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“Dead Jack You don’t know that they are all seniors from Team. Even if you and Ai II can hold your ground, I and Pang Hao will end up embarrassing ourselves! We will feel very ashamed, think of me from North China…” “Stop right there! Losing a game means you can’t show your face anymore?! That’s too weak! Besides, they are seniors; losing isn’t embarrassing. It’s a chance to learn their techniques and experiences.” I quickly interrupted Shuai Dong, and A Fei also tried to persuade him: “Winning or losing is common in sports. Practicing together isn’t bad either. The last time I saw you play, you weren’t bad at all; you have potential. Besides, without losing, how can you win? We’re not at the point where we can’t afford to lose.” “But…” Shuai Dong seemed to still have concerns. “Alright, alright, no more buts. Why are you acting so timid? Do you want to tarnish the reputation of North China’s first Shuai Dong?” I decided to use some reverse psychology on him, and it worked quite well; he proudly said, “That’s true.” We decided to go home and play games online. On the way back, Shuai Dong told me he really liked a quote from AI (Allen Iverson): “I don’t need respect or fear from anyone.” He liked this quote not only because it was bold and domineering but also because it had a powerful intimidating effect on opponents.
“Can we play F when we get back? My parents give me a limited amount of time for gaming. I’m already sixteen, yet they still treat me like a child; it’s so annoying!” Shuai Dong said helplessly. “This is what we call a generation gap. At our age, we’re rebellious. Besides, what does it matter if you’re sixteen? Even if you were twenty-six, you’d still be your parents’ son.” Pang Hao laughed. “Still laughing? We’re going to eat at Grandpa Ken for lunch later; your family is the richest, so you’re treating us!” “Okay, okay, I’ll treat!” “This better be true!” “Alright, alright, Shuai Dong, stop bullying Pang Hao; let’s go Dutch…” We walked along the main road laughing and had a very relaxed and enjoyable Saturday.
Before we knew it, it was Sunday. At seven-thirty in the morning, we gathered at Pang Hao’s house on time (since his house is close to Lake City Park, only about seven or eight minutes on foot). We planned to jog from Pang Hao’s house to the park as a warm-up. When we arrived, we saw several people practicing basketball. “Look at that; the seniors are already warming up.” I said. Sure enough, as we got closer, we saw Bing Ge. “You guys are here! Let me introduce you to these seniors.” As Bing Ge saw us approaching, he said, “Brothers, these are our first-year juniors who just joined the basketball team. This is Xiang Jie, this is Yu Chengfei, this is Yu Qiuhai, and this is Shi Zhidong.” He pointed to a senior who was slightly shorter than me but looked quite sturdy: “This is Wu Zhi Kai, from Class Six in second year.” Then he pointed to two seniors who were slightly taller than A Fei: “Qiu Junze, Zhang Jun, from Class Four in second year.” “These two need special mention,” later on, Bing Ge said about those two who were part of the starting lineup for Team. He patted one person who was about his height on the shoulder and pretended to be serious: “Zhang Ruizhi, from Class Three in third year, height 190 cm, age…” “Gender? Seems like he’s male!” Wu Zhi Kai joked, making everyone laugh. “And him,” Bing Ge pointed at a shorter guy: “Cheng Zhongqi, from Class Six in second year. Don’t underestimate him just because he’s only 177 cm tall; his shooting percentage is second in the team and his three-point shooting percentage is first!” Wow! I felt a bit awed by this short guy. “Now that everyone is here, let’s split into teams using our palms.” Bing Ge said. “Alright, let’s do palms up and palms down,” we formed a circle and began.
In the end, I ended up on a team with A Fei, Zhang Jun, Cheng Zhongqi, and Shuai Dong. Ugh! Not a single tall player on our side! Meanwhile, Bing Ge, Pang Hao, Zhang Ruizhi, Qiu Junze, and Wu Zhi Kai formed another team.
Bing Ge took out a mini timer. “Twelve minutes per quarter; I’ll set the timer for the first quarter.” After setting it up, he shouted, “Start!!!” Bing Ge and Zhang Jun jumped for the ball; it was won by Bing Ge. Then, Wu Zhi Kai controlled the ball across half court and made a quick pass to
Pang Hao. As soon as he received it, Shuai Dong went to match up against him. Then, Pang Hao passed to Qiu Junze. From the free-throw line, he jumped for a shot but missed. Underneath the basket, however, due to his height advantage, Zhang Ruizhi jumped for an offensive rebound and scored—0 points for them! Then came an impressive play by A Fei, Cheng Zhongqi, and Zhang Jun: after receiving a dribble pass from Cheng Zhongqi, I drove into the paint but couldn’t score and passed back to him instead. As soon as I did that, however, (Wu Zhi Kai) quickly returned on defense; but then came an incredible behind-the-back dribble from (Cheng Zhongqi), who passed it to an open (A Fei) waiting at the baseline for an opportunity. Defending (A Fei) was (Qiu Junze), who was tightly guarding him; (A Fei) faked a shot that made (Qiu Junze) jump—(Bing Ge) rushed back for help but was too late! (A Fei) tossed the ball toward the basket assisting (Zhang Jun) for an easy layup while (Zhang Ruizhi) tried to block but failed—(Zhang Jun) scored… The game became increasingly intense; with only two minutes left in the first quarter, we were trailing by six points at 11-18. (Cheng Zhongqi) passed the ball to (Shuai Dong), who was dribbling around outside before passing it back to me. As I accelerated toward them drawing their attention away from (Cheng Zhongqi), I unexpectedly passed back to him waiting at 45 degrees for an opportunity; (Wu Zhi Kai) couldn’t recover in time—(Cheng Zhongqi) received the ball outside of three-point range and shot—score! 15-18! But immediately after that (Bing Ge) retaliated with an emphatic dunk! (A Fei) drove through traffic and managed to score despite being sandwiched between two giants: (Bing Ge) and (Zhang Ruizhi! The teams exchanged scores back and forth until suddenly—“Ding ding ding!” The buzzer sounded signaling the end of the first quarter: time for a break,” shouted (Bing Ge! The score at the end of the first quarter was 17-10.
