"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for completing the hidden badge mission—First Successful Eye Poke. Reward: [Draymond Green (22-23)] Player Badge—[Death Coil (Bronze)]!"
[Death Coil (Bronze)] Function Introduction:
1. Slightly increases follow-up defense Speed, allowing the defensive player to keep up with the offensive player's pace more quickly, making it harder to be beaten by the first step.
2. Slightly enhances the effect of close-contact defense, making the defense tighter and more organized, helping to reduce the attacker's penetration space.
3. Slightly increases hand Speed and accuracy during close-contact defense and Steals, increasing the defender's probability of a successful Steal.
4. To upgrade to the next level (Silver), you need to complete 30 effective close-contact presses (successfully forcing the opponent to stop).
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Death Coil was an extremely important defensive badge, but for the current Link, it was a bit of a white elephant. His Speed, Explosive Acceleration, and lateral movement were all too slow. If he encountered a small, quick, and agile type of point guard, it would be difficult for Link to even get a chance to get "close."
However, Link could better defend relatively slower shooting guards and small forwards.
"Eh..."
"I only poked Green's eye once and I got [Death Coil]. If I poke him a few more times, could I get a new badge?"
Link couldn't be blamed for being greedy.
After all, the two badges he had obtained so far—[Death Coil] and [Double Team Master]—were both defensive badges.
Link desperately needed offensive badges.
Although there's a famous saying in the NBA—defense wins championships—in reality, basketball values offense more. In the realm of basketball, the strongest shield is not as good as the strongest spear. The reason was simple: a superstar cannot be completely shut down or held to zero; they can only be limited.
Soon...
Link put it into practice.
He kept poking Green's eyes.
Once!
Twice!
There was still no reaction.
After half an hour had passed in the virtual space, Link gave up.
Forget it!
Better start some serious training.
But unlike last time, Link focused more than half of his energy on "Ball Handling" this time.
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In reality, an hour passed while Link was in meditation.
The training gains were quite satisfactory for Link.
[Passing] base attribute increased by 1 point, rising to 56 (88);
[Ball Handling] base attribute increased by 1 point, rising to 55 (74);
[Passing Vision] base attribute increased by 2 points, rising to 54 (90);
[Perimeter Defense] base attribute increased by 2 points, rising to 54 (73);
[Interior Defense] base attribute increased by 4 points, rising to 37 (92);
[Steals] base attribute increased by 2 points, rising to 57 (87);
[Block] base attribute increased by 2 points, rising to 24 (80).
To be fair, even though some attributes only increased by 1 or 2 points, in the past, it would have taken at least several months to improve them.
The reason the effect was so good now was that besides his talent potential being much higher than before, there was also the [star training partner card]; both were indispensable. However, as the exploitable potential becomes less and less later on, the training effect will naturally decrease.
But by then, Link would likely be able to merge other player templates to continue raising his potential ceiling.
The cap for NBA player attributes is 100. But that doesn't mean it's Link's future limit.
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At the same time, Link noticed that his roommates had all left.
"These guys were saying they had all sorts of back and muscle aches not long ago, and yet, here they are, every single one of them going to the training ground for extra practice." Link laughed in spite of himself.
After getting out of bed, he also headed to the training grounds.
The training programs were varied; some students were practicing Ball Handling between numerous obstacles.
Some students were shooting Three-Point Shots with "medicine balls."
There were also players practicing squats, bench presses, and using plyo boxes to practice their jumping.
Currently, Link still had 2 [special training items].
1. [star (draymond green) training partner card] x1.
2. [physical sports special training card (2 days)] x1.
The physical sports special training card made training effects 5 times more effective than usual.
For Link, whose athletic ability was mediocre, this was simply perfect.
After using the [physical sports special training card], Link walked into the training ground, intending to practice jumping with some students using the plyo boxes.
Wearing jersey number 49, Link was quickly recognized by many students.
"It's him... the Nut-Kicking Kid."
"Hmph, dirty player."
"He deserves to wear number 49? He's definitely overrated!"
Although their voices weren't loud, Link heard them clearly.
As the biggest dark horse in the training camp currently!
It was normal to be targeted. Let alone these high schoolers, it was the same even in the NBA; when the Golden Boy Ricky Rubio first entered the league, he was targeted in all sorts of ways by guards.
Link could understand their inexplicable hostility.
But understanding was one thing; accepting it was another.
Link glanced at them, remembering each of those gossiping guys one by one. If he ran into them tomorrow, he would definitely give them a proper greeting.
At the same time.
The system's mechanical, cold electronic voice rang in Link's mind again.
[Ding, congratulations to the Host for triggering a random mission—I Can Get High Scores Too.]
[Mission Description: In the next 2 days, score more than 30 points in a single game.]
[Mission Reward: 200 Goat points;]
Scoring 30+ points in a single game really wasn't an easy task for Link.
Especially when facing these top American high schoolers.
However, Link seemed very excited about this challenge.
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Link's Jumping Height and Explosiveness were both quite poor.
Jumping Height 30 (64); Explosiveness 40 (59).
Maximum vertical jump height was 63cm.
Uh... most amateur enthusiasts also have this kind of Jumping Height.
Compared to the lightness of other American high schoolers, Link found the plyo box training very strenuous.
But Link never fell behind, gritting his teeth and training continuously.
As time went on, fewer and fewer students remained on the training ground. Although most students didn't want to lose to others, the body has its limits. Two games a day had depleted most of the players' Stamina, especially the starters.
But after Link used the [star (draymond green) training partner card], not only was his Stamina 100% recovered, but even the scrapes he received during the games were 90% healed.
Half an hour later, more than half of the students training their vertical jump had left, with fewer than 16 remaining.
An hour later, only 8 were left.
An hour and a half later, only 3 were left.
Two hours later, only 1 person remained, and that was Link.
Before the other students left, they would all look at Link as if they were looking at a monster.
This guy is a core starter for the "Dream Chasing Warriors Team," how is he not tired at all?
And... every single jump this guy made in training was with full effort, without any slacking, and yet he could still persist until now.
Whether it's training or working out, being fully focused versus just going through the motions yields completely different results.
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Link practiced for a full three and a half hours, and he couldn't even remember how many times he had jumped onto the boxes.
But what he did know was that there wasn't a single dry spot on his entire body.
Before the gym lights were turned off for closing, Link packed his things to head back to the dormitory.
The huge gym was empty now, but Link wasn't the only one there.
There was another student.
A teenager wearing jersey number 8 greeted Link with a smile: "Man, you train hard!"
"Haha, you too," Link said with a smile.
"Hi, let me introduce myself, I'm Brandon Roy." Roy extended his left hand with a gentlemanly grace.
"Hi, I'm Link from China." Link also smiled and reached out his hand.