Chapter 1

With two minutes left in the first quarter, Bynum received his second foul, prompting the B team’s coach to call a short timeout. At that point, the score was 16:19, with Team B temporarily in the lead. Of Team B’s 19 points, McGrady contributed 9 by making three out of four shots and two out of two free throws, accounting for nearly half of the team’s total score.

Twenty seconds passed quickly, and Team B substituted Bynum, Prince, and Monroe for Zhou Yi, Villanueva, and Gordon; while Team A replaced Starks, Daye, and Hamilton with White, Summers, and Jerrebock.

The game continued, with Zhou Yi facing off directly against his biggest rival—White.

As soon as he entered the court, Zhou Yi focused all his energy on the game.

Since Bynum had fouled Wilcox earlier when he attempted a shot, Wilcox now got to take free throws. To be honest, McHale’s free-throw shooting percentage wasn’t very impressive—his rate last season was exactly 50%, while his field-goal percentage was a stunning 52.5%, which was quite surprising. It’s not really surprising, though, as interior players generally don’t have high free-throw percentages, such asbeast Howard andO’Neal -> Shark O’Neal O’Neal. O’Neal -> Shark O’Neal O’Neal.

McHale missed both free throws, and McHale grabbed a rebound in the backcourt. He quickly passed the ball to Zhou Yi, who drove the ball to the front court. Perhaps not yet accustomed to the pace of the game, Zhou Yi lost control of the ball while driving and it was intercepted by White. Summers then made a long pass, sending the ball safely to White, who was about to easily lay it in. But just as he released the ball, a yellow-skinned hand firmly pressed it against the backboard.

“Wow, that’s a huge block!” Bynum said excitedly from the sidelines after taking a sip of water.

Zhou Yi’s performance also earned nods of approval from Kuster and the assistant coaches on the sidelines.

Chapter 23: Intense Competition

After finishing his shot, Zhou Yi easily grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to McGrady. After McGrady drove to the front court, he passed the ball back to Zhou Yi. Clearly, McGrady wanted Zhou Yi to perform well. Zhou Yi lived up to McGrady’s expectations; having learned from the previous turnover, he played more cautiously, avoiding any fancy moves. After a few feints, he effortlessly broke free from White’s defense, rushed to the basket, and scored with a smooth layup. As the ball went in, the whistle blew, and the referee went over to Duncan, signaling that he had fouled during Zhou Yi’s shot. Duncan shook his head helplessly. Zhou Yi stepped to the free-throw line, took a deep breath, and the ball traced a perfect arc before dropping smoothly into the basket, securing the two-point conversion. Zhou Yi high-fived his teammates and quickly retreated to defend.

Next, Team A scored a goal under the leadership of Wilcox.

Zhou Yi did a few dribbles under his arm, suddenly accelerated, but failed to beat White. White stretched out his arms and used Battier’s usual tactic to block Zhou Yi’s view. With less than 20 seconds left, Zhou Yi’s team had only one last chance to attack. Zhou Yi slowly wasted time while keeping control of the pace. At that moment, Villanueva set up a pick-and-roll for Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi quickly broke through, while Villanueva moved to the outside. Zhou Yi quickly passed the ball to him. Instead of shooting, he passed it to Markhill, who was in the paint. Markhill took a jump shot, and the ball went in. The referee’s whistle blew as well, marking the end of the first quarter.

“Hey, good job,” Bynum said to Zhou Yi as he walked over.

Zhou Yi smiled and changed the subject. “The score is 25-21. We’re still up by 4 points. Even though we’re ahead, we can’t be careless.”

“That’s right, Zhou is absolutely correct. Bring your passion to the game and focus on defense. Zhou, you did well just now—keep it up,” the coach said with a smile.

“Yeah, I will.”

After a short break, everyone quickly returned to the court. Slight changes were made to the teams’ lineups for the second quarter. McGrady from Team B was replaced by ‘Prince’ Prince, and Markhill was replaced by Greg Monroe. Summers from Team A was replaced by Hamilton, while Duncan was replaced by Daye.

Team B had the ball.

Zhou Yi drove fast into the front court with the ball and then passed it to Prince. With Hamilton behind him, Prince chose to play one-on-one; Zhou Yi ran back toward the basket, and Prince passed the ball to him after hitting the ground. Zhou Yi then passed the ball to Villanueva, who was positioned beyond the three-point line. Villanueva shot a three-pointer, but the ball hit the back of the rim and bounced out, saved by Daye.

