Chapter 59

“Calm down, calm down, I underestimated my opponent too much just now!”

While keeping that thought in his mind, Stackhouse was thinking of ways to break past Su Feng’s defense.

After all, he used to be the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s trump card. Stackhouse’s talent was definitely worthy of his draft pick position.

Stackhouse did not play around with Su Feng this time. He grabbed the ball and started driving with brute force.

Courtside, Kobe silently shook his head when he saw that scene.

Because no one knew better than Kobe how terrifying Su Feng’s defending was.

Indeed, Stackhouse felt the beckoning of the Starks on the court again.

After driving into the inner circle, he actually sent the basketball flying because he threw it with too much force…

Stackhouse was embarrassed.

As the saying goes, insiders watch your techniques, while outsiders just jump on the bandwagon. Courtside, Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach John Davis exclaimed, “Judging by his defensive ability alone, Su could be one of the top three defenders in our team.”

John Lucas nodded, “He reminds me of Doug Christie.

Considering he’s only 17, I believe he will definitely become an outstanding defensive expert in the future.”

On the court, Stackhouse already started questioning his life.

Erm…

Are high school students nowadays all so good?

Well…

If we compared the current Su Feng with Stackhouse, Su Feng was definitely no match for Stackhouse.

After all, Stackhouse was all-rounded and could play with and without possession. Moreover, his body condition was outstanding.

However, have you seen who Su Feng has been having one-on-ones with for the past one and a half years?

In Su Feng’s previous life, Kobe’s victory against Stackhouse in this one-on-one before he graduated did not happen by chance.

Because Kobe, who loved researching offensive techniques, was an attacking encyclopedia now. When he went for the Lakers’ trial in the future, he made use of his beautiful offensive combos to capture the hearts of the Lakers’ recruitment team.

In terms of physical talent, Kobe was not scared of Stackhouse at all.

In fact, when it came to defending, although Stackhouse did not activate the Mangekyou Sharingan in terms of defending, he was definitely no match for Kobe and Su Feng.

And here lies the problem. In Su Feng’s previous life, after entering the NBA, why was Kobe tending the water dispenser while Stackhouse was farming points happily?

The answer was very simple. Firstly, Lakers head coach “Silver Fox” Harris, did not wish to rush Kobe’s development and was very careful with how he used Kobe.

Next, Kobe’s tactical awareness back then was still at high school level, so it was difficult for him to gel with his teammates.

Lastly, the Logoman developed Kobe like a basketball star from the very beginning.

He did not want and did not need Kobe to change. He just needed Kobe to press forward with an indomitable will.

Meanwhile, Stackhouse’s development path was obviously different from Kobe’s. When he entered the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers were a trash team that could not get any worse.

He had unlimited chances to shoot and could farm points however he liked.

Coupled with his status as Jordan’s junior and 1995’s third draft pick, many veterans in the Philadelphia 76ers were unwilling to offend him.

But everything changed when a man named Allen arrived.

In the 96/97 season, Iverson only had a slightly higher field goal percentage than Stackhouse.

But don’t forget, Iverson’s lightning quick drives could attract double-teams.

Thus, as Stackhouse kept thinking Iverson should be assisting him, the Philadelphia 76ers’ management used a transfer to tell Stackhouse the cruel truth.

Sorry, since you are unwilling to assist Iverson, get lost.

In a nutshell, Stackhouse was truly a very capable player. Unfortunately, he got the wrong script.

He got a script of a “main lead” when he really was not destined to be a main lead.

In Su Feng’s previous life, the best position for Stackhouse was that of the sixth man. That was because he could shoot as many times as he wanted when he led the substitutes.

And his playstyle would be very effective in the second team.

After all, the gap between the starters and substitutes of every NBA team was very large. When playing as the sixth man, Stackhouse would not encounter very intense defending.

After all, because of the “Old Gangster”, which team’s starting lineup would not have a defending expert from the 90s to the start of the 2000s?

Coupled with the handcheck rule, if you did not have a signature move, you could not become a star.

…

On the court, after successfully defending against Stackhouse thrice in a row, it was Su Feng’s turn to attack.

This time, Stackhouse learned. After passing to Su Feng, he immediately lunged towards him.

However, did Stackhouse think that Su Feng would not dare to shoot because he did that?

You must be joking!

Before the one-on-one started, Su Feng knew he currently lacked offensive techniques. So he naturally needed some luck to beat Stackhouse.

Thus, the shooting move Su Feng equipped now was, of course, McGrady’s Jump shot, which was best suited for giant-killing!

Swoosh!

This was a jump shot that ignored everything!

During the summer vacation, in order to allow his jump shots to not be affected by his opponents’ defending and allow himself to shoot at any position forcefully, Su Feng specially asked Frazier to train his jump shots.

