After the game, Link received 50 Goat points as a system reward.
Although he defeated the team that TJ Ford was on, it didn't break his defense.
After all, in terms of individual matchups, Link was still slightly at a disadvantage.
The reason he was able to explode in the second half and win the game...
Besides Link's accurate catch-and-shoot Mid-range Shooting, the team's chemistry, Bosh's pivot playmaking, and Josh Smith's off-ball screens played a huge role. Especially Bosh's role; without him, even if Link got open, he would have missed the opportunity due to untimely passes.
The team with TJ Ford and Travis Outlaw, despite their strong roster on paper, lacked good chemistry between players, and their defensive rotations were a mess. If this team had practiced together for another ten days to half a month, Link wouldn't have gotten so many good offensive opportunities in the second half.
...
...
What surprised Link was that only Chris Grant, the non-professional basketball coach, noticed the improvement in his athletic ability, not even his friend Chris Bosh.
When he first entered the training camp, Link's basic Jumping Height attribute was only 30, but now it was 33; his Speed also increased from 40 to 42.
The improvement in these two attributes, among other things, played a significant role in his outburst in the afternoon game. Link's shooting style is a "jump shot," also known as a "two-stage shot"; the faster he jumps, the easier it is to create good shooting space.
Shortly after the game ended.
The assistant coach from the University of Texas, just like John, the scout from UCLA, privately approached Link for a talk.
"Link, we are willing to offer you a full scholarship."
The University of Texas wanted to recruit Link, but they were still unwilling to give him a starting position on the team, and he would have to compete with teammates in the same position for Ball Handling and other aspects.
Link once again gave an ambiguous answer.
At this moment, Link was like a scoundrel, neither agreeing nor refusing, merely treating them as backups.
Link, who once again received a full scholarship invitation from NCAA Division I, gained 100 Goat points.
[Goat Points: 172/1072]
Link performed another random draw.
It was another sparring partner card, but this time it wasn't Green's.
[star (Josh Hart) training partner card]
Josh Hart!
Older fans might not be familiar with him.
Josh Hart was selected by the Jazz with the 30th pick in the first round in 2017. Despite his height of only 193cm, weight of 97kg, and a wingspan of 204cm, he often managed to grab double-digit rebounds in games.
In the 23-24 season, his average rebounds per game reached 8.3.
Friends who often play 2K should be familiar with his "silver" badge—Charge Rebound Master, a badge that even his New York Knicks teammate, Towns, didn't have.
Josh Hart, whose athletic talent is not top-tier for his position, can grab so many rebounds, undoubtedly due to his keen sense for rebounding.
...
...
As usual, before the evening training, he entered a meditative state, but this time, Link used the [star (Josh Hart) training partner card] instead of Green's.
After the training, Link immediately checked the changes in his rebounding attributes.
"Wow..."
"He truly lives up to his reputation as a short rebounding master."
The basic attribute of [Offensive Rebound] increased by 3, reaching 25 (70).
The basic attribute of [Defensive Rebound] increased by 4, reaching 34 (88).
...
...
The next day.
After Link woke up, he was notified by the training camp staff to go measure his height and weight.
"Sports Illustrated sure has a lot of demands..." Matt Babcock couldn't help but complain at this moment.
"Mr. Sonny from our training camp is really cooperative with them," echoed other trainees in the same dorm.
"Sports Illustrated is about to release the latest national high school rankings, so they probably need to collect our latest static physical test data," Bosh analyzed.
In basketball, there's a saying: an inch longer, an inch stronger.
Although Link's height of 198cm is definitely tall for a Point Guard, he wouldn't mind growing to 220cm+, of course, this is unrealistic. According to Link's bone age, he will at most reach 206cm in the future.
"Oh, no!"
"Buddy, did you measure me wrong? I'm clearly 185cm, but you measured me as 181cm." Matt Babcock complained.
"I've measured you three times, there's absolutely no way it's wrong." The staff member rolled his eyes, looking speechless.
Measuring height, some were happy, some were sad.
The sad ones were naturally those who had lied about their height and were exposed.
The happy ones were those like Link who had grown taller.
