Almighty Coach

On the last day of the basketball training camp, a test match would be held.

"Li, thank you! Without you, I would have come back to Virginia," Alan said sincerely.

Dai Li patted Alan on his shoulder, "OK, don’t think too much. Later, just play well in the court. Today, a lot of basketball celebrities will watch this match. You only have 5 minutes, so don’t waste your time with unnecessary things. Just try to demonstrate your advantage as much as possible. Show them your speed, your strength, and your scoring ability. Make them see that you are unstoppable on this court!"

"I will!" Alan said, his eyes filled with resolute fighting will.

Some people, who were familiar to the Americans, had been seated in the front seats of the court, where the scorching eyes of the players participating in the match were focused.

"Oh, look! Coach Alford of UCLA and Coach Babe of University of Southern California are over there! They are really here!"

"That’s for sure. They are local coaches from California, so they will definitely come. See that gray-bearded black person over there? That’s Coach Thompson of Georgetown University."

"There’s more. Coach Wright of University of North Carolina is also here. He is the best coach in the NCAA, who is good at small-ball tactics, which suits me very well."

"The head coach of Duke University didn’t come. They sent their deputy head Coach Frye instead."

"No need to tell me. It’s extremely difficult to enter Duke University. Even the top-notch high school players might not be lucky enough to get a basketball scholarship to Duke University."

"Look! That man should be Reed, the scout of the Los Angeles Lakers!"

"It’s really him! My Gosh! Even the scout of the Lakers has arrived. As such a great club in the NBA, do they also pay close attention to the high school basketball training camp?"

No wonder this is the Adidas Basketball Training Camp! It could even attract the scouts of NBA giants! Today I shall do my best, and will hope Reed could write a nifty scout report about me!

"The one over there with brown hair, who wears a suit and tie, is the famous basketball correspondent Zach! I’ve heard many basketball professionals are readers of his column. I have seen him many times in the interviews of the legendary star players."

"He turned out to really be the basketball correspondent Zach! The coach of my high school team has been following his column for 10 years."

"Yes! There are readers of Zach’s basketball column all across the United States. If you could appear in his column, the whole United States would know your name!"

The appearance of the celebrities caused great excitement among these high school players. This was the exclusive effect of the top level basketball training camp. These celebrities would ignore the invitations of the ordinary training camps, even the camps that agreed to pay them for their presence.

...

These coaches were familiar with each other, for they were coaches of the famous universities, and had met each other in the NCAA matches many times before. The NBA scouts were more familiar with the coaches of the universities, for universities were the main talent pool of NBA.

The coaches of the universities also hoped their apprentices could play in the NBA. Sometimes, the coaches of the universities would recommend their apprentices to the NBA scouts.

As for that Zach, who was the correspondent of the basketball column, he was the acquaintance of all these coaches, who had been interviewed by him before. Some coaches had known Zach for over 10 years.

The meeting of the acquaintances would always give out competitive sparks, let alone between some coaches from the teams which were "sworn enemies" of each other. For example, there was the rivalry between UCLA and University of Southern California, which were not only in the same state, but also in the same city, as well as that present between Duke University and University of North Carolina, which were also in the same state as one another. These teams were equally matched, and thus, rivaled each other naturally.

Coach Alford of UCLA didn’t see eye to eye with Coach Babe of University of Southern California. Coach Wright of University of North Carolina just ignored the Deputy Head Coach Frye of Duke University, and started to talk with Coach Thompson of Georgetown University.

"Thompson, I know Georgetown University is used to cultivating big players. So this year, you’ve come for that big guy, right? He is a little bit skinny, but his wingspan is quite good, which suits you very well," Wright said.

"I’ve heard he has been admitted by University of Massachusetts, which offered him a pretty good scholarship. We are no match for them in this aspect." Thompson shook his head and said, "As for you, your team needs an offensive guard, right? That Steve looks pretty good."

"Steve, the "Son of New York"! Yes, I came for him. We need an offensive guard. I am very optimistic about him. He will definitely enter the NBA lottery pick. With him, we will certainly overpower Duke University!" Wright said without concealment.

"Yes, indeed he has a lot of potential. If the NBA also allows the high school players to participate in the draft, I guess he will appear on the scene of this year’s draft. Moreover, with his gift, his rank won’t be low, maybe he will be selected by the Knicks with the preferential draft pick," Thompson said. He knew a lot of coaches on the scene were coming for this "Son of New York".

...

At the same time, the "Son of New York" Steve was sitting on the sidelines, enjoying the attention from many people. From afar, Coach Hyde brought a player onto the court.

"Now you sit here. Later, when it is your turn to play, I will call you," Coach Hyde said as he pointed at a bench.

Steve turned around, finding that he knew the newcomer.

"Hampton!" Steve shouted in surprise.

"Steve!" Alan also recognized Steve.

They knew each other, because both of them were guards and of about the same age. One of them was from New York, while the other was from Virginia. Their places of origin were along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and not too far away from one another. In addition, both of them were frequently mentioned at the same time, even in the arguments on which of them was the No. 1 high school player in the eastern United States.

However, Steve knew he was no match for Alan. Steve accomplished his current achievement by focusing all his energy on basketball. Alan played basketball and football concurrently, which meant Alan achieved the same accomplishment as Steve, but with undivided energy.

Why is Hampton here? I haven’t seen him in the previous trainings...with knitted brows, Steve had realized today’s match might not be as smooth as he had expected.

...

"Is he Alan Hampton from Virginia? He doesn’t seem to be very tall, I’m guessing he is under six feet."

"Be careful! He is a dangerous guy! Have you heard about that group fight he was involved in? Over 20 people were hospitalized because of serious injuries. We should keep a distance from him!"

"I know, that case even got to the Supreme Court."

"Could you tell me which one is stronger, Hampton or Steve?"

"I don’t know, but today we will know the answer. Both of them will compete with each other in this match. If I were Coach Hyde, I would definitely put them on the two opposing teams respectively."

While the rest of the players were still talking, Alan lowered his head and recalled the trainings and instructions of Dai Li in recent days, silently.

...

The whistle to start the match was blown. Alan was not included in the starting lineup, so he had to sit on the bench as a substitute.

This was a test match, which was different from an official match. A player could be assigned to team A during his first appearance, then he would be assigned to team B during his second appearance. Also, there was no pause during the match. One short break would be arranged for each 20 minutes long match.

Therefore, the most important issue was not the result of the match, but the skills and performance of the players. During the first 20 minutes, Coach Hyde seemed to have forgotten Alan. He kept changing the players, but never called the name of Alan. After all, Alan didn’t participate in the previous trainings, so Coach Hyde would naturally give priority to other players.

Alan was a little bit anxious, just sitting around and watching others playing hard in the court. The second 20 minutes had half-past, and all the rest of the players had made their appearances. Finally, Coach Hyde remembered Alan.

"Hampton, warm up yourself, and prepare for your appearance."