The advice Frazier gave Su Feng then was that his shooting stance was already very accurate. If he wanted to shoot forcefully in higher-level matches, he had to shoot from a higher starting point.

When he shot, his body had to be straight and his elbows should remain perpendicular to his wrists. Even when he suddenly stopped after moving to shoot, Su Feng had to maintain this beautiful shooting stance.

And this was the extremely handsome Defense-ignoring Forceful Shot!

Su Feng was very clear that under the environment of the hand-check rule, it was useless to focus just on hand speed.

And don’t think just anyone could learn Stephen Curry’s shooting stance.

Honestly, if Curry’s shooting move was so easy to learn, the NBA would be full of Currys.

As a Kobe fan, Su Feng loved mimicking how Kobe played in his previous life. So that made him develop an elegant shooting move.

Su Feng was used to jump shots and he was both tall and had long arms in this life. There was no need to give up on his advantage.

Thus, under Frazier’s guidance, Su Feng had already developed his defense-ignoring forceful shots quite a lot.

After all, this era was like this. If you could not even shoot, how could you lay bricks…

You could not possibly ask your opponent nicely to let you shoot, right?

But what was worth mentioning was that although the equipped shooting move in the system would not affect Su Feng’s shooting stance in real life…

Every time he equipped McGrady’s Jump Shot, Su Feng would subconsciously want to show off his scissors kick.

See, if Stackhouse had not dodged in time, he would have taken a kick from Su Feng.

3-0…

Stackhouse’s jaw almost dropped to the floor.

He can’t possibly win against me, right?

Stackhouse, who was almost “taken advantage of” by Su Feng, went into a complete meltdown then.

How could Stackhouse, who was careless, underestimate his opponent and mess himself up…

He could not lose to the calm, collected, strategic…

And most importantly, handsome Su Feng, right?

…

10-8!

Although the “Abridged Iron Man” Stackhouse’s name had the word Stark in it hit iron[1] continuously alongside the “Legitimate Iron Man” Su Feng…

With his stubborn and flexible defending, Su Feng laughed till the end!

The reporter trio already had no idea how to comment on Su Feng’s performance.

Su Junyang kept shaking Director Zhang while saying, “Director Zhang, Director Zhang, Little Su just won against an NBA player. Did you see it? Did you see it?”

Director Zhang, who felt a little dizzy, replied, “I saw it, I saw it. Old Su, stop shaking me. I feel like vomiting…”

“So each new generation exceeds the last one. Little Su has really opened our eyes today.” Xu Jicheng laughed while commenting.

Lower Merion’s indoor basketball court went wild.

My God!

Su Feng had actually won against Stackhouse!

At that moment, Lower Merion’s utility players all felt at that moment that whatever they suffered through previously was fair. They were all blessings from heaven!

“Su, do you want to take a sip? It’s still hot!” Beside Su Feng, Schwartz excitedly passed the thermos flask with Goji tea in it to him.

“Thanks.” Su Feng calmly received the thermos flask and took a small sip.

So handsome!

So cool!

Humble in victory and not dejected in defeat. Even after winning against an NBA player, he did not grow dizzy with success. That’s Su alright!

Schwartz felt that Su Feng was extremely wholesome and handsome right now.

…

Turning our attention back to the court, Stackhouse was going insane…

Who am I, where am I, I f*cking got defeated by a high schooler?

At that moment, Stackhouse even considered murder.

Because if news of this spread, he would lose all his dignity.

No, no, calm down. I must act like I was not playing seriously just now.

Yes, that’s right!

How could a mighty NBA player like me play seriously against a high school player?

So, watching Su Feng, who was surrounded by the crowd, Stackhouse walked over on his own accord.

He gave Su Feng a thumbs up and flashed a smile. “Great job just now. Keep working hard. Although I wasn’t giving my all just now, you’re already ready for the NBA to me.”

Nice one, Jerry!

Stackhouse could not help but give himself a thumbs up for his ingenuity.

At the moment, the crowd surrounding Su Feng were a little confused.

Huh?

He was not playing seriously…

Right, he was an NBA player after all.

But Su Feng already did very well!

One had to admit, Stackhouse was a genius.

No wonder he still wanted to give Carter XP in 2000’s Slam Dunk Contest after being proven wrong time and again in Su Feng’s previous life…

Su Feng did not pursue matters with Stackhouse. Because although he could, there was no need to.

Su Feng originally wanted to use that one-on-one to test how far away he was from NBA level.

And if they continued, Su Feng knew that there was a high probability that he would lose more.

Anyway, it was fine so long as he knew the path he had taken was correct.

