"Get your a**es up! Is this how I taught you to play defense?!"
Brown could only vent his anger on the players from the first team, but this also ant he disregarded the rules and started directly coaching them.
Under his yelling, the first team's defense noticeably improved. Team Three made a mistake in their play, and Jas successfully made a steal.
Jas sprinted coast-to-coast, finishing with a signature tomahawk dunk.
As he landed, Jas let out a roar, finally releasing his pent-up emotions.
On the sidelines, Varejao and the others couldn't help but shout excitedly.
Only 4 points down? That's because Jas hadn't started going full force yet.
Once he did, closing the gap would be a matter of minutes!
Han continued to call for the ball in the frontcourt.
Breaking through takes a lot of energy—anyone who's played even a couple of gas of NBA 2K knows that, even if they've never played basketball themselves.
Especially since Han was also battling Jas on defense, his energy was being drained even more.
So in the previous possession, he had West handle the offense while he took a breather on the side.
But the fact was, basketball is a talent-driven sport, and once the first team got serious, Han was the only player on Team Three who could make things happen.
Han caught the ball, held it in his left hand, and signaled for a pick-and-roll play with his right.
West directed the weak side to spread out, and Jackson ca up high to set a screen for Han.
O'Neal had been beaten by Han Sen once earlier, so this ti he didn't step out aggressively but instead switched with Cunningham.
However, this type of switch naturally creates gaps, and even a small one was enough for Han to exploit.
He used Jackson's screen to dribble right, and when Cunningham saw his movent and lunged right, Han imdiately crossed over and stepped back to the left for a three-point shot.
Before Han Sen had crossed over, LeBron once bragged on J.J. Redick's podcast about a type of pick-and-roll called the "Varejao pick".
The only difference between that pick-and-roll and this one was that Varejao moved while setting the screen— technically an illegal screen— but Jackson's screen here was stationary. Hansen simply used his offensive threat to manipulate the defense.
Swish!
Accompanied by the crisp sound of the ball going through the net, the basketball seed as if it had a homing device, landing directly in the hoop.
Han Sen held his follow-through.
He knew exactly what he ca to do today, and he was going to get it done.
11-4.
The lead was now 7 points!
At this point, 12 minutes of ga ti had passed.
Jas was starting to get anxious, but unfortunately for him, Malone, not Pierce, was acting as the temporary referee. After getting called for a travel, Jas felt like his rhythm was completely off.
And this emotional fluctuation gave Hansen the opening he needed.
Smack!
The mont Jas initiated a crossover, Hansen swiped down and cleanly stole the ball.
Jas, in frustration, grabbed Hansen and was whistled for a defensive foul by Malone.
He couldn't help but curse.
Hansen remained expressionless, taking the ball to the backcourt to inbound it.
At this mont, he resembled the "Terminator" Shaquille O'Neal had once described him as.
Cold, like a machine.
Possession swapped again, and under Brown's barking orders, Old Parker fronted Han to limit his chances of getting the ball.
Seeing this, Hansen gestured to Jackson to continue running the pindown off-ball screen play.
After two attempts, Han finally got free off the screen, and West quickly delivered the pass.
However, the intent of this play was too obvious, and it took too much ti. By the ti Han took the shot, Jas had already flown over from the weak side to contest.
Seeing this, Hansen quickly drove past him, and after drawing in both Jas and Williams, he kicked the ball out to West on the periter.
Hansen had anticipated this all along. After sinking that last three-pointer, he could feel that the entire first team's defensive focus was locked on him.
West didn't panic, faking out the recovering Williams, taking a dribble, and then calmly sinking a three-pointer.
Swish!
The ball went through the net once more!
When montum is on your side, good shooting becos contagious!
After the shot, West found Han Sen and gave him a crisp high-five. He didn't say anything, but his excitent was fully expressed in that high-five.
14-4.
Brown was drenched in sweat!
A 10-point deficit with less than five minutes left— it really looked like the first team was about to lose!
Jas didn't dare to drive to the hoop anymore.
No matter how unwilling he was to admit it, the truth was that he couldn't break through Han Sen's defense.
At this mont, O'Neal powered up in the paint, spun baseline after receiving the ball, and finished with a two-handed dunk.
14-6.
