บท 10: 10. Take another look.
The person being called by Andy was Tony Thomas, the head coach of Compton High School, the school DeRozan was about to attend.
Thomas shook his head, "No, if I go and greet him, he will definitely get nervous, and then I won't be able to see this side of DeRozan. It might even affect his performance... I didn't expect to see such an interesting scene when I returned to Hidden Mountain to rest for a couple of days before school started."
Andy withdrew his gaze from Zhang Yang and said, "Aren't you worried? Although DeRozan is very talented, those three on the opposite side were once geniuses too, and you should know about them."
Thomas smiled, "I once tried to recruit them, but they didn't come to my school. However, back in middle school, they were quite good, but they're nothing compared to DeRozan. They might be older, but they haven't gone through professional training for a long time, right? Plus, DeRozan has Harden as a helper, that chubby kid over there. Don't judge him by his looks, his talent is no less than DeRozan's. It's a pity, if Harden had also chosen to stay at Compton, I wouldn't have to worry about finding DeRozan a helping hand for the next few years... By the way, who is that Asian kid, Andy, is he from your school?"
Andy, "I know him, he's a child of a friend's family, named Jack. He attended Hidden Mountain Middle School where I work for elementary and middle school, and now he is at a private high school halfway up the mountain."
The son of a friend's friend? He seems to have a good relationship with DeRozan, Thomas felt there could be a prospect of recruitment.
As the coach of that rough place, Compton High School, he was always thinking about scouting talent.
Thomas said, "He has an excellent physique, even better than DeRozan. What about his skills?"
Andy gave his workaholic friend a sidelong glance, and replied, "He plays baseball, and is the captain of the taekwondo club; anyway, I've never seen him play basketball."
Thomas, "What?"
…
DeRozan was holding his own against all three, but he didn't win either.
In the end, the game had to decide the winner.
There is an actual difference between troublemakers and troublemakers; with other troublemakers, after an argument like the one before, they might have just started fighting. But these three insisted on settling the score with basketball, the arrogance of former prodigies still there.
Russell Jones set the rules for the game: half-court 3-on-3, best of three rounds, first to ten points for each round.
For the tip-off, DeRozan lost rock-paper-scissors to Jones, and Andrew Mels, the older of the Mels brothers, scored from the free-throw line, giving Jones' team the first opportunity to attack.
DeRozan passed the ball to Jones from the free-throw line, taking one step up to guard inside the arc.
The game started with a king versus king matchup!
Perhaps because the earlier trash-talking had strained his voice, Jones didn't spew any trash talk and went straight into action.
Jones' ball handling was flashy, with various tricks, highly entertaining and drawing cheers from the crowd.
It wasn't just for show; it was also good for annoying the opponent. DeRozan stepped up trying to stop the fancy dribbling with his body.
Even though DeRozan still had about ten days left before he turned 14, four years younger than Jones, he was much bigger in terms of build.
But this was exactly what Jones was waiting for. He pulled off a beautiful behind-the-back move to avoid DeRozan and then accelerated forward!
DeRozan turned to chase after him but it was already too late, Jones was really fast!
On the side, Zhang Yang was cutting off Andrew's passing route while closing in; Jones took a hop step to deftly avoid Zhang Yang, maneuvering under the basket, switched the ball to his left hand, and made a floater!
Hearing the onlookers cheer 'Little Iverson', Zhang Yang put his hands on his hips. To become the most well-known troublemaker in the neighborhood, Jones indeed had some skills.
The offense and defense switched, DeRozan went one-on-one with Jones.
DeRozan, with his 'best middle school player' label, was not just for show. Using his height and a pump fake, he fooled Jones into close defense, then made a lateral step to break through to the free-throw line, pulled up quickly, and made a mid-range jump shot, tying the score at 1 to 1.
Such graceful moves!
Zhang Yang clapped twice, hmm, he had decided, when he would develop his shooting again, he didn't care about anything else, but he was definitely going to switch to a cooler posture.
Some onlookers were shouting 'little Bryant'... A phantom duel that neither Iverson nor Kobe themselves were aware of?
The cries from the spectators just hit the spot for DeRozan and Jones, as Kobe and Iverson were exactly their idols.
In the following rounds, the two continued to attack each other, playing to a 3-3 start, after which Jones's team began to take the upper hand.
The Mels brothers, both 190 centimeters tall forward players, got used to DeRozan's offense after a few rounds, and the athletically superior younger brother, Isaiah, did a better and better job in closing down and double-teaming DeRozan.
Moreover, the offensive cooperation between Jones and the Mels brothers was quite good, though simple, this kind of game becomes more effective the simpler it is played.
DeRozan's team was also double-teaming, but due to a lack of clear defensive cooperation, the effect was far less than that of the other side; as for offensive cooperation... the morning's training was a waste.
With Andrew hitting a three-pointer after receiving a pass from Jones, the score was 10-7, giving Jones's team the first game.
During the break, the three players from Jones's team celebrated gleefully, while over at DeRozan's team, even the usually grinning Harden looked displeased.
It seemed like they just couldn't beat those three former prodigies with just the two of them.
If it had been an official game, playing for 32 minutes, their chances of winning would have been greater, but in this half-court 3-on-3 game to ten points... DeRozan scored 5 baskets, Harden made two, they played well, but the other side had already scored 10 points by then.
As for Zhang Yang, he didn't play any role in the first game, just filling in the numbers.
At first, Zhang Yang was also anxious, a complete drag on the team, but after playing a couple more rounds, he calmed down and did what he could do—observe the opponents.
After the first game ended, he thought for dozens of seconds, and waited after DeRozan and Harden's emotions had exploded the most, before calling them together and saying, "I've thought of a tactic that might work, wanna give it a try?"
Zhang Yang's calm tone seemed to provide a pillar for the psychologically on-the-edge DeRozan, who quickly cooled down.
DeRozan had already given his all in the first game, he was not outdone by Jones in one-on-one play, but in the end, he lost. He hesitated only for a moment before nodding his agreement.
'Jack has a talent for tactics,' had already been etched into his mind from the morning's encounter.
Harden didn't have strong opinions of his own; when DeRozan was anxious, he was anxious, and when DeRozan calmed down, he did the same. Once DeRozan accepted Zhang Yang's arrangement, he naturally chose to accept it as well.
Zhang Yang didn't waste time, and started explaining his tactical strategy to his two mates...
At the edge of the empty half-court on the other side.
Andy: "Those three guys aren't too bad, your new genius player might lose today. DeRozan is quite capable, and so is Harden, but they lack experience, and Jack is dragging them down."
Thomas: "Those three guys were once middle school prodigies after all, while DeRozan and Harden have just finished middle school. That the two of them can outdo those older guys in individual skills is already impressive, but of course, they can't match their experience. However..."
Andy: "However what?"
Thomas, looking at Zhang Yang who was saying something to DeRozan and Harden, replied, "From the perspective of individual ability, it's definitely Jack who is dragging them down, but from another angle... let's just wait and see..."
Thomas didn't care about the outcome of the game at all, if DeRozan won, he would be quite happy, but if he lost, it could serve as a lesson for the young man. Several encounters during the recruitment period had made him realize that despite appearing humble, DeRozan was quite arrogant. Such a personality needs some setbacks to be honed. If he always had it easy, he might not handle a major setback well when it inevitably came.
This thought just flickered through Thomas's mind. Compared to winning or losing, he was more curious about something else—the baseball player named Jack. Was his positioning just now coincidental?
...
...
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