Su-Calm-Feng was just that amicable.

But here lies the problem!

Su Feng not pursuing matters did not mean that others would not pursue matters on his behalf.

“Oh really? Then come have a one-on-one with me. I hope you don’t find any excuses and give your 200%!”

Kobe, who originally wanted to celebrate together with Su Feng, immediately became unhappy after hearing Stackhouse’s statement.

Not playing seriously?

Not giving your all?

Hehe, then were those elbow strikes love taps?

Kobe was very angry, because he felt that Stackhouse was making use of his status as an NBA player to bully them.

And as Su Feng’s best friend, how could Kobe take that lying down?

Because of that, it was Stackhouse’s turn to become confused…

Huh?

Again?

Stackhouse used a pleading gaze for help to look at his head coach. But he did not expect that the two “Johns” were in a heated discussion over the previous one-on-one…

“Are you scared? You’re Michael Jordan’s junior? Have you left your courage and d*ck back at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill?” Kobe taunted while looking at Stackhouse with disdain.

Stackhouse was confused.

Hoho.

So this world has changed after all.

Haven’t I only lost one match?

You’re making it seem like any high school student could defeat me.

“You must be Kobe.”

Stackhouse’s expression right now was extremely similar to how warriors in costume dramas Su Feng watched in his previous life looked when they shouted “Who goes there”.

“Yes,” Kobe answered coolly.

“Same rules as just now, let the basketball do the talking,” Stackhouse told Kobe.

“No problem,” Kobe replied.

Courtside, the crowd started selling coke, snacks, and other drinks once again.

Su Feng had just finished sparring with Stackhouse and Kobe followed up immediately?

At that moment, the reporter trio and two coaches of the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as everyone else, focused their attention on the court again.

What was worth mentioning was that Su Feng pointed at his thermos flask and asked Kobe before he got on the court, “You want some? It’s pretty delicious, and it’s still hot.”

Su Feng knew that although Kobe would spar with Stackhouse even if he did not exist, he was still pretty touched after seeing how Kobe had stood up for him just now.

So, he would definitely share the Goji tea with nutrient fluid mixed in with this good friend of his.

Kobe turned back to reply to Su Feng while smiling, “No worries, I’ll end this one-on-one quickly.”

At that moment, looking at Kobe’s Mamba-like expression, even Su Feng could not help but to give Kobe a thumbs up and say, “Cool!”

…

On the court, Kobe vs Stackhouse.

Same rules as before, then…

Kobe stole the ball from Stackhouse the moment the match started.

Of course he would. After all, Kobe was watching Stackhouse’s each and every move just now.

The observant Black Mamba would never give up a good chance to observe his opponent.

And Kobe discovered during his observation that Stackhouse’s centre of gravity when dribbling was very high. So he just needed to get to Stackhouse’s weak side to find a chance to steal.

Kobe defended differently from Su Feng. If we described Su Feng’s defense as a nougat which clung to Stackhouse…

Then Kobe was a porcupine who attacked actively and stabbed towards Stackhouse from all directions.

Stackhouse was too careless.

Even though he had already stopped underestimating his opponent, he did not understand Kobe and Su Feng enough.

After all, in this era where the internet was not so developed yet, as a proud NBA player, who would go follow two high schoolers?

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, this must be an accident!” Stackhouse consoled himself.

But next…

It was Kobe’s turn to attack. When Kobe dribbled to the left and tried to break through, he seemed to lose control of the ball…

As Stackhouse watched Kobe lose control of the ball, he originally thought Kobe had made a mistake.

However, at that crucial moment, Kobe suddenly pulled the basketball back!

Next, after doing a handsome crossover, Kobe charged under the basket after driving past Stackhouse!

Clang!

A heavy slam dunk from Kobe!

“Your defending is far worse than Su’s. At least Su would not let me drive past him so easily.

“You must be kidding. I have hundreds of one-on-ones like this with Su every day. If Su had not gone easy on you just now, you would not have been able to score even a single shot.

“NBA player? Just you wait. Su and I will enter the NBA sooner or later.”

Kobe proclaimed while looking at the dumbstruck Stackhouse in disdain after landing from his slam dunk.

And somehow, although Kobe was acting cool, Su Feng felt…

Nice one!

Please increase the intensity!

Well…

Actually, Kobe’s words could be quite pleasing to the ears sometimes.

On the bleachers, besides Su Feng, the crowd were all stunned.

My God…

The Lower Merion duo really could win against a NBA player!

Philadelphia 76ers head coach John Lucas was about to go crazy. “Tell Elvin to prepare three scouting reports of Kobe and Su every week from now on!

“And if he dares to continue plagiarising the Philadelphia Evening Post’s reports, get him to pack his bags and get lost!”