White was annoyed—he already had few chances on the team, and now this Chinese kid… White thought to himself as he brought the ball to the front court. Zhou Yi closely followed him, guarding him tightly. Instead of reaching for the ball, Zhou Yi calmly observed the opponent’s movements. White used a clever feint to shake off Zhou Yi’s defense and brought the ball near the paint. Zhou Yi rushed over to cover, but White acted decisively—just as Zhou Yi arrived, the ball went through the basket. As White landed, his elbow accidentally—or perhaps intentionally—hit Zhou Yi’s abdomen. Zhou Yi immediately clutched his stomach, showing obvious pain. The assistant coach saw this and immediately asked the referee for a timeout, replacing Zhou Yi.

Because White’s move was subtle, neither the referee nor anyone else noticed it. Since it was a practice court with no video footage for reference, Zhou Yi said nothing, only telling the coach it was an accidental bump and he would be fine after resting. Seeing Zhou Yi’s pained expression, White sneered coldly, “This is what happens when you get substituted.”

The assistant coach had Bynum take Zhou Yi’s place, while Zhou Yi sat on the sidelines, still holding his abdomen and closely watching the game. Whether it was because of Zhou Yi’s substitution or some other reason, Team B’s offense suddenly struggled. In contrast, Team A, led by Hamilton, had a 8-0 run, pushing the score to 34:30—Team A now leading by 4 points.

Monroe was still a rookie; aside from grabbing a few rebounds, he didn’t show any other outstanding performance and even made 3 mistakes. As a result, the assistant coach promptly replaced Monroe with McGrady. However, when Monroe left the court, the assistant coach immediately realized that their team’s height advantage had diminished significantly. Although Markhill could play power forward, he had just been substituted out. On the court, aside from Villanueva who could play some power forward, McGrady was a shooting guard and small forward, Prince was a small forward, Gordon was a shooting guard and point guard, and Bynum was a point guard. The assistant coach sighed inwardly but had no choice.

The game continued. Realizing Team B’s height disadvantage, Team A began to focus on attacking inside. Wilcox and Daye racked up points inside Team B’s defense, delivering another 8–0 run that quickly pushed the score to 42–32, with Team B trailing by 10 points.

Watching the players’ performance, the assistant coach shook his head, turned around, and asked Zhou Yi with concern, “Are you okay after that injury?”
Zhou Yi shook his head and replied with a smile, “I’m fine, coach. Right now, our team is completely at a disadvantage!”
“Yes, they have a height advantage, and their outside shooting isn’t weaker than ours either,” said the assistant coach helplessly.

Yet, it was less than 4 minutes into the second quarter. Led by experienced players like McGrady and Prince, Team B quickly launched a counterattack, narrowing the score gap to 5 points. But just as Team B’s offense started to improve, they were once again suppressed by Team A. Team A not only scored 4 points in a row inside but also had Starks and Hamilton hit three-pointers. Although Prince scored another mid-range shot, Team B was still trailing by 13 points, with the gap growing larger by the moment.

At this point, the assistant coach called another timeout, this time a long one. He patiently explained tactics to the players, emphasizing the importance of defense once again.
When the timeout ended, both teams returned to the court. Team B substituted Gordon out with Markhill and Villanueva out with Monroe. Team A’s lineup remained unchanged.

The current lineups were: Team A – Wilcox, Daye, Hamilton, Starks, and White; Team B – Markhill, Monroe, Prince, McGrady, and Bynum.

The game continued, with Team B in possession. There were still five minutes left before half-time.

Although Team B adjusted its lineup, the deficit did not improve; on the contrary, it seemed to grow larger. The assistant coach stood there with his arms crossed, watching the game on the court helplessly and shaking his head.
“Sigh, Kuster knows our situation very well, which is why he can always find our weaknesses,” the assistant coach muttered to himself.
Starky dribbled past Bynum. Although Bynum was much stronger than Starky, Starky cleverly used his speed to get ahead of Bynum’s defense and quickly attempted a layup from above. Unwilling to let this happen, Bynum rushed straight at Starky. The referee immediately blew the whistle, and the ball went through the basket. Bynum’s recklessness allowed Starky to score a three-point shot, widening the score gap to 16 points.
The assistant coach turned to Zhou Yi and asked, “Can you still play?” “Absolutely,” Zhou Yi replied with a firm nod.
Since Bynum had already received his third foul, the assistant coach had no choice but to substitute him out with Zhou Yi.
Bynum passed by Zhou Yi and said in a low voice, “Hey, it’s up to you now.” Zhou Yi nodded and stepped onto the court with a serious expression.
Chapter 24: Crushing White
McDy and Zhou Yi clapped each other on the back and said to Zhou Yi, “Go ahead, show them what we’re capable of.”
Zhou Yi dribbled past his defender, who was still his biggest rival, Treico White. White stared at Zhou Yi coldly, without any expression. Zhou Yi performed several crossovers before passing the ball to McDy. McDy drove to the basket, immediately attracting double-team defense. Quick as lightning, he passed the ball to Prince, who was cutting in from the side, and Prince immediately completed a dunk with both hands, scoring the point.

