All I Really Want Is To Play Basketball - Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Organized Well!

“Ding! Congratulations, Master. You have unlocked the ‘monolith’ badge.

“Monolith Badge, current level: Bronze.

“Effect of badge (passive): Increase master’s speed of close-distance defense, decrease the energy spent while defending and probability of losing own center with others’ dribbling.

“Effect of badge (active): ‘As firm as a rock’.

“Condition for activation: When the system detects that the opponent is stronger, activates after slamming the floor thrice angrily. Only one activation is allowed in each match.

“Effect of activation: Teammates’ morale for the match +15.

“System: You have won in the one-on-one match with McGrady; however, McGrady refused to admit defeat.

“Therefore, you have to battle it out until he admits defeat.

“Ding! ‘Battle Until Admits Defeat’ task: Crush Gregg McGrady’s confidence in a one-on-one match.

“Task requirement: Conduct 100 rounds of bullfights with McGrady and win 75 of them.

“First reward for task: Special shot ‘McGrady’s Jump Shot’, tap to see its effects.

“Secret reward: unknown.

“Ding! Master can choose to reject this task, there will be no punishment.”

Hold on.

Wait a minute.

Su Feng felt that he had to absorb too much information.

As McGrady lay on the ground to rest, Su Feng calmed himself down.

“Monolith Badge, hmm, this badge does not have any specified statistical improvements?

“However, look at this effect. Is it not the ‘death coil’ in 2K with a few other protective badges?”

When he was unlocking the “Su Feng”, Su Feng had made some speculations about how the system obtained badges.

Today, he could finally confirm his speculations.

In the brick shots system, the badges were relevant to his own playstyle.

“It seems that the badges in the system helps to boost the playstyle I choose.”

In 2K, as long as the player was willing to, he would be able to get most of the badges he wanted.

However, it was evident that the same situation would not happen in the brick shots system.

That was because none of the upgrades and methods for attaining the badges were explained.

Since Su Feng was clueless about it, he definitely would not be able to find a strategy like he did in the game.

After all, it was not Su Feng’s style to waste time on something he was clueless about.

That meant that whatever style of playing Su Feng chose in the future would determine what types of badges he would receive.

Therefore, this was more like a supplementary boost to his playstyle.

Meanwhile, if Su Feng would like to upgrade his current badges, he just had to continue playing with his current style.

“Reasonable!”

Su Feng gave the system a thumbs up.

It was worth mentioning that from the effect of the Monolith Badge, Su Feng felt that this badge would always be one of the five badges in his “inventory”.

After all, who asked him to be an “expert at defense”…

Su Feng: orz.

After looking at the Monolith Badge and its features, Su Feng looked at the “Battle Until Admits Defeat” task.

“How strange. Why didn’t I get any tasks after I obtained ‘Kobe’s Fadeaway Shot’ in the past?

“Could this be because I am not as fond of McGrady?

“Or did the system detect my intentions with McGrady?”

Sigh, although Tracey was a good cheat, to Su Feng, he was not as warm-hearted as Kobe.

Su Feng’s skills mainly came from Kobe.

Even the original version of the Shammgod was in Shammgod’s weaponry. If Shammgod was not a “dribbling talent”…

Emmmmm!

“Win 75 out of the 100 bullfights with McGrady? This task is very challenging.

“The reward is ‘McGrady’s Jump Shot’, which seems like a shooting technique.

“That means it will occupy the space for a shooting technique.

“Combining the shooting package I obtained in the grade-A inventory, this move should only be able to give me statistics and won’t change my original moves.

“Hmm! No punishment for failure? I must accept this task!”

Without any punishment for failure, Su Feng felt that it was an amazing setting!

After all, disregarding the system, the bullfights would help both of them improve their skills in basketball.

As for the reward, if he wanted to beat McGrady 75 times, it would be extremely difficult and some reward would definitely be reasonable.

Su Feng had read a novel regarding basketball in his past life. In that novel, one would become a girl if he failed in a task. Thinking about it now, he realized that the author was either retarded or obsessed with girls.

Of course, there was a difference between novels and reality.

Look at the system in real life—it was different, it was generous!

“However, what does it mean for the hidden task to be unknown?”

Su Feng thought about it and took a sip of the sports drink.

Meanwhile, McGrady got up from the floor.

Although he was extremely exhausted, McGrady was more tired emotionally.

Especially after Su Feng’s words when McGrady lost earlier…

It made McGrady recall the carefree life he had during his summer break.

The dreams at 4 AM were so amazing.

The snores at 4 AM were so relaxing.

Moreover, it was difficult to find nourishing meals wherever they were. McGrady missed his mother’s pasta.

