All I Really Want Is To Play Basketball - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: The Obvious Difference Upon Comparison

Just as the reporter trio were stunned by Su Feng and Kobe’s moves, Su Feng walked towards them after spotting the familiar faces.

If Su Feng’s thoughts were put into words, they would be something like this:

“What special occasion got the three of you across the Pacific Ocean?”

Su Feng knew that in this era, technology and the spread of information could not be compared to that in the future.

Therefore, Su Feng quickly developed a daring thought.

…

Zhang Weiping, who lost his sense of judgement, went forward as he saw Su Feng walking towards him. “Hi, Su Feng, I am Zhang Weiping…”

Su Feng nearly fainted when he heard this greeting.

What the f*ck…

Alright, this made sense.

Su Feng forced a smile and said, “You can speak Mandarin.”

Zhang Weiping paused for a moment.

Aiyo, my “occupational disease” acted up again!

Ever since he came to the United States, in order to improve his English, Director Zhang spoke English with foreigners.

Xu Jicheng laughed. “Nice to meet you, Su Feng. I am the reporter from Great Dynasty News and the basketball advisor from Great Dynasty TV Station.

“He is Su Junyang, the reporter from China Sports News and this is…”

“I know, I have watched Director Zhang play basketball since young,” smiled Su Feng.

Zhang Weiping was happy. He thought, “No wonder this boy is so handsome.”

After a while of chit chat, Su Feng verified his speculation with the three of them.

“F*ck… Stern sent my information to Great Dynasty TV Station?”

Su Feng took a deep breath when he heard this.

Because that meant that the big boss was interested in him.

However, when did that happen?

This was very important for Su Feng as the probability of Su Feng completing “The Path of Talents” was about 95%.

“Aiyo, his muscles. Xu and Su, come and touch them.

“This is what I was mentioning. The basketball players from our country lack such muscles.”

Just as Su Feng was thinking about something, Director Zhang could not resist the temptation and squeezed Su Feng’s muscles.

Su Feng was speechless.

“Your palms are huge. I think Michael Jordan’s palms should be around the same size?”

Xu Jicheng did not listen to Zhang Weiping. However, Xu Jicheng still exclaimed after seeing Su Feng’s almost perfect body.

Su Junyang looked up at Su Feng and asked, “Er… Can I touch it?”

Su Feng wanted to say no to Su Junyang, but Director Zhang on the other side… Hey, you cannot touch that part of my body!

Therefore, Su Junyang began to touch Su Feng’s hard muscles happily since Su Feng did not say no.

Although Su Feng was only 85kg and was still 5kg away from the 90kg target that Mancias had set for him for the NBA, Mancias had set the weight target based on the NBA standards.

Su Feng exclaimed as he looked at the video clips in the 90s.

If the basketball players from the “golden generation” had better conditions, how well would they play?

Looking at the Chinese players, apart from the minority, the rest were extremely skinny.

Therefore, Director Zhang was dazzled by Su Feng’s muscular body.

“Erm, please excuse me. I have a match now. After the match, I will treat you all to a meal,” said Su Feng politely.

Director Zhang was unhappy when he heard that. He thought, “You are still a student, how can we let you treat us to a meal?”

“What a impressive student,” exclaimed Xu Jicheng as he looked at Su Feng.

Su Junyang nodded. Before he came, he had seen the report on Su Feng written by the Americans.

Initially, he thought a gifted individual like Su Feng would be very arrogant…

However, he did not expect Su Feng to be so friendly and approachable.

Especially when he touched Su Feng’s muscles, not only was Su Feng not mad, but he even gave him a smile.

“So handsome, I think he is more handsome than all the idols,” said Su Junyang.

…

The reporter trio was convinced by Su Feng’s good looks.

After the warm ups, the 95/96 Pennsylvania Divisional Basketball Matches began officially.

After Stewart graduated, Doner had taken his position.

Hery Catholic High School was the opponent of Lower Merion High School the previous year during the finals. This year, apart from Michael Carter, Nelson, and the others, a new member called Sissoko had joined the team.

After the two teams were ready at the center circle, Su Feng realized that Kobe looked slightly sad.

Su Feng was concerned about his tool, ah, no, his good friend’s emotions.

After all, Kobe’s emotions might affect the outcome of the match.

Therefore, before the match began, Su Feng went forward and asked, “Kobe, are you alright?”

Kobe shook his head and replied, “I am fine.”

