Chapter 100: The Master of Off-Ball Play

After a brief pause, Lin Wei was subbed out for Ming Han.

The Black coach's face was especially stern. "If you keep playing like that, you won't be going back in for the rest of the game."

Lin Wei wanted to argue, but Lin Shan grabbed his arm. "Bro, we've got too many talented guys on this team for you to go solo. The coach isn't trying to hurt us."

Lin Wei fell silent. He had gotten carried away just now, thinking he could win the game all by himself. But this was a competition between schools after all. There were plenty of players stronger than him out there!

"Coach, I'm sorry."

The Black coach nodded, then said to Ming Han, "Forget about your bad shooting streak earlier. From now on, you're the offensive focal point. Just help your teammates execute every play. Whether the shots go in or not, I don't care."

The Black coach had always valued defense over offense. His ideal was the Pistons–Spurs Finals back in the day, where every single basket was a grueling battle. It came down to defense.

Looking at Jinhua's current lineup, there were three nominal playmakers.

Yu Hang brought the ball past half-court. Ming Han set up at the high post, facing Huang Bin. Qiang Ge came over to set a screen.

Ming Han drove, drew the defense, then made a fake pass as if to feed Qiang Ge rolling to the basket.

"Watch his pass..." Lin Zengkun was wary of Qiang Ge—once he got into the paint, he was unstoppable.

Huang Bin and Huaqiao's big center both locked their attention onto Qiang Ge. Ming Han smoothly pulled the ball back and drove in for the layup!

That move was filthy. Even Yu Hang was stunned. "Isn't that Rondo's signature move? When did this guy learn that?"

The Black coach was satisfied—not with the basket itself, but with the way Ming Han had adjusted his strategy based on the situation on the court. It was clear that Ming Han had originally intended to pass to Qiang Ge.

Qiang Ge gave a thumbs-up. "No wonder you're Jinhua's Magician."

The broadcaster knew Ming Han well—after all, he'd been making waves lately.

The female commentator's eyes practically turned into hearts as she gushed, "It's no wonder Ming Han is so popular online. Cool guy, slick game! Hahaha..."

The male commentator noticed his partner losing her composure and quietly said to her, "You're his senior, show some restraint."

This lineup caught Huaqiao completely off guard. Relentless passing, backdoor cuts, teamwork.

Huang Bin's strength lay in one-on-one defense, but amid the constant screens and picks, he found himself blindly running around. By the end, he didn't even know who he was supposed to be guarding.

"Huang Bin, what the hell are you doing crashing into me?! You're supposed to be on Ming Han!" After one screen, Ming Han had kicked the ball out to Yu Hang beyond the three-point line. Huang Bin lunged at him and collided head-on with Lin Zengkun.

Seeing his players floundering like headless chickens in the second quarter, Huaqiao's coach quickly called a timeout.

By then, the deficit had grown to six points.

Seeing his team hanging their heads, the coach hurried to reassure them. "The game's only halfway over. We still have a chance."

Huaqiao reverted to their first-quarter lineup. They decided to switch to an unlimited switching defense as well.

After all, Jinhua's passing had become disgustingly efficient. Each successive pass easily tore apart the original defensive formation.

"Also, sag off the shooters and pack the paint."

The Huaqiao coach figured these players were still students—they couldn't possibly have the consistent shooting ability of professional players. As long as their shots weren't falling, and they locked down Qiang Ge's inside presence, they still had a shot.

Jinhua's scariest weapon was that center named Ning Qiang. He was said to be the strongest big man in the entire county's middle-school division, second only to Wang Mingkang.

When play resumed, Huaqiao was no longer so frantic. Even though they were shorter than Jinhua across the board, they fought hard on defense.

Their pressure was even greater than Jinhua's. Over the past few years, Jinhua had never made it past the first round. But Huaqiao had been a perennial semifinalist.

If they lost in the first round this year, they'd become a laughingstock.

During the exchange, Ming Han couldn't help but marvel: Lin Zengkun really lived up to his reputation. His passing was truly born for the game.

Ming Han's passes might have been flashier and more dazzling, but Lin Zengkun's were genuinely practical. When to release the ball? To whom? It was as if he had a little abacus running in his head.

Three quarters done! He had dished out 8 assists with only 1 turnover, organizing the entire offense with flawless precision.

Huaqiao was still down by five. Lin Zengkun had to admit—this Jinhua team was no longer the pushover it used to be. Those two guys ranked in the top ten were genuinely strong!

Yu Hang had been heavily contained today, but his presence couldn't be ignored. His ability to shake defenders with his dribble was incredible, and his ball-handling was practically supernatural. Lin Zengkun knew for a fact that his own school had nobody with Yu Hang's level of dribbling skill.

And that Ming Han—his style was utterly unpredictable. He started at shooting guard, then moved to small forward. In the third quarter, he went head-to-head with Lin Zengkun as a point guard. He had a center's height but played like a guard.

"Brother Lin, are we going to lose?" someone asked.

Having seen Jinhua's past records, this shouldn't have been happening! According to their script, they should have been dominating from start to finish!

Lin Zengkun's confidence was wavering too. All he could do was say in a low voice, "We don't give up until the very last second."

Meanwhile, in the Jinhua stands, the crowd was roaring. They couldn't believe their school team was no longer the joke it used to be, and they were ecstatic.

Back in the old days, when Jinhua Middle School came to these tournaments, the students would just show up for a bit and leave. They'd bring along the girl they liked, buy two tubs of popcorn, and spend the time flirting while complaining about how terrible their school team was.

On the Huaqiao side, faces were grim, bordering on helpless.

Qiu Zhicheng, who rarely spoke, finally opened his mouth. "We can win."

The fact that Huaqiao hadn't fallen further behind in the first three quarters wasn't mainly thanks to Zengkun—it was thanks to this shooting guard ranked twelfth.

Some said he had the weakest ball-handling on the rankings, with no one-on-one ability whatsoever.

But many Huaqiao fans had voted him high up the list anyway. Because of his off-ball game.

Whether it was catching and shooting off screens, backdoor layups, or receiving hand-off passes for jumpers, he was top-tier at all of it.

Five three-pointers in three quarters said it all! Jinhua's entire team had only made two.

Qiu Zhicheng had already scored 21 points, 8 more than Lin Wei, Jinhua's leading scorer.

He didn't need to dribble. He and Lin Zengkun were a match made in heaven. He would always appear in the perfect spot. And his release was so quick that you could never get a hand up in time to contest.

"Down five points? That's just two threes." He said it casually.

But that one sentence struck like an anchor, steadying the hearts of every Huaqiao player in the arena.

"Lock in on defense, and I'll carry us." Qiu Zhicheng was a man of few words and never made empty boasts.

So that meant he really meant it.