Carl Joseph was of Mexican descent, standing at 183 cm and weighing 71 kg. He grew up playing streetball, so his offense was decent.
However, his defense was terrible, full of risky, gambling habits. He was also too much of a freewheeler on the court, frequently straying from the set plays. On top of that, his court vision was poor, and his passing and coordination with the team were sloppy. That was why, despite holding the title of starting point guard last season, he barely played any minutes and rarely had the ball in his hands.
By challenging Su Xi to a one-on-one, he was essentially attacking Su Xi with his greatest strength.
"I don't even need to change out of my sweats to beat you." Carl Joseph stretched, then swaggered over to Su Xi, looking utterly dominant in his sweatpants.
He demanded the ball to start.
Su Xi didn't mind. He spread his arms and got into a defensive stance in front of Carl Joseph.
It was only then that Carl Joseph realized Su Xi was half a head taller than him, and his defensive stance was surprisingly intimidating.
In all his one-on-one sessions against McNamara, Su Xi had unwittingly become an expert defender at the point guard position.
Even though what he was actually pursuing was 'Talent Fusion'.
Carl Joseph sneered and suddenly burst forward with a quick drive. His explosiveness wasn't bad.
But the Su Xi of today was not the Su Xi of last season.
Su Xi's own explosiveness was no worse than Carl Joseph's—in fact, it was even a little better.
Since Su Xi didn't get beat off the dribble and read the drive perfectly, he executed a quick defensive slide to cut off Joseph's path once more.
Su Xi stayed right on him, using his advantages in height and reach.
His strength was no less than Carl's.
Su Xi had now fused with 61% of the super-strength talent belonging to Scott, the man with the strongest bench press in all of college basketball.
His absolute strength couldn't compare to true powerhouses, but it was more than enough to overpower a skinny point guard like Carl.
Carl was completely unprepared. He struggled to find an opening but couldn't shake Su Xi's defense. In the end, he took one hard dribble and stepped back. With Su Xi still right on him, he forced up a wild, contorted fadeaway jumper.
CLANG!
The ball bricked off the rim.
Su Xi ran in to grab the rebound.
On this play, Coach Jim Boham's eyes lit up. The two assistant coaches beside him were completely caught by surprise; they had no idea Su Xi's defense had improved so dramatically, to the point where he could make Carl look so flustered.
"Jim, you really have a keen eye," Assistant Vincent praised Coach Boham sincerely. "We're in desperate need of a perimeter defender right now."
Boham nodded in satisfaction, but in truth, he was just as shocked. He had been watching from his office window every day as Su Xi served as a defensive training partner for McNamara. He knew Su Xi had some defensive skills, but watching up close, he now realized the extent of his improvement.
McNamara and Hakeem started clapping, leading the applause. They wanted Su Xi to win.
"Just relax, Jack," McNamara called out to Su Xi as he brought the ball to the top of the arc.
Su Xi was completely relaxed. He crouched low, constantly changing his pace. His dribble was unpredictable—sometimes soft, sometimes hard, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Carl was wound tight, not daring to reach in for the steal.
Just as Carl was at his most cautious, Su Xi suddenly jabbed forward, unleashing his full explosiveness.
Caught completely by surprise, Carl scrambled backward.
But just as he retreated, Su Xi stopped on a dime.
The fake-out threw Carl's balance off.
Then, Su Xi quickly faked like he was gathering the ball to shoot. Carl instinctively jumped to block it. But Su Xi hadn't gathered the ball at all; instead, he put it back on the floor with another dribble... the pump fake!
OHHHHHH!
The onlookers roared, McNamara's shout of delight being the loudest of all.
Su Xi blew past him, leaving Carl completely in his dust.
He drove to the basket for an easy layup.
As he turned, an excited McNamara ran onto the court to high-five him. "Hey, Jack! Since when could you play offense?"
He was stunned. He'd had no idea Su Xi's handle was this good. His timing on the drive and the execution of his moves were flawless.
"Of course," Su Xi nodded.
"Then why haven't you before?"
"There was no need."
Su Xi said matter-of-factly.
This casual remark sent a shockwave through McNamara. He thought, 'Jack's offense is this good, yet he was able to do all the thankless dirty work and just focus on defense, letting me 'destroy' him in practice every day. That's some terrifying willpower. I'm not even in the same league as him.'
Jim Boham was also taken aback.
He knew Su Xi had good handles. Last season, Su Xi was always in the gym, often practicing by dribbling four or five balls through obstacle courses. Back then, Boham had dismissed it as flashy streetball theatrics with no real substance. But the play just now was completely different. Su Xi had kept his superior ball control but added a real offensive threat.
His jab step was incredibly threatening; it was the key to how he used that hesitation move to fake out and blow by Carl.
He was like a sports car with a perfect chassis that had suddenly been fitted with a high-torque engine.
It was his explosiveness!
Coach Jim's mind raced as he quickly identified the key: Jack's explosiveness had improved. That had led to a complete evolution in his game.