Although Kobe said he was fine, Su Feng could sense that something was on his mind.

Forget it…

Kobe’s character was as such. If he did not want to say, Su Feng could not force him.

Therefore, finish the fierce battle first!

Kobe easily beat Nelson during the jump ball.

Lower Merion attacked first. Schwartz dribbled the ball past the half court and passed it to Kobe.

Su Feng quickly moved and caught the ball that Kobe passed to him.

Swoosh!

A beautiful three-pointer!

0:3!

Cheers for Su Feng could be heard in the indoor basketball court.

Director Zhang, who was watching this, was slightly emotional. “Did you see that? That’s the ‘shoot after receiving’ I was referring to. European countries emphasize this throwing style now.”

Xu Jicheng nodded. “The speed move is indeed something that all players need to be able to do.”

Su Junyang took out his notebook and began to take notes.

Pang!

Hery Catholic High School attacked. However, just after Michael Carter went past Schwartz and was about to complete his attack with a normal layup, Su Feng dashed out from the side wings and prevented the ball from entering the net!

Su Feng’s performance in both attack and defence caused the entire indoor basketball court to go crazy.

Kobe caught the ball and dribbled to attack. Su Feng moved along, and right after catching Kobe’s ball, he flung the ball immediately.

Initially, Director Zhang was about to say, “This is an impossible shot”…

But Director Zhang suddenly recalled the oldest move from Chinese basketball players as the ball entered the net.

0 – 6!

Lower Merion led by six points thanks to Su Feng.

The match continued. It was Hery Catholic High School’s turn to attack. Although Michael Carter used his teammates to get out of the defence, when facing Su Feng’s stressful defense…

Clang!

Kobe caught the rebound and attacked immediately.

These were the moves from the so called “Grand Sewer Stats Farming Plan 2.0”. All that mattered was the speed.

In order to get the statistics, Su Feng needed to find a way to speed up the pace of the match.

That was because through increasing the rounds, Su Feng could then get the perfect statistics.

Fortunately, the high school teams were not as good at controlling their rhythm as NBA teams.

Therefore, in the early stages of the basketball seasons, Su Feng realized that as long as Lower Merion was able to speed up the tempo of the match, their opponents would tend to move along with them.

Similarly, with Kobe’s assistance, Su Feng entered and caught the ball with his right hand. He leaped and made a dunk.

Ever since he trained his jumps, Su Feng finally got rid of the label “glide dunk expert”.

Now he was Su-Movie Expert-Feng.

“Good pass, Kobe!” After landing, Su Feng went forward and fist bumped Kobe.

However, Kobe did not look very excited.

It was less than two minutes into the match and he had assisted thrice.

Moreover, Kobe had felt the enjoyment from passing the ball. However, why could he not feel the happiness?

Kobe asked after the shot, “Su, don’t you think… this is a little boring?”

Su Feng asked, “What is wrong?”

“High school basketball is too boring. Look at how some of our opponents do not even bother defending,” said Kobe disappointedly.

Aiyo…

What do you plan to do?

However, after thinking about it for a while, Su Feng also realized that indeed, by throwing Kobe into a high school basketball match, it was a terrible mismatch.

In Su Feng’s past life, Kobe had always been leading the team alone. However, with the addition of Su Feng into the team, it was no longer difficult for them to win the state championship.

When they won last year, it was still alright as it was the first time Kobe had experienced winning the state championship.

However, this year…

As Kobe and Su Feng had gotten better, the high school matches were… not challenging enough for them!

“Rest assured, after entering the NBA, you will meet many tough opponents.”

Su Feng decided to comfort Kobe. After all, if Kobe was overly affected by it, where could Su Feng get his points from in the future?

“I am worried about that, Su. Do you think we are really prepared for the NBA?” asked Kobe.

Su Feng did not know how to reply.

Because he knew what the problem was.

In Su Feng’s past life, Kobe decided to skip university and go into the NBA because of an important reason.

Before entering the NBA, a player came out to challenge Kobe and Kobe won.

That one-on-one challenge allowed Kobe to realize that he could enter the NBA with his basketball talent.

If Su Feng did not remember wrongly, that match would take place very soon.

Therefore, Su Feng put his hand over Kobe’s shoulder and said, “I am not sure whether we are ready, but I am sure that I will treat every single match as the last match of my career.

“If you are afraid of losing, you have already admitted defeat.”

Kobe’s eyes lit up after hearing that.

