Chapter 11

This year's Chicago rookie training camp's practice match format is the same as in previous years. All the rookies who come here for the training will be divided into several groups, and the final champion will be determined through a single-elimination tournament. Therefore, this year, all the rookies are divided into 8 groups, with 7 groups having 5 players each and 1 group having 7 players, totaling 42 players. These 8 groups are led by 8 top-seeded players.

It can be said that such a match arrangement and tournament system is extremely brutal, especially for Penny Hardaway, the top-seeded player. This match is clearly disadvantageous to him, as all the players on his team are the worst in their respective tiers. Of course, when Lin Han was assigned to Hardaway's group, this disadvantageous situation for Hardaway also became a significant disadvantage for him.

"Looks like our first opponent is going to be tough."

Aaron Williams was feeling very conflicted at this moment. As a well-built interior player, he had a better chance of entering the NBA compared to other players. Although the NBA has been dominated by perimeter players over the past decade, whether it was Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the past, Isaiah Thomas after that, and Michael Jordan now, these NBA kings, except for Larry Bird who was half an interior player, were all perimeter players.

It can be said that the current NBA is dominated by perimeter players. This is the strategy of the new NBA Commissioner, David Stern, who took office in 1984. He promoted the NBA by using the attractive playing styles of the league's perimeter superstars, making the NBA more commercially valuable. To some extent, Stern continuously changed the rules to suppress the interior players, giving more advantages to perimeter players. This indeed made the NBA commercially successful, but it also severely suppressed the emergence of dominant interior players like Wilt Chamberlain. The NBA would not see the dominance of interior players in the 1960s and 1970s, nor would it see the tragic situation of Elgin Baylor, the legendary perimeter player of the Los Angeles Lakers, who finished as the runner-up eight times.

However, it is clear that under Stern's influence, the NBA is increasingly developing into an era dominated by perimeter players. But it is also clear that in the future, the role of interior players in the NBA might become more marginalized, making it easier for high-quality interior players to find jobs.

Although Aaron Williams knew he was not a high-quality interior player, he had the physical talent of a high-quality interior player but lacked the technical skills, which meant he could only be a role player. He knew that while the draft situation this year was favorable for interior players, it would only be favorable for high-quality interior players like Webber or Bradley. As for how ordinary interior players like him would fare, no one knew.

Therefore, when he saw the most important group division for the training camp and found himself in Hardaway's group, he was initially very happy. Being able to follow Hardaway, if they managed to reach the final and win the championship, his draft prospects would be greatly improved.

However, he did not expect that, besides himself, his team also had another ordinary interior player, Antonio Harvey, and the most "fearful" teammate, Lin Han. Although as a temporary teammate, he should not speak ill of Lin Han in his heart.

But one thing Aaron Williams recognized was that any team that included this Asian perimeter player, who ran even slower than a big interior player, would basically be in a 4-on-5 situation. Even if Hardaway were a god, he couldn't change this, unless the other players on the team were very strong.

However, no matter how you looked at it, the interior combination of himself and Antonio Harvey was very ordinary. As for the team's point guard, Van Exel, Aaron Williams had a high opinion of him. This point guard was almost predicted to be a late second-round pick in the draft.

This was not because his skills were not strong, but quite the opposite. His personal skills were extremely strong, and many experts highly recognized his abilities. In this year's draft, in terms of personal skills, he could rank in the top three among point guards. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been placed in the second tier in the training camp. Apart from the ten players in the first tier, each tier only had 8 players, so Van Exel was considered one of the top players among this year's rookies. If his playing style were more scientific and reasonable, he could even enter the first tier.

However, the key point was that Van Exel, this crazy point guard, would not change his playing style to be more scientific. If his style were really scientific and reasonable, he wouldn't have been overlooked by top college teams and not even made it to the first round in the draft.

Now, Aaron Williams was very skeptical that this guy would fight with the team's star player, Hardaway, over ball control during the game.

Thinking about his team's poor situation and seeing the opposing team led by Vin Baker and Isaiah Rider, with George Lynch, a top player from the University of North Carolina, in the second tier, although the remaining two players, Eric Riley and Adonis Jordan, were not strong, just Vin Baker, Rider, and George Lynch were enough to make his team suffer.

"The future is truly bleak. Maybe ignorance is a kind of happiness."

Looking at his Asian teammate, who was rubbing his hands in excitement and had a red face, Aaron Williams finally sighed in his heart. In his mind, Lin Han was ignorant, both of himself and of his opponents.

...

...

