Chapter 137: Rebound!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The score from the first half was 25:27, with the animation department only 2 points behind. This was a perfectly acceptable score to Ah Ning and the rest of the department.
“Awesome, I didn’t know Iron bro knew how to pa.s.s so well.”
Senior Ah Ning was overjoyed. He rapidly adjusted his plan for the second half and gathered everyone during half time. “We have a disadvantage in terms of physical confrontation. But now that we have Iron bro’s pa.s.sing skills, you should give up physical confrontation and dash for the ball instead when we are on the offensive.”
He then looked at Meng Fan. “Can your ball find them?”
Meng Fan nodded. “Of course.”
“It’s settled then!”
Senior Ah Ning clapped his hands together in excitement and then smacked each player on the a.s.s. Meng Fan wanted to dodge it, but he was no match for senior Ah Ning’s agility. He was much more flexible than him.
When the second half began, the photography department had changed their game plan. After Meng received the ball, one person would be responsible for guarding him, standing one meter away as he awaited Meng Fan’s pa.s.s.
The rest covered one player each.
“Run.”
Meng Fan held the ball as he a.n.a.lyzed his surroundings, directing his teammates to run. The photography department’s players followed tightly behind.
Meng Fan waited for the eight people to run for a moment before tossing the ball out.
To whom?
Whoosh.
He shot it himself!
Meng Fan didn’t intend to tease him, but he really couldn’t find an opening for a pa.s.s, so he shot it himself.
However, there was a reason why he waited before throwing it.
The person who ran was sure to conserve more energy than the person who is following. After all, one could stop and turn whenever they want, while the opponent has to force themselves to stop and turn to keep up, which in turn consumes more physical energy.
As a long-distance runner, Meng Fan was very aware of the importance of physical fitness.
“Iron senior add oil!”
When Meng Fan finally scored, Qu Jing Jing and the girls who were falling asleep suddenly became full of energy.
The game that followed became more and more interesting. As long as two people defended Meng Fan, Meng Fan would pa.s.s the ball, as someone was always open. If only one person guarded him, and there were no ideal pa.s.sing opportunities, then he would score the point himself.
Five minutes later, the animation department overtook the score.
It wasn’t that the photography department’s offense wasn’t effective, as they also scored a lot of points, only during every exchange, the animation department would exceed them by one point even if they had the same hit rate. After all, Meng Fan had been scoring three-pointers which would always provide an extra point.
Why was Meng Fan scoring exclusively 3 point shots?
Realistically, it was because Meng Fan did not dare to dribble after taking the ball outside of the three-point line. His base dribbling skill was practically zero. If he bounced it even once, he might even lose the ball, nonetheless, have it be stolen by the other team.
“We’re steady!”
Ten minutes later, senior Ah Ning began to relax.
The web dev team’s temporary coach was sitting on the stool Meng Fan had been on during this time. Sitting next to senior Ah Ning, he asked, “How are you so sure?”
“Can you not tell?” Senior Ah Ning pointed to the court. “The machine carriers are burnt out, it’s almost too easy for us.”
“Also have you noticed…” Senior Ah Ning spoke slowly as he patiently explained to the temporary coach of the web dev team. “Our Iron buddy cannot only pa.s.s but also receive rebounds.”
The web dev coach did not agree with this. “How is that rebounding? He’s standing there without moving and the ball still bounces back to him, you call that rebounding?!”
Senior Ah Ning chuckled. “Based on statistics, this really is his rebound.”
The web dev coach was deep in thought for a long time. “Be honest, did he drink Balangen cough medicine before playing? Otherwise, how can the backboard follow him around like that?” *
*In Chinese, Lan Ban is the word for the backboard, hence the pun refers to Meng Fan drinking Ban Lan Gen, a type of cough medicine to get the backboard to follow him.*
Senior Ah Ning howled with laughter. “Your a.n.a.lysis is very refres.h.i.+ng!”
Meng Fan felt very helpless towards these rebound b.a.l.l.s as well. The offensive rebounds were good because he could take the ball outside the 3 point line and pa.s.s it if he couldn’t score without entering the region. However, they still had to defend when the ball was on their own side. As long as he stepped inside the three-point line, the basketball that did not score would bounce to him. About seven out of ten rebounds would do this.
So if the photography department missed their shot, then they would have no hope at an offensive rebound.
If they can’t receive the offensive rebounds, then it would be very difficult to win the match.
Why was this?
Meng Fan knew it was definitely not his luck attribute. He was about 80-90% sure it had something to do with his sense of validation.
+11 validation was not a joke. Strictly based on the metaphysics, Meng Fan was genuinely worried this attribute could change the normal trajectory of someone else’s throw.
Estimated, if his validation was increased to 100 points, the sky and earth might just sandwich him. If it was even higher, maybe a comet would fly at him!
It was terrifying just thinking about. Thankfully, he had a hat.
The match progressed. When there were less than 5 minutes left, the animation department had acc.u.mulated a large advantage, overtaking the opposition by a dozen or so points.
Meng Fan did not score much, but he was the one responsible for 100% of the photography department’s headaches. It was useless to defend him and futile if they didn’t. And if they weren’t aware of him, he’d steal your rebounds. There really was nothing you could do! After all, he already had the physique of a G.o.d. He could catch the ball without jumping, and n.o.body could move him by pus.h.i.+ng or shoving.
The most terrifying thing was that this fatty could run too!
Beep!
The whistle sounded, signaling the end of the game. The five hefty but sullen members of the losing team did not feel angry or disappointed. Instead, they were actually relieved, as if a weight had been lifted off their chests.
The animation department’s team after Meng Fan’s addition was a team that made your b.a.l.l.s hurt!
Originally, they had prepared for the arcade basketball G.o.d score a frenzy of points, but that did not happen. Meng Fan did not score that many points throughout the entire game, but they continued to inexplicably lose possession of the ball amidst the confusion. They could accept losing by a long shot, but to lose without knowing how it was, was really a miserable feeling!
When the teams shook hands at the end, they all couldn’t help but gaze at Meng Fan. No matter how they looked at him, there was a sinister evil present!
“Ding!”
When the referee committee announced that the animation department had won the internal finals and would be moving on in the compet.i.tion, an alert sounded off in Meng fan’s head.
“Ding! Decision making unsuccessful. You’ve failed to retain the champions.h.i.+p honor point.”
Despite the failure, he acc.u.mulated another 10% towards the success rate judgment. This was unexpected for Meng Fan. Even this level two faculty-wide tournament champions.h.i.+p counted as a champions.h.i.+p; only it was nowhere close to a provincial level compet.i.tion, but that was alright.
In other words, Meng Fan could now confirm that any champions.h.i.+p below a provincial level could receive the system’s judgment as long as he won.
A champions.h.i.+p from a village compet.i.tion would count as a win, and even a champions.h.i.+p from a cla.s.sroom compet.i.tion counted as well. As long as it has a compet.i.tion procedure, it counted.
The next match was to be held on the next day. They did not know who the animation department would be facing, as they had to wait until the other level two faculty matches were finished.
“Everyone played very well today, let’s go eat, my treat. After dinner, we’re was.h.i.+ng our feet!” senior Ah Ning suddenly realized something was missing. Looking around in a circle, he said, “Where’s Iron bud?”
“He slipped away as soon as the tournament ended.”
“Is he really trying this hard to hide his talents?”
“He’s so low key!”
“Low key my a*s, he went to stream his new manga! I heard he’s adapting a famous spiritual genre novel!”
“They’re serializing “There’s a Spirit Underground”? Finally!”