The longest river

Chapter 25 No. 101

Yang Shuai searched his memory and confirmed that he had never heard of this name before.

However, there is an NCAA between American high schools and the NBA, and many high school stars fade into obscurity after entering college.

However, the fact that the other person was selected for the training camp three times means that they are an outstanding player at least in this age group.

The next part of the time was spent greeting each other and getting to know each other.

During this process, Yang Shuai also saw more familiar names on the leaderboard.

It can be said that apart from a few people like Rahim who went to the ABCD training camp, almost all the other five-star high school students came here.

It's no wonder Pierce chose to go to the ABCD training camp; it's extremely difficult for a four-star high school student to gain attention there.

The Nike training camp officially began on the second day.

Yang Shuai was immediately shocked when he entered the training camp.

It's not about the size of the field; the training grounds here only have six courts, much smaller than the AAU fields he experienced in Las Vegas before.

What shocked him was the sheer number of people present.

The training camp had 200 participants, but a large number of scouts and media personnel were also gathered on the sidelines, almost equal to the number of players.

As a current giant in the sneaker industry, Nike's elite training camps naturally receive the most attention.

This scene also made the players who were participating in the training camp for the first time eager to try their skills.

This is an excellent opportunity to improve your ranking.

However, during the jersey distribution process before the official start of training camp, reality gave them a harsh dose of reality.

Their jerseys already have numbers printed on them, but these aren't numbers they chose themselves; they're ranking numbers.

Number 1 represents the strongest player in the training camp, while number 200 represents the weakest player.

Number 1 belongs to Iverson, Garnett got number 5, Billups got number 41, and Yang Shuai got number 101.

"...These are your initial numbers, but not your final numbers. If you want to get a better number when you leave, you have to work harder than everyone else."

Horace Brown, the head of the training camp and also responsible for recruiting them, was giving a pep talk before the start.

Looking at the jersey number in his hand, Yang Shuai was full of energy.

The larger the number, the greater the potential for improvement.

After the mobilization concluded, the training camp officially began.

Training camp, as the name suggests, focuses on training, from basic skills such as dribbling and passing to defense, as well as tactical positioning.

These training programs can not only improve players' abilities and correct their bad habits from the past, but also showcase their talents in various aspects.

The scouts and media were like judges at a beauty pageant, scrutinizing them from head to toe.

Some people made mistakes to varying degrees due to nervousness.

Yang Shuai adapted very well and achieved a high completion rate.

This was partly thanks to Paul filming a documentary for him; once he got used to the camera, those gazes were nothing to him.

On the other hand, it's because of the system mechanism; he needs a lot of training to reach his maximum ability, which allows him to handle the details of his training very well.

Of course, the daytime training was just a warm-up; the real highlight of the first day was the evening training match.

Although it's called a training match, it's actually similar to a casual game, since players form teams of five and play for 10 minutes.

During this process, the 20 coaches in the training camp will select players to form teams based on their performance, and then compete in group matches to vie for the championship in the remainder of the training camp.

Yang Shuai's team formation went very smoothly. He teamed up with Garnett, Billups, Fields, and a big guy named Andre Patterson.

The practice match was drawn by lot, and their opponent was led by Marbury.

It was during this match that Yang Shuai suffered a setback.

He didn't have much of an impression of Marbury, and it was mostly from the CBA.

However, since they all made it to the CBA, their skill level must not be very high.

But when they actually met on the court, he fully understood why Marbury wore the number 3 jersey, which was even higher than Garnett's.

Marbury's ball-handling skills are truly outstanding. His breakthroughs are not only quick to initiate, but he also utilizes the rhythm and speed of ball control to the fullest extent.

Billups' defense was practically nonexistent against him, and even if others tried to help defend, they would be completely outmaneuvered by him.

Moreover, he is very good at using his offensive threat to draw double teams and then pass the ball to his teammates under the basket to score directly.

This makes him seem almost undefendable.

Fields, a player Yang Shuai had never heard of before and who wore the number 2 jersey, also posed a challenge. His jumping ability was even more incredible than Carter's, and he could easily complete a 360° turn and dunk in a fast break with a light leap.

Moreover, not only is his jumping ability superior, but his speed is also a level above others, allowing him to easily score points on the court.

He's practically a Jordan who's 5 centimeters shorter.

And this impact continues.

After winning the practice match, Yang Shuai was dragged by Garnett and Billups to watch Iverson's game. The court was already surrounded by people, and there were bursts of exclamations every now and then.

Thanks to Garnett's size, they managed to squeeze into a spectator spot. After seeing the scene on the court, Yang Shuai understood why the crowd was so excited.

Iverson's playing style is so entertaining to watch.

