Chapter 23: What More Can I Say
Halfway through the season, Texas Tech University has transformed from an ordinary strong team into a hot team that attracts nationwide attention.
In the history of the Red Raiders, there has never been a future star like Xu Ling who has attracted such widespread attention in the professional basketball world.
In the game against the University of Texas, Xu Ling’s long-range three-point buzzer-beater made him a destined lottery pick.
Nowadays, no team dares to underestimate them anymore. This has elevated them from challengers to the team being challenged.
A week later, they arrived at the away game at United Supermarkets Arena for the second game of the season against Texas A&M University.
Last time, they crushed Texas A&M University at home, and Xu Ling’s defense on Ace Lau shocked the scouts.
Even Ace Lau himself didn’t expect to be restricted like that.
After the game against Texas A&M University, Xu Ling’s draft template was changed to Ron Harper.
Interestingly, after hitting a buzzer-beater over Durant, the scouts’ evaluation of him rose again, and there was even debate over his draft template.
Some believe Xu Ling’s ceiling is Jordan and floor is Harper, but some rigorous scouts think Jordan isn’t a suitable template. Although he might become the Jordan of college basketball, his playing style is actually quite different from Jordan’s.
College-era Jordan was somewhat hampered by Dean Smith’s Four Corners offense, and his shooting ability wasn’t fully developed yet. His driving ability was peerless, basically playing on a frequency beyond everyone else. But driving isn’t Xu Ling’s strength, or rather, compared to shooting, driving isn’t high on Xu Ling’s offensive options.
Therefore, Kobe might be a more suitable template.
Amid the debate, Xu Ling’s template was finally set as: ceiling Kobe, floor Harper.
This gives him the vibe of a top-10 pick monster star from a super draft class.
After all, a player’s template doesn’t represent their ultimate height; it’s just a scout’s conception of their technical path.
Wind-and-snow bro Jalen Green was hyped as “ceiling Jordan, floor Kobe” during the draft, legendary wage slave Ben Simmons was praised as “a taller LeBron James.” The most ridiculous was when Anthony Bennett unexpectedly became the number 1 draft pick, and some scouts tried to justify: “Not the most logical choice, but possibly the best one. Bennett is the only player in this draft class who could average 20 points per game in the NBA.”
But ultimately, a player’s development depends on personal effort.
Facing Texas A&M University again, the Red Raiders players were no longer as tense psychologically as the first time.
Because they knew Ace Lau could be limited.
Tonight, Xu Ling was again assigned to guard Lau.
Meeting again, Lau was no longer as cocky as before: “Seeing what you did to the Longhorns, I feel my situation isn’t so hard to accept anymore.”
“That’s true,” Xu Ling said a piercing remark in a friendly tone, “after all, you guys rarely drag games to the end.”
This made Lau’s face darken.
No matter what, he was a nationally renowned guard. In this draft class, aside from Mike Conley, he was the only point guard who could steadily enter the lottery. In terms of draft market value, he wasn’t much worse than Xu Ling, so he naturally couldn’t lose momentum now.
To Xu Ling’s words, he just responded coldly: “We’ll see!”
After the game started, Texas A&M University came out strong. They learned from the previous loss, initiating as many pick and rolls as possible from Lau instead of letting him get into one-on-one situations with Xu Ling.
This certainly amplified Lau’s organization ability, but it also heavily relied on teammates’ performance.
Knight on the sidelines saw Texas A&M University’s arrangement and determined they were doomed to lose.
“If we only relied on Eli’s defense, we absolutely wouldn’t have made it this far,” Knight said pointedly.
Xu Ling not only defended but also actively drove with the ball on offense.
He actually cared a lot about professionals’ evaluations.
These days, he’d been hearing scouts say his driving ability was lacking. Was it really lacking? He had to test it.
Xu Ling reduced shooting and increased a ton of driving with the ball.
The answer was indeed—a awkward “yes” and “no.”
Compared to Jordan’s beast-level driving that relied on absolute speed and explosiveness to blow past in one step, Xu Ling relied more on rhythm changes and shooting threats to create lanes. He could use outstanding ball feel and anticipation to create good starting space and driving opportunities for himself.
The real challenge was how he used this entirely new physique to finish the last step. He often felt a strange “time lag”—his brain issued one command, but his body executed another deeper instinct from past-life memories.
He would subconsciously raise his shot arc in contact, habitually choose quicker underhand layups; these were valuable experiences from surviving among giants, muscle memory formed to avoid blocks.
Now, these techniques were still effective, but under his 198 cm height and 212 cm wingspan, these moves sometimes seemed overly cautious or inefficient. He could clearly use height and wingspan to layup or finish through contact more easily, yet his body occasionally chose more complex, clever evasion methods.
He needed more games and contact training to recalibrate his “body user manual,” fully fusing top-tier technical awareness with top-tier physical talent.
However, for a freshman not yet 19, his shown desire to drive, ability to create opportunities, and diverse finishing attempts were already surprising enough.
That night, Xu Ling neared 20 points through driving, passing, and sporadic outside shots.
During a dead ball, Xu Ling went to captain Julius Jackson.
“Captain,” Xu Ling said softly, his tone free of boasting, just calm analysis, “they hesitate on switches. Next time you screen for me, don’t dive right away—fake the pick and roll, then pop straight to the three-point line. Ace Lau will definitely lunge at me; I’ll pass to you.”
Jackson was skeptical. But after a few possessions, the opportunity arose. Xu Ling drove and drew the double team; Lau indeed left the originally diving Jackson open to chase Xu Ling, as predicted. Without looking, Xu Ling fired a behind-the-back bounce pass, perfectly delivering the ball to Jackson who had quietly retreated to the three-point line.