Who am I, where am I, why did I get tricked to come to Orlando?

Auburndale’s sky was definitely more blue than that of Orlando!

The air in Auburndale was definitely sweeter than that of Orlando!

Go back, this place doesn’t belong to me…

Auburndale is my true home!

Just as McGrady thought about returning, Su Feng threw him a bottle of sports drink.

“Tracey, you are amazing.

“Your first step is faster than Kobe’s. If you were more accurate in your shooting, I would definitely lose to you.

“Press on. Just like Mike (Mancias) said, you will definitely get into the NBA in the future and earn a lot of money.”

McGrady was speechless.

Well…

Right.

If I enter the NBA, I want to earn a lot of money.

Hmm?

This person speaks nicely at times too.

For some reason, McGrady felt extremely energized!

Indeed, once one felt motivated, one’s body conditions would improve too!

“I definitely will make it to the NBA and earn a lot of money!” McGrady swore.

Su Feng had his mouth agape when he saw McGrady.

That was because earlier on…

In the secret reward of “Battle Until Admits Defeat”, Su Feng saw a progress bar of red and white.

The red and white were equal length in the progress bar earlier on…

Now the red part had surpassed the white part!

Besides that, subconsciously, the system reminded him that he could share his nutrient fluid with McGrady.

“!!!

“I get it, the secret reward has two possibilities!

“One is that McGrady admits defeat but only in terms of capabilities. McGrady might have become jealous of me.

“Another possibility is that I have made McGrady fond of me!”

What the heck!

How risky!

That was because Su Feng knew that McGrady was a typical Gemini.

He could be jealous and hate you, but he could also become good friends because he looked up to you.

In Su Feng’s past life, after McGrady thought it through, he had displayed “affection” towards Yao Ming after retiring and was no longer the emotionless McGrady.

“Hold on, why do I feel like the system is saying that Kobe is a simple-minded person and therefore does not deserve such a complex task?” thought Su Feng.

Well…

It seemed like so.

Su Feng gave the system a thumbs up for its reasonability!

“I must really have defeated him until he admitted it. After all, Tracey is my third brother.”

Although he did not know why he would think of Kobe as his second brother and McGrady as his third brother, after considering it thoroughly, Su Feng felt that the system settings were reasonable.

After all, in terms of age, he was indeed the oldest. Kobe was second, and McGrady was the youngest.

Moreover, think about it. The ultimate tactic of Lower Merion was, “use Kobe to his full potential”.

Wasn’t it just another version of Su Feng saying “my second brother Kobe is undefeatable”?

“Focus, focus.” After getting rid of the distracting thoughts, Su Feng smiled as he looked at McGrady and said, “How is it? Can you still play?”

McGrady, who was energized and motivated, smiled. “I can play with you until the end of the world.”

Su Feng activated his task of “Battle Until Admits Defeat”.

Clang, clang, clang!

…

After one day of training, McGrady and Su Feng played eight bullfights and Su Feng won five.

Su Feng realized that the effect of the Monolith Badge was very obvious. The “Magnetic Defence” was also very suitable for McGrady.

However, the problem was, McGrady was very good at defence, so if Su Feng was not careful, he had a high chance of failing.

Su Feng knew that if he continued this way, he would not be able to complete the “Battle Until Admits Defeat” task.

Therefore, during the break in the afternoon, Su Feng consulted another trainer, Alan Stein.

“Su, I don’t think you should be bothered by the winning rate between you and Tracey. After all, you are a group player,” said Alan Stein.

Su Feng’s mouth twitched. “I know, but I want to get into the NBA, and Coach Gregg has already promised to give me more solo tactics.

“You know that if I don’t show more talent in terms of attack, the NBA will not open its doors to me.

“Tracey is an excellent defender, and my best trial partner.”

Alan Stein nodded and felt that Su Feng made sense.

Therefore, after giving it some thought, he said to Su Feng, “Based on my observations, Tracey mainly makes use of his talent and reflexes in his defence.

“I can teach you a few simple but useful moves to trick Tracey.”

“Anything else? Because I can trick him one or two times, but not for long,” asked Su Feng.

“Yes, experience and tempo,” replied Alan Stein.

“Tempo?” Su Feng widened his eyes and looked at Alan Stein curiously.

“Yes. You know why Michael Jordan is difficult to defend against? It is not because of his fast speed, but rather because of his adaptability in changing his tempo. Listen up…”

After Alan Stein’s explanation, Su Feng felt that he was enlightened.

After all, the theories of a basketball enthusiast and that of a professional were different.

