Chapter 80: The National Middle School Basketball Selection Tournament (Part 1)

  "Don't slack off, defend tightly... pay attention to the rhythm..." Bian Guohui stood on the sidelines and loudly directed his players on the field.

  Bian Guohui took a look at the scoreboard on the judges' table, and there was not much time left in the game. His team had already taken a double-digit lead over their opponents, and this game was going as he had predicted before the game, without any suspense. However, Bian Guohui couldn't let his players relax. For these young students under him, every formal match was a good opportunity for growth, so Bian Guohui couldn't let his players think that the game was already won and slack off.

  Under the urging of Bian Guohui, the players on the field maintained a high level of competition, facing the neighboring county middle school whose strength was clearly not their own opponent, these players still maintained a sharp offensive and tenacious defense, and soon they would continue to widen the score difference.

  "That little black kid Hai Feng seems to have already scored three goals, this kid is really showing off. But his speed is indeed fast, on the court he's like a loach that nobody can stop." Su Hao, sitting on the substitute bench with his hands clasped behind his head, stretched his waist slightly and whispered to Lin Xiaoyu beside him. Su Hao didn't play for one minute in today's game, wearing the team's sports jacket, he felt a bit tired just sitting on the substitute bench.

  "Ah, I didn't count his score, probably over 30. His breakthrough to the basket was basically unstoppable... However, if he faced a team that's good at defensive coordination, Haifeng's breakthrough would be hard to penetrate inside. Moreover, Haifeng doesn't like to pass the ball during his breakthroughs, which somewhat restricts his performance..." Lin Xiaoyu said casually while watching the game situation on the court. Lin Xiaoyu also didn't play for a single minute, and the whole team was just him and Su Hao standing by the sidelines watching the entire game.

  Bin Guohui had previously told Lin Xiaoyu about his tactical arrangements before the game. Bin Guohui wanted to keep Lin Xiaoyu as a secret weapon for the team, only deploying him when they encountered a tough opponent. Bin Guohui was afraid that Lin Xiaoyu, being young and impulsive, would be unhappy if he wasn't deployed, so he specifically talked to Lin Xiaoyu to explain his thoughts. As for Coach Bin's arrangement, Lin Xiaoyu didn't have any complaints. Even if Coach Bin hadn't explained it to Lin Xiaoyu and put him on the bench, Lin Xiaoyu wouldn't be dissatisfied. He was a very easy-going person who knew that following the coach's arrangements was a principle that players should follow.

  Of course, Lin Xiaoyu is not unwilling to play on the court, but in order to let the team win more victories, Lin Xiaoyu thinks that playing one or two fewer games is no big deal.

  Su Hao listened to Lin Xiaoyu casually mentioning Xiao Haifeng's weaknesses on the court, and couldn't help but take a few more interests in this younger junior brother. Su Hao was very clear about Lin Xiaoyu's strength, scoring and defense were both excellent. Lin Xiaoyu's dribbling and passing were the most casual ones Su Hao had ever seen. Yes, casual.

  Most people's passes are either to find someone or need a slight adjustment, while Lin Xiaoyu's passes often come in the midst of running and are sent out with a casual flick. These seemingly carefree and even somewhat casual passes are often more accurate and cunning than most people's serious passes. Lin Xiaoyu's passes always follow an unexpected trajectory to reach his teammates' hands, easily tearing through the opponent's defense and creating a scoring opportunity for his teammate. If Su Hao didn't know that Lin Xiaoyu was his schoolmate in his first year of high school, he would have thought that Lin Xiaoyu was a player from some professional youth team.

  "Haha, you look quite serious, Lin Xiaoyu. You've seen through Hai Feng's weaknesses, no wonder he always passes the ball to his teammates when playing against you. Looks like he hasn't suffered a little at your hands." Su Hao said with a smile.

  Lin Xiaoyu smiled shyly like a child. At this time, Zhang Jialin on the court made a zero-degree angle three-pointer near the baseline. The substitute players on the bench immediately cheered loudly for Zhang Jialin.

