Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 9 Matthews's Suddenly Collapsed World
Fifteen thousand spectators packed the San Jose Arena.

The champion of the 2006 Pete Newell Invitational will be decided tonight.

CSTV (College Sports Network) decided to broadcast the game nationally.

Texas Tech's opponent tonight, Marquette University, is a strong team in the Big East that has been gaining more and more attention in recent years. Head coach Tom Crean's coaching philosophy is: "If you don't like fighting the world, don't step into Marquette's arena."

Despite being widely considered the strongest team in this year's invitational tournament, Marquette University failed to make a single headline.

So far, the invitational tournament has generated two headlines, both of which were won by Texas Tech.

The first headline was Xu Ling's claim that he wanted to become the Michael Jordan of college basketball.

The second headline was that Xu Ling, after providing 12 assists in the knockout stage, expressed his enjoyment of beautiful singles matches.

This is simply unreasonable!
In terms of squad depth, they are superior to TTU.

In terms of academic ranking, Marquette University is ranked 20th in this week's Associated Press poll nationwide. Texas Tech? No such school can be found.

However, the media's focus was not on them.

Xu Ling even caught the eye of draft expert Chuck Ford with his impressive performances in several games against weaker opponents, while the core members of Marquette's roster remained players who "have draft potential but whose draft prospects are not yet visible."

"I heard that TTU has a Michael Jordan in college basketball, but we've only seen it in the news. Hopefully, he's not just a figurehead."

Marquette University sophomore guard Wesley Matthews told a reporter from College Sports Network.

When Xu Ling entered the venue, many audience members booed him.

It seems that his "college Jordan" theory has become quite widespread.

However, he completely ignored the audience's reaction, and declined when a reporter from the college sports network invited him to do a pre-game interview.

This particularly puzzled the media.

A person who appears to be high-profile decisively gave up the opportunity to increase his public profile through interviews.

Isn't this contradictory? If he enjoys boasting, he should take this opportunity to say even more. If he loves the spotlight, he should certainly accept media exposure on a nationally televised broadcast.

Xu Ling remained silent, focusing solely on shooting hoops.

His roommate, Roderick Craig, exclaimed excitedly, "You're a star player now!"

"Don't star players get criticized by coaches?" Xu Ling retorted.

Craig grumbled, "Well, who told you to compare yourself to Jordan?"

“Then let me ask you,” Xu Ling said, “do you think coaches prefer players who dare to compare themselves to Jordan, or players who wouldn’t even dare to dream of it?”

That was a rather profound question, and Craig had no answer.

Knight stood on the sidelines like a lion ready to bite, his face grim.

If a player misses a layup during practice, he will yell at the player.

Xu Ling noticed this, so he deliberately missed a layup.

“The guy who’s going to be college Jordan!” Knight yelled. “I swear, if Michael sees you training, he’ll sue you for defamation!”

Xu Ling leisurely dribbled the ball and walked up to Knight, saying, "Believe it or not, I don't believe that MJ never messed up the simplest layup."

Knight retorted sharply, "I've never seen that! I've only ever seen one guy who claimed he was going to be the college Jordan, and that's you, who can mess up even the simplest layup drill!"

"Would you be even angrier if I said I missed the layup to see you yell at me?"

A gasp!
Standing close to Knight, Xu Ling heard the coach's heavy breathing, a method he used to calm himself down.

"Fuck off!"

Knight dislikes players who lack a sense of hierarchy, players who lack boundaries, and especially players who joke around with him while he's asserting his coaching authority.

But his attention would uncontrollably fall on Xu Ling, like a wild beast lying in ambush waiting for its cunning prey to reveal a weakness.

From then on, Xu Ling never missed any simple training sessions.

TTU's starting lineup has been slightly adjusted.

In the past few games, they have started freshman point guard Charlie Burgess, but tonight, Knight felt that Marquette University was not an easy opponent. After all, they are a top 20 team in the country, and it would be disrespectful to use them as practice.

Therefore, he selected the strongest lineup available at the moment: Martin Zeno, Alan Voskull, Xu Ling, Daryl Dora, and John Presca.

Marquette University's starting lineup was very stable, featuring a formidable backcourt trio of Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal (SG), Dominic James (PG), and Jamil Lott.
PF), Ousmane Barro C.

Positionally, Xu Ling is playing the small forward position tonight, which puts him directly opposite Wesley Matthews.

After facing Matthews face-to-face, Xu Ling realized just how strong the other man's physique was. Although the coaching staff had mentioned in yesterday's pre-match analysis session that Matthews possessed physical strength beyond the college level, seeing it in person was still surprising.

