I hope the opponent can give some more Su Feng

Since Maxon decided to start a column in the Philadelphia Evening News covering the new season of the Pennsylvania High School Basketball League, he has practically become an accompanying reporter for Lower Merion High School.

Every few days, Maxon takes his camera to Lower Merion to cover events.

In addition to capturing the usual training sessions of the players, Maxon also plans to gather materials about the story between Kobe Bryant and Su Feng.

In Su Feng's past life, many NBA star biographies were written by reporters like Maxon.

For example, during Kobe's senior year, many journalists flocked to Lower Merion.

Because Kobe's reputation was already massive at the time, most people believed he would make it to the NBA and become a star player.

However, it's rare to see a lesser-known prospect like Su Feng receiving similar media attention.

There are many reporters like Maxon abroad.

Of course, they not only interview athletes but also go undercover in companies to expose the inner workings of industries.

In Su Feng's past life, many reports that won international journalism awards were the result of long-term investigative e interviews.

As a journalist with strong ideals, Maxon felt that writing about a talented American high school student entering the NBA wasn't particularly unique.

But what about the story of a Chinese student making it to the NBA?

Maxon found that idea compelling.

Both Gregg Downer and the school fully supported Maxon's efforts.

After all, Gregg and the school saw this as free publicity.

For a while, if not for the stark contrast in skin color between Su Feng and Maxon, even Kobe might have questioned what kind of connection they shared.

…

The 15th marks the eve of the Pennsylvania High School Basketball League game.

After finishing training with Kobe, Su Feng returned to his apartment and took a bath to relax.

While soaking, Su Feng opened the system interface.

Under Su Feng's nearly obsessive training standards, he feels he is getting close to becoming an excellent player—though, jokingly, he calls himself a "blacksmith in progress."

"Host: Su Feng Nationality: Chinese Age: 16 Height: 190 cm Weight: 76 kg..."

"Host's current ability level (NBA second-round prospect):

Close shot: 44 [64] Mid-range shot: 75 [79] Three-point shot: 77 [80]Passing: 20 [45] Vision: 25 [50] Ball control: 49 [55]Lateral movement: 78 [88] One-on-one defense: 77 [91] Steals: 46 [81]Vertical leap: 54 [71] Strength: 36 [45] Defensive rebounds: 24 [30]

Equipped shooting form: A-Level Stephen Curry college shooting package.

Equipped signature move: Kobe Bryant's fadeaway (golden epic), current level: college elite.

Signature move library (not equipped): Sam Gold (original version).

Equipped badge: None."

Su Feng's abilities have noticeably improved at an impressive rate.

However, as he continues enhancing his skills through daily training, he has realized that the higher his ability values climb, the slower their growth.

For example, he used to see noticeable improvements daily, but recently, his mid-range and three-point shooting have stagnated.

Additionally, due to his constant pursuit of difficult challenges, the previously hidden move Kobe Bryant's fadeaway has now reached the college elite level.

At this level, Su Feng's turnaround speed is not only significantly faster than before but also more stable.

Yet, he still faces that frustrating paradox—the system eliminates any possibility of cheating.

"Oh well, no matter how good your defense is, how do you counter the fact that I'll be up against Kobe Bryant, the walking cheat code?" Su Feng mused as he reviewed his stats.

"The next goal is to unlock System 7.0.

I've saved up a lot of iron points and could use them on a draw, but it's unnecessary.

After these recent friendly matches, I know my current ability is more than sufficient for high school league play.

Even though I'm curious about the badges, relying on random draws isn't a reliable strategy—it could slow my system upgrade progress.

Unlocking new abilities through system upgrades is the key to my continued growth!"

After making a solid plan, Su Feng fell asleep.

After all, even Iron Man needs to sleep early and wake up early.

…

The next day marked the opening of the Pennsylvania High School Basketball League, and Su Feng and Kobe had agreed on their plans in advance.

On competition days, the special 4 a.m. training session would be canceled.

Of course, the training was canceled, but the morning sandwich still seemed like an essential routine for Kobe.

"You just transferred schools, and if you end up late because you get lost, that would be bad. I'll come to your place and wait for you from now on," Kobe told Su Feng at the end of training the previous day.

Su Feng didn't call out Kobe's flimsy excuse—after all, having a friend to walk to school with sounded like a good idea.

And although Su Feng was much older than Kobe in reality, friendship between men often had nothing to do with age.

It's worth noting that, while the format of U.S. high school basketball leagues is quite different from the NCAA, they do share some similarities.

Generally, as in Pennsylvania, the preliminaries take place in November and December.

In January and February, teams compete in regional tournaments.

March is when the state championship battle begins.

