Chapter 140: The Call of the Varsity

Herzberg was so prostrated on his desk that his assistant coach Kerr pushed open the office door and walked over to his desk, only to find that his friend and colleague, Herzberg, had fallen asleep.

Cole's gaze swept over the tactical board under Herzberg's right hand, which was a jumble of markings, triangular, blunt, and square. If you change someone else, you must have been confused, but for Kerr, who has been Herzberg's friend for more than 40 years, this is Herzberg's marker for everyone who can execute various tactics in his basketball plays.

Probably sensing that someone was watching him, Herzberg, who was in a very light sleep, suddenly woke up, and when he looked up and found that it was his friend Cole, he couldn't help but mutter: "Hey, friend, how many times have I told you, don't stand by my side silently, you know, my alertness is top-notch!" Resemble......! ”

"Like a black fox!" Cole took Hertzberg's words, "Just like your nickname, my friend, the black fox, your reputation is spread throughout Manhattan, New York, but you also have to pay attention to your body, a thin black fox, after all, still can't do it!" ”

"Alright, alright, I just took a nap, my friend, did you bring me any good news?" Herzberg waved his hand to change the subject.

At the mention of this, Cole showed an annoyed expression, he pulled a chair over, sat down, and after relieving the sulking that seemed to be depressed for a long time, he explained to his friend whose expression was infected by him: "This idea of yours can no longer be realized, I have consulted with the principal's office and the exclusive high school basketball committee under the Brooklyn area, and the answer is no!" The person in charge of the committee also reminded us that our previous move to recruit students from high schools in other states was already exploiting the loopholes of the committee, and not pursuing it was already the best result, and now, it is even more impossible for you to ask for another out-of-state spot! ”

Herzberg's expression did not show the expected anger, as if such a result was already guessed by him, he was silent, and then comforted his friend with a smile: "Cole, this is not a bad result, I am just trying to make the territory of the Cruses more stable, although we do have one less starting small forward in the real sense, but the previous operation has given me a lot of confidence, since this is the case, then we can only develop from the existing players!" ”

Kerr nodded, he realized that his friend was mentally prepared, so he let go of the unfinished and guilty emotions, and said casually: "Herzberg, in fact, I must remind you that now our starters are basically players from other continents, and compared with other players in this school, the gap is obvious, if you want to rely on this lineup to play in the district league of New York State, I think, the difficulty is what you need to pay attention to." ”

Herzberg's face was expressionless, but the frequency of his fingers tapping on the table was getting faster and faster, which still highlighted his inner irritability, "We can play a rotation lineup and keep two or three starters on the court all the time, Sarri and Sali are both defenders, they can rotate as ball control or score, Tennison can be used as small forward and scorer, Bach and Theodore can only be center and big forward in terms of technique and weight." In this way, this lineup is only slightly insufficient, and based on what we know about the other teams in the regional league, we are more than capable of rushing into the state league, Cole, do you have anything to add? ”

Kerr didn't answer immediately, but took out a copy of the team information from his bag and handed it to Herzberg, and then said: "This is the information of the other teams that will play against us, the characteristics and flaws of the main core players of each team are there, you can take a look at it first!" ”

Herzberg was in good spirits, and as a friend for more than 40 years, the reason why he agreed to the recruitment of Crucius was not because of the generous annual salary, but for another reason.

The main motivation for leaving Duke as an assistant coach and daring to start over from a very low level was his friend Kerr's excellent analytical ability of players.

Herzberg has a very strong ambition in his heart, he wants to get a real recognition, as he is about to enter sixty, at this time, I am afraid that there will be not enough time.

He carefully looked at the information that took nearly a month to sort out, it was not the so-called dense, but a summary of the core figures of the teams in the regional league and the potential players who needed attention, some players were slightly brushed, and some were described in a small paragraph, but this thin collection of information of only five pages made Herzberg frown.

"My old fellow, are you a bit alarmist?" Herzberg's face was bad.

