Chapter 15: The Path He Chose
“Yo, rookie, you finally willing to guard me instead of your useless captain?” Xu Ling could feel that this lead point guard of the Big 12 league had an unusually strong desire to express himself on the court. “If you ask me, someone who can’t even handle his studies, what qualification does he have to be captain? In terms of strength, he’s just so-so. Don’t you think so?”
Xu Ling didn’t engage with his words at all, instead asking flatly in return: “Instead of worrying about J.J., why not take care of yourself first?”
“Me? I’m doing great!” Law said while sidestepping to receive the inbound pass from his teammate. “I’m heating up!”
But what Xu Ling was thinking about was something else—if he could completely explode Ace Law tonight, how much help would that be to his draft market value?
With a shift in thought, Xu Ling suddenly stepped forward, directly going over the top for the defense, his stance resolute as if guarding the final possession, leaving Law no space to receive the ball.
His height and wingspan completely sealed the passing lane, and A&M indeed failed to get the ball smoothly into Law’s hands.
“You think this can stump me?”
Law quickly made a backdoor cut, using a screen from his teammate to get open, finally receiving the pass. But Xu Ling chased him almost in sync, not giving an inch.
Law held the ball and stopped outside the three-point line, the two forming an isolation play.
Xu Ling deliberately gave him half a step, wanting to test his offensive choice. But he didn’t expect Law to hesitate not at all, pulling up for a three-point shot right there—
“Swish!”
8 to 3.
“Gave him too much space, Eli!” From the commentator’s table, Dan Schulman’s voice came through clearly. “Ace Law’s three-point percentage this season is 46%! You can’t give him an inch!”
Not even an inch of space?
Xu Ling glanced toward the commentator’s table; Schulman’s position wasn’t far, and he heard that sentence crystal clear.
But right now, the first thing to do was to answer with a score.
Xu Ling ran to the frontcourt and demanded the ball from Martin Zeno with full momentum, but he didn’t call for a pick and roll from his teammates.
“Do you now know how big the gap is between you and Ace?”
As Dominic Coke’s words fell, Xu Ling drove and pulled left across, completely shaking off Coke’s defensive position. The moment the United Spirit Arena erupted in gasps, the ball had already flown from TTU’s No. 1’s hands, spinning a beautiful arc and dropping through clean.
“Swish!”
“So arrogant!” Knight cursed from the sidelines after watching. “Damn it, if he hadn’t made it, I would’ve made him pay!”
But since he made it, naturally act like nothing happened.
In the frontcourt, Xu Ling matched up against Ace Law again.
Law skillfully used the pick and roll, shaking off Xu Ling’s defense with technique and speed for a jump shot score.
Every time he scored, Law wanted the whole world to focus on it; his body language said a lot.
Even the experienced Knight couldn’t help shaking his head: “Ace Law is undoubtedly the most valuable No. 1 in college basketball. He reminds me of Quinn Buckner. Maybe not a great pro player, but absolutely a great college player who will be remembered.”
The assistant coach Chris Beard was surprised that Knight would use Buckner as a comparison.
Who was Buckner? He was the captain and core guard of the undefeated Indiana University Mountain Men team that won the championship in 1976, also Knight’s proud disciple, the player Knight called ‘the most leadership-oriented I’ve seen in my life.’
Knight comparing Law to Buckner showed his recognition of this opponent.
“Xu Ling is still too strained dealing with Law right now,” Beard suggested. “Coach, shouldn’t we adjust the defensive strategy and give him some help?”
Knight just stared at the court, his tone calm and confident:
“No need.”
“He can handle it himself.”
Xu Ling’s self-assessment of his defensive level was fuzzy.
Because in his previous life, due to insufficient physique, he often needed help from teammates on defense, and when talent was too poor, defense wasn’t something he could just will himself to do well.
But now, he was gradually discovering that those footwork drills from his previous life were paying off.
Those defenses that used to be easily blown by anyone, paired with his current physical talent, could produce extraordinary effects.
Ace Law’s drive-and-pull combined with his stunning three-point accuracy made him a very tough opponent.
However, he lacked absolute speed and the explosiveness to force solutions, excelling at pick and rolls, but the big men responsible for screening weren’t good at shooting, so Xu Ling didn’t have to worry about him kicking out to those bigs after the pick and roll.
Xu Ling began lowering his center of gravity more, providing fuller contact, while using his wingspan for intense disruption.
Ace Law started to feel chaotic.
NCAA players at every position rarely max out talent like in the NBA; tall, short, fat, thin, slow—every type has exploitable weaknesses, and those seedlings with NBA talent either don’t defend or don’t know how, so even with far higher ceilings than Law, they couldn’t do anything to him.
