004: Let's set a small goal first

Andrae, as the only player on the team with prospects in the NCAA Division I, was the undisputed overlord at Block High School, a school ranked well outside the top few hundred nationally.

Yet, Roger, an outsider to the team, had effortlessly defeated him on both offense and defense.

At the sidelines, Hardy from the Jonesville Observer was completely bewildered.

Before the start of the match, upon seeing Andrae personally participate in the draft picks, he thought it would be an inhumane slaughter, just like what the Bulls did to the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season.

Michael Jordan, with an exaggerated average of 45 points per game and an easy three-game victory, had the Heat at his mercy.

In Hardy's expectation, facing a team composed of draft picks, Andrae should have displayed a similar performance.

But what was the result? Andrae became nothing but a backdrop for that Asian guy!

However... this no doubt made the game more interesting.

Hardy had a premonition that he was about to witness the rise of a basketball prodigy, and he, would be the first journalist in the nation to report on this talent!

After living for so many years, he finally felt the thrill of snatching a first!

Andrae looked at his silent teammates, his face losing all its color.

Today, from the very first second Roger stepped into the gym, his authority had been challenged.

But Andrae could disregard everything that had happened before. It didn't matter if Roger insulted his record as a captain or his voice. All that would not matter as long as he could trounce Roger on the court, send him sprawling, and smack the ball along with Roger to the wooden floor. He would still be the winner.

After all, a basketball player should ultimately let his basketball skills do the talking, shouldn't he? Definitely not marketing, right?

But in those two rounds, Andrae lost completely.

Roger was not stopping his offensive, he was completely immersed in the joy of possessing Iceman's talent.

Shortly afterward, another long-range floater from the baseline by Roger went in, making Andrae start to question life.

He stood under the basket, arms raised high, looking like he had surrendered.

At that moment, Andrae felt an urge to shout, "Can I go back to studying? Coach, I don't want to play basketball anymore!"

Once might be luck, but when Roger scored twice in a row with that long-distance floater technique, it became hard to explain it away as luck.

No limit on the angle of the drive, no limit on the distance of the shot; under any circumstances, he could hit steadily. Coach Hawk dared to say that not even NCAA Division I players necessarily had such floater techniques!

In the next play, Andrae deliberately raised his defensive position.

He no longer crouched under the basket but stood between the basket and the free-throw line.

This way, when Roger attempted his long-range floater, Andrae would be able to rush over and block the shot.

Roger saw this as well, but still with confidence, he raised his hand as soon as he crossed half-court, "Give me the ball!"

It was as if he was telling everyone that no matter how Andrae adjusted his defense, it was futile.

Roger dribbled the ball to the right side and followed with a quick stop and a change in direction towards the left, easily shaking off his opponent.

This smooth dribbling and slender figure momentarily reminded Coach Hawk of Penny Hardaway from Memphis State.

Both of them moved past their defenders with such elegance and composure.

Of course, Hawk wouldn't compare Roger with Penny based on just one dribble sequence. But he was certain that Roger had indeed transformed!

He was nothing like the skinny Roger who got beaten to a pulp before.

Roger got past his defender and faced Andrae, who had moved up to intercept at mid-range.

Because Andrae had moved up, Roger's teammates near the basket were left completely open.

Though it was hard to believe, Roger, with his offensive power, had completely changed Block High School's defensive formation, forcing the opponent's defense to reveal a gap.

Coach Hawk felt somewhat embarrassed; his school team was utterly disrupted by a guy who played tennis.

Now Roger just had to make an easy pass to help his team gain another 2 points.

But then Hawk deeply realized, Roger was indeed not like Penny.

If it were Penny, he'd definitely assist his open teammate with a flashy between-the-legs pass.

But Roger chose to ignore his teammate and went for a direct pull-up shot in the face of Andrae!

Roger admitted, he was starting to love the feeling of scoring. Solo? How directly assisting the ball into the hoop could be called going solo?

Hawk curled his lip; this was undoubtedly a wrong offensive choice.

Roger's previous two floaters had managed to avoid the defense to some extent, which made scoring easy.

But this time, facing Andrae's close-up interference wouldn't be that easy to score.

However, Hawk quickly realized that even with interference, Roger's shooting form was as textbook standard as can be.

Perfect 45-degree arm extension, index finger aiming at the basket. Forceful wrist snap, yet this fingertips light as a feather upon release.