John Davis knew that Lucas had been completely awed by Su Feng and Kobe’s talent.

Alright…

Actually, John Davis had already been amazed by Su Feng and Kobe’s performances on the court as well.

Although a one-on-one could not give them a comprehensive idea of their capabilities…

Those two lads were only 17!

And just as John was incredibly amazed, on the court…

Clang!

Stackhouse’s attack failed. When it was Kobe’s turn to attack, he used his speed to drive past Stackhouse and completed a backhand dunk in the air!

“Poor Stackhouse…” Su Feng knew that Stackhouse had completely lost the plot.

…

10-7. Kobe won his one-on-one much faster than Su Feng won his.

Although Stackhouse displayed his all-roundedness as the third draft pick in the later stages of the match, there was no use…

Kobe was way too experienced in having one-on-ones.

When he was young, Kobe often had one-on-ones with his dad.

When he grew up, Kobe loved to randomly challenge his teammates to one-on-ones.

And after meeting Su Feng, Kobe researched how to do slam dunks while riding atop Su Feng every single day.

To put it frankly, Stackhouse was at a disadvantage due to his lack of culture.

Kobe and Su Feng were already preparing for the NBA now.

But Stackhouse was still treating them like high schoolers. Thus. wouldn’t that be…

Riding a horse over to present his head on a silver plate to them?

“I…” On the court, Stackhouse originally wanted to challenge Su Feng and Kobe to a rematch.

But somehow, although the words were at the tip of his tongue, he could not say them.

“Kobe, Su, I’ll ask John (Davis) to give you a few Philadelphia 76ers match tickets. If you’re interested, you can come watch us play any time.”

Philadelphia 76ers head coach John Lucas offered Kobe and Su Feng after Kobe’s one-on-one with Stackhouse ended.

“You played very, very well. Who knows, we might have a chance to work together in the NBA in the future,” Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach John Davis added.

After hearing the praises from the two Johns, Kobe was very happy, while Su Feng was very calm.

Because Su Feng knew that although John Lucas was trying to show him and Kobe how much he liked them…

Su Feng knew that if the Philadelphia 76ers still got the first draft pick, they would choose a different person with it.

And if Su Feng remembered correctly, John Lucas would no longer be the Philadelphia 76ers’ head coach in the next season.

So his promises were pointless.

Although Su Feng was very happy to get recognition from an NBA head coach, the normally steady Su Feng would not care too much about these kinds of things.

So long as the dust had not settled, they were all just dust clouds passing before him.

“Amazing, he has such great mental quality.” Looking at the calm Su Feng, Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach John Davis gave Su Feng a thumbs up in his heart.

…

Just like that…

Stackhouse lost.

He had ridden his horse here happily but walked home in disappointment.

After giving Kobe and Su Feng some experience discreetly, this legendary NBA player still had to compose himself to go back and play in the NBA.

The reporter trio’s scouting trip had also come to an end.

To the reporter trio, their trip to Philadelphia had completely changed their world view.

Stackhouse and Su Feng’s one-on-one especially made the reporter trio believe that a Chinese player would truly appear in the NBA in the near future.

And not long after Su Feng and Kobe tested their skills…

“Oh, interesting. You’re saying the Philadelphia 76ers’ head coach John Lucas brought their trump card, Jerry Stackhouse, on a trip to Lower Merion?”

In Los Angeles, when Jerry West received a call from the scout he had sent to Philadelphia, he suddenly no longer felt sleepy.

“Yes, Jerry Stackhouse even had one-on-ones with both Kobe and Su in the indoor basketball court,” the scout replied.

“What’s the result?” West asked curiously.

“Kobe and Su both won!” the scout continued replying.

“Do you have a recording?” West pressed.

“No, but Boss, I can guarantee that every word I’ve said is 100% true!” The scout swore on his conscience.

“Alright, I’m not doubting you.

“I just want to see how they managed to beat Jerry Stackhouse.

“After all, that’s Michael’s junior and this year’s 3rd draft pick…” Jerry West explained.

“By the way, does anyone else know about this?” Jerry West asked after thinking for a moment.

“No. Besides the Philadelphia 76ers, I can guarantee that we’re the only ones who know about this!” the scout replied.

“Yes, good job. Remember, you must not reveal your identity no matter what, because I don’t want anyone to know that we’re scouting Kobe. Remember, no one must know!”

“Understood, Boss!” The scout quickly hung up.

“Philadelphia Twin Towers, eh?”

Looking at the copy of the Philadelphia Evening Post on his desk, Jerry West silently flipped it to the sports section and continued reading with great interest…

…

[1] Laying bricks is also known as “hit iron” in China, hence the Iron Man reference