Nie Chuan smiled with his lips pressed together.
That afternoon, after regular training, the doctor carefully examined Reese’s ankle. Besides Nie Chuan, Coach Gordon was also present. Nie Chuan could sense Coach Gordon’s nervousness. If Reese’s ankle didn’t recover, DK might not be able to perform miracles against CBU in the next match.
The doctor nodded and said, “He can play in the game three days from now.”
Coach Gordon closed his eyes and exhaled. Honestly, facing the strong CBU, Reese’s return would invigorate the entire team. DK’s offense would be more powerful.
Nie Chuan excitedly hugged Reese’s shoulder, “That’s great! We can play together!”
Reese raised his hand and patted Nie Chuan’s back, without any extra expression. In his heart, his recovery was expected.
After leaving the hospital, Coach Gordon shared the news of Reese’s recovery with the whole team. Nie Chuan could imagine how Ewin and the others cheered.
As Coach Gordon said, they were getting closer to the top, and the closer they got, the harder it became. They needed to compete with the perfect lineup.
Leaving the hospital, Reese hooked Nie Chuan’s collar, “Coach, I’m taking Nie Chuan to watch the CBU vs JGU game.”
“Alright, I’ll go with you!” Coach Gordon also wanted to feel CBU’s current state.
When they arrived at the stadium, the CBU and JGU game had already been going on for eight minutes. The place was packed with CBU fans, and the red and white school flags waved like waves in the stands. The score on the screen was 24 to 12, with CBU leading significantly.
As long as the game wasn’t over, JGU could turn the tables at any moment.
DK had already booked tickets for this game. When they found their seats, Nie Chuan immediately heard the discussions of the nearby audience.
“Look, that’s DK’s Reese Reddington and Nie Chuan! Nie Chuan was so cool in the last game! I heard he and Reese are a great duo!”
“If CBU wins today, they’ll compete with DK for the finals spot?”
“Oh my, I wonder if Reese Reddington’s ankle is okay!”
Reese’s face showed no expression, just focused on the court. Nie Chuan also concentrated.
He always remembered the last practice match between DK and CBU, Wright’s speed and agility as point guard, Thomas’s strength under the basket as power forward, and Owen Weshaw, who played shooting guard but often scored like a small forward.
At this moment, Owen got the ball. He turned sideways, the ball behind him, but his face was towards the three players defending him.
Nie Chuan couldn’t help but be amazed. To make JGU assign three people to guard Owen, it seemed today Owen would show his true level.
Excellent ball handlers always have dribbling skills that seem rhythmic but can accelerate or decelerate at any moment, and Owen was no exception.
The ball was in Owen’s hands as he charged towards one opponent. The opponent immediately followed to defend, but his defense actually helped Owen block the other two opponents. Owen made a big shoulder fake, smoothly passing through. When the opponent’s center came to intercept, Owen shot without hesitation.
The opponent’s arm brushed past Owen’s ball, making Nie Chuan break into a cold sweat, but Owen’s expression clearly showed confidence.
The ball smoothly went into the basket, surrounded by the audience’s wild cheers.
Nie Chuan exhaled.
Owen was like a race car driver on the court, with crazy speed, sharp turns that seemed to escape sight, and unexpected stops, controlling JGU at his fingertips.
Not only that, but Thomas’s explosive power under the basket allowed Owen to score from mid to long range with confidence.
And point guard Wright constantly created scoring opportunities for Owen.
The scoring triangle formed by Owen, Wright, and Thomas was already a headache for DK, and CBU’s small forward and center also had extraordinary skills.
The small forward’s cutting speed was fast, adept at seizing opportunities. Maybe he wasn’t as sharp as Reese, but at first glance, it seemed like luck was on his side. However, a closer analysis would reveal his strong off-the-ball movement skills, combined with top-tier jumping ability, making defending him a tough task.
The center also had solid skills. Once he received a pass from Owen or Wright under the basket, he could almost always score, completely suppressing JGU’s rebounding ability.
What worried Nie Chuan the most was that the entire CBU team had the speed of Raven and Ashley.
Previously, trying to shake off Ashley while chasing Raven almost exhausted him. Now, facing a fully powered CBU, Nie Chuan felt immense pressure.