Team A started attacking, with White in control of the ball rather than Stakki. Stakki preferred to play as a shooting guard since he didn’t like passing and was good at individual attacks. White faced Zhou Yi, skillfully dribbling the ball before suddenly accelerating in an attempt to get past him. At the moment of his breakthrough, Zhou Yi quickly knocked the ball out of his hands, picked it up, and launched a fast break. On the offensive end, Zhou Yi’s side was now in a three-on-one situation. Zhou Yi decisively passed the ball to Markhill, who then passed it back to Zhou Yi. Although Zhou Yi had a chance to lay up, he didn’t do so instead hitting the ground with the ball and passing it to Monroe, who immediately executed a powerful dunk, slamming the ball hard into the basket. Monroe seemed to vent all his frustration by taking a deep breath.

Now, the score gap had narrowed to 12 points. The assistant coach showed a relieved smile and shouted at his players to keep their defense tight.

With three minutes left in the first half, White still had control of the ball. Seeing Zhou Yi closely guarding him, White grew angry. He kept trying to break through Zhou Yi’s defense, but Zhou Yi stuck to him like glue. In a fit of anger, White rushed at Zhou Yi with a cold expression. Zhou Yi was momentarily stunned, not expecting White to charge straight at him, and stood still, only to be pushed far away by White. The referee immediately called a personal foul on White.

McDy rushed over to Zhou Yi to ask if he was okay. Zhou Yi shook his head and said, “I’m fine.”

McDy helped Zhou Yi up. The referee came over and asked if he could continue playing. Zhou Yi gritted his teeth and replied, “Yes.”

Thus, the game resumed, and White from Team A wasn’t substituted by Kuster due to the previous offensive foul.

Zhou Yi took a deep breath. Now he finally understood White’s malicious intent. Although he was easy-going, he still understood the principle of survival of the fittest. As a result, White’s behavior fully ignited his fighting spirit. Zhou Yi no longer had any reservations; he wanted to show everyone his skills. Survival of the fittest—strength speaks for itself.

Zhou Yi drove the ball to the front court. Though full of fighting spirit, he didn’t lose his head. He quickly passed the ball to Prince, who faced Hamilton alone and used his height and reach to score 2 points with a smooth jump shot. Next, due to Staki’s turnover, Team B regained possession. At that moment, there were only 1 minute and 11 seconds left in the first half, meaning Team B still had two chances to attack.

It was still Zhou Yi who organized Team B’s offense. He used a crossover to deceive White, and Staki rushed over to help defend. Zhou Yi spotted McGrady unguarded at the top of the key and made a beautiful pass to him. McGrady adjusted slightly before executing another graceful fadeaway jump shot. With a “swish,” the basketball went through the net, giving McGrady 3 points and raising the score to 46:39, with Team B only 7 points behind.

McGrady gave Zhou Yi a thumbs up before retreating to defend. Zhou Yi stayed in the back court, closely following White in an attempt to find an opening. White managed to drive to the front court, but was at a loss against Zhou Yi’s tight defense. White was 196 cm tall and weighed 97 kg, so he wasn’t an easy opponent for Zhou Yi. First, White was 8 cm taller and much heavier, but Zhou Yi’s advantages—speed and agility—made it difficult for White to keep up. As a result, Zhou Yi caused quite a bit of disruption.

White passed the ball to Staki. As the 24-second clock approached, Staki threw the ball into the air, and a burly figure immediately jumped up to dunk it with one hand. It was White. Before Staki passed the ball, White broke free from Zhou Yi and rushed toward the basket. Zhou Yi stumbled under White’s pressure and couldn’t keep up, leading to that moment. But just as Team A’s players were excited, the two referees discussed and ruled it a 24-second violation, meaning the goal didn’t count.

Upon hearing this decision, White glared angrily at the referees, then shot a cold look at Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi ignored him and whispered to McGrady, “Tracy, we still have one chance to attack. Let’s try to narrow the score to within 5 points.”

