The longest river

Chapter 68 North Carolina Madman
After his suspension ended, Yang Shuai traveled with the team to Philadelphia, where they will face the 76ers for the first time this season.

Philadelphia is a special place for Yang Shuai right now.

Because he played in the Sonny Hill League for two consecutive years during high school, and Rondo is now studying at the University of Pennsylvania.

After arriving in Philadelphia, Yang Shuai met with Rondo at a local Chinese restaurant.

What Yang Shuai didn't expect was that Rondo didn't come alone; he actually brought his girlfriend.

Thinking back to my experience of meeting Billups with a female companion when I went to Denver, it seems that college is indeed a place where love is rampant.
Thinking about it this way, he really missed out on going to university in both his lives.

As they were chatting, Rondo suddenly pulled a newspaper out of his pocket and handed it to Yang Shuai.

Yang Shuai took it curiously, opened it, and saw that it was the Philadelphia Daily.

The newspaper was just published today, and the most eye-catching headline in the section was: I'll beat that high school student to a pulp.

Below this title is an accompanying image.

The figure was somewhat unfamiliar, but after seeing the contents, Yang Shuai remembered meeting the person once before.

That was back during the draft, when he caught a glimpse of it from afar across the stands.

Jerry Stackhouse.

He was the third-ranked student in the same year as him.

However, when he searched his memories of his past life, he found no information related to this person.

"Isn't he from North Carolina?" Yang Shuai asked, somewhat puzzled.

He recalled that when Stackhouse was drafted, his promotional label was "Jordan's junior".

Rondo nodded.

Yang Shuai was even more puzzled.

Logically speaking, players from North Carolina should all have a good temperament, or at least be humble and polite.

Moreover, he thought about it carefully and realized that he and Stackhouse had never crossed paths before, so why would the other party suddenly cause him trouble?
"This guy is an oddball."

Rondo, being in Philadelphia, naturally has a better understanding of the 76ers and Stackhouse.

According to his account, Stackhouse made a lot of boasting after arriving in Philadelphia.

He immediately declared that he would lead the 76ers to glory, but what he is most famous for is not that, but his experience with Jordan.

When the Bulls visited Philadelphia, Stackhouse naturally attracted media attention because he was Jordan's junior.

When asked about his expectations for the match, he declared, "I can't wait to face Michael. I'll guard him. You'll see."

然后就是在媒体们的见证下，乔丹爆砍48分10板，率领公牛队120比93暴揍76人队。

Stackhouse, who claimed he would stop Jordan, not only got blown out, but also only scored 11 points, most of which came when Jordan was off the court.

After hearing Rondo's description, Yang Shuai was also amused.

However, he did have a basic impression of this third-place finisher from the same year.

This person is probably similar in personality to Draymond Green, someone who likes to attract attention through flamboyant behavior.

Moreover, he could understand why the other party had approached him.

He currently receives the most attention among this year's rookies, and by a significant margin.

Putting aside the publicity Reebok did for him, just look at how much attention he gets from getting into a fight with someone.

Stackhouse was like a miser seeing gold, completely unable to suppress his inner impulse.

However, this presents him with an opportunity.

He has just improved his defensive skills and learned so many defensive techniques from Robertson, so facing Stackhouse will be a good test.

"Chris, tell me about Stackhouse's technical characteristics."

After having dinner with Rondo, Yang Shuai did not return to the hotel immediately, but went to Eskridge's house instead.

He left two tickets for Rondo and his girlfriend, and gave the rest of his tickets to them so they could share them with their former teammates from the Sonny Hill League.

Having played in the league here for two years, Yang Shuai got along quite well with his teammates.

After leaving Eskrich's house, Yang Shuai felt like there was something he hadn't done on his way back to the hotel.

When he was almost at the hotel, he realized he had forgotten someone very important.

He dialed the other party's number directly:
"Ah Dou, want to watch the game?"

That evening, the Pacers played the 76ers at Spectrum Arena. The old arena, which can hold 17,000 people, was packed to capacity.

The 76ers are currently in a rebuilding phase, and attendance is usually low for teams in rebuilding phases.

