39: 38.

Got stimulated 39: 38.

Got stimulated A pleasant day passed, and at 3 p.m.

on the next day, the match between the Compton High School reserve team and the Lynwood High School reserve team began.

The overall talent at Lynwood High School was superior to Compton, with players like Miller, Aboya, and Keith, who were top talents nurtured by Compton High School, being a common sight at Lynwood.

Lynwood, which was connected to Los Angeles, had unique advantages in attracting talented middle schoolers.

The roster spots for official teams at Inglewood High School and California High School were limited, so ambitious talents who couldn’t secure a guaranteed spot would often opt for Lynwood High School or Santa Monica Middle School, which were still part of Los Angeles.

However, when it came to recruiting top-tier talent from middle school, Lynwood High School faced challenges.

Those prodigies wanted to go to Los Angeles, and Inglewood High School and California High School wouldn’t miss out.

Even the top middle schoolers from Lynwood preferred those two schools.

Therefore, the Lynwood High School reserve team didn’t have any players who could compare to DeRozan or Tatum.

At the time, Harden was not yet seen as a top-level talent by Lynwood High School’s coaching staff.

He had only begun to stand out in his last two years of middle school, and his talent had not fully manifested.

In the reserve team, he was responsible for catching and shooting from the corner, a role similar to that of James Keith.

Both teams consisted of 9th and 10th-grade players.

Against their peers, DeRozan and Tatum had a significant advantage in personal ability.

They took turns leading their team to attack, making the group of top-talented players on the opposing side feel overwhelmed.

In the first quarter alone, they led by 35 to 18, a 17-point advantage, essentially breaking the game open.

In fact, the Lynwood High School coaching staff didn’t need to do much.

Although few top-tier middle school talents joined them, their overall talent was still better than most CIF Division I schools.

They just needed to train the 9th and 10th-grade players in the most ordinary way, allowing them to level up in lower-level leagues.

By the time they reached the 11th and 12th grades, many could still stand out, and their strength wouldn’t be inferior in Division I schools…

but their coaching staff had a desire to prove themselves and often engaged in daring strategies.

Just like this season, when they saw the Compton High School reserve team register for the Southern California league, they signed up too.

The Compton High School reserve team had DeRozan and Tatum as key players, along with Zhang Yang helping to harmonize tactics.

After two games, their strength was no longer at the bottom, whereas Lynwood High School…

was performing worse than Compton High School did in the first half of their first game.

*For Harden, the result of the first game was unacceptable, the second game struck a chord, and by the third game, he was numb.*

*He had thought about turning the tide, but right now, all he could do was drive in for layups and shoot three-pointers from the corner, so he chose to grind and practice.*

*It was his nature.

Ever since he started playing basketball, he’d had a big brother stronger than all his peers watching his back, and he’d never thought of taking the lead role.*

*Yet tonight, he was still stimulated—had Jack really improved so quickly?*

About a month ago, when they were playing street basketball together, Zhang Yang in Harden’s eyes was still just a newcomer to basketball, albeit with high basketball IQ.

Now, Zhang Yang was already capable of long-distance possession, making a thunderous dunk over his center teammate Derek Glass!

The match held little suspense, as Compton High School trounced Lynwood High School.

Harden scored 15 points, which was quite good for a pure catch-and-shoot player with few ball-handling opportunities, including the most three-pointers in the game—three.

However, Zhang Yang scored 18 points…

For the first time in many years of playing basketball, Harden felt a stir of unwillingness.

In his mind, the ranking among himself, DeRozan, and Zhang Yang was based on strength: DeRozan was the big brother, he was the second, and Zhang Yang was the third.

*But now the third brother was soon to become the second!*

*He had originally said he was worried about Zhang Yang surpassing him just off the cuff, but the third brother was actually serious!*

*He really needed to work hard now!*

…

“Jack!

Next time we meet, my score will definitely be higher than yours!”

These were the words Harden left for Zhang Yang before getting on the bus leaving Compton High School.

Zhang Yang, during the game, was just doing his best to score and make more shots.

His tactical role was just that.

Playing this way not only improved his practical abilities and tested his skills, but it also maximized his contribution to the team…

Who knew it would stimulate Harden?

For this, he was very hopeful!

*If Harden’s ambition kept growing during his student days, then would he still be willing to be a sidekick or a sixth man when teaming up with the Backpack and Gui Gui in the future?*

*As a viewer in front of the TV, Zhang Yang would feel regret for the dissolution of the Thunder’s Three Young Masters.

But as a friend, when he reconsidered the Thunder’s Three Young Masters…

it did seem like Harden was living too aggrievedly.*

*In terms of talent, the future king wouldn’t be inferior to those two.*

*Since competitiveness and motivation could be stimulated, then keep stimulating young Deng Deng!*

*Therefore, Jack also had to work hard to improve his strength, striving for the next match to still have a higher score than Harden, as he had his own advantage—securing benefits for himself within the tactics.*

Classes, training…

another week passed.

This week, the training items didn’t increase, including layups, shooting from the free-throw line, basic dribble penetration, and pushing the ball in a fast break, just these.

He made this decision in line with the team’s actual situation, to first master the current playing style.

After playing three consecutive home games, the away games arrived.

On September 7, the Compton High School reserve team went to Redondo Beach City to play a warm-up match against the main team of Harbor High School.

Zhang Yang, DeRozan, Tatum, Miller…

everyone worked hard, but they ultimately lost with a score of 88 to 106.

Tatum, in the final moments, played bravely, scoring his first three-pointer in four games and narrowing the deficit to within 20 points.

Harbor High School was a regular in the top eight of the Southern California league.

For the 14- to 16-year-old ‘kids’ of the Compton High School reserve team, the strength was a bit overwhelming, and they suffered quite a bit.

However, Johnson thought it was great.

The psychological quality of the main players in this year’s reserves was good, and the look in their eyes after losing was really excellent.

Winning boosts confidence, and losing adds motivation.

For players with heart, the reasons to work hard could be found easily, and Zhang Yang was just like that.

Continue training and keep shooting bricks!

A few days later, on September 12, Friday, as the week came to an end, around 4 p.m., at the Allen Gymnasium basketball court, Zhang Yang was practicing free throws.

He really had good talent in skills and shooting.

After more than a month, his free throw level had already caught up with…

O’Neal.

The current goal was to surpass O’Neal and Duncan in free-throw shooting.

You couldn’t aim to surpass Nash or Curry from the start, it had to be done step by step.

After completing a set of 100 free throws, the Gate of Trials appeared before him.

“Accumulated 20,000 Shooting Value, reward obtained: Stamina Talent Increase +1.”

The first task, accumulating 10,000 Shooting Value, took twenty-five or six days.

The second task, accumulating 20,000 Shooting Value, took just over 30 days.

The daily training time was about the same, maybe slightly less.

The Shooting Value from playing games was currently just a minor part…

Building a foundation patiently turned out to be the right choice.

The words on the door quickly changed again—

“Optional tasks open:

Ordinary task: Accumulate 10,000 Shooting Value.

Reward: Quickly learn basic off-ball running in a short time.

Advanced task: Before Christmas, accumulate 100,000 Shooting Value, upon completion, the second trial opens.

Note: The official trial allows selecting tasks of different difficulties, corresponding to different difficulty rewards.”