McGrady nodded and said with a smile, “Okay.”

29 seconds remained, and McGrady passed the ball from the sideline. After catching it, Zhou Yi didn’t rush to attack. He slowly worked the 24 seconds down to 15, then accelerated and took a quick stop jump shot. Seeing this, White immediately jumped up and lunged at Zhou Yi, his hand almost covering Zhou Yi’s face. However, as expected, the basketball wasn’t shot—instead, right after White jumped, Zhou Yi passed the ball to McGrady. Avoiding White’s physical contact, Zhou Yi rushed toward the basket. After McGrady broke through, he passed the ball back to Zhou Yi. By then, White hadn’t caught up yet. Zhou Yi attempted a layup, but with slightly weak force; the ball hit the rim. Yet since MarkHill blocked Wilcox, Zhou Yi secured the rebound. With a gentle shot, the ball smoothly went into the basket, but it left Team A with 4 seconds left.

Kuster called a timeout, gathering the players under the basket to plan the final attack of the first half. Zhou Yi and the others went over to the assistant coach. The assistant coach said nothing but reminded everyone to pay attention to defense in the final moments.

When the timeout ended, White was replaced by Duncan. With White out, Starks returned to his less preferred role as point guard. Hamilton passed the ball from the sideline. After catching it, Starks quickly rushed toward the basket, but Monroe and MarkHill were both nearby, plus Zhou Yi’s close defense, so Starks couldn’t find a chance to shoot. He passed the ball to “Masked Man.” Hamilton thought Starks would attack on his own and wasn’t prepared for a pass, so he shot hastily. As expected, the ball spun a few times around the rim and bounced out. McGrady grabbed the rebound, and then the whistle signaling the end of the first half blew. The score stood at 46:41.

The players gathered at the sidelines. McGrady walked with Zhou Yi toward the assistant coach, chatting and laughing along the way.

“Tracy, you did well. Zhou, you really drove the team’s offense well—great performance,” the assistant coach said with a smile. He then pointed out some areas for improvement, and the players listened carefully, nodding from time to time.

On the other side, Kuster’s cold face was filled with anger, but if you looked closely, you could see a hint of shock—clearly caused by Zhou Yi.

Statistics show that Zhou Yi played for about 6 minutes in the first half but delivered impressive stats: 5 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. He took 3 shots and made 2, including one two-point play. The only downside was that he also committed 1 error, but this didn’t diminish his contribution to the team. In contrast, his opponent, White, scored only 2 points and had 1 steal, along with 1 foul and 2 errors—despite playing more than twice as many minutes as Zhou Yi.

The break passed quickly amid laughter and complaints, and the second half was about to begin. The players from both teams quickly entered the court, with Zhou Yi starting for Team B in the second half. His partner on the backcourt was Wilbournam, while McGrady remained on the bench due to fatigue.

Without further delay, the second half started!!!

Chapter 25: Did You Expect This Outcome?

The lineups for both teams changed significantly in the second half. Team A: Darbon, Jerrebocko, Summers, Hamilton, and Staki; Team B: Monroe, Villanueva, Gordon, Bynum, and Zhou Yi.

In terms of height, the lineups were roughly equal. Apart from Wallace, who was an interior player, Team A’s others were all perimeter players. For Team B, aside from Monroe, who was a true interior player, Villanueva could also play power forward, while the remaining three were perimeter players. More precisely, Gordon, Bynum, and Zhou Yi could all play point guard.

Gordon played as a small forward. At the referee’s signal, he passed the ball to Zhou Yi from the backcourt. Zhou Yi continued to play as an organizational guard, while Bynum was assigned to the shooting guard position. Zhou Yi quickly dribbled to the front court and passed the ball to Gordon. Gordon drove to the basket, twisted his body to avoid Darbon’s block, and scored with a slight pull-up shot. Seeing Gordon’s beautiful shot, Zhou Yi cheered and then retreated to defend.

Seeing the score gap narrow to just 3 points, Staki quickly entered his scoring mode. With Kuster’s permission—Staki, being a key player the team was focusing on, had almost unlimited shooting rights. Staki didn’t disappoint Kuster; he took a jump shot at Zhou Yi, and the ball went straight into the basket without any resistance.

