69novels Chapter 5 Montverde
Chapter 5 Montverde
"Eddie, why do you think Coach Kevin values that Chinese kid so much? I think he's just a softie who can only dribble and shoot on the perimeter. He would never dare to go inside. If he dared to drive into the paint, you would mash him into a ball of mayonnaise, right, Eddie?"
"Don't worry, Richard, there will be opportunities. This is just the beginning. Coach Kevin values this yellow-skinned monkey a lot. We can't confront him directly, or Kevin will lose his temper. We'll give that softie a warm welcome during future scrimmages."
Wherever there are people, there is a social hierarchy. This hierarchy isn't about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and social dynamics. However, Eddie El, who grew up in the American "happy" education system, believes that he is the "boss" of the Montverde Hawks. Even when facing the new head coach Kevin Boyle, who emphasizes team discipline and unity, Eddie, while not daring to openly confront him, still wants to find opportunities to demonstrate his "authority" to the "newcomers" who have joined the team.
Although Kevin Boyle had just taken over the Montverde Hawks, he gave these energetic youngsters a rude awakening on their first meeting. A high-intensity scrimmage almost made Eddie El vomit, so Eddie El didn't dare to cause trouble for Wang Kai in front of Kevin Boyle.
After arriving in Montverde, a city with a population of less than two thousand, Wang Kai successfully enrolled in school. The cost of nearly $30,000, including boarding and tuition, made Wang Kai feel sorry for his father.
Kevin Boyle values Wang Kai highly. He just became the head coach of the Montverde Academy Hawks this year, but only Eddie El, a senior, can be considered a four-star high school player. The other players are mostly ordinary players from surrounding cities and towns.
At this time, Montverde College was not yet the dominant dynasty team in American high school basketball, but the college still attached great importance to the development of the team. Some members of the college's board of trustees hoped that the college could provide more talent for the NCAA. As for the relationship between some members of the board of trustees and the NCAA, it goes without saying.
Wang Kai was the first international student Kevin strongly insisted on recruiting. Besides valuing Wang Kai's talent, Kevin Boyle also hoped to use him to attract more international students in the future. After all, the reputation of the Montverde Academy Hawks is still not very good, and they cannot compete with other well-known high schools in the country for talent.
Less than three days after enrolling in the school, Wang Kai began his training. However, before the training, Coach Kevin personally conducted a physical test for Wang Kai.
「身高 6英尺2.4英寸（189CM），体重156.5磅（71KG），臂展6英尺5.6英寸（197CM），手掌长度9.2英寸（23.4CM）。」
"Quite impressive static talent; the sutures haven't closed yet, so there's still a lot of room for future development."
Coach Kevin was quite satisfied with Wang Kai's physical attributes. He could see some things through the video, but not very clearly. After the actual test, Coach Kevin believed that Wang Kai already had the physical foundation to become a five-star high school student.
"A lung capacity of 5100 ml, wow, your cardiopulmonary function is excellent. Have you done any physical training before?"
"Coach Kevin, my hometown is at an altitude of nearly 2,000 meters, and I used to play soccer a lot when I was a kid."
Wang Kai didn't tell Coach Kevin the truth; Coach Kevin had been emphasizing the importance of physical fitness during his training sessions.
"You little rascal, you have to promise to run like a monster like Hamilton in the future. Even his dog doesn't want to go out running with him. You have to be like that too."
"I understand. That's a very good foundation. I hope you can maintain this level of physical fitness in the future. Kai, you need to know that the foundation of all sports is physical fitness. I would rather see you run on the court for forty minutes without scoring a single point than see you exhausted like a dog after just five minutes."
Kevin Boyle is an extremely strict coach who cannot tolerate his players strolling around the field. In his tactical philosophy, all tactics are developed through running, not by standing still and passing the ball around.
"Come on, Kai, let's see your athletic ability now."
It was because Kevin personally organized the physical tests for Wang Kai that the other players on the Hawks became jealous of Wang Kai from the very beginning, since none of them had ever received such treatment before.
「垂直弹跳27.6英寸（70CM），助跑弹跳31.5英寸（80CM），3/4场冲刺3.3秒，还算不错。」
Coach Kevin acknowledged Wang Kai's dynamic talent, saying that while it wasn't outstanding, it was top-tier at Montverde. Moreover, Wang Kai is only 16 years old and has great potential to be explored in the future.
"Don't worry, you little rascal, you're still developing. You'll definitely be able to do amazing dunks like me someday."