In Law’s view, Xu Ling was the same at most—they’d trade blows, but in the end, he’d be the one to beat him.
So after hitting several shots in a row against Xu Ling, facing this sudden NBA-level defensive pressure, Law lost that composure of controlling the game.
For the first time since tip-off, he was forced to pass due to unbearable defensive intensity.
This pass was extremely poor quality and got stolen by Martin Zeno.
After using defensive pressure to force the opponent’s mistake, Xu Ling sprinted full speed to the frontcourt.
Zeno caught up and lobbed the ball into the air.
“Eli jumps up, he grabs the ball and finishes the dunk!!! BOOM BABY!!!”
Every time Xu Ling had a highlight moment, the United Spirit Arena would react like an earthquake.
But he never responded once.
His indifference unwittingly provoked the fans’ contrarian psychology: the less you pay attention, the more noise we’ll make.
And Xu Ling didn’t care about these things; he high-fived Zeno, then set his gaze on Ace Law.
One successful defensive stand wasn’t enough to break the opponent’s will; he needed more.
Xu Ling’s defense became even more urgent.
He gained confidence from the success of the previous possession.
If Ace Law really was the nation’s top point guard as the outside world said, then couldn’t he, having guarded the top point guard, guard anyone else too?
With this in mind, Xu Ling pressed again.
Law was forced farther and farther outside, and finally had no choice but to force a pass inside to the big.
This scene sparked discussion at the commentator’s table again.
“Incredible! Eli has Ace Law with no answers! Eli is really limiting him!”
“Is the No. 1 battle between Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University about to be decided?”
Right, Law was also No. 1; it was just a small coincidence.
Though Law was forced to pass, his teammate backed it down and hit with a low-post fadeaway jumper.
No one cared.
Because that kind of score wouldn’t hurt TTU.
This wasn’t a planned score; it was a forced pass after Ace Law was defended out of normal organization.
How many unplanned scores can a team 100% dependent on its core player hit in a game?
On the flip side, for TTU, rookie-stealing-the-show Julius Jackson finally got on the board.
Xu Ling ran off-ball movement to open space, Jackson came to the top of the arc to catch and hit a three-pointer.
Once Jackson scored, TTU’s offense became multidimensional; soon after, Martin Zeno also created an opportunity in isolation and scored.
Xu Ling’s touches on offense clearly decreased; he put all his energy into defense. Though unable to completely shut down Law’s every possession, he successfully disrupted the opponent’s rhythm in half the plays and applied high-intensity disruption in the others. Even the Big 12’s first point guard couldn’t continue dominating under such defense—he ultimately needed teammates.
Everyone needs teammates.
But when Ace Law looked around, every player on Texas A&M University was waiting for his guidance and leadership.
And that was exactly why Bob Knight firmly believed Xu Ling could handle Law.
“Around Quinn Buckner were Scott May, the 1976 number 2 draft pick, Kent Benson, the 1977 number 1 draft pick, Bob Wilkerson, first round 11th pick,” Knight said calmly. “While Ace Law has only himself. That’s why he can’t truly win—basketball is never a one-man game.”
The assistant coaches nodded one after another, gaining insight.
But what Knight didn’t say was—Xu Ling was actually just as isolated and without help.
He was almost in a one-on-one situation, limiting that top NCAA point guard who dominated.
A freshman originally labeled “offense-heavy, defense-light” was actually locking down college basketball’s lead point guard. How would the outside world reassess him? To what height would his draft pick leap?
Before halftime’s final possession ended, Xu Ling completed a clean steal.
At this point the score was only 10 points apart; the game was far from settled.
Yet Ace Law reacted as if stripped in a do-or-die moment, suddenly surging forward, desperately chasing after Xu Ling.
Xu Ling glanced back, a cold arc rising at the corner of his mouth.
Want to chase? Then come on, lead point guard!
Law did catch up. But in the instant Xu Ling went full for the jump, he was brutally bumped away, falling uncontrollably to the floor. Failure isn’t always accepted the moment it happens—true defeat often begins with an undeniable realization: some opponents are destined unbeatable. And that moment’s feeling would be etched in his bones.
The halftime finale was Xu Ling’s earth-shattering poster dunk.
“BOOM—!!!”
The arena instantly boiled over, cheers like a tidal wave.
Xu Ling turned around, his gaze sweeping over Ace Law whose eyes were gradually losing focus. This time, he couldn’t even be bothered to leave a piece of trash talk.
He walked straight forward, without looking back.
This was the path he chose.
And he would never look back.
(1) Besides super super die-hard Hawks fans, probably not many know Ace Law; I don’t know him well either, but I used to lurk in Reddit’s college basketball section (think American Tieba), and whenever a post like “Which great college player not making it in the NBA surprises you most” appeared, Ace Law’s name came up almost every time.