Starky is by no means comparable to White; the former can be nurtured as a key player by the Pistons due to his outstanding abilities. Starky is also 196 cm tall and weighs 93 kg. He is highly skilled at breaking through defenses, with fierce determination, and is good at shooting even when engaged in physical confrontations or off-balance. Moreover, he has a good passing vision and high passing efficiency. However, mid-to-long range shooting is not his strength, and his assist-to-turnover ratio still needs improvement, so he is not suited to play as a point guard—too many mistakes limit his performance in that role.

Zhou Yi can’t say he knows Starky very well, but he has firmly remembered his characteristics. Zhou Yi drove into the front court, didn’t choose to pass, but instead used a crossover again. Starky stumbled as a result of Zhou Yi’s move, and Zhou Yi instantly became a flash, completing a layup in an instant. His movements were fierce yet graceful, even Maddie sitting on the sidelines couldn’t help but nod slightly, smiling as he discussed the situation with the assistant coaches.

After that, both teams scored a few points each, and the score gradually became 52:50, with Team A still holding a 2-point advantage.

Five minutes passed, and the assistant coach glanced at Maddie and the others beside him, signaling a desire to make substitutions. At that moment, Zhou Yi drove with the ball and passed it to Gordon, who was waiting on the perimeter. Gordon immediately took a shot, but was fouled by Jerrebko just as he shot, giving Gordon three free throws.

Taking advantage of this, the assistant coach quickly called for a long timeout. His intention was clear: to make the upcoming substitutions and also to let Zhou Yi rest during the timeout, as he had no plans to take him off the court.

When the timeout ended, Prince replaced Villanueva, Maddie replaced Bynum, Markhill replaced Monroe, while Zhou Yi remained on the court. Team A replaced Jerrebko with Wilcox and Summers with Daye.

Watching Zhou Yi walk forward with his slender figure, the assistant coach was very excited, because Zhou Yi’s performance was truly outstanding. If given enough time, he could almost be the MVP of the game. Of course, Zhou Yi had no idea what the assistant coach was thinking. What he didn’t know was that his excellent performance had already left a deep impression on Kuster and the assistant coaches.

Gordon took the free throws, making all three, and the score became 52:53, with Team B taking a 1-point lead. Gordon excitedly high-fived everyone before returning to defend. The previous 16-point gap had vanished thanks to the combined efforts of Zhou Yi and others, and now they were even behind by 1 point.

Team A, naturally unwilling to fall behind, launched a fierce attack. Team B’s players had anticipated this, so they defended even more tenaciously. Starky drove to the basket, with Zhou Yi guarding him. Due to his overly aggressive moves, Zhou Yi was immediately called for a defensive foul by the referee. Zhou Yi tried to explain himself, but the referee shook his head and ignored him. The game continued, with Starky still in control of the ball. He passed to Dabben, who rushed to the basket, drove hard, and scored, drawing a foul from Markhill. The free throw also went in, giving Team A its lead back.

The score kept fluctuating back and forth, and for a while, both teams were locked in a tight battle. With three minutes left in the third quarter, McGrady stepped up. He first received an assist from Zhou Yi and hit a three-pointer from outside, then scored 5 points with consecutive shots and free throws, before assisting Prince to score inside. In less than two minutes, Team B widened the gap to an 8-point lead. During those two minutes, Team A kept missing shots, falling into a disastrous streak. Finally, Wilcox broke Team A’s scoring drought, but it was barely enough. Zhou Yi provided two assists in a row, pushing the lead to 11 points. Team B’s players seemed to be in hot form, hitting their shots every time!

With only one minute left, Cooster didn’t call a timeout but let his players play freely. In that minute, Team A not only failed to narrow the score gap but it even widened further. By the end of the third quarter, the score was 65:83, with Team A trailing by nearly 20 points.

In the second half of the third quarter, Team B suddenly stepped up, not only taking back the lead but also extending it to 18 points. The assistant coach was clearly shocked by this result, but after thinking for a moment, he realized that Zhou Yi and McGrady were responsible for most of it.

“Ahem, it’s no wonder Zhou Yi was able to make it onto the team. I wonder what Cooster is thinking,” the assistant coach thought to himself with a smile.

As Kuster scolded his players, he inwardly sighed, “Blake really has a good eye. This Zhou Yi is not only skilled at scoring but also possesses an astonishing talent for coordinating the team’s attacks. If he is nurtured properly, he will surely achieve great things in the future.”
Before long, the fourth quarter was about to begin. Zhou Yi was replaced by Bynum, while McGrady was substituted out by Villanueva, and Monroe took Gordon’s place. Team A’s lineup also changed, with Starks replaced by White and Summers taking Hamilton’s spot.