"Really a lousy group, f*** the organizers, they can't treat Penny like this, it's outright discrimination. Look at Chris Webber's teammates, and then look at Penny's teammates, they're not even in the same league."

"A wild shooter, an Asian outsider, two tall door frames, I swear these two clumsy door frames will be blown away by Vin Baker. Poor Penny."

"Indeed, our poor Penny, he has been excluded by everyone who envies him. I will definitely condemn this situation in my newspaper tomorrow!"

"I agree with this report. All journalists and newspapers should unite to fight for justice for the unfair treatment Penny has received."

Today's group match was not closed to the public. As the most important match for predicting the draft order of this year's rookies, it naturally attracted a lot of journalists. Moreover, this year's draft class included Penny Hardaway, who was extremely popular in the United States. Although Hardaway was just a rookie who hadn't entered the NBA, if we only consider popularity, the only players in the entire United States who could match him in popularity were probably Michael Jordan and another NCAA player, Grant Hill, who also hadn't entered the NBA. So, in terms of popularity, Hardaway was already a superstar.

Moreover, this player was not only extremely popular but also had a good image. He was not only a favorite of the fans but also a favorite of the media. Even Jordan would be envious and jealous of this situation, as Jordan was still being criticized by the media for his gambling debts.

Therefore, when these journalists saw Hardaway in such a situation, they were almost all enraged.

Of course, at this moment, all the journalists surrounding the court were enraged, while Lin Han on the court was extremely excited. He had never seen so many media reporters and cameras focused on him before. In his previous time at Utah Valley Community College, such a scene was almost impossible. At this moment, Lin Han felt that it was absolutely correct for Aly to spend $10,000 to bring him here.

However, what Lin Han didn't know was that the reason all the media reporters were surrounding their court was not because of the training camp itself, but solely because of Hardaway. Apart from the match with Hardaway, which was packed, and the match with Webber, which was also good, the other courts were almost deserted.

"Hey, Asian kid, what are you daydreaming about? The game has started!"

Just as Lin Han was daydreaming about shining in the game, being noticed by the whole country, and smoothly entering the NBA, Aaron Williams, who had just lost the jump ball, saw Lin Han daydreaming and shouted at him loudly.

However, by the time Lin Han reacted to the shout, Vin Baker's team had already completed a fast break with a 5-on-4 advantage, and the team's shooting guard, Rider, easily scored a layup. Rider was the player Lin Han was defending.

"Kid, you're the first player to daydream while defending me."

After the layup, Rider, a second-team All-American, didn't forget to mock Lin Han. He didn't like this outsider, or rather, no one liked Lin Han, who they thought was insulting the NBA and the draft.

A regular guy who had only played for a year thinking about entering the NBA? Do you think NBA players are cabbages? Do you think they are all idiots, having played for over a decade with the NBA as their goal?

However, in the face of Rider's hostility, Lin Han was a bit puzzled. He didn't think he had offended this star player in any way.

What was even more speechless for Lin Han was that after the game started, this star guard, Rider, became the main offensive player for Vin Baker's team. Whether he had the ball or not, he would always come to Lin Han's side, and with Lin Han's current defensive skills and physical condition, he was almost completely dominated by Rider.

If it weren't for the fact that Hardaway's team's point guard, Van Exel, also performed extremely well at the start of the game, Hardaway's team might have been completely overwhelmed from the beginning, especially if Hardaway continued to pass the ball and not attack himself.

"Truly a smart player."

Watching Hardaway constantly passing the ball to create opportunities for his teammates, Jerry West praised from the sidelines. Jerry Sloan, standing next to him, also nodded in agreement. They had thought that with a group of problematic and weak teammates, Hardaway would take on the responsibility of leading the team like Jordan, but Hardaway chose a different path.

This made Jerry West even more convinced that this young player would not be Jordan's successor but more like Magic Johnson's successor. However, whether he was Jordan's successor or Magic's successor, the Lakers were destined to have no connection with him.

"Coward, weren't you the loudest before the game? Now, do you dare to face me one-on-one?"

This game between Hardaway's team and Vin Baker's team was very special. As the core players of the two teams, Vin Baker and Hardaway were not the most prominent players on the court. Vin Baker's team's Rider became the focus because he dominated Lin Han, and Hardaway's team's Van Exel also became a focus because he dominated his opponent, especially his unreasonable three-point shooting, which almost made the opponents collapse.

In this situation, these two naturally became the focus of the game. However, even as the focus, being Hardaway's assistant did not satisfy Van Exel. This point guard had his eyes on George Lynch, who had mocked him the most recently.