CBU was also adept at changing the game’s pace, from fast breaks to passing the ball from under the basket back to the three-point line, then back inside, with perfect control. In contrast, JGU was left running all over the place.
In the past, Nie Chuan categorized Owen as a sharp predator like Reese, but now he realized he didn’t understand Owen at all.
He could arrogantly make layups or effortlessly hit long shots, putting immense pressure on his defenders, making it impossible to predict whether Owen would score or dribble past them.
For instance, at this moment, Owen faced the opponent’s center’s tight defense and still jumped. Everyone thought it was a shot, but Owen retracted the ball, made a big body fake, almost like he was going to fall, but he regained his balance, then turned swiftly. The basketball bounced at his toes, he dodged the opponent, accelerated instantly, and charged into the basket for a dunk!
The opponent’s power forward leaped up, and being in the top eight meant no weak players. This jump’s height made Nie Chuan stretch his neck.
But Owen managed to retract the ball and hook it in with his fingertips from the opponent’s arm side!
His exposed waist and abs under the T-shirt were powerful, and Nie Chuan could imagine the deafening sound if it had been a dunk.
By the end of this quarter, CBU had extended the lead to 22 points, putting immense pressure on JGU.
When Owen looked up to drink water, he clearly saw Nie Chuan in the stands.
He didn’t look away but kept staring at Nie Chuan.
Feeling like a locked target, an inexplicable fear rose in Nie Chuan’s heart.
He thought he was no longer afraid of Owen, wouldn’t get scared by his basketball, but at this moment, Nie Chuan felt like his throat was being tightly gripped by the opponent.
The game resumed, and Owen was even more unstoppable, using his signature Euro step to dodge two players and turn for a dunk.
Speaking of this exaggerated footwork, Nie Chuan learned it from Owen.
Nie Chuan’s Euro step was flexible and varied, as he was good at controlling his center of gravity, making his swings unexpectedly exaggerated.
But Owen’s Euro step showcased perfect rhythm control.
Accelerating during turns, stopping abruptly when sideways, leaving opponents unable to adapt.
And the biggest difference from Nie Chuan was that Owen’s moves carried a sense of power. When he held the ball and raised his elbow, it seemed like he would knock the opponent over, but Nie Chuan knew Owen wouldn’t actually hit anyone. Yet this sense of power always intimidated defenders.
When Owen cut into the basket again, scoring with the small forward, Nie Chuan frowned.
This small forward wasn’t the one from the previous practice match with DK but a newcomer who joined CBU this year, even later than Nie Chuan joined the college basketball team. But in the high school basketball scene, this guy was already famous.
Owen and CBU’s small forward could cut into the basket from both sides simultaneously, putting immense pressure on JGU’s defense.
With five minutes left, JGU’s players were already extremely exhausted.
This exhaustion was completely different from Nie Chuan’s fatigue when facing Raven. Nie Chuan knew his direction of effort, but JGU was completely lost.
Owen had taken away their confidence.
Just like when he intimidated Nie Chuan during the practice match.
The final score of the game, CBU led JGU by thirty-two points. Such a score was unexpected, as JGU was also a strong seed team, with strength comparable to CBU last year. But a thirty-two-point gap was also reasonable because JGU didn’t have a star player like Owen Weshaw.
Reese patted Nie Chuan’s shoulder, signaling him to get up.
As Nie Chuan left, he took one last look at the court. Owen was smiling at him, waving his finger.
Owen’s teammate Wright came over and said, “I noticed you really like provoking Nie Chuan.”
“Because he’s growing too fast, I always want to uproot him.”
“But if you really did, you’d find life boring.” Wright shrugged, “But facing DK, I don’t feel confident. Nie Chuan is no longer the rookie who could be intimidated by you during practice. He’s not someone Thomas and I can easily handle together. I have a feeling, in the next game, he and Reese can also form a double-edged attack on our basket. We will be defenseless.”
Owen smiled noncommittally, “Let’s go.”
Just as they stepped out of the stadium, Nie Chuan and Reese were surrounded by fans. Even a couple of unknown sports reporters squeezed in to ask how confident they felt about facing CBU.