However, Xu Ling doesn't think he will lose to Matthews.

In terms of physique alone, he was just as good before he lost weight. "Hey, TTU's MJ, nice to meet you." Matthews greeted him with an unpleasant greeting. "Although you're good at talking to the media, I want to tell you that playing well is more important than anything else."

What on earth is this old black man, with his overly fatherly demeanor, babbling on and on?

"Really?" Xu Ling had a habit of not knowing how to evaluate things; he wouldn't agree with people he didn't like. "I think dealing with the media is more important than playing well."

As soon as Xu finished speaking, Matthews got angry.

What does this mean? It means that all the hype was deliberately orchestrated by Jordan of TTU. He said those things just to grab attention, and he doesn't shy away from it at all.

"Looks like I need to teach you how to be a good newbie."

Matthews said coldly.

Xu Ling still had no idea what this guy was angry about.

Is he a die-hard Jordan fan, so obsessed that he won't allow anyone to use Jordan's name?

Whatever it is, Xu Ling will continue to observe, but before that, let's try fighting first.

In the opening jump ball, Marquette University's center, Barrow, won possession thanks to his size advantage.

They immediately sped up, with their star guard Dominique James driving quickly to the basket, but his attack was disrupted.

TTU had a chance to counterattack, but due to the absence of a full-time point guard, they failed to capitalize on the fleeting opportunity and were stripped of the ball by Wesley Matthews in the frontcourt due to poor handling.

Matthews looked as strong as an ox, but his straight-line speed was incredibly fast. His goal was clear: to rush to the frontcourt and dunk. But just as he jumped, the ball in his hand was knocked away by a powerful force from the outside.

Matthews stared wide-eyed at the person who had stolen the ball—who else could it be but Jordan from TTU?

"OMG Fuck!!!"

Matthews cursed under his breath.

Xu Ling received the ball but didn't keep it in his hands; instead, he launched a long pass forward.

Alan Voskull made a deft layup off the backboard.

After scoring the first point of the game, the Dane pointed back at Xu Ling, indicating that it was a good shot.

"Don't be angry," Xu Ling said softly to Matthews, whose face was full of anger. "You still have a chance."

Of course I have a chance, do you need to tell me that?

Matthews felt like someone was playing metal music in his ear while he was sleeping; his emotions surged uncontrollably, and he became irritable.

However, even Matthews cannot do whatever he wants.

He may be Marquette University's most promising draft prospect, but he is not the team's absolute core player.

The real leader is Dominic James, last year's Big East Rookie of the Year.

James raised his hand to call for Matthews' screen, seemingly to test Xu Ling's strength.

Xu Ling dislikes being passive.

The pole vault segment was a scene he would always skip when watching lighthearted movies. He liked to take the initiative—James didn't get a screen from Matthews, but instead got a quick double-team from Xu Ling.

Interestingly, James is listed as 5 feet 9 inches tall, which is about 175 centimeters, making him slightly shorter than Xu Ling in his previous life.

As someone who used to be short, Xu Ling knew all too well how to put pressure on them to make them feel bad.

Moreover, he can do even more now.

Xu Ling used his body to block the referee's view amidst the chaotic double-teaming, and then used his hand to stop James from quickly passing the ball. In the instant the opponent hesitated, the ball had already been slapped to the ground.

Martin Zeno lunged forward and caught the ball.

Xu Ling dashed forward and received the pass from Zeno.

Matthews chased after him angrily, wanting to teach this damn freshman a lesson. However, this round ultimately answered a question—why Wesley Matthews' draft prospects were unclear, while Eli Xu was identified by Chuck Ford as a future first-round pick.

At full speed, Matthews' straight-line speed was no less than Xu Ling's. He caught up, and the two jumped together on the paint. Matthews' body crashed into Xu Ling like a mountain—even if it was a foul, it was worth it—that's what he thought. But things didn't go as he wished.

Xu Ling's center of gravity only trembled slightly. The strength he had developed from playing inside for a long time allowed him to maintain maximum balance, while his remarkable long arms dragged the ball past Matthews in a beautiful orange blur.

"BOOMMM!!!"

"And one!" the commentator shouted, "Eli dunked over Wesley Matthews!!!"

"Want to know how to deal with the media?" Xu Ling looked at Matthews provocatively, then stated an objective fact. "Points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks. Fill up those numbers, and they'll naturally be chasing after you. It's simple, isn't it?"

Matthews felt as if all the noise in the world had disappeared, leaving only Xu Ling's nonchalant yet extremely insulting words buzzing in his ears.

Damn it! Damn it!
(End of this chapter)