"Hmph, I'm a forward, you're a point guard. I'm defending the Chinese guy, not you, this wild shooter."

Although George Lynch was very jealous of everything about Hardaway and disliked Van Exel, as a player from the University of North Carolina, he was not lacking in intelligence. Although he disliked Van Exel, he was very clear about Van Exel's abilities. He couldn't defend him, and as for the other perimeter player, Hardaway, he didn't even think about it.

So, in the end, he assigned Hardaway to his teammate, Rider, according to his own explanation, to give Rider the chance to challenge Hardaway, while he focused on the seemingly harmless Lin Han.

"False coward, you're a real coward, I spit on you."

Seeing George Lynch's shameless face, Van Exel spat at him, which made George Lynch's face turn red. Although he chose to avoid, it didn't mean he had no self-respect. In fact, his self-respect was stronger than anyone else's.

"Hey, Asian kid, are you a pig? Do you dare to attack once?"

Finally, the enraged George Lynch, who was mocked by Van Exel, focused on Lin Han, his defender, preparing to vent his anger on him. In fact, if his offensive skills were as good as Rider's, he would have already dominated Lin Han on the offensive end. However, he lacked confidence in his offense and could only stand aside, envying Rider.

Moreover, what was even more frustrating for him was that he was originally planning to showcase his defensive skills on Lin Han, but this Chinese guy just wouldn't attack, which made him very unhappy.

...

...

Faced with George Lynch's mockery, Lin Han had no choice. After being dominated by Rider on defense, his teammates seemed to have agreed to completely ignore him, just like the opponents said, a 4-on-5 situation. Lin Han swore that he believed his teammates were really preparing to play 4-on-5.

So, even if he wanted to attack, he couldn't without the ball. Therefore, while leaning against George Lynch and constantly calling for the ball from his teammates, including Hardaway, Lin Han felt very helpless. Clearly, Hardaway was still planning to pass the ball to Van Exel, not to him.

And just as Lin Han predicted, Hardaway indeed passed the ball to the highly offensive Van Exel. However, what Lin Han didn't expect was that after a moment of hesitation, Van Exel actually passed the ball to Lin Han.

"Huh?"

Lin Han looked at the basketball in his hands and glanced at Van Exel, who, upon noticing Lin Han's gaze, just grunted and turned his head away. However, Lin Han knew that this guy was still watching him and George Lynch with his peripheral vision.

Clearly, this guy wanted him to teach George Lynch a lesson.

"Truly a stubborn guy."

Although he didn't know what "stubborn" meant, according to Aly's explanation, it referred to someone who says no with their mouth but is very honest with their body, a contradictory personality.

"Hey, outsider, come on, attack. I'll show you how to block."

"Haha, you'll thank me, you'll definitely thank me for teaching you how to play basketball!"

"Finally, I have the ball!"

Faced with Van Exel's expectations and George Lynch's madness, Lin Han quickly focused all his attention on the basketball in his hands, recalling Kobe's moves when facing a defender from behind.

As if he had planned it in advance, he slid his feet sideways, lightly jumped, and twisted his entire body in the air. Lin Han's body seemed to pause in mid-air—this was hang time!

After completing the back turn and slightly adjusting his body, he gently shot the basketball in his hand.

Thus, the entire back turn and fadeaway jump shot was completed!

After Lin Han released the ball, George Lynch, who had been boasting about teaching Lin Han how to play basketball, looked at the airborne Lin Han with wide eyes. This defensive specialist was shocked.

Swish! When the basketball Lin Han threw finally went through the hoop with a perfect swish.

At this moment, whether it was George Lynch, Van Exel who had just passed the ball to Lin Han, or the other players on the court, they were all incredibly shocked.

"Beautiful, truly beautiful, this is one of the most aesthetically pleasing back turn and fadeaway jump shots I've ever seen."

Jerry West, looking at the Asian kid on the court, had a bright light in his eyes. In fact, Jerry Sloan, standing next to him, had a similar expression. This Lin Han reminded them all of someone.

As the most prominent figure in this game, Penny Hardaway was also stunned after watching Lin Han's entire shooting process. He never thought an outsider could have such shooting skills, skills that even he didn't possess.

"Michael Jordan?"

Finally, Hardaway took a deep look at Lin Han, who had fallen to the ground due to the large back turn, tightly clenched his hands, and muttered to himself.

Lin Han had entered the heart of this American prodigy for the first time.