  "Has Jialin made several three-pointers already?" Lin Xiaoyu asked Su Hao. Lin Xiaoyu saw that in this game, Zhang Jialin had already raised his right hand to celebrate the three-pointer many times and slowly ran back to his own half court.

  "I don't know." Su Hao shook his head and said.

  "It's 4-3." Lin Cijie suddenly spoke up as she recorded the data on the court with her notebook by Lin Xiaoyu's side.

  Lin Cijie's response made Lin Xiaoyu a little surprised. This wild girl used to ignore her, but now she seemed to be less cold towards herself. Just now during the halftime break, Lin Cijie even gave Lin Xiaoyu a cup of water without taking off his sports jacket. This was unexpected for Lin Xiaoyu, knowing that in the past during training, he would have to get up himself to drink water when he was sweating profusely and parched, but now Lin Cijie actually poured water for Lin Xiaoyu who was sitting on the sidelines watching the game.

  "Four three free throws, how many times did he make it?" Su Hao asked Lin Cijie, who was holding the notebook.

  "Seven shots, four in." Lin Cijie replied, sneaking a glance at Lin Xiaoyu beside Su Hao as she answered his question.

  The second national middle school basketball game selection match of the experimental middle school basketball team was held on the 15th day of the first month. This Lantern Festival day made Bian Guohui promise to take the players to have a good celebration dinner after finishing the ball, and then let the players go home to eat glutinous rice balls.

  However, the match that was predicted to be relatively easy turned out not to be so. The opponent was a little-known neighboring middle school. Coach Bian Guohui had encountered this school before and won easily without encountering any obstacles. But this year, the school's basketball team has recruited several good players. They all have a very tough style of play, although they are generally not tall, but when playing ball, they have a fierce momentum.

  It was this kind of rough and tumble middle school team that made Bian Guohui's players unable to showcase their skills. On the contrary, after being repeatedly broken down by the opponent's fierce defense, they started a defensive counterattack. This put the experimental middle school basketball team, which was originally much stronger than its opponents, in a passive situation on the court. Although they were still leading with a slight score, looking at this situation was really not optimistic. Bian Guohui cautiously replaced Su Hao from the substitute bench.

  Su Hao's appearance immediately changed the passive situation on the court of Experimental Middle School. Su Hao's height and leadership skills were fully demonstrated on the court, not only could he score in multiple ways, but also mobilize his teammates to boost the team's morale. In the blink of an eye, with Su Hao's half-hook shot, Experimental Middle School had already pulled away with a two-digit lead.

  The thrilling match was finally won. Bian Guohui took the players to a relatively large restaurant in Feicui City to celebrate the team's two consecutive victories. Such a celebration banquet would not be without school leaders who had nothing to do with the team's competition, but these leaders who came to eat and drink did not affect the relaxed atmosphere of the student players eating in the hotel. The school leaders and teachers had already gone to another room with Coach Bian Guohui to drink around a table.

  "Come on, let's all toast to our victory in today's match!" Zhang Jialin, the most talkative big brother in the team, led everyone in a toast.

  "Dry!" The crowd stood up and clinked their wine cups together in the center of the round dining table.

  Everyone was a middle school student, and with the school leaders present, the cups in the players' hands were filled with drinks without wine. But everyone still had a great time eating. Today is the Lantern Festival, coinciding with the team's victory, so this meal at the school's invitation was naturally very rich, after all, it was spent with public funds. The dishes ordered by the school leaders were enough to make these young players enjoy themselves.

  After a sumptuous dinner, the players dispersed and went their separate ways. The team's bus couldn't possibly send home all the players who lived in different directions, so everyone had to figure out how to get back home on their own for the Lantern Festival.

  The hotel is not far from Lin Xiaoyu's home, and it takes only a dozen or so minutes to walk back. Just as Lin Xiaoyu was about to walk back alone, a slightly shy female voice called out to her.

  "Can you send me home?" The team's female manager, Lin Cijie, stood behind Lin Xiaoyu, looking at her with a hopeful face.