The match against Chris Pat ended in five minutes.
3–0.
Clean and decisive.
With speed that Pat couldn’t match, Bruce left him with no choice but to fall for a beautiful crossover dribble—collapsing to the ground—only to turn and watch Bruce accelerate into the paint for the game-winning layup.
Afterward, Bruce didn’t even glance at him; instead, he turned to Jamie Lin and said, “Time to organize team practice.” The other players gathered around, while Chris Pat—having been thoroughly outplayed—was left standing there like a piece of discarded trash; no one cared to pay him any mind.
True to form, he shouted that he wanted a rematch.
But everyone looked at him with disdain.
“Hey, you’ve embarrassed yourself enough.
There’s no need to repeat that ridiculous display.
I think if TJ found out about this, he’d regret having a cousin like you.” Scott’s cold yet blunt words finally silenced Pat.
He could clearly see the contempt in everyone’s eyes.
Why was this happening?
He was baffled.
How had Bruce beaten him?
Why had he suddenly become so fast?
These were questions he would never be able to answer.
As for Bruce, once the one-on-one match ended, Chris Pat was nothing more than a pebble kicked to the wayside—not even worthy of serving as a stepping stone.
…
Having lost their two best ball-handling guards—TJ Walton and Nicholas—Stanford was left with only a handful of shooters and hardworking forwards.
This was precisely why Coach McHani had chosen to leave the team temporarily to recruit players for the upcoming season.
Although Stanford theoretically still had a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament, their opponents in the upcoming Pac-10 Conference schedule were USC, Oregon, and Arizona State University.
With the exception of Oregon, all of them were formidable teams.
Beating them would be an incredibly difficult task.
Furthermore, Stanford needed to win all three games to garner enough points to enter the NCAA tournament as the Pac-12 Conference’s fifth seed!
This was nearly impossible.
Even with TJ Walton and Nicholas still on the roster, the odds were less than five percent.
Consequently, McHaney adopted a hands-off approach, ceding control to Jamie Lin.
He also casually threw a bone to Bruce Li—a transfer student from Harvard—by starting him in the final three games; it was a gesture of Stanford’s humanitarian goodwill!
After all, Bruce’s transfer had garnered significant media attention.
→ It wouldn’t look good to let him fade from the team in such an embarrassing fashion.
Despite the chaos sown by the head coach, Jamie Lin diligently worked on game strategies, viewing this as a rare opportunity to showcase his capabilities.
He hoped to demonstrate his talent through these three games, ideally catching the eye of the school’s athletic committee and securing a position as a full-fledged assistant coach.
Analyzing the current roster, he decided to emulate the Phoenix Suns—a dominant force in the NBA at the time—and the Sacramento Kings of the early 2000s: “We need to run a fluid, fast-paced offense; we need to move the ball quickly.
I want everyone sharing the ball selflessly, keeping it moving to create plenty of quick looks for our shooters,” Jamie Lin explained.
It was a desperate gamble; for one, the team lacked ball-handling skills.
Secondly, they lacked a dominant center; their only option at the position was Carlos Gavin, a 7-foot, 90-kilogram white player—essentially, just a tall shooter.
In addition, they have Billy Robin, Jonny Scott, and Frank Benson playing as forwards.
Billy Robin is a white power forward standing 196 cm tall.
Although not particularly tall, his weight—over 200 pounds—gives him a solid base and excellent screening ability, making him a rare type of role player in college basketball.
His only weakness is his somewhat sluggish movement; while his defensive positioning is strong, his rebounding is merely average.
Jonny Scott, on the other hand, is the exact opposite.
This 201 cm Black forward is an agile, high-leaping player.
He even pulled off explosive dunks during training camp, boasting an impressive vertical reach of 3.8 meters.
In the Pac-12 conference, he is often nicknamed “Little Stoudemire.” However, he lacks the polished face-up shooting skills of Stoudemire; he is a power forward who relies on offensive rebounding and dunks.
Frank Benson is a 197 cm Black man, but he resembles his mother, giving him the appearance of a white man at first glance.
He is incredibly strong, possesses good leaping ability and some playmaking skills, and has a decent mid-range shot.
His playing style draws comparisons to a much smaller version of Carlos Boozer.
The team also includes Ian House, Hank Craig, Daniel Bach, Roy Hicks, Colfred, and Rex Dan.
The first three are white sharpshooters, while the last three are Black sharpshooters.
Their playing style is consistent: it’s all about shooting!
For some reason, Stanford recruited so many shooting specialists early on that Jamie Lin is now facing a highly unbalanced roster.
If someone could effectively tie them all together, they would actually be a formidable force.
Jamie Lin mused on this as he split the team into two groups for tactical drills.
Before long, Bruce—who shares his skin color—gave him a pleasant surprise.
When he, Fred, Bach, Scott, and Benson formed a unit and launched a fast break, the opposing defense simply couldn’t keep up with their pace.
Under Bruce’s command, they stormed the frontcourt like a lightning bolt.
Bruce’s speed ignited the entire offense, and he displayed his most coveted strength: during the fast break, he could always find the best-positioned teammate in the blink of an eye.
In less than five minutes, Chris Patt’s second-string squad had already conceded a flurry of points.
Fred hit a three-pointer, and Bach added another.
Scott threw down two dunks, and Benson also connected on a mid-range jumper from the free-throw line.
Over the course of just five possessions, Bruce racked up five assists.
He distributed the ball evenly, allowing his teammates to get on the scoreboard.
*This is my Steve Nash!!!* Jamie Lin couldn’t contain his excitement and clapped gleefully; Bruce had delivered an unprecedented surprise—the guy was truly extraordinary.
Although he already knew Bruce possessed excellent passing skills, he hadn’t expected him to have such a distinct advantage in the fast-break game!
*I might just be hitting the peak of my life.* Jamie Lin thought happily.
At the same time, Bruce was even more thrilled than he was.
The speed gave him a sensation akin to riding the wind.
As he sprinted, he could clearly feel the wind rushing past his ears, and his field of vision was vastly different—more open and expansive than ever before.
Simultaneously, he felt a newfound confidence in handling the ball and orchestrating the team’s offense.
*Is that thing in my head actually real?* *Is it what made me like this?* …