Chương 18: A Grade Schooler's Nightmare.
The chat on the sidelines continued, as did the one-on-one match on the court.
Curry was on the attack first again.
The assistant coach passed the ball to Curry, and Han stepped forward to defend.
Seeing this, Curry quickly changed direction to break through inside.
His first step was fast and wide.
After drawing Han to one side of the breakthrough, he sharply pulled the ball back towards the three-point line.
Out of the six players in the trial, Han was the only one who had previously faced Curry.
He had a clear sense of his own defensive ability.
But just as Curry was about to shoot, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Han Sen hadn't been shaken off like Curry expected!
This caught Curry off guard, but he remained calm, quickly making a pump fake.
Yet, Han didn't bite!
This fake forced Curry into a dead ball situation.
With his one-motion shooting style, Curry lacked the strength for a forced shot and had to attempt a step-back turnaround jumper.
But just as Curry released the shot, Hansen had already predicted his angle and extended his hand...
Smack!
Han Sen swatted the ball out of bounds!
The block was crisp. Jordan and Bickerstaff's conversation abruptly stopped, and everyone on the sidelines turned their eyes to the court.
What just happened?
"He blocked Steph," Larry Brown calmly said.
From the moment Han Sen kept up with Curry's first step, Brown's attention had been fully drawn.
As a defense expert, he wasn't particularly interested in offense, but defense? That was his forte.
Han's reaction speed and lateral movement were fast enough, showing the potential of an excellent defender.
And Hansen's subsequent response surprised him even more.
Curry's fake was convincing and carried a real shooting threat, the kind where if you don't apply pressure, he'll shoot right away.
But not only did he ignore the fake, he also extended his arm, using his size advantage to block Curry's shooting angle.
From this, Brown could already tell that Han didn't just have the potential of a good defender—he was already an excellent one.
Blocking Curry after forcing him into a dead ball was merely the icing on the cake.
Although Brown's tone was calm, his words shocked the others, especially Bickerstaff and those who had witnessed Curry's performance.
Instinctively, they turned their gaze to Hansen, this somewhat unfamiliar player from a second-division league.
"Maybe, it was just luck?" Bickerstaff cautiously suggested.
Curry was the focus of today's trial, and with Dell Curry standing right next to him, they had to give him some face.
Brown just smiled without responding.
On the court, the possession switched.
Han received the ball, adopted a triple-threat position, and also chose to break through from the right.
Curry's defense pressed high as well, knowing that Hansen's main offensive weapon was the three-pointer.
However, Curry's judgment was off once again.
Hansen didn't pull back for a step-back shot but instead used his body to forcefully bump Curry aside, striding into the paint for a powerful two-handed dunk.
Rookie Curry's defense was clearly weak, especially his physical resistance. At 84 kilograms, he was at a disadvantage even against players in his own position.
This was also why Henderson, despite only missing one shot, scored six times in their one-on-one matchup.
5-0.
It wasn't until Han missed his sixth shot that the possession switched.
At this point, everyone on the sidelines turned their eyes back to the court.
In Bickerstaff's report, Curry was rated A+ in offense and B- in defense, so his weak defense wasn't surprising.
But how was Han, rated B in defense, shutting down Curry, who had an A+ in offense? That was the question on everyone's mind.
Curry got the ball again, but this time, he didn't rush to attack. He adopted a triple-threat position, swinging the ball from side to side, then glanced at the basket before accelerating left with a crossover.
The ball swinging was meant to tempt Han into reaching for a steal, and the glance at the hoop was to fake a shot— Curry's offensive details were fully on display.
But Han Sen wasn't fooled.
Larry Brown stroked his chin, observing Han with growing interest.
Han, now a college junior at not yet 21, wasn't even considered an older rookie, but his defensive instincts were exceptional.
Moreover, the scouting report on Han didn't highlight his defense as a particular strength.
On the court, Curry had used up all three of his dribbles in his drive and opted for a quick stop floater.
The quick stop was clean, but it still didn't fully shake off Han.
Under Han's defensive pressure, Curry was forced to release early, and the ball hit the side of the rim and missed.
At this point, Bickerstaff and the others could clearly see.
It wasn't that Curry had suddenly lost his offensive abilities— the only explanation was that Han's defensive rating had been severely underestimated.