"Actually, I think I need to be a little bit more rigorous, and the preparation of other schools is not much inferior to our preparation, Herzberg, you know why we're here, I don't need to say much about that. In that case, you should think that other schools may not have the same idea, higher tuition, more student places, and better teachers. In the midst of a financial turmoil, these are undoubtedly the best nutrients. The principal of the Cruz High School, Marshall, has privately expressed that the Cruz High School has decided to take the path of an international high school, and the state focus is a necessary factor. ”

Herzberg smiled wryly, Kerr is not only a basketball professional, but also has a unique deep interest in finance, but his analysis is very reasonable, in order to become a state focus, other opponents are naturally prepared. But in this way, my pressure has increased a lot.

"We can play a successful first half, but there's no guarantee that there will be a happy second half, or you can choose a tough first half and then a more painful second half to fill the hole!" Cole had a serious face, and after analyzing his opponent's profile, he felt he had to remind his old buddy that this district league, which didn't seem to be difficult, was actually very deep.

"Where did they get these players?" Herzberg was annoyed, he slammed the documents on the table, and scolded with his hands crossed on the side of his suit.

Cole was obviously anticipating his old friend's sudden outburst, and when he heard this, he said, "But now there is good news! ”

Herzberg turned his head and glared at his partner: "I know that you have always reported your worries first and then said good news, since there have been two bad news in front of you, it seems that this good news makes me look forward to it!" ”

"This is indeed good news, but how good it is, I can't be sure!" Cole said.

Herzberg paused and smiled bitterly: "I am looking forward to the things that can make you uncertain, come on, don't sell it, now I am scorched!" ”

Cole nodded, he took another disc out of his bag, then stood up, walked to the corner where the video set was placed, put the disc in the player, turned back to Herzberg and said, "You take a look first, and then I'll tell you more!" ”

Herzberg dragged the large backrest chair behind his desk, pulled it to the television, sat down, and just as the picture aired.

In the picture, it is clearly an open-air court, surrounded by a large number of people, and on the court, a basketball game is in progress. For Herzberg's career as a basketball coach, he quickly stepped into the role, and although the photographer's skills were too average and the picture quality was not much better, he was still attracted to the person on the court at first sight.

It was an Asian teenager, and because it was shot from a horizontal angle of the court, Herzberg felt as if he was wearing something on his face, but the boy's movements made him ignore it. I saw that the Asian teenager in the picture first made a feint from the bottom of the arc on the right side of the court to run through the paint area to the left, and then quickly reflexively ran to the top arc elbow area, and after throwing off his defensive teammates, he easily caught the ball that came. First, he made a fake action of a stop-and-go jump shot to deceive the second defender who was in place, and then after a jump, he went straight to the inside line, and raised the ball again to shoot, and then completely attracted the two players on the inside, hit the ground with a low hand, and passed the ball to the player who was already on the inside line, and the latter easily scored on the board.

Herzberg's brow furrowed, which made his heart quickly grasp something, and he completely calmed down, focusing on the Asian teenager.

The next step was the opposition's attack, where the Asian teenager defended in the two-point arc area on the left, and his opponent, a stout black man wearing a red headband, apparently wanted to force the Asian teenager to eat a ball, and when he got into position, he quickly jammed him and reached out for the ball.

The fierce competition between the two sides, the Asian teenager did not give an inch, but soon the black man relied on his own strength, and even ate the two positions of the Asian American, and the ball was hoisted in from the outside at this time, and when the ball came out, the Asian teenager who was suppressed suddenly stuck the stout black man, a short body, and changed from the defense behind him to the defense around the front.

It's complicated, in fact, it's on the TV screen, but it's just less than three seconds, the black guy is stuck in the position, the Asian teenager goes around, steals the ball in his hand, and then doesn't waste a second, the fast attack goes to the bottom, and passes to the teammates on the other side who are in place, a simple fast break score, without any effort.

In Herzberg's eyes, this offense and defense completely opened his heart. When he was at Duke, he was often involved in inspecting graduating high school players, both on video and on the ground. Dazzling dribbling, jaw-dropping aerial work, and uncatchable burst speed, he saw a dozen after a dozen.