Since Pennsylvania has so many high schools, if every team played against one another, a single school would have to compete in hundreds of games a year.

Therefore, the tournament organizing committee first divides teams into zones based on their location. Each zone usually consists of 30 to 40 schools.

Within these divisions, high schools play one another in a single round-robin competition, and the top four teams from each division advance to the final regional tournament.

During the regional competition stage, the top eight teams of the state are determined through round-robin play, followed by the final single-elimination championship tournament.

This system was why Su Feng wanted to introduce Kobe to Amway's sewer strategy.

Even the strongest teams—steel tanks of the league—had a chance of being overturned under this format.

Of course, Su Feng felt it was still too soon to talk to Kobe about the sewer strategy. He planned to gradually introduce him to Kobe Bryant's corporate culture and philosophy once the league began.

That said, Lower Merion wasn't particularly lucky this year, as they were placed in a division alongside Ridley High School—a team with six consecutive championship titles.

But…

Neither Kobe, Su Feng, nor the Lower Merion squad saw this as a disadvantage.

Because they had already defeated Ridley High School in a previous friendly match, the Lower Merion players had lost all respect for the reigning champions.

On the other hand…

The mood was quite different over at Ridley.

After seeing Ridley's division assignment, their head coach, Fernandez, jokingly thought about hiring a hitman to take out Gregg Downer.

Ever since Ridley's loss in the friendly match against Lower Merion, Fernandez had been feeling increasingly frustrated.

…

In the season opener, Lower Merion's first opponent was Shipley, a school with an average SAT score of 1,300.

Okay…

Typically, in the United States, schools like Shipley are considered "bottom-tier" in basketball circles.

And yet, Shipley may have managed to insult the term "bottom-tier."

"How do I feel like this game is already over before I even warmed up?"

Su Feng, who had envisioned making a dominant debut in his high school basketball career, glanced at the scoreboard in frustration.

"This is normal. They actually played well this year—you know, last year, we beat them by a full 70 points," Kobe said, patting Su Feng on the shoulder.

Su Feng: ORZ.

He had thought that Shipley would at least put up some resistance, but as it turned out, their team had even less structure than expected.

Final score: 87–26.

If it weren't for Lower Merion's substitutes getting playing time, Shipley might not have even cracked 20 points.

There was simply no avoiding the harsh reality—the skill gap in American high school basketball can be enormous.

As a result, Su Feng and Kobe were subbed out by head coach Greg Downer after the first half.

Despite only playing two quarters, Su Feng shot 8-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, without attempting any free throws, finishing with 20 points.

Kobe Bryant was flawless, making all 10 of his field goals, including three three-pointers and four free throws, totaling 27 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks.

Against an opponent like Shipley, Su Feng hardly had any chance to miss shots.

Thankfully, Lower Merion's next opponent, Malvern Preparatory School, was rumored to be significantly stronger and had a legitimate chance to advance out of the division…

…

On the 19th, at Malvern Preparatory High School's basketball arena.

After three quarters, the students in the stands began to wonder if they were watching an NBA game.

Kobe Bryant put on a dunking showcase, throwing down five slam dunks throughout the match.

Meanwhile, Su Feng turned the game into a three-point spectacle, draining seven three-pointers.

Even more impressively… three of them were deep threes—uncommon for this era.

Beyond showing off his shooting range, Su Feng's drifting catch-and-shoot technique and his step-back three-pointer stunned the Malvern Preparatory students.

Su Feng was playing all out.

Because today… his shooting felt perfect.

He originally considered raising the difficulty after securing a big lead, but his shooting touch refused to let him hold back.

And yet…

Malvern Preparatory was supposed to be a strong basketball program.

Just look at the scoreboard!

Only three quarters in, and it's already 70–44!

"Well, it makes sense to try harder shots to rack up iron points once the win is secured. After all, even a small grasshopper is still food.

It's just that today, I'm shooting too well, and the opponent is too weak."

After the game, Su Feng looked at his stats and consoled himself.

In the end, Lower Merion won 86–57.

Su Feng finished with 12-of-21 shooting, including 7-of-14 from three-point range, no free throws, and a game-high 31 points, along with 5 rebounds and 0 assists.

On Kobe's side, Bryant shot 11-of-23, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 5-of-8 from the free throw line, finishing with 27 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks.

Kobe wasn't hitting shots from deep consistently, but his five dunks were spectacular.

And Su Feng couldn't shake the feeling that Kobe was intentionally boosting his own rebounding stats—after all, Kobe missed three three-pointers, and Su Feng ended up collecting every single rebound.

"I hope our opponents in the next game put up more of a fight!"

After the match, Su Feng silently wished for stronger competition in the upcoming game.