“It seems that I have to digest these theories before going one-on-one with McGrady again.”

Although this would cause Su Feng to lose quite some Brick Shot Points, compared to the reward for the “Battle Until Admits Defeat” task, the loss was not significant at all.

Think about it, in future competitions, if Su Feng asked Kobe and McGrady to train with him, he would gain so many Brick Shot Points!

…

During dinner, in order to increase McGrady’s fondness for him, Su Feng specially made a honey steak for McGrady.

As McGrady could share nutrient fluid with him, Su Feng did not need to worry about how long McGrady could play for.

Moreover, McGrady was extremely happy after eating the honey steak.

He acted as though he was a person who was starved for a long time and found joy in any food.

Moreover, Su Feng’s skills were affirmed by Kobe.

In the past, because McGrady was unable to share the nutrient fluid with him, Su Feng was unable to add new dishes. However, now, Su Feng could use his skills to get the affirmation from his new cheat.

“This is so delicious, definitely the best steak I have ever eaten in my life,” said McGrady in appreciation.

“Oh right, Tracey, from tomorrow onwards, let’s stop our one-on-one matches,” said Su Feng.

“Why?” McGrady felt that Su Feng was looking down on him. Did he not deserve to be Su Feng’s opponent because he lost a few rounds that day?

“Because Coach Mike has planned some core strength training for us. He said this training will be harder and we may get injured if we continue our one-on-one matches.”

Su Feng did not know that Mancias was useful in this context.

McGrady nodded and felt that Su Feng made sense.

“How’s the transfer process that Coach Mike mentioned?” asked Su Feng.

“I agreed. I also feel that Willis is not a good coach. I’ve decided to transfer next semester,” said McGrady.

After hearing that, Su Feng knew that McGrady’s life was going to change.

In Su Feng’s past life, the experience McGrady had in high school affected him greatly.

The unhappy experience caused him to become jealous of others due to lack of confidence.

One’s personality decided one’s fate and growth.

Although McGrady’s success was linked to his character in Su Feng’s past life, it also prevented his growth.

…

As time passed, under the training of the three NBA-standard trainers, Su Feng and McGrady’s progress accelerated.

Although Su Feng was still unable to see the category of “core strength”, Su Feng was sure that his “core strength” would surpass his peers after the summer break.

After all, which high school student would be able to hire a trainer who was of NBA standard?

Moreover, not everyone was as fit as Su Feng to tolerate it!

For example, McGrady evidently had the stamina of an ordinary high school student.

However, Su Feng’s stamina was so good that Mancias exclaimed, “He is made of steel!”

Moreover, under the guidance of Mancias, Su Feng’s jumps improved too.

Su Feng felt that in the future, the jumping statistics would be further classified.

That was because according to Mancias’ estimates, Su Feng still had a lot of room for improvement in terms of jumping speed.

Jumping speed, jumps, jumping in face of defence—Su Feng felt that he had a lot of room for improvement.

While increasing strength training and weight, as well as receiving Frazier and Alan Stein’s advice…

On July 24th, Su Feng resumed the one-on-one training with McGrady.

“I would also like to see how much I have improved,” said McGrady confidently.

Then…

There was nothing more…

After one day of bullfighting, McGrady left the court, upset.

“Why? We clearly trained together everyday.” McGrady started to question his life after losing 0:10 to Su Feng,

Thankfully, Mancias comforted McGrady, “Because he is one year older than you.”

“Just because of that?” asked McGrady curiously.

“Of course. During puberty, one year can make a huge difference.

“Although Su is not as good in terms of speed and jumps, he has much more experience than you.

“From what I heard, you didn’t get to participate much in the last season,” said Mancias.

McGrady nodded.

“That’s it, Tracey. I don’t think you should be bothered by the loss. That is because the future is yours,” affirmed Mancias.

McGrady felt relieved after hearing that.

Moreover, during dinner, Su Feng cooked a feast for McGrady.

Unfortunately, Kobe did not see the dishes, or his drool would be like a waterfall.

After pleasing McGrady, Su Feng realized that the red bar in the “Battle Until Admits Defeat” hidden task had increased to 80%…

…

Just as Su Feng was enjoying this, in the ABCD training camp of Adidas…

Kobe felt unsatisfied as he saw Odom getting tricked by him.

That was because although the training intensity was high, Kobe felt that something was missing.

Take Odom for example. He was only willing to play Kobe one-on-one a maximum of three times every day.

However, if it was Su Feng…

“Just wait, Su, you don’t know how powerful I am now!”

Thinking about how he could end life in his training camp and return to Philadelphia, Kobe felt exceptionally happy.

…