In the video of just half a minute, the Asian teenager has an assist and a steal, which is completely incomparable to the talent he has experienced, but it is from this simplicity that Herzberg grasps the light that flashed through his heart just now.

"I like the way he plays, but what does that give me?" Because the photographer seems to have some scruples, the time is not long, and it is only a few short offensive and defensive exchanges. Herzberg was soon finished, and he immediately asked his partner questions.

Cole's answer was brief: "He's from this school!" ”

After getting the answer he expected, Herzberg felt a little fluctuating in his heart, and he continued to ask: "It looks like this is a game, and, a little formal!" Is he working by playing ball? ”

Cole shook his head: "I don't know, this disc was stuffed under the crack of my office door last night!" A note was also attached to the CD. ”

"What did the note say?"

Cole pulled a neatly folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Herzberg.

Herzberg opened it, and the post-it note had a line of words written on it: Viper, Cruz High School, China.

Raising the post-it note, Herzberg chuckled: "That's a lot of information!" ”

Cole took out another document from his bag, handed it to Herzberg, and said, "I thought it would take a lot of effort to find this Asian teenager, but I didn't expect it to be easy.

His name is Yan, and he is the only two Chinese students in Cruz High School, and the other one was eliminated because he was not tall enough. He began appearing in the League II last month, and because he first appeared, wearing a mask that resembles a viper's head, so he is known as the Viper.

The personality is as we know the Chinese, withdrawn, shy, and unsociable, but with excellent academic performance, he is a typical good boy template.

The family background should be good, you know, the person who can come to the United States to study in high school is undoubtedly a Chinese-style magnate, and someone has seen a modified H2 Hummer come to pick him up.

And for those who can play in the ADN League, the background of this Asian teenager is definitely not an ordinary person.

As for the rest of the more in-depth information, I don't know from this, after all, I'm not a private investigator! After Cole finished the introduction, he casually added: "I have a hunch that he will be a blessing and a curse for us!" ”

Herzberg's happy expression was a little solemn with Cole's introduction, and when he heard his last sentence, his brows furrowed: "Old man, you are right, this is a campus, not a society, and I don't want anything to ruin this campus atmosphere, even if he is the small forward I need." ”

"But ......!"

"Nothing, Loftus-Cheek, you have to understand that we are school basketball coaches, all our lives, all, past, now, and future!" Herzberg's face was solemn.

Cole had to shut up, since his partner even said his Christian name, it means that at least for now, his attitude will not change.

"Okay, I guess, is the team training going to begin?" Herzberg looked up at his watch and muttered to himself.

"Yes!"

"Then hurry up, we have a lot of tasks today!" Herzberg urged, and Cole had to leave first.

But, my old fellow, I don't think this viper is just that, maybe he's the pentagram you're looking for. The thought flowed through Cole's mind, but even he wasn't sure.

Perhaps, I should go and see it.

And when Cole made a decision, in the office of the Crousian basketball coach, Herzberg, the head basketball coach of Corrus High School, was sitting there silently, turned on the player again, watched it again, and then watched it again, and then he picked up the information book about the district league opponents and the introduction of the information about the Viper that Cole had compiled before, and the two books were held in one hand, and they were silent again.

Finally, he got up and took out the disc from the player, found an envelope and put it in, opened the bottom drawer, and put it in.

※※※※※※※

"You made the right decision!" Ji Sen tried his best to maintain his calmness, pretending to have an expected expression, looked at Yan Yufeng, who got off the bus and walked over, and said.

Yan Yufeng looked at the old man in front of him who was dressed as he was yesterday, and after hearing his opening remarks, he didn't care, and said, "Then you still need to prove it!" ”

Kison laughed, he half-turned and pointed down a path in the grass, which was obviously a human step, and said, "Then please follow me!" ”

Yan Yufeng followed Kisen's hand, looked through the grass, looked at the ghost of the low house in the distance, and asked vigilantly, "Is that your residence?" ”

"Hey, friend, if you keep such a contemptuous attitude, I suppose that although our talents can help you, I'm afraid you won't get anything either!" An old voice sounded from the side, Yan Yufeng looked sideways, and an old man wearing heavy reading glasses stood there, although his clothes were very shabby, but they gave people a very clean feeling, and the staggered traces of time on his face made him more majestic.