The two assistants beside him were now even more impressed with Boham's eye for talent. 'They wouldn't have dreamed of replacing Carl with Jack. This is why Jim's the head coach and we're just assistants!'
They felt a pang of inadequacy.
Little did they know, the head coach himself had only just figured it out in that same flash of insight.
Su Xi got back into his defensive stance in front of Carl.
The ball changed possession.
Carl tried a quick, surprise drive, but Su Xi stayed right with him. As Carl jumped to release the ball, Su Xi came up quickly from behind for the block.
Su Xi couldn't jump as high as Carl.
But he had the advantage in height and reach, plus that explosiveness... TIP!
His fingertips grazed the ball.
It was just enough to alter the ball's trajectory.
DOINK!
It hit the front of the rim and bounced away.
YES! YES! YES!
McNamara cheered wildly from the sidelines.
Carl's face was grim. He had thought it would be a piece of cake to demolish that scrub "Little Sheep" Su Xi, but Su Xi had just shut him down twice in a row.
The ball changed hands again.
Su Xi stood at the top of the arc. This time, Carl played tight on him, trying to deny him any space to even put the ball on the floor.
But all Su Xi had to do was back into him slightly to create space.
Just as Carl put both hands on Su Xi's back, assuming he was about to make a post move...
Su Xi suddenly turned sideways, pounding the ball hard to his right while his body simultaneously spun sharply to the left... WHOOSH!
He split the defender, with him on one side and the ball on the other.
Su Xi left Carl completely behind.
Carl's eyes were still trying to figure out which way Su Xi was driving.
Su Xi gathered the ball and drove to the hoop for another layup.
This time, it wasn't just McNamara and Hakeem who were clapping and cheering.
Even Carmelo Anthony, a master of the post-up game himself, was shouting his approval. "That was a genius move, Jim."
He walked over to Head Coach Boham. "You were right, Syracuse University is stacked with talent. I'm starting to understand why he's so confident."
Stacked with talent? Confident?
Boham and the two assistants couldn't quite process it.
They were still having trouble associating those words with Jack Su. After all, last season, Su Xi had basically gotten onto the team through a backdoor connection.
The game continued.
Carl was starting to lose his composure.
He started trying to body Su Xi, attempting to force his way into the paint with pure physical contact.
Su Xi employed a give-and-take defensive strategy, baiting him into the paint. Then he'd close the distance, and the moment Carl picked up his dribble to turn, Su Xi was all over him.
With no room to even jump properly, Carl tried to force a shot anyway. The taller, longer Su Xi simply reached out and swatted the ball out of his hands.
"Foul! Foul! Foul!"
Carl yelled.
No one paid him any attention.
Everyone saw it was a clean block.
Hakeem said, "That was all ball. A perfectly clean block."
Carl kept muttering under his breath.
Su Xi was already at the top of the three-point arc.
Carl was nervous. He spread his arms wide, trying to smother Su Xi, but his footwork was choppy and full of openings.
Su Xi saw an opening and threw a quick jab step to Carl's left.
Carl fell back on pure reflex. His basketball instincts were like pigeons in a town square; any little fake was like a handful of popcorn being tossed their way.
A mind like that wasn't suited for defense.
Su Xi quickly pulled his foot back, pounded the dribble, and exploded in the other direction. He then stopped on a dime, and as Carl desperately scrambled to recover, Su Xi used a spin move to get past him with ease.
He drove into the paint once more.
Su Xi finished with an easy layup.
"He traveled! Travel! Travel!"
Carl started shouting again, like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum. "Why aren't you calling it? He traveled on his first step!"
"No. I'll stake my reputation on it, that move was perfectly legal. No travel. His use of the triple threat was flawless. You were just too aggressive on defense."
Carmelo Anthony stepped forward to give Carl an authoritative explanation.
Anthony was a master of the triple threat; he practiced those very moves every single day. There was no way he'd misjudge it.
"And who the hell are you?" Carl yelled at Anthony.
"Carmelo Anthony," Anthony introduced himself.
The furious Carl Joseph froze for a second, then threw another fit. "You're all siding with Jack Su! This is unfair! There's no way I can beat him when all of you are against me. I'm reporting this to the athletic board!"
With that, he stormed off.
He had successfully played the part of the clown.
Everyone looked at him with disgust.
There's nothing more pathetic than a sore loser in sports.
"Take your things with you," Assistant Vincent called after him.
He turned back, snatched his bag, and stormed out.
He would never be back.
There was no longer a place for him on the Syracuse University Orange Team, even though their one-on-one to five was only at a score of three to zero.
Because he had managed to offend three of the team's most important figures: Jim Boham, McNamara, and Carmelo Anthony.
He was beyond saving.
Su Xi nonchalantly brushed the sweat from his jersey.
Calm and unbothered.
He didn't make a big deal out of the victory.
Although he was inwardly savoring the thrill of victory.
But acting ecstatic after beating a nobody who was barely better than a random streetballer?
That would be a disgrace to the 'God of Basketball'.
Su Xi thought to himself, 'I'm the one who's going to conquer the NBA!'
...