We huddled together discussing strategies: “(Xiang Jie! You’re responsible for setting screens for (Cheng Fei! And make sure to move without the ball frequently; (Cheng Fei! You work with (Zhang Jun! on both wings while I’ll connect plays from outside looking for opportunities; (Qiu Hao! You’ll handle connecting passes,” said (Cheng Zhongqi! as he pointed at us with professional insight that rivaled that of high school coaches—I was genuinely shocked that they took such an entertainment game so seriously! In that moment I suddenly understood why shorter (Cheng Zhongqi! could become a key scorer in our team: because he had a heart full of passion for basketball! His hard work combined with his strong basketball IQ and calmness under pressure successfully compensated for his height disadvantage.
The second quarter began! Sure enough they focused their defense on (Cheng Zhongqi! and (A Fei! I received an excellent pass from (Cheng Zhongqi! making my mid-range jumper count while (Zhang Jun! assisted (A Fei! with a three-step layup scoring easily! Then (Shuai Dong! assisted (Zhang Jun! who attempted an aggressive drive but got blocked by (Bing Ge! Meanwhile (Wu Zhi Kai! threw a long pass leading to quick counterattack by (Qiu Junze! who scored effortlessly on his layup! Although (A Fei! missed his three-pointer—(Shuai Dong! managed to grab an offensive rebound quickly jumping up hitting off glass scoring—“Wow! Cool!” exclaimed (Shuai Dong! Our short team surprisingly pulled off an incredible 8-0 run against them… The game became more intense as we grew more excited—“Ding ding ding!” The second quarter ended with us miraculously leading by one point at 41-40 against their tall team! “This is basketball,” said (Cheng Zhongqi! panting slightly but smiling: “Never underestimate a winning spirit; treat every game like it’s your most important one—if you have an indomitable spirit there’s no strong team that can’t be conquered—even if you lose so what? Just start over again; winning one game means gaining something.” “(Zhongqi Senior! speaks so heroically…” muttered (Shuai Dong! but added thoughtfully: “But there’s really some truth in that.” From (A Fei!’s gaze I noticed admiration towards (Zhongqi Senior! They truly understood each other because they shared common beliefs.
After starting third quarter both sides engaged in fast-paced scoring exchanges resulting in nearly 60 points combined within just half of it! During latter half of third quarter—(Zhongqi Senior! instructed: "Let’s slow down our pace this time focusing on defense; since ancient times ‘offense wins games while defense wins championships’ relying solely on offense won’t work." Thus our offensive rhythm slowed down significantly leading into stalemate phase as only eleven seconds remained—(Zhongqi Senior! controlled possession draining time down until only two seconds left suddenly launched cold arrow shot—“Ding ding ding!” The ball went in just as time expired—“Buzzer-beater!” cheered both (A Fei! & (Shuai Dong! "Not bad Mr. Big Heart hitting buzzer-beater accurately haha," laughed (Zhang Ruizhi! "Just lucky," replied humblely by (Cheng Zhongqi! The score after third quarter stood at 66-68 trailing by two points.
“Well then—it all comes down to fourth quarter showdown,” said (Zhang Jun! "Yeah! Short team let’s go!!" I shouted excitedly as fourth quarter commenced with scores alternating rapidly—I made a step-back jumper followed by another layup from (Bing Ge! then followed by mid-range jumper from(Zhang Jun! while assist came through long pass by(Wu Zhi Kai! leading into alley-oop layup scored effortlessly during this period turning into real ‘showtime’ even quietest player like(Pang Hao! started playing mid-range bank shots too! With around twenty seconds left we trailed by seven points making victory seem impossible when suddenly(Cheng Zhongqi! launched three-pointer hitting nothing but net then following up with inbound pass from(Bing Ge! allowing(Wu Zhi Kai! waste remaining seconds ultimately final score settled at 81-85.
“Woohoo! We won!” cheered big team loudly while realizing no stats recorded during match—I suddenly remembered saying: "It doesn’t matter though since this isn’t any official competition." gasped out breathlessly by(Shuai Dong. "Seniors how about every Sunday whenever possible we come play together?" I suggested suddenly gaining consensus among everyone resulting laughter filling entire court afterwards. Later on both(A Fei! & myself couldn’t figure out why although lost match still felt incredibly joyful throughout morning spent together… Actually… this morning brought immense happiness indeed…
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