Chapter 266: Here Comes the Scoring Machine
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"That Steve is pretty good. He has the potential to be a top-notch guard. I guess he is good enough to play in the NBA," as Zach said this, he wrote down something in his notebook.
Steve's heart would dance with delight, if he knew of Zach's comments about him. In the draft period, this exact comment from Zach would raise Steve's ranking in the draft pick.
After finishing his note-taking, Zach looked up and saw a figure get to the basket and score through a layup, while the opposing defensive player didn't make any defensive action, as if he had been nailed on the floor. The big guy under the basket, who was responsible for the ball recovery, was also looking at the basket blankly, as if he hadn't come to himself yet after that layup.
What happened just now? Did the defenders zone out? As Zach thought of it, he fixed his eyes on Alan Hampton, who had just scored that layup.
...
Alan looked around and found that all faces were so strange to him. For the rest of the players, Alan was also a stranger. These players had stayed in the training camp for over 10 days, and had gotten to know each other very well. Therefore, for them, Alan was a "newcomer".
However, the ball was returned to Alan again, as he was the point guard, who should launch the attack of his team. Alan walked past the half court with the ball, and kept observing the positions of the opposing defenders.
They have such a big loophole in their defense. I should be able to rush to the basket directly. Alan made a judgment in his mind.
Also at this moment, the defender on Alan ran up slowly. To Alan, this player was indeed very slow.
Beside Alan, one teammate was in a good position, so he waved to Alan and shouted, "Newcomer, pass me the ball!"
Just at this moment, Alan started to move. A figure just rushed to the basket and scored through layup in a wink.
He dribbled past me! When that defender was still wondering how Alan dribbled past him with one move, he heard the sound of the friction between the ball and the net in the hoop.
The big player, who was responsible for the inside defense, was also looking at Alan with wide eyes. Just now, when he found Alan's breakthrough, he planned to fill in. However, before the movement of his body, Alan had gotten to the basket, which meant that Alan's layup was a lot faster than the reaction of his body.
This little guy is really fast!
...
In the first row of the spectator area, Wright shook his head and said, "It was not a good offensive option, as his teammate was apparently in a better offensive position. He should have passed the ball."
Coach Wright, of the basketball team of University of North Carolina, was the most skillful coach, who was the very best at small-ball tactics in the NCAA. Compared to other coaches, he was more skillful in using the guards.
"But he scored at last, what an impressive breakthrough!" Thompson, who was beside Wright, said.
Wright didn't contradict Thompson. Thompson was the coach of the basketball team of Georgetown University, of which the tactics were based on big players. They preferred to use the center. In its history, Georgetown University used to have centers of NBA Hall of Fame level. Therefore, for Wright, to discuss the usage of guards with Thompson, was nothing but playing the lute to a cow.
The two coaches continued to watch the match. The player who had just been dribbled past by Alan was eager to save face, so he kept focused on the ball, hoping to dribble past Alan.
He was nearly 10 cm taller than Alan. To him, Alan was just a dwarf. He believed he could easily get rid of Alan through his physical advantage.
However, the tough defense of Alan gave him a good lesson. Also Alan's tackling ability went beyond his expectation.
In Alan's senior year, he could realize 3.4 steals per game, which ranked second among all high school students in the United States. So, a player who ignored Alan's tackling would bring disgrace on himself.
When Alan was in close marking defense, he poked the ball with his hand suddenly, sending the ball out of the control of his opponent. Immediately after that, Alan rushed out and retained the ball. Without a break, he rushed directly to the basket of the opposing team.
He ran so fast, and left his opponents in the dust as always. Those defenders, who were getting back to defend, could not catch up with Alan, even though they did their best to run fast enough.
"He is so fast!"
At this moment, all eyes in the arena were fixed on Alan.
"He is holding the ball, and his opponents can't catch up with him! Could the dribbling be faster than the off-the-ball running?"
"So fast! He is even as good as the top-notch NBA guards! "
"Who is this guy? I haven't seen him before."
Everyone stared on, commenting in amazement.
...
Score, score, score again!
Alan rushed to the basket and scored through layup, or drew fouls on the defenders and then made free throws, or dribbled past the defender and shot a fadeaway. Alan had officially started his stunning performance. Now Alan had been turned into a scoring machine, according to Dai Li's plan, and started to score crazily.
As long as the ball was passed to Alan, he would definitely attack by himself, without passing the ball out. However, all his offenses were effective through scoring, drawing fouls on the opposing defenders, or causing a three-point play.
As for the rest of the players on the court, although they were also high school students, in front of Alan, their levels were much lower. Though they were not as fragile as the elementary school students, they had never been able to pose a substantive threat to Alan, as Alan's attack would always open up the defense of the opposing team, no matter what defense formation they used.
"The gap is too great!" someone in the spectator area couldn't help exclaiming.
...
Alan knew he only has 5 minutes, so he needed to do his best to prove himself in those 5 minutes. So in those 5 minutes, Alan scored 21 points alone. Most spectators on the scene were all convinced by Alan's remarkable performance.
"The boy is pretty good, but he is just too "selfish". He always attacks by himself, and never passes the ball to his teammates. He has no team spirit at all." Coach Babe of University of Southern California gave his comments.
"But he scored 21 points! This is a perfect performance. I guess he could score at least 10 points in each game, if he could play in NBA," Coach Alford of UCLA contradicted him immediately. "If he passed the ball to his teammates, his teammates might not score so many points. Moreover, he has drawn many fouls from the opposing inside players. The big player standing in front of him has fouled three times in 5 minutes."
"OK, gentlemen, stop discussing." Reed, the scout of Los Angeles Lakers, stopped their argument, then asked, "Could anyone of you tell me who this brilliant boy is, please?"
The rest of the people looked at each other. After over 10 seconds, one person said, "I kind of recognize him. He is Alan Hampton, the No. 1 high school player in Virginia!"
"That Alan Hampton, who was jailed because of fighting?" Reed nodded, before continuing, "So it's him…"