Yan Yufeng put away his thoughts and greeted politely: "Hello, you can call me Yan!" ”

"Kison, me, Finney." The old man first introduced Kisen, then reported his name, and then greeted Yan Yufeng and said: "We don't have the slightest malice, this is a transaction, and you are just a person who meets the basic qualifications for us to trade, as for the rest, you still need to understand it yourself!" ”

"Then please lead the way!" Yan Yufeng regained his composure, and he lifted his backpack to show his trust.

So, Kisson and Finney walked in front, Yan Yufeng followed behind, this is not a long, but very tortuous path, there are dizzying debris along the way, from small needles to large abandoned pickups, gradually, Yan Yufeng found more and more garbage, and began to appear in a pile-up, as if to indicate that if you continue to walk, the destination will be a huge garbage dump.

When Kisson happily turned around and told Yan Yufeng that he had arrived, Yan Yufeng couldn't help but be surprised by the scene in front of him.

It is a large open space, and on the east side is a patchwork of mounds of dirt, as if it were an off-road course. To the west, there are ravines and muddy ground. To the south is the only concrete half-basketball court that sits there, and the only basketball standard is a basket with a few wisps of nets left. At the corner of the open space of the West Gate, several dilapidated sheds were joined together, leaning against a small dirt slope.

Yan Yufeng's eyebrows furrowed, he was amused by his lucky idea, and was about to turn around and leave, when the old man Finney seemed to guess what was on his mind, he said loudly to Yan Yufeng: "Please don't underestimate this venue, if we want to deceive your trust, we can look for a normal and clean stadium, and such a stadium is in New York, you can have as many as you want, what do you think?" ”

Yan Yufeng was speechless, and at this moment, he saw five old men appear around him as if they were emerging from the dirt, their eyes were very strange, with a hint of expectation and suspicion, and more curiosity, Kisson began to beckon this group of strangely dressed and strangely shaped old men to come over.

Finney was clearly the leader of the group, and it was clear from the group of old men hugging him, "You'll know them later!" The old man Finney did not mean to introduce, but waved them away, and the old man walked away, looking back from time to time.

Yan Yufeng felt that everything was very strange, from the beginning to the present, it was full of ancient and strong weirdness. But the more this happens, the more curiosity is seduced, and he directly tells him that the excitement is still to come.

Only Finney and Kisson were left in this empty field, and at this moment Kisson spoke: "If your mind has not changed, then the first class will begin, it is now 9:50 in the morning, if it is no problem, then it should be ten o'clock, until twelve o'clock at noon, what do you think?" ”

Yan Yufeng nodded, then took out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket, indicating that he had brought enough tuition.

"Very well, as the first lesson, I think I have to teach you something that you can master quickly, so that you can not only prove our strength, but also reassure you. Me, Kissen Tajira, your defensive coach! Keeson then said seriously.

"Can we begin?" Yan Yufeng asked directly.

Kisen shrugged his shoulders and said, "No problem! ”

When the three of them came to the south court, Yan Yufeng took out the basketball from his backpack, then put the bag under the basket frame, glanced at the court, and after feeling that there was no clutter, he looked at Kisen with both eyes.

Kison took off his jacket and handed it to Finney next to him, then came to the basket and stretched out his hand: "Give me the ball!" ”

Yan Yufeng threw the ball over as he said, and Kisson caught the ball, and then said, "A steal!" ”

Yan Yufeng was stunned when he heard this: "What? ”

Kisson repeated: "A steal! ”

Yan Yufeng was still puzzled: "Is this the beginning?" ”

"You said you could get started!"

"And what is this steal?"

"The term in basketball, steal, to be clear, means that the ball you control is stealed by me!" Kisson explained very seriously.

Yan Yufeng smiled dumbly, and when he saw Kison's expression, he began to realize that this was not funny.