But as Eskridge once said, Philadelphia has a very strong basketball culture, and even during a tanking season, the attendance is usually around 60-70%.

The reason why the venue was packed today is naturally because of Stackhouse.

Stackhouse's previous incident with Jordan was seen by outsiders as a humiliating defeat for him, but 76ers fans saw it as a promising future.

After all, how many rookies would dare to provoke Jordan like that?
The last person to do this was Mutombo, and the one before that was Reggie Miller; without exception, they both became All-Star players.

And if he can't beat Jordan, can't he beat Yang Shuai?
Yang Shuai has only had one 20+ point game this season, against the Knicks, while Stackhouse is averaging close to 20 points per game this season!
Looking at the data alone, the chances of Stackhouse dominating Yang Shuai are not 100%, but they are at least 90%.

During the pre-game warm-up, Yang Shuai saw Kobe in the second row on the sidelines.

Having experienced the Sonny Hill League in the summer, Kobe harbored a lot of resentment towards Yang Shuai, but when Yang Shuai told him that he would give him the best tickets he had, he felt that... his previous thoughts were really too naive!
He didn't distinguish between on-court and off-court at all. Everything Yang Shuai did on the court was out of competitive spirit, but off the court, Yang Shuai was such a considerate person.

So when he saw Yang Shuai walk by, he couldn't wait to get up and greet Yang Shuai with a smile.

Then came a series of questions that Yang Shuai had never considered.

Is the competition really as intense as it looks?

Is being a rookie tough?

Do you have a team? Do you have your own people?

Yang Shuai felt that Kobe treated him like a warm-hearted older brother.

But he arranged for Kobe to be here, even going so far as to ask Scott for the best ticket, just so he could earn points from him later.

However, Yang Shuai gleaned some unspoken meaning from Kobe's questions.

Kobe is already preparing to enter the NBA.

It seems that, just as I knew, the other person is also preparing to participate in next year's draft as a high school student.

But this is understandable.

Even without him, Kobe chose to run as a high school student, and his appearance now will only make the other side more determined to do so.

After the warm-up, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.

Pacers: Robertson, Miller, McGee, Davis, Schmitz
76ers: Vernon Maxwell, Jerry Stackhouse, Clarence Witherspoon, Sharon White, Derrick Alston

The 76ers' starting lineup has a relatively young average age: Stackhouse is 21, Witherspoon is 25, White is 23, and Ulster is 23. Except for Ulster, they are all lottery picks that the team selected themselves.

In fact, this summer, the 76ers specifically traded for Derrick Coleman, the 1990 number one draft pick, who was averaging 20+10 and at his peak, from the Nets to mentor this group of young players.

Unfortunately, Coleman only played 11 games before his season was over, and the 76ers were once again led by young players.

In addition, the only veteran, "Madman" Maxwell, also plays shooting guard, which makes the 76ers look very chaotic on the court. Basically, everyone just tries to score as soon as they get the ball, without much strategy to speak of.

However, even in such a chaotic situation, Stackhouse's talent stood out among the 76ers.

Or to be more precise, it's individual skill.

His footwork is solid, and he is good at using probing steps and fakes to create shooting space for himself. His pull-up mid-range jumper and fadeaway jumper after a breakthrough are also very smooth.

Moreover, he is very good at using his physical advantages to draw fouls. Even an experienced player like McGee was fouled by him early in the game.

In addition, his post-up game, mid-range shot after pick-and-roll, and cuts are all quite good.

Even when he was double-teamed, he was still able to pass the ball out steadily.

It can be said that apart from his inconsistent three-point shooting, which is characteristic of the times, he is proficient in everything and can be considered a "kaleidoscope of offense" level player.

This largely matches Rondo's description from yesterday.

It's clear that Stackhouse's flamboyant attitude stems from his absolute confidence in his own abilities.

Just then, the whistle blew, and McGee received his second personal foul on Stackhouse.

Brown turned around and called Yang Shuai.

As Yang Shuai walked toward the technical table, his image was displayed on the large screen.

A chorus of jeers immediately erupted from the crowd.

"Future All-Stars" VS "Those About to Be Defeated"—they can't wait to find out.

(End of this chapter)