Jackson caught the ball, three meters of space in front, and shot calmly.
“Swish!”
Three-pointer made!
This basket completely stopped Texas A&M University. Jackson excitedly ran back, high-fiving Xu Ling.
“How did you know?” Jackson asked in disbelief.
Xu Ling just pointed to his head: “He did it twice in the first half already.”
Ultimately, Xu Ling scored a game-high 24 points with several key assists, leading TTU to a 14-point away win over Texas A&M University.
Compared to the first game, Ace Lau’s performance today was excellent—16 points and 12 assists, handling offense and organization. But this was a game where he needed to double his scoring to win, and with Xu Ling around, this might already be his limit.
“I don’t know anyone nationwide who can limit Ace Lau like Eli does!” college basketball expert Andy Katz（Andy Katz） said. “Every time I see his offense and defense intensity, it surprises me!”
Even at Texas A&M University’s home United Supermarkets Arena, Xu Ling’s welcome was no less than at United Spirit Arena, with many lovestruck women using various connections to give him their contact info. Just one call, from any corner of Texas, and they would deliver themselves to his door.
However, Xu Ling showed his usual indifference to fans. He didn’t even look, just went to Knight and asked: “Where’s the main gap between me and college-era MJ?”
“Aren’t you the one claiming to be the Jordan of college basketball? I thought you already thought you’d reached that level.”
Knight wanted to mock Xu Ling, but mock a player who locked down the opponent’s core all game and became the scoring king? He wasn’t that crazy yet.
Knight answered seriously: “Besides shooting, nothing matches him yet, though your defense is good.”
“Conservatively speaking,” Knight laughed, “that freshman still called Mike Jordan wasn’t as good as you before hitting the shot that helped win the national championship.”
However, compared to 1984 Jordan, no. That Jordan was not only the soul of the last all-amateur U.S. team that swept the Olympic Games but also averaged 28 points in his NBA rookie season—what terrifying immediate combat power?
Xu Ling asked again: “Was MJ back then like me for TTU?”
“No,” Knight had to admit Xu Ling was already the team’s soul; with or without him, the team was different. “Jordan back then was an outstanding freshman, but that was a totally different era. Playing all four years in college was still the norm for great players. North Carolina’s core was James Worthy.”
Hearing this, Xu Ling said spiritedly: “If we win the national championship, does that mean I’m better than college-era Jordan?”
This wasn’t the first time Xu Ling expressed intent to lead the team to a title.
Just last time it was a bit vague, but this time, he clearly stated his idea.
“Do you know what you’re saying?”
But Xu Ling’s eyes lit up with excitement: “Before that, I might want to use the remaining games to try more driving with the ball. Coach, can I play more point guard later? I want to handle the ball.”
“Don’t fucking think you can dictate the team’s future tactics!” Knight snapped. “You won’t get four guys playing just for you at TTU!”
Four-on-one, huh? I say we should do four-on-one! Four-on-one is right!
Xu Ling could only think it to himself.
“What I mean is, I should hone my driving offense as much as possible before the playoffs,” Xu Ling said logically. “We can’t win a championship on shooting alone.”
Xu Ling thought Knight would agree.
After all, “you can’t win a championship on shooting alone” was the politically correct line in modern basketball, right?
But Knight said: “We can’t use our few remaining regular season games to practice your driving technique, and your driving is good enough for this level anyway.”
“What you really need to improve is your low post offense!” Knight said with frustration. “I can’t figure it out! With your height, weight, strength, plus that wingspan and explosiveness—your low post technique is zero? And you played center before coming to the U.S.! If you can’t do post-up, how did you even get inside back then?”
Xu Ling knew it sounded ridiculous, but he couldn’t explain the “beating fish in a small pond” principle to Knight. Knight had long roamed the NCAA shark tank second only to the NBA and couldn’t imagine “Xu Ling Ben Ling” back in Hong Kong high school ruling the small puddle with physical talent alone like Howard and Garnett, without needing post-up. And his past-life self was often the shortest on the court（or one of）—practice post-up? No motive or conditions for that.
“I’m indeed not good at low post offense.”
Xu Ling admitted honestly.
“So! What you need to do most now is watch Michael Jordan’s game videos!”
“Can’t I watch Kobe’s?” Xu Ling asked “innocently.” “The scout report says my template is Kobe.”
“If you can watch Jordan’s games directly,” Knight’s anger flared again, “why study his imitator?”
Xu Ling seemed oblivious to Knight’s near-visceral dislike of Kobe and smiled as he twisted the knife: “Because the scouts say my template is Kobe.”
“Enough!” Knight exploded. “If you’re gonna waste time on that rapist, don’t fucking come ask my opinion anymore! Total waste of my time!”
Huh, Bob Knight, this famously hardcore sexist old-timer actually hates Kobe because of the “Eagle County” thing? Is that fair? Didn’t his heaven-shattering 81-point scoring performance last season move you? Scoring more than the entire Mavericks team in three quarters—isn’t it thrilling? Dropping 81 in a game, a miracle unmatched since Wilt Chamberlain’s “forced epiphany”—isn’t it shocking?
Man
Thanks to Xiaxia Henqian, Xuebeng A Xuebeng, Wo Shi Yajun, Qunlong Jian Jiu, Xiao Jizi Luochu Jijiao Ba, Chi Ge Juzi De for the tips. Standard plea for follows and votes again—thanks to everyone’s support. Currently #3 on the new book list overall, please keep following to read, thank you all.
