score maniac

Chapter 5: The Unassuming Shooter

Eight straight points! Gu Yu, nicknamed “Hairstyle Guy,” hadn’t seen a single minute of playing time in the first 37 minutes of this Nike Basketball Summit game. But as soon as he stepped onto the court, he went on a scoring spree: four shots, four makes, plus one free throw… uh, zero makes—scoring eight points in one go. What’s more surprising is that all four of Gu Yu’s shots were taken from the exact same spot. From the exact same “sweet spot.” “It’s the sweet spot!” After several consecutive standout plays by Gu Yu, the basketball experts had figured it out: “‘Hairstyle Guy’ has taken four consecutive shots from the exact same spot. And the reason he shoots immediately whenever he gets the ball there—regardless of whether there’s a defender in front of him or how tight the defense is—is undoubtedly because that spot is his ‘sweet spot’!” Veteran fans are all familiar with the concept of the “sweet spot.” Although players practice equally from every angle and position to achieve a balanced offensive range, everyone has different habits. Differences in shooting form, rhythm, offensive preferences, and psychological factors all lead players to develop their own sweet spots. At this specific spot, a player’s shooting accuracy is exceptionally high. More skilled players can expand their sweet spot into a “sweet zone” or even a “sweet range,” where they experience exceptional shooting touch within a certain area or at a specific distance. Gu Yu’s current performance has made this quite evident: he stands half a step inside the three-point line, arcing his shot. Players with a relatively low-key personality, on the other hand, focus on showcasing their technical strengths once they step onto the court—passing, layups, shooting, court vision, dribbling, and so on—displaying as comprehensive a range of skills as possible. At the same time, they must conceal their weaknesses and highlight their strengths, hoping to catch Chen Mu’s attention and secure more playing time during games. So what did Gu Yu do when he took the court back then? “Swish!” A shot. When Chen Mu received the 30-player roster—selected by Nike from various youth leagues around the world—Gu Yu was ranked 31st based on a combination of ability and potential. That’s right—31st on the 30-player list. The process young players must go through to qualify for the Nike Basketball Summit is incredibly grueling. Typically, Nike holds a training camp more than a month in advance, featuring selected players from around the world, including those under 19 from the United States. Professional scouts rank the players based on their skill and potential at the time of entry, and the total number of participants has been rising every year—now exceeding a thousand. And that’s where the grueling journey of the training camp begins. Players’ jersey numbers are assigned based on their ranking. In other words, the player with jersey number 1,000 is at the very bottom of the pack, while the player with jersey number 1 is undoubtedly the camp’s top talent. When Gu Yu entered the training camp, his jersey number was well over 1,000. The scouts’ evaluation of him was: “He has a silky-smooth touch, a fierce desire to score, and a flawless shooting form. But aside from that, he’s practically useless on a professional level.” His physique was lacking, his vertical leap was lacking, his strength was lacking, his speed was lacking, his explosiveness was lacking, his dribbling was lacking… Gu Yu’s flaws were countless. Worst of all, Gu Yu’s mental toughness was quite poor. As a shooter, the most important qualities are a steady mindset and the confidence to take shots. Yet Gu Yu was shy, even timid; if a defender was within three meters of him, his shooting accuracy would drop dramatically. While physical attributes and skills can be honed through training, mental issues are likely to plague a player for the rest of his career. As a result, almost all scouts and experts have come to a blunt and straightforward conclusion about this perimeter player from China: He’s no good. However, among young players, those with otherworldly physical abilities are a dime a dozen, and those with flashy dribbling and explosive power are a constant source of new talent—yet players with a beautiful shooting form are few and far between. Given the scarcity of shooters, Gu Yu still managed to get some opportunities early in the training camp. Partly due to luck, and partly because Nike—with an eye on the Chinese market—had its own agenda of supporting young Chinese players, Gu Yu managed, through a series of ups and downs, to make it to the final stage of the training camp. Throughout the camp, Gu Yu—as a shooter with an extremely limited skill set—performed adequately. When completely open, his shots were nearly 100 percent accurate. But the moment he faced even the slightest bit of defense, his shooting fell apart. On defense, limited by his physical attributes and mental weaknesses, Gu Yu’s performance was abysmal. If it weren’t for the fact that the other players in the training camp seriously underestimated him—allowing him to get plenty of open shots during the repeated intra-team elimination games—and if his final scoring stats weren’t passable, Gu Yu would never have made it this far. “Swish” And when Chen Mu first saw Gu Yu, for the entire five minutes, the timid Gu Yu did only one thing: Shooting. Gu Yu took shots from every position and corner of the court, with a remarkably high field goal percentage. The key was that, for a young player whose technique hadn’t yet matured, his shooting form was as elegant as a sculpture—every shot was flawless. Even so, the other young players on the sidelines still looked down on Gu Yu. They knew that his accuracy was only effective without defense; once on the actual court, if the opposing team didn’t let their guard down, Gu Yu wouldn’t stand a chance. In the knockout round to narrow the field from sixty to thirty, Gu Yu had originally been eliminated. But among the players who made it into the top thirty, one was forced to withdraw due to injury, and it was only then that Gu Yu, by a stroke of luck, remained on Chen Mu’s roster as the thirty-first player. And what happened next is something Chen Mu still cannot forget to this day. “Pass it to me!” On the court, with just thirty seconds left in the game, Knight was firmly guarding Gu Yu’s sweet spot. But Gu Yu, already fired up, didn’t care—he still held out his hand, asking for the ball. “Pass it to him!!” American fans loved Gu Yu’s “I’ll take on anyone, no matter who they are” attitude and loudly pressured the International Team’s point guard. The International Team’s point guard was initially determined to resist, but glancing around, he saw that their offensive anchor, Kanter, was tightly guarded, and the other players couldn’t create any scoring opportunities. At that moment, the U. S. team’s physical advantage became apparent; the International Team was already struggling to keep up with the intensity, and only Gu Yu still had plenty of energy left. So, pass it…! With a “whoosh,” the ball was passed. The moment Gu Yu caught it, Knight, with lightning-fast reflexes, slashed downward with his hand, seemingly poised to steal the ball. Gu Yu, however, made a stunning decision that would later be hailed as “the origin of the craziest scoring spree in history.”