Wang Kai has always harbored the ambition to become a dunker. After all, he was stunned when he first saw Kobe dunk in the paint, so he genuinely hopes to dunk like Kobe in the future. However, the current Wang Kai can only perform ordinary dunks without any contact.
Old Ke was "hyping" Wang Kai, hoping that Wang Kai could always maintain his confidence.
"Hmph, my three-point shooting is better than yours. Look at you now, your three-pointers are like blind men shooting."
Keep poking the lung tubes.
"Okay, Kai, next I want you to demonstrate your dribbling and shooting abilities. First, shoot ten three-pointers from each of the five positions: the corner, the 45-degree angle, and the top of the key. Then, do five sets of dribbling shuttle runs. The dribbling speed needs to be fast, and there needs to be variation in rhythm and style. That counts as one set. Do three sets in total. Can you do that?"
In Kevin Boyle's basketball philosophy, pure shooters are useless. He wants his players to participate in the team's offense and defense, rather than simply passing the ball around and desperately trying to shoot. At the same time, Kevin Boyle values players' defensive ability, and his philosophy requires everyone on the court to participate in defense.
Therefore, Kevin Boyle hopes that Wang Kai can use his talent to drive the team's offense, and he also hopes that Wang Kai can maintain his offensive and defensive capabilities in high-intensity games.
Wang Kai's performance did not disappoint Kevin Boyle. His dribbling rhythm was fast, and his changes of direction were quick. What impressed Kevin Boyle even more was Wang Kai's shooting ability.
In three sets of tests, totaling 150 three-point shots, Wang Kai maintained a 75% shooting percentage throughout. This is a very good shooting performance even in the NBA of this era.
Moreover, it should be noted that Wang Kai maintained a shooting percentage of over 75% after performing five sets of high-intensity dribbling shuttle runs.
"Very good, my child, you have not let me down, haha, keep up your ball control and touch, I believe you will amaze a lot of people in the future."
Kevin Boyle has been thinking about how to arrange the team's tactics after Wang Kai arrived at Montverde so that Wang Kai can better integrate. Now he feels it is very necessary to design some new offensive tactics to showcase Wang Kai's talent.
Wang Kai's performance in the physical test put pressure on the other Hawks players who were training on the other side of the arena, especially Richard Halton, who became the team's starting point guard as a high school sophomore.
Richard Halton is only 1.8 meters tall. Before Wang Kai arrived, he was the team's best ball-handler. As soon as he joined the team, he secured the team's star player, Eddie El, and successfully rose to become the team's starting point guard at the end of his freshman year. In Richard's opinion, Wang Kai was there to steal his starting position.
"OK! Come on, boys, let's welcome the team's first international student. I hope you can keep up the good work with our newcomer and get along well with everyone, because we will definitely become a great team."
Kevin Boyle, in his early forties, has worked in high school basketball for over a decade, from assistant coach to assistant coach, and now in charge of a team. He knows very well how "enthusiastic" boys in American high schools, whose energy cannot be properly released, will be when facing new members. However, he does not intend to stand up for his "baby" - Wang Kai - immediately.
Kevin Boyle's understanding of China is limited. He recognized Wang Kai's talent but was worried that Wang Kai lacked the ability to withstand pressure. Therefore, he planned to remain on the sidelines and not stand up for Wang Kai unless the kids went too far.
Kevin Boyle hopes to use this kind of training to test or improve Wang Kai's ability to withstand pressure.
"Hello everyone, my name is Wang Kai. You can call me Kai or Wang, but I prefer you to call me Wang because it means king in Chinese. I hope to lead you all to achieve glory and brilliance in the future."
"My God, you little rascal, you're really something. I thought you'd be humble like many Chinese people. I like what you said. That's right, that's how it has to be. Here, you don't need to be humble. You're the best, the most outstanding. You should be their king."
Lao Ke had originally designed Wang Kai's opening remarks, but Wang Kai refused, saying he wanted to speak himself.
Although after three years of getting to know each other, Lao Ke knew that Wang Kai was different from other Chinese people of the same age, but he did not expect that Wang Kai would be so flamboyant and proud.
This pleased Kobe, after all, Wang Kai was brought up by him, an NBA legend. Why should he give face to a bunch of rookies who couldn't even get into the NCAA Division I?
"Welcome, newcomer. I'm the team captain, Eddie El. You can call me Eddie."
Although Wang Kai's impassioned speech surprised and embarrassed the rest of the Hawks, no one dared to cause trouble for him in front of the new head coach. Even the team's leader, Eddie El, had to consider the head coach's feelings.
However, Eddie El plans to give the boastful newcomer a proper "welcome" in the days to come.