This dunk stopped the first team's slump and kept their hopes alive.
Though O'Neal had a good relationship with Han off the court, just like he had with Kobe back when they played together on the Lakers, he made a clear distinction between on-court and off-court matters.
Han continued running the pindown play with Jackson in the frontcourt.
Now that Jas wasn't aggressively attacking, Han Sen had more energy to recover on defense.
After receiving the ball, he faced Jas, who ca over to help, and suddenly made a wide left-handed crossover.
Jas, charging too aggressively, couldn't stop in ti and flew past him.
Though he used his imnse athleticism to push off the floor and keep from falling, by the ti he regained his balance, Han Sen had already burst past him.
And just as Jas, with his incredible physical gifts, lunged back to block, Han pulled a sudden step-back behind the three-point line.
The crowd fell silent—Jas had been completely toyed with by Han Sen this possession!
Varejao gritted his teeth, his eyes practically popping out.
If he were on the court, he'd definitely want to go after Han!
Of course, soone else did it for him. As Han went up for his shot, Williams, knowing he couldn't stop him, intentionally fouled him.
Malone's whistle blew, and Hansen was sent to the free-throw line for three shots.
This wasn't a regular ga— there were no fans— but Varejao was still yapping non-stop.
Even Ilgauskas, standing nearby, couldn't help but frown at the noise.
Han calmly sank all three free throws, each one nothing but net.
Varejao instantly fell silent.
17-6!
The ga was basically over at this point.
With less than three minutes left, even if O'Neal kept scoring in the paint, the first team didn't have enough ti to catch up.
Moreover, Team Three could still use the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy.
And now, Team Three was deliberately running down the clock during their possessions.
As the ti slowly ticked away, despair started to appear on the first team's players' faces.
Under Brown's shouted orders, the first team tried to press, but Han Sen and West worked together smoothly, advancing the ball into the frontcourt.
Han was fouled again and sent to the free-throw line.
This ti, his hand trembled a bit, and he only made one out of two.
But this felt more like a silent taunt because the outco of the ga was no longer in doubt.
In the final minute, Williams hit a quick three-pointer, but it was too little, too late.
After O'Neal vented his frustration with a thunderous dunk on the last possession, Malone blew the final whistle to end the ga.
The score was locked at 18-11.
Han Sen had scored 11 of Team Three's 18 points.
Basketball isn't a one-on-five ga, but today, Han had almost single-handedly destroyed the first team.
The atmosphere in the gym was extrely strange.
Finally, it was Varejao who broke the tension, calling out the second team's players to co on the court to win back so pride for the first team.
Brown didn't stop it, because the inter-squad training gas were ant to have alternating players.
This ti, Pierce took over as the temporary referee.
Pierce gave the second team a break by imdiately calling a ticky-tacky foul on Han's defense and even provided his usual explanation: "You're a rookie, you'd get called for that in a ga."
But it didn't change anything, because Han quickly adapted to the new officiating style and cleanly stripped the ball from Daniel Gibson twice.
Gibson had been playing well all night, but just like in training camp, he struggled to get his shot off against Han, who was bigger, stronger, and nearly as fast as him.
And with the second team's lineup lacking offensive threats in the paint, they had to rely heavily on periter play.
As for Varejao, who had been the loudest on the sidelines, you know how dogs bark the loudest when their leash is held by their owner. But once the leash is let go, they suddenly go quiet.
20-10. Hansen scored another 14 points, leading Team Three to defeat the second team.
The gym fell completely silent once more.
Hansen had done sothing that seed entirely impossible, and he had done it twice.
At so point, Ferry had arrived at the gym. He stood next to Brown, with a look of disbelief on his face. Clearly, he had been there for quite a while.
Han was sowhat surprised by Ferry's appearance, but it was better that he was there.
He walked straight toward them, speaking as he went.
In the large gym, only his voice echoed.
"I'm not going to pretend I'm the most talented player on this team. That title goes to LeBron.
And when it cos to experience? Yeah, that's Shaquille.
But let's be real here—who's the one that helps this team win gas?
That's !
Without , you're not beating the Magic.
Without , you won't get past the Celtics.
And honestly, without , there's no way you're even making it to the Finals.
You guys f**king need !!"
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