"What is this? Defend? ”

"Yes, verbal deception is also a technique of defense."

"I think it's funny!"

"No, no, no, it's not funny at all, I asked you to give me the ball, that's my subjective will, can you give it to me? If it were in an official competition, would you give it to me? ”

"Of course not, that's why I think it's funny."

"Well, have you ever seen a bickering on the court?" Kisson continued to ask.

"Of course, it's part of the game."

"What will be the result of that bickering?"

"One side succeeds, one side loses!"

"Very well, if there are two people on the pitch now, and the defender uses words to disdain the attacking man's attacking ability, and he keeps saying, you can't throw it in front of me, I bet on my grandmother, who is still alive and healthy! You say, if it were you, would you give him **? ”

"I think I will!"

"Very well, what will be the result? The ball went in, the ball didn't go in, right? ”

"Yes!"

"Then think about it seriously, is this a tactic arranged for you by the coach?"

"Of course not!"

"Very well, so is that what you really want?"

"Not either!"

"Now, do you think it's a good thing to do by bickering?"

"Yes."

"Well, what is the subjective intention of the bicker?"

"Provoke the other side and disrupt the other party's tactical progress."

"Do you want the ball in the subjective sense?"

"Yes!"

"Now, do you think language is part of the defense?"

"Yes!"

"Well, what I showed just now is a very simple truth, maybe you will sometimes use bickering, but you will not deeply understand why you are bickering, because maybe your heart is full of anger, and you want to provoke. But, now you have to understand the truth of language = defense! ”

Yan Yufeng was silent for a while, he didn't look at Kisen, but looked at the basketball in Kisen's hand, his eyes began to change, and finally, he said: "I admit what you said, but if that's all it is, I don't think there's any need to continue." ”

Kison threw the ball back to Yan Yufeng, who instinctively caught it with both hands, Kison walked over, and said as he walked: "Naturally not, this is just an opening statement, and next, there will be many, many defensive tricks that you don't expect, such as ......!" ”

Before Kisen's words fell, he suddenly stretched out his hand and fanned the basketball that Yan Yufeng was holding with both hands, Yan Yufeng was only startled, and the next moment he felt that his hand was empty, and the basketball had already reached Kisen's hands.

Kitson took two steps back, raised the basketball in his hand, and said, "Second steal!" ”

Yan Yufeng closed his lips and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Never be attracted by the words of your opponent, focus on the basketball in your hand, your hands need to be held tightly all the time, for yourself, basketball is equal to your own dignity!" After Ji Sen finished speaking, he threw the basketball back into Yan Yufeng's hand. Then he went to the free throw line, pointed to the open space in front of him, and said, "Please come here!" ”

Yan Yufeng hesitated, walked over with a basketball in both hands, he deliberately made a small circle, avoided Kisen, and walked to the location near the designated place.

Kisen nodded approvingly and said, "If you had passed by me just now, I wouldn't have been stingy to take the ball out of your hand." Very well, I think, you're starting to get serious. ”

Kisson continued: "What do you do when you're in my position at the moment, against the ball-handling opponent you're standing in? ”

Yan Yufeng thought for a while and said, "Lean up and touch his body with your right hand." ”

"Okay, you play the attacking side now, come, attack me!" Kison clapped his hands and leaned down slightly.

Yan Yufeng glanced at the leather shoes on Kisen's feet, and immediately caused Kisen to shout: "Hey, you're not at the point where you let me change your shoes, hurry up, your time is running out!" ”

Yan Yufeng's eyes suddenly narrowed, he leaned down slightly, his whole back arched, his left foot was behind, his right foot was in front, his two feet were diagonally stepping on the horizontal figure, his right foot was lightly probed, and his body was slightly tilted to the right, just as he was about to break out, the moment he broke through with the ball, Kison suddenly moved, he put one hand directly on Yan Yufeng's waist, and took a big step with his right foot, standing directly on Yan Yufeng; The two feet were in a straight line at the center point, and then in the next second, the whole person hit Yan Yufeng's chest with a heavy shoulder, and a huge force surged, knocking Yan Yufeng, who was caught off guard, staggered.