"Wow..."
"Link, didn't you say your height was 198cm? How come it's now 199.2cm?"
"OMG, that's a whole 1.2cm increase! Wuwuwu... I haven't grown that much in the past six months."
"By the way, Link, when was the last time you measured your height?"
Matt Babcock asked with an envious look.
Link pondered for a few seconds, then smiled: "It should have been more than half a month ago."
"Holy cow... Link, are you still in your golden growth period at 17? That's incredible!"
"Yeah, Link... your national ranking will definitely skyrocket this time."
The other teammates who came along were all envious. Static talent is extremely important for professional basketball players. Link was already a tall Point Guard, he performed so well at the ABCD Training Camp, and now he's even growing taller.
Not only did Link grow taller to 199.2cm, his wingspan also increased from 211cm to 213.2cm, and his weight grew from 90kg to 92kg.
It's important to note that this 2kg was natural muscle gain.
Everyone believed that Link would become the biggest dark horse among this year's national high school students!
"Hmph, what's the use of just growing taller?" At this moment, a discordant cold snort sounded behind Link.
He turned around and found it was Lamine Kook, who had just finished measuring his height and weight.
After the two games yesterday, Lamine Kook was very unhappy when the latest rankings came out.
He had dropped from his previous first place to third.
The two people ahead of him were LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire.
Link had risen from 28th to 24th, a total improvement of 121 places compared to his 143rd position when he first entered the training camp.
Moreover, Lamine Kook was speechless to find that his height still hadn't increased during his measurement just now; in the past two years, Lamine Kook's height seemed to have stopped growing.
"You brat, you're really lucky that you haven't run into me until now." Lamine Kook looked at Link with a provocative gaze.
"Is that so? Shouldn't that be your luck?" Link retorted, unwilling to show weakness.
After a brief standoff, the two groups were separated by the staff.
To be honest.
Link really hoped to defeat Lamine Kook before James did, which would increase the quality and exposure of the game.
What delighted Link was that his height had actually started to "shoot up" again.
Maybe he really could grow to 206cm.
"Could this be a side effect of the [physical sports special training card]?"
Suddenly, Link thought of this question.
After box jumping last night, he woke up this morning to find that his basic [Jumping Height] attribute had increased by 1, reaching 34 (64); his basic [Stamina] attribute had increased from 54 to 55 (84); what made Link most delighted was that his basic [Explosive Acceleration] attribute also increased by 1 point, reaching 31 (60).
Latest Player Attribute Panel:
[Host: Link]
[Player Information]: Height 199.2cm; Weight 92kg; Wingspan 213.2cm; Shoulder Width 61cm; Shoe Size 47; Maximum Hand Length 22.7cm.
[Player Attributes]
Shooting & Finishing: Three-Point Shot 49 (73); Mid-range Shooting 63 (68); Close-Range Shot 53 (80); Free Throw 57 (67); Post Hook Shot 50 (73); Post Fadeaway Jumpshot 40 (68); Driving Layup 56 (78)
Defense & Playmaking: Ball Handling 57 (74); Passing 56 (88); Passing Vision 54 (90); Steal 60 (87); Block 26 (80); Perimeter Defense 59 (73); Interior Defense 40 (92); Offensive Rebound 25 (70); Defensive Rebound 34 (88)
Physical & Athletic: Explosiveness 50 (71); Explosive Acceleration 31 (60); Explosiveness 42 (59); Jumping Height 34 (64); Lateral Movement 47 (60); Strength 50 (80); Stamina 55 (84); Injury Resistance 30 (60)
[Player Badges]:
1. [Double Team Master (Bronze)]
2. [Death Coil (Bronze)]
3. [Needle Threader (Bronze)]
[Dominance Moment]: None
[Player Special Action Packs]:
1. Player Celebration Action Pack
1) junior playing the zither.
2. Player Action Pack
1) Duncan 45-Degree Bank Shot
[Special Training Items]:
[star (draymond green) training partner card] x2
[Player Achievements]:
1. unwilling to be ordinary
[Goat Points]: 72/1172 (3000 Goat points are needed to obtain the next player template.)