The two teams participating in the training camp's All-Star game—the Dream Chasing Warriors and the Miracle Boy—were both battle-hardened, yet they were still high schoolers after all. Under such intense spotlight, their excitement and nervousness were visible to the naked eye. Especially when the live DJ introduced them, it was inevitable for their hearts to race.
"Link..."
"Link..."
"I feel like my heart is pounding violently!"
"It feels like it's about to jump out of my throat!"
Chris Bosh whispered to Link.
"Yeah, it's fine, everyone is the same. Me too," Link comforted him with a light smile.
"Ah! You get nervous too?" Bosh looked at Link with some surprise, but in the next instant, Bosh only saw "excitement" on Link's face. His gaze was like that of a hunter who had found the prey he had been bitterly searching for; there was absolutely no so-called nervousness.
Well, that was right. Link was indeed just comforting Bosh, hoping he would relax as much as possible. Excessive tension would affect shooting touch and reaction Speed.
...
...
The Miracle Boy team led by LeBron James had four All-American five-star high schoolers, including himself.
At the shooting guard position was an All-American five-star shooter, 193cm tall and weighing 84kg.
At the small forward position was an All-American five-star forward, 198cm tall and weighing 92kg.
At the Power Forward position was an All-American four-star forward, 201cm tall and weighing 98kg.
At the Center position was an All-American five-star Center, 206cm tall and weighing 100kg.
As for James himself, he had always served as the team's Point Guard throughout his high school career. As a student in his sophomore year, his height had already grown to 199cm, his weight was 98kg, and his wingspan was 208cm.
In terms of current static talent, Link, with a wingspan of 213.2cm and a weight of 92kg, won by a narrow margin!!!
But the dynamic talent of the two was as different as clouds and mud.
Tweet!
The referee's whistle blew, and the ball was tossed into the air.
Although Bosh was a bit nervous for the jump ball, the opposing Center was even more nervous. Bosh, jumping first, successfully won the tip-off.
James immediately employed full-court press defense against Link, wanting to wear him down through high-intensity defensive consumption, preferably forcing Link into a turnover.
James's long arms constantly interfered, frequently creating contact. Meanwhile, he coordinated this with light, agile footwork to prevent Link from using Explosive Acceleration to break through the confinement.
"Wow, you can see that the Miracle Boy team has applied high-intensity defense to Link right from the start."
"However, Link seems quite accustomed to such defensive treatment and is methodically advancing the ball."
The live DJ said.
Link lowered his Center of gravity, hunched his back, and slightly raised his shielding hand, effectively blocking James's Steal harassment. As for the physical contact brought by the confrontation, it didn't cause much impact on Link's ball handling.
Link's ball-handling ability and core strength were firmly Tier 1 among high school Point Guards. The only flaw was that his Explosive Acceleration was indeed a bit lacking. When James was hounding him, there would be moments where James's positioning deviated, but Link, lacking sufficient explosive power, couldn't burst past him in one step.
After dribbling past half-court, Link wanted to give the ball to Chris Bosh, who was receiving at the top of the key. But at that moment, his peripheral vision caught the opponent's small forward quickly lunging from the weak side, intending to Steal the pass. In an instant, Link's wrist gave a sudden, large flick. With a 'whoosh,' the ball went to his own small forward on the left-wing Three-Point Shot line. After the teammate caught the ball and adjusted, he quickly cut toward the basket.
"Wow!"
"Wow!"
At this moment, a heavy-weight guest in the audience—Shaquille O'Neal, the current number one Center in the NBA—leaned back and opened his mouth wide, as if he were stunned.
Uh, to be fair, Link's sudden change of trajectory on the pass was indeed stunning, but the Passing Speed, angle, and accuracy were still a notch below the top Point Guards in the NBA. O'Neal was just a kid who liked to perform exaggeratedly in front of the camera.
"Crap!" James's brow furrowed. The next second, he activated full-power chase-down mode. With a 'bang,' the Dream Chasing Warriors' small forward was met with a chase-down Poster Dunk by the catching-up James.
This visible athletic talent caused another burst of exclamation from the scene, and it was even louder than the one for Link's trajectory-changing pass earlier.
But just as he was about to celebrate, the basketball, which had bounced to the Free Throw line after the powerful block, was snatched up by the quick-handed Link.
"Link, he got this Defensive Rebound!"
"I know some of you will definitely think he was just lucky, but I can tell you that in the past 12 games of the training camp, Link averaged 3 rebounds per game just by picking them up."
The live DJ said.
Having picked up the loose ball, Link quickly advanced. The nearest shooting guard hurried to defend him, trying to delay his advance. While moving, Link suddenly stopped and started, using his strength to push off the 84kg shooting guard. After further drawing the help defense, he threw an alley-oop to the trailing Josh Smith.
2 to 0. Link used an assist to get the first blood for the team after the start.
Miracle Boy's possession. Before James received the ball at the baseline, he didn't forget to admonish his teammate who had lost his defensive position due to the risky Steal attempt. It had to be said that James's leadership was indeed good; even though the teammate was a senior, he was obediently listening to him at this moment.
James advanced with the ball. Link did not choose to use a full-court press. With James's athletic talent, he could easily be blown past, leaving his team in a 4v5 situation.
At the top of the Three-Point Shot arc, James did not choose to isolate against Link's defense. Instead, he had the team's Center come up to set a screen (above the Free Throw line). Link went under the screen from behind the opponent's Center rather than trying to fight through it. This would give James a brief open window for a Three-Point Shot.
This was the Dream Chasing Warriors' defensive strategy. If James's outside Three-Point Shot was unstable tonight, they would continue to defend like this. If James's Three-Point Shot started falling, they would choose to'switch'.
As a big Point Guard, Link could still hold his own against a high school Center.
Link bet right!
James did not trust his Three-Point Shot and chose to drive after the screen.
Lowering his Center of gravity and accelerating wildly, James charged toward Link like a hawk.
At this moment, Link could even feel the other's breath on his face. 'Thud!' Having a brief space to accelerate, James gained good Speed, and Link was bumped aside by half a body length.
James continued toward the paint, leaped off the ground, shook off Link's harassment, and with a small double-clutch in the air, dodged Josh's block to score off the glass.
As for Link, who was behind him watching James ascend to the heavens, was it that he didn't want to chase down the block? Obviously not... he just didn't have time to jump... Link's core strength and Explosiveness did not support him completing an instantaneous jump under high-intensity movement and contact.
But soon...
Link also returned the favor in an offensive round. Through a pick-and-roll with Bosh, he suddenly did a crossover. James was hung up on Bosh's screen, and Link hit a pull-up mid-range shot.