This wasn't impossible, as he came from a second-division league, and scouts hadn't thoroughly evaluated him.
Compared with Henderson and Danny Green, Han's defensive abilities were even more evident.
Bickerstaff crossed out Hansen's B defensive rating in his notes and replaced it with an A.
After a brief hesitation, he added a "+" to the A.
11-3.
Hansen ultimately easily defeated Curry, ending his four-game win streak.
After that, Han began his own winning streak.
He beat Henderson 11-9, Green 11-3, Brown 11-5, and Seth Curry 11-0.
Then, it was 11-9 against Curry and 11-8 against Henderson.
Hansen's streak was different from Curry's. He relied more on defense to suppress his opponents, gaining enough offensive possessions to grind out victories.
Especially in his two one-on-one matches with Henderson, each had more than 30 possessions.
By the end, his stamina was clearly depleted.
But it was still impressive because Hansen had completed a six-game win streak!
He was just a player from a second-division league.
Jordan turned to Bickerstaff and said something.
Bickerstaff looked at Jordan in surprise, but after seeing Jordan nod, he didn't say anything further.
Hansen sat down to rest and wasn't called back onto the court after that.
It seemed the evaluation phase for him had ended.
After the one-on-ones, there were two-on-twos and three-on-threes.
In these phases, Curry stood out the most, shining in team play.
Hansen's performance wasn't as good as Curry or Henderson, but he clearly outperformed the other three players.
The Bobcats didn't schedule a full-court scrimmage, so after the three-on-threes, Han Sen's first trial was officially over.
Not long after the trial ended, Bickerstaff approached him for a chat.
From casual conversation about training to career plans and even Charlotte as a city, Han could sense that the Bobcats were interested in him.
This meant he had a chance to be picked by the Bobcats with their 40th draft pick.
The difference between being picked 60th and 40th was enormous.
The former meant a slim chance of being signed, while the latter meant a high probability.
"There's one more thing," Bickerstaff suddenly said, his gaze shifting to the other half of the court.
Following his line of sight, Han Sen noticed that Jordan hadn't left yet.
Not only had Jordan not left, but at some point, he had changed into workout gear and was shooting on the other half of the court.
Han watched for a while, finding it unbelievable.
Jordan hadn't missed a single shot, and his movements were smooth and fluid.
Apart from jumping lower, he looked just like he did in the highlights.
"Oh, right, what were you saying?" Han snapped out of it after watching for a while, remembering he was still talking to Bickerstaff.
"Michael said he wants to play a little one-on-one with you."
"Who?" Han Sen thought he'd misheard.
At that moment, Jordan noticed they were done talking and stopped his shooting, waving them over.
Han realized then that Jordan really wanted to play him one-on-one.
"You don't need to be too surprised. Michael occasionally plays with the team," Bickerstaff explained as he motioned for him to head over.
Hearing this, Han remembered a rumor.
It was said that the Bobcats were doing so poorly that the 50-year-old Jordan had once beaten up the Bobcats' guards in a scrimmage out of frustration.
Han Sen walked over, and Jordan didn't say anything, just gesturing for him to step onto the court for a one-on-one.
Most of the other people in the gym had been preparing to leave, but upon seeing this, they all came back to watch.
This surprised Hansen— Jordan wasn't clearing the court. Was he really not worried about losing and embarrassing himself?
"I have a question," he asked, not immediately stepping onto the court.
"Go ahead," Jordan replied.
"Am I about to play the owner of the Bobcats, Mr. Jordan, or retired basketball player Michael Jordan?"
Bickerstaff was momentarily stunned. He realized he should've given Han a heads-up earlier.
Jordan looked at him carefully, surprised by the question.
A few seconds later, he laughed.
"Don't worry, I won't hold back."
Upon hearing this, he nodded and stepped onto the court.
Han got the ball first, and Jordan went up to defend.
Jordan's movements were more fluid than expected. Although his knees couldn't keep up with him for long durations, they didn't affect his explosiveness in one-on-one situations.
The Bobcats scouts, players, and even Curry looked on with great interest.
It wasn't every day you got to watch someone go one-on-one against Jordan!
But for Han Sen, it was a completely different feeling.
Despite Jordan's status as the greatest basketball player of all time, there was still an immense pressure playing against him, especially when Jordan showed a rare intensity and desire to win, like he always did on the court.
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