In that instant, Hawk felt that Roger was like Ray Allen from Hilltop High School in Southern California.

This perfect shooting form was not inherited from Gervin, it was the result of Roger's own hard work.

His intensive training made his shooting action nearly identical to what's shown in textbooks, while George Gervin's unparalleled shooting touch fully maximized the potential of this perfect shooting form.

And when both of them jumped, the gap between Roger and Andrae from the ground was not even close.

Andrae's palm could only cover Roger's nose, completely unable to disturb the shot!

Roger's body paused at the apex as if taking aim, then smoothly released the ball, which steadily flew toward the basket.

Roger was very good at floating shots, but that wasn't all he could do.

With a "swoosh," the only sound in the basketball gym was the ball hitting the floor.

A pull-up jumper over the defense helped his team score again!

Roger scoring three times over Andrae's head had already rendered the game meaningless.

Because if even Andrae couldn't stop Roger, it meant that no one on the court could prevent Roger from scoring.

Andrae realized that it was simply impossible to win against that guy.

But the cruel reality was, there was no option to surrender in a basketball game.

Until the game clock ran out, Andrae had to endure humiliation over and over again.

Indeed, the rest of the game turned into Roger's personal showcase.

On offense, he displayed his graceful movements and versatile scoring skills.

Mid-range stop-and-pop jumpers, turnaround bank shots, layups with an extended arm... The distant floaters were just one of the many weapons in Roger's extensive arsenal.

Hardy hadn't predicted wrong, the game was indeed a one-sided massacre.

Only it was Andrae who was being slaughtered!

Apart from playing a bit selfishly, Roger's performance in the game was near perfect.

Well, Roger did know how to take care of his teammates' feelings. Every time he scored, he would apologize to the teammate in the open position by saying, "Sorry, next time, definitely next time."

Then the next time he would shoot again.

Throughout the game, Roger hardly ever passed the ball, his individual scoring was irrationally high.

But from the first play to the last, Block High School's players just became like marionettes, serving as the backdrop for Roger's wild performance.

This wasn't a basketball court at all, but a personal stage belonging to Roger!

Although hard to believe, Coach Hawk had to admit, Roger's offensive skills were the most comprehensive at the high school level!

He was not like Penny or Ray Allen, but rather a combination of both!

Hardy feverishly wrote in his notebook, eager to publish the spectacle he witnessed in the newspaper.

A boy who used to play tennis had single-handedly kicked the entire basketball team's ass.

This was definitely the most inconceivable story in the history of sports in Jonesville!

After 20 minutes of the practice game, when the referee blew the final whistle, Hawk and Hardy could hardly believe the scoreboard before their eyes.

Even if a female student suddenly covered her face and streaked across the field, they wouldn't have been as surprised.

On the electronic scoreboard, the blood-red numbers 42 and 30 stood out sharply. Led by Roger, the draft picks' team had actually beaten Andrae's second school team by a clear 12 points!

Furthermore, out of those 42 points, Roger alone had 38, scoring more than all the opponents combined!

The most exaggerated thing was... Roger hadn't even broken a sweat!

It was as if he hadn't even exerted himself, and the opponents were already gone!

At the end of the game, Andrae no longer had the courage to look Roger in the eyes. Being defeated by a draft pick as the core of the basketball team meant social death for him within the team.

Andy Li's mind went blank, his only task throughout the game was to pass the ball to Roger. And then, they actually won against the school team!

At that moment, Roger walked up to Andy, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "What did I tell you? You would experience the most exhilarating victory of your life."

Roger, having lived for two lifetimes, also felt the exhilarating thrill. For the first time, having always lost in his past life, he deeply felt the joy of winning!

The next day, the Jonesville Observer published an interview that local fans relished:

"Yesterday, we had the privilege of interviewing Roger from Block High School. This incredible senior, who had played tennis for the past two years, nearly single-handedly defeated the team led by star player Andrae in basketball tryouts, scoring 38 out of the total 42 points!

In his words, he just didn't feel like playing basketball before, otherwise the team wouldn't be so down and out.

With his stunning performance, Coach Hawk immediately announced his recruiting into the team and directly promoted him to the first team.

After the game, when I asked him if he had any goals for his first year on the basketball team, the young man confidently answered me:

'I'll walk the path step by step. After all, it's my first year on the team, so I just want to set a small goal for now—to become the strongest scorer in the whole country!'

What else can I say? Ladies and gentlemen, the landscape in Louisiana is about to change."