Unlike Marbury, who relied more on ball-handling skills, Iverson gave the impression of being fast and unstoppable.

The ball is like an extension of his body; he can accelerate past any defender and then easily score inside.

"He moves through a vast army as if it were empty"—this phrase perfectly describes Allen Iverson's current performance.

Despite their previous unpleasant experiences, Garnett and Billups couldn't help but applaud Iverson's performance.

After watching for a while, Yang Shuai left first.

He went to the shower room to take a shower, and then lay on the bed to rest with his eyes closed.

After a year of growth and success at the AAU tournament, he felt he had already joined the ranks of top high school students and all he needed was an opportunity to improve his ranking.

But when he actually arrived at the Nike training camp, he realized he had been too optimistic.

There are always people better than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding—that's the harsh reality of American basketball.

However, after having this feeling, he felt that his decision to come to the Nike training camp was absolutely the right one.

If he hadn't come, he would never have felt this sense of urgency, which would have motivated him to work twice as hard to improve himself in the coming year.

The next morning, the players began to form teams for scrimmages.

The groups were divided according to grade level, with three groups: grade 12, grade 11, and grade 10. Grade 9 was not divided into a separate group because there were only a dozen or so people invited.

There aren't many restrictions on team formation. The only rule is that lower-grade players can choose to skip grades and join higher-grade teams, but higher-grade players cannot join lower-grade teams.

Then, the coaches and players choose each other.

Yang Shuai received invitations from five coaches.

This includes teams that already have Garnett and Fields, whose head coach is William Nelson, nicknamed "The Wolf," who is also the head coach of Chicago Faralot High School.

However, Yang Shuai did not ultimately join them, but instead chose to join Ron Eskridge's team in Philadelphia with Billups.

The morning after the team formation was completed was for internal team training, which also gave the players an opportunity to get to know each other.

A teammate named Robert Treller left a particularly deep impression on Yang Shuai. He wore the number 20 jersey, which was the highest number on the team.

But that wasn't what impressed Yang Shuai the most; it was the opponent's physique. Trell's barefoot height was probably only about 2 meters, but his weight was at least 125 kilograms.

Yang Shuai sparred with him during training, and it felt like he had crashed into a moving tractor.

In the afternoon, the competition officially began.

There are a total of 8 teams in the 11th grade. They are divided into two groups by drawing lots. The groups play a round-robin tournament, and then a knockout tournament is held based on the rankings to determine the champion.

Yang Shuai and his team's first opponent was Nelson.

There were games on all six courts, with Iverson's games still attracting the most attention. However, due to the presence of Garnett and Fields, there were about fifty or sixty media and scouts watching from the sidelines.

Before the match began, the starting players from both sides took to the field, and Yang Shuai and Garnett greeted each other at midfield.

“You should come here,” Garnett said, looking at Yang Shuai with a puzzled expression. “We can achieve the same success we have in Las Vegas.”

Yang Shuai smiled but didn't say anything. The reason he didn't choose to join Nelson was because he knew that with Fields there, he wouldn't get many opportunities.

"This team has too little talent and won't go very far. Your choice does more harm than good." Garnett felt sorry for Yang Shuai.

"Kevin, don't think you've got this all figured out." Yang Shuai didn't like hearing this. Talent is indeed important, but the Paterson team they defeated in the AAU had more talent than them.

Garnett wanted to say something more, but the referee had already signaled for a jump ball.

Garnett gave Nelson the first chance to attack.

Once in the frontcourt, Garnett received the ball at the free-throw line and, seeing Treller holed up under the basket, opted for a mid-range jump shot.

The basketball swished through the net, and Garnett gave Nelson his first point.

Turning around, Billups lobbed the ball to Treller in the paint.

Patterson, who had been Yang Shuai's teammate in a previous training match, was defending against Treller. He was also quite strong, but he was easily knocked away by Treller.

He was really charging around the paint like Shaquille O'Neal.

However, just as Treller released his shot, Garnett arrived to help defend, swatting his shot away onto the backboard.

Traeille's physical strength is comparable to O'Neal's at this level, but his height and speed are far inferior to O'Neal's.

However, Garnett's early movement of the ball also shows that Nelson had made targeted defensive arrangements in advance.

Garnett used his long arms to protect the defensive rebound and then passed the ball directly to Fields.

Fields dribbled the ball up the court and, just one step inside the free-throw line, leaped into the air for a long-range gliding dunk.

This shot sent the crowd into a frenzy.

From Chicago, a dunk from the free-throw line—that's just too intriguing.

Garnett also looked at Yang Shuai, his eyes seemingly repeating what he had said before: Yang Shuai made the wrong choice.

(End of this chapter)