. The team's enthusiasm was getting higher and higher, and his teammates were becoming more and more willing to accept his instructions... However, his playing style wasn't actually because he was so selfless...

...

The first half ended with a score of 16-11 after 10 minutes.

Compared to Jerry Cook's carefully selected teammates with distinct functionalities for Dyson, Yi Shui's teammates were arranged quite haphazardly. Apart from Johnson Bird, who was ranked 166th in the nation, the others seemed to be chosen based on height.

Yi Shui and Johnson Bird had several plays that pushed the opposing team's five-man defense into the paint, preventing their open teammates on the wings from making shots. This allowed them to only have a five-point lead despite dominating the game.

Because the score difference was only 5 points, Dyson, who was always confident or even arrogant, felt that he still had a chance to turn the tide!

After a 5-minute halftime break, Jerry Cook blew the whistle to start the second half.

Team B, having lost the jump ball, took the first attack, with Yi Shui advancing the ball into the frontcourt.

This time he didn't pass the ball, but instead bent down to dribble, assuming a one-on-one stance.

His temporary teammates, who had been cooperating well for half the game, immediately separated when they saw this, without him having to say anything.

Seeing Dyson also getting into a defensive stance, Yi Shui said, "Jerome, you're all alone now."

What do you mean I have no help? Dyson didn't understand what that meant. Seeing Yi Shui break through, he immediately went up to challenge him... and got crushed!
穿鞋188公分、体重80公斤的小后卫，206公分+95公斤的小魔鸟能碾着打，193公分+87公斤的易水，一样可以碾着打！
Dyson took two steps back and regained his footing, but he was no longer able to catch up with Yi Shui who was breaking into the paint. What made him even more desperate was that his teammates did not collapse and double-team Yi Shui when they saw him break in. Even Kanter under the basket only symbolically stretched out his hand, showing no defensive effort whatsoever!
Yi Shui scores two points with a powerful dunk!

Dyson jumped up in anger, yelling at his teammates, "What are you doing! Block him!"

Unlike before the match, when everyone was enthusiastically praising Dyson, this time no one paid any attention to him, and Kanter just picked up the ball and served on his own.

In the first half, Team A took a total of 15 shots. Dyson took 11 of them. Of the other players' 4 shots, 3 were when they had no time left and had to shoot after receiving the ball, and the other was when the inside players grabbed an offensive rebound.

If Dyson could make the shot, that would be fine, but he only made 4 out of 11 shots and scored only 8 points!
There's an even more crucial point—this match was a training game for the school team selection! Every player wanted to showcase themselves, but with Dyson's playing style, how could they possibly have a chance to do so?
Trying to steal possession? They wouldn't dare, so they had to give up. As for cleaning up Dyson's mess on defense, let whoever wants to do it do it.

Dyson's rage was beyond Yi Shui's control; all he knew was that his attack time had come!
When the game becomes a set offense, he just charges forward relentlessly, and the opposing team doesn't provide any help defense for most of the possessions. If Dyson misses a shot, he just charges straight up the court. If he gets the ball, he can launch a fast break; if he doesn't get the ball, he can just charge forward again when the game becomes a set offense.

His teammates had already had enough 'showcase' opportunities in the first half. The three players in positions one, four, and five already knew they had no chance of passing the selection, but they played happily. When Yi Shui wanted to attack, they returned the favor by spreading out the defense, grabbing rebounds, and even helping to double-team Dyson.

They had witnessed the conflict between Dyson and Yi Shui before. At that time, they thought Dyson was the strongest player on the team, after all, he was the team's top scorer... Now that they were certain they couldn't pass the selection, and through the game, they felt that Dyson wasn't as good as they had imagined. At least compared to Yi Shui, he seemed so difficult to work with, so they decided to target him.

Johnson Bird was a forward who primarily focused on passing, and in high school he often delivered long fast-break passes to James Harden, a style of play that suited him perfectly.

The point difference that Team B couldn't widen in the first half quickly increased at the start of the second half...

There were no pauses or timeouts during the practice match, and at 10:40 a.m., Jerry Cook blew the final whistle.

The score was 40 to 19, with Team B crushing Team A by 21 points!
Dyson made 3 of 12 shots in the second half and 7 of 23 shots overall, plus 2 of 2 free throws, for a total of 16 points... You could say he can shoot a lot, he has a variety of shooting styles, and you can't stop him from shooting, but his efficiency is ridiculously low. However, nobody is paying attention to him anymore.

Even Calhoun, who initially intended to observe him, didn't pay much attention to how well he was playing.

Calhoun looked at the data recorded in his notebook.

上半场6投3中、加上2中1的罚球拿到7分，下半场10投9中拿到18分，易水拿了25分！
Judging by the results alone, Yi Shui single-handedly defeated the entire A team, which had a 'one-star, four-shot' formation!
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(End of this chapter)