“Yes, you are right, Su!”

Su Feng felt strange looking at Kobe, who had gained new-found motivation.

After all, comforting Kobe with Iverson’s words, urgh…

Forget it, ignore the details!

…

The reporter trio were stunned by Su Feng and Kobe’s performance.

Apart from exclaiming, Director Zhang kept asking Markson about the black young man in Su Feng’s team.

“You are referring to Kobe? He is Lower Merion’s best player. Su is only in second place,” said Markson.

“Director Zhang, you are an ex-national player. From your perspective, how is Su Feng’s skill level?” asked Su Junyang curiously.

Xu Jicheng also looked at Zhang Weiping curiously after hearing the question.

“I am not sure,” said Zhang Weiping.

“What if he is compared to Hu Weidong?” asked Su Junyang.

“To put it frankly, Su Feng’s attack tactics are not as good as Hu Weidong’s.

“However, Su Feng is only 17 years old. I have seen Hu Weidong do the same slam dunk as Su Feng before.

“I heard Markson say that Su Feng is the best at defence. Indeed, look, Su Feng performed very well in defending.

“However, the problem is, we cannot compare him with someone else!

“You should know that defence requires comparison to understand one’s skill level,” said Zhang Weiping after thinking about it for a short while.

“I think Director Zhang makes a lot of sense. In this match, it is evident that their opponent is too weak.

“You need an opponent around the same level as them to see the details,” added Xu Jicheng.

“However, I just heard Markson say that… Su Feng’s opponent was the champion last year,” said Su Junyang.

Zhang Weiping and Xu Jicheng were speechless.

“It would be good if there was a comparison. However, the Americans did not boast, Su Feng is indeed amazing.

“Although I said a lot earlier on, I have to add that Hu Weidong did not have the same talent as Su Feng when he was 17 years old,” added Zhang Weiping.

“Yes, I wish there was some comparison,” added Su Junyang and Xu Jicheng.

…

Just as Lower Merion and Hery Catholic High School were having an intense fight…

At the training center of the Philadelphia 76ers, John Lucas, the star player of the Philadelphia 76ers, felt that the scouts were becoming increasingly irresponsible as he looked at the reports on Kobe and Su Feng sent by Elvin.

Because it was…

It was simply Markson’s comments of Kobe and Su Feng on the Philadelphia Evening Post!

Did he think John Lucas didn’t read the news?

“This is simply bragging too much. Based on what Markson claims, Kobe and Su can enter the NBA straight after graduating from high school?” John Lucas laughed as he read the report.

“Oh, right, Tina also studies in Lower Merion. Why not go and watch a few of Lower Merion’s matches,” thought John Lucas.

Just as John Lucas was debating about whether to watch Lower Merion’s match, Jerry Stackhouse arrived to practice in the training center.

“Good morning, Coach.” Although he was a newbie, Stackhouse, the third best player in the Philadelphia 76ers, was in a good mood.

He had received Michael Jordan’s invitation in the summer and trained with him for a period of time.

This training made Stackhouse realize that the basketball god was merely like so.

That was because Stackhouse felt like he could tie with Jordan during the training sessions.

Moreover, Stackhouse scored 18 points on average in the new season.

“This is my era!” Stackhouse had imagined himself as the best perimeter player in the near future.

Therefore, Stackhouse put in more effort during training.

“Good morning, Jerry,” John Lucas asked curiously, “Jerry, do you know Kobe and Su?”

Stackhouse’s expression changed after hearing their names and nodded.

Who would not know them?

After Stackhouse came to Philadelphia, he realized that although he was performing well, the fans in Philadelphia were not talking about him!

They were talking about two high school students!

How could they?

He was a basketball star, Jordan’s junior, and the third best player in 1995. How could he be worse than two high school students?

Just because they were nicknamed the “Junior Chicago Bulls”?

Just because Stackhouse had never played basketball in high school and did not know how good they were?

How were they worth being called the Junior Chicago Bulls?

Stackhouse got angry every time he thought of this.

That was because he felt that the two of them had stolen his limelight.

Especially… Su Feng. Why was he so handsome?

If he was so handsome, why couldn’t he become an actor?

“Eh, you know Kobe and Su too? It seems that I have to go and watch Lower Merion personally,” smiled John Lucas.

Lower Merion?

“Coach, you want to go and watch Lower Merion’s match?” asked Stackhouse.

“Yes, why?”

“Can you bring me along?”

…