What Yan Yufeng couldn't imagine was that the basketball he grabbed with both hands felt empty again, and after Yan Yufeng took a step back and stabilized his center of gravity, he saw that the basketball came to Kisen's hands again.

The disgusting voice sounded again: "Third steal!" ”

"Why?" Yan Yufeng wanted to settle down, but felt a little blind.

Kisson's face turned a little pale, as if he had just exploded and consumed his huge energy, and he paused for a moment before replying:

"It's actually very simple, because I see through you!"

"See through?"

"For example, if there is a real positional battle, and one side gets the exact time of the other side's general attack, what do you think will be the result?"

"Naturally, it's not a second."

"What do you think would happen to the other side if I suddenly launched a counter-offensive a few minutes before the general attack?"

"That would only be worse!"

"Well, now I know when you're going to break through, no matter which side you're going to break through, anyway, I'll take a step ahead, come to your central area before your center of gravity tilts, and use your body to cut off your starting route, do you think you, can you avoid it?

"Can't!"

"So, it's very simple, getting the ball in my hands is just my handy!"

Yan Yufeng finally recovered, and he began to be convinced, so he asked, "How did you see through that I was about to break through?" ”

Kitson smiled, his face full of gray beard smiled proudly: "For the sake of the first lesson, I can make an exception to tell you that in the future, if you want to get the answer, it will not be so simple!" ”

As he spoke, he threw the ball to Yan Yufeng and said, "You can pose again just now!" ”

Yan Yufeng, who took the ball, habitually made the posture just now, and then Kison squatted down, pointed to his left foot behind him, and smiled slightly.

Yan Yufeng lowered his head and looked at his left foot, not understanding what it meant.

"Tell me, if you were to break through, which foot do you think you really made the first move?" Kison asked.

Yan Yufeng's eyes froze, his eyes widened and he looked at Jisen in front of him, and only after half a sound did he ask uncertainly: "What if I just lift my heels?" ”

"And what about your center of gravity?"

"Center of gravity?"

"If you want to break through with the ball, then your center of gravity is your explosive power that ignites the match, and the center of gravity is on your feet, feet, front feet! But you have to understand that the larger the foot area, the stronger and faster and more stable your explosiveness, and if you were to fool the defender with a deceptive move like your heel, how efficient do you think your explosiveness would be? ”

Yan Yufeng pondered.

"If you don't have too much explosiveness, what will be your breakthrough effect? When I suddenly go on close defense? Kison continued to ask.

"Yes, you're right." Yan Yufeng felt very depressed, with a treasure that had been buried for a long time, and he was depressed that he was completely looked at at once.

"Defending is about eyesight, it's about experience, not about your physicality! When you're defending, you have to have an offensive spirit in your heart, and when you're attacking, you have to always be defensive and vigilant. Do you understand? ”

Yan Yufeng was completely silent, his eyes flashing with thought.

"Go on, Kissen!" Yan Yufeng said seriously.

Kisson finally had the big picture in his hands, and he looked in the distance to find a stool to sit on Naphne, who smiled slightly.

"Since you have believed me, then I will tell you now, how to face the attacker in the dribbling state, first of all, your attention should not be on the basketball in his hand, but pay attention to his feet, because it is a dribbling state, you can't immediately understand which foot his flashpoint is, maybe this moment is in the right foot, maybe the next second, is in the left foot, then, now you have to raise your attention slightly, to pay attention to his waist, don't think it's difficult, in fact, it is more convenient to look at the waist than to look at the feet, the point is………………！ Kisen's words continued, and Yan Yufeng listened attentively.

In the distance, Finney suddenly felt that the sun was very warm, and at this moment, this area belonging to his group of old friends, he raised his head, set up the tent with his hands, and looked at the high-rise buildings looming in Manhattan in the distance, and his heart was like a frenzy.

PS: The competition part affirms the most quintessential part of the campus. However, it is clear that the game that really needs to be described with a lot of effort will certainly not be so soon, and now is the time to slowly set the mood up, please forgive me for being tedious.

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