Holy crap...
My 'unintentional' nut-kick actually completed a hidden task to obtain a badge.
Doesn't that mean...
If I poke someone's eye, I can get a new badge too?
[Double Team Master (Bronze)] Intro:
1. When double-teaming the ball handler, hand Speed for steals increases by 3%, and steal accuracy increases by 10%.
2. To upgrade to the next stage, 30 effective double teams (causing opponent turnovers) are required.
...
...
"Link, I know you didn't do it on purpose. Contact is inevitable in competitive sports; you don't need to take this to heart." Back on the bench, head coach Chris Grant looked at the silent Link, mistakenly thinking he felt guilty, and spoke to comfort him.
Link was slightly stunned, then nodded.
To be fair.
The catalyst for the incident was the opposing Power Forward's defensive movements being too excessive. Link was just being overly aggressive in scrambling for the ball; how could he be at fault?
Link's unintentional nut-kick also caused the media and scouts on the sidelines to focus on him once again.
Especially the scout from UCLA, who added another section to Link's player evaluation.
"A tough-minded foreign player!"
After Link went off, although the Dream Chasing Warriors Team also set up "Speed bumps" for Dajuan Wagner, the effect was terrible. Trying to stop an elite athlete like Wagner wasn't something just anyone could do by simply rotating for help defense.
First, you must have good perimeter defensive awareness to appear in his driving lane in time; second, you need a certain level of size and strength to wear him down.
Without Link, the Dream Chasing Warriors not only let Wagner find his rhythm on defense, but the offense also became somewhat chaotic. A good Point Guard isn't necessarily about how many assists they get, but about facilitating the team's offense so players can receive the ball in their sweet spots.
"Man, what are you doing? Didn't you see I was open just now?"
"I've been waiting under the basket for centuries, why haven't you passed the ball yet!!!"
Josh Smith and Chris Bosh couldn't help but complain to the backup guard who had replaced Link.
The lead was gradually shrinking, and it looked like the opponent was gaining momentum.
Head coach Grant waved his hand and requested a timeout, sending Link back onto the court.
After entering the game, Link's impact was immediate. First, he used a pick-and-roll on offense to send a bounce pass to Bosh; although the latter didn't score, he drew a foul for free throws.
Immediately after, he helped Matt Babcock double-team Dajuan Wagner on defense.
Dajuan Wagner didn't pass the ball immediately, intending to use his Speed to squeeze through the gap between Link and Matt Babcock; in the first half, Matt Babcock had been beaten this way many times.
This time, a "snap!" suddenly sounded in Wagner's ear as a large hand quickly swiped the basketball.
"Great steal!" Grant, the head coach of the Dream Chasing Warriors Team, couldn't help but excitedly pump his fist in celebration upon seeing Link complete the steal.
After the successful steal, Link sent an outlet pass. Josh Smith, running even faster than Bosh, caught the pass and performed a spread-eagle gliding dunk.
The jump height and the stretch of his body drew a burst of applause from the crowd.
"Nice pass! Link!"
"Nice pass!"
"That ball was so comfortable!"
After completing the dunk, Josh Smith excitedly high-fived Link while running back to defend.
The newly acquired badge—Double Team Master—increased Link's defensive disruptiveness during double teams.
As someone who had scored 100 points in a single game and averaged 40+ points, Wagner felt increasingly stifled.
The opponent's #143 was just a nobody, not even a five-star high schooler, yet he defended him so uncomfortably.
Sigh...
Wagner was young after all. Holding a grudge and wanting to blow past Link, he completely lost his head and simply refused to pass the ball.
The result? In the next five possessions, he was stripped twice by Link, forced into a dead ball twice by double teams, and only broke through once, only to be blocked by Bosh coming off the baseline.
This made the scouts who had come specifically to observe him shake their heads. But the media reporters' eyes lit up; they seemed to smell a viral story, and several headlines were already forming in their minds.
New Jersey's mr. 100 Stymied Repeatedly Before Chinese Youth!"
"A Dark Horse Appears! The Young Genius from China!"
"The Texas Thief!"
...
...
The hot-headed Wagner was accelerating his team's "death."
Meanwhile, Link played better and better.
With three minutes left in the game, the Dream Chasing Warriors led by 18 points; the outcome was basically decided.
However, Link did not relax.
In addition to facilitating the team's offense, he also spared no effort in off-ball movement and cutting, demonstrating a certain level of off-ball skill.
Although Link's Speed was a bit slow, he was tall. Once he cut to the basket, the Point Guard defending him was essentially facing a small-on-big mismatch.
Since Link had been constantly feeding his teammates throughout the game, when he called for the ball in the low post, these temporary teammates trusted him enough to hand it over.
"Bang!" After Link backed down his defender and found the opponent's center of gravity lowered for a full-force push, he suddenly transitioned into a half-turn and a 45-degree bank shot.
"Wow!"
"This move looks a lot like The Big Fundamental!"
"Yeah, I didn't expect a guard to master interior offensive techniques."
"Mm, and looking at this footwork, it doesn't seem like luck."
Link made four consecutive low-post baskets, and the last two were even in front of Dajuan Wagner, who had switched onto him.
With an official height of 191cm and a barefoot height of 188cm, Wagner, despite weighing 91kg, had poor standing physical tools and found it difficult to restrict Link's 45-degree bank shot.
Although the last three minutes were garbage time, Link gained the favor of many media members and scouts with this move.
And Dajuan Wagner's "prospects" were also significantly lowered by Link.
"Fuck!"
"WTF!"
In the final three seconds, the substituted Wagner couldn't help but slam the bench after returning to the sidelines.
With a flushed face, he had clearly broken down.
In terms of personal stats, Wagner wasn't too bad: 16 points, 1 assist, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, but his shooting percentage was less than 30%.
As for the Dream Chasing Warriors Team, a total of three people scored over 15 points: Chris Bosh with 26, Josh Smith with 19, and Link with 18 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Simply put, Link not only won the game but also completely outclassed New Jersey's top high schooler in stats.
"Link, you're amazing!"
"You'll definitely be the focal point of the training camp today."
The well-connected Matt Babcock said excitedly.
Link smiled faintly.
"Look... Dajuan is venting at the bench right now, haha..." Matt Babcock, who had almost been driven to tears by Wagner's drives during the game, was feeling a bit schadenfreude.
"Matt, I have to thank you for telling me to take it seriously before the game," Link laughed.
"Yeah... but Link, you seem to have taken it a bit too seriously." Matt Babcock couldn't help but start flattering Link.
The moment the final whistle blew...
The system's mechanical, cold electronic voice rang in Link's mind.
[Ding, post-match reward settlement in progress: 18 (Points x1) + 3 (Assists x3) + 4 (Defensive Rebounds x2) + 0 (Offensive Rebounds x3) + 9 (Steals x3) + 0 (Blocks x4) Value!]
[Ding, congratulations to the Host for triggering the hidden task—genius nemesis.]
[Task Description: Within one week, cause at least 5 All-American five-star high schoolers to break down!]
[Current Task Progress: 1/5]
[Task Reward: To be determined based on task completion.]