Strong Offense And Defense Chapter 23

Translator: Re

Editor: Mims

Just then, Nie Chuan once again smelled the faint scent of Reece. 

He clearly already sweated so much, why isn't he smelly? 

"What are you thinking?" Reece asked as he started the car. 

“Thinking… about your pull-up layup.” Nie Chuan didn't dare say that he was wondering about why Reece's body didn't have the smell of sweat. 

“Do you know what it takes to complete a pull-up layup?” Reece asked. 

Nie Chuan honestly shook his head. 

“Waist strength, jump, ball control, instantaneous judgment, and the conviction that 'this ball must go in.'” 

Reece's voice was calm at the moment, as if the person who had just finished a pull-up layup under Raven's explosive block was not him. 

“En.” 

Nie Chuan had none of these. 

“In fact, I could have directly dunked the ball but I chose a more complicated way. Do you know why?” 

Nie Chuan shook his head again. 

Reece suddenly stopped the car on the side of the road. He looked at Nie Chuan. “In order to let you see clearly.” 

“Ah? Why let me see clearly?” 

“In order to let you know that there are many things we can't accomplish in most people's eyes that we can, in fact, accomplish. In order to let you feel shocked at basketball, in order to make you feel that playing basketball is a meaningful thing, in order to let you fantasize about yourself (playing) it from now on.” 

Nie Chuan's eyes inexplicably began to burn. 

From this morning when Reece accompanied him in doing jumping exercises to this afternoon's match, he had actually put all his thoughts onto Nie Chuan. 

This was beyond Nie Chuan's imagination. 

He had thought that in the eyes of someone like Reece who is the son of heaven, there would only be himself; he would never waste time on other people. 

But this is not the case. 

“I'm sorry,” Nie Chuan said very quietly but very seriously. 

"Why say sorry to me?" 

“Because I bit you this morning.” 

“Although G.o.d said that if anyone slaps me on my left cheek, I should turn my right cheek to them too. But if you dare bite my other arm, I will break your teeth.” 

[T/N: Matthew 5:38-39]

“Ha ha…” Nie Chuan laughed. 

At that moment, he saw Reece's lips gently curve. 

It had a very subtle depth that made people carefully speculate and appreciate. 

“Hey, Reece… do you think I can become as strong as you one day if I work hard?” 

“You can't be as strong as I am,” Reece replied. 

Nie Chuan's face fell. 

“Because you are Nie Chuan, not Reece Reddington. You have your own way of being strong. So if you work hard, you will be as strong as Nie Chuan.” 

Nie Chuan smiled. 

“So Reece, will there be other people who are as good as you in the league?” 

“Of course.” 

Nie Chuan had thought that Reece would answer him with "impossible" but Nie Chuan now understood that although Reece is prideful, he will never be conceited. 

“Do you have any other questions?” 

“Then do you think I'm any use for defeating opponents like you guys?” 

“If you're not useful, Carlo won't be pestering you all the time.” 

He felt his heart warm and was eager to move. 

Raven is already very strong, but there will be even more powerful opponents in the league. 

Reece has already acknowledged that they needed him, which is totally inconceivable for Nie Chuan. 

"Any other questions?” 

“None for now.” 

“Then you can continue eating your chocolate.” 

“Oh! Right! My chocolate! It's almost melted!”

When he returned home that night, according to the method Reece taught him, he put a book under his toes, put his laptop on the bookshelf, and practiced his lift while watching one of DK's basketball games from last year.

At that time, Connor was still on the court. 

Nie Chuan finally understood why they trusted Connor so much. He can not only defend the ball with ease, but also effectively organize the offense. His ability to intercept can be called a cla.s.sic and when he takes the ball into the opponent's defensive area, the probability of his pa.s.s being intercepted in a normal game is very low. Not to mention when he isn't in possession of the ball, he always appears when his teammates need him the most. 

Throughout the game, Connor barely scored but he brought Reece's scoring ability and Montenegro and Carlo's rebounding ability under the basket as well as their ability to score in the restricted area to the fullest. On the outside, Connor can not only organize the offense, but is also a scoring expert. Although his three-pointers are far from G.o.dlike, he can play stably. 

He is just like a string that links all the positions together.

He is also very versatile, ready to act as a small forward at any time and launch a pincer attack with Reece to *overwhelm the opponents. 

[T/N: idiom used here was 焦头烂额 which can mean to be in distress]

After watching the game, Nie Chuan's heart couldn't calm down for a long time. 

Connor is so excellent, and they actually think he can take his place… 

Nie Chuan felt great pressure for the first time. 

On this night, Nie Chuan played an online game for only half an hour. 

It's because the game that used to interest him has become dull and boring, unable to even pique his interest. 

Nie Chuan turned off the computer and held his head. When he closed his eyes all he could see was the scene of Reece and Raven's confrontation. 

That feeling of tension is like opium, making him addicted. 

Nie Chuan smiled helplessly, maybe this is the effect that Reece wanted to achieve. 

Because today's practice consumed a lot of Nie Chuan's energy, the moment his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep within seconds. 

Unconsciously, in his ear rang the sound of dribbling as well as the sound of shoes squeaking on the floor. 

He opened his eyes and found himself dribbling. He consecutively bypa.s.sed two opponents who came to obstruct him and was about to arrive under the basket. 

At the moment, the teammates around him were all sealed by the opponents. Seeing that the center of the opposing team was about to confront Nie Chuan, a figure rushed into Nie Chuan's line of sight. It was Reece! 

Nie Chuan made a fake move then sent the ball out. After Reece received the ball, the opposing center quickly returned to defense while the power forward jumped up to block Reece. 

Reece, who had already jumped up, immediately took back the action of a slam dunk and pa.s.sed the ball to Nie Chuan who had arrived by his side. 

Nie Chuan took off and scored!

He clenched his fist and showed a big smile in midair. 

The whistle sounded and the game was over. 

Nie Chuan ecstatically opened his arms, ran in Reece's direction and jumped! 

Reece casually caught him and Nie Chuan stretched out his arms and closed his eyes to feel the cheers of the audience. 

He was really too happy! 

Happiness came to Nie Chuan's ear in the sound of "dong-" as he rolled out of the bed. 

“Pain! Pain! Pain!” Nie Chuan propped himself up only to find out that it had all been a dream. 

He quickly bowed his head and looked between his legs… so far so good! Very dry! He won't need to wash his pants! 

But his sore legs were killing him. 

Were the exercises that Reece designed for him working as expected? 

Nie Chuan hit his head with his own fist, he actually dreamed that he and Reece became partners! 

Yeah, this guy actually isn't as arrogant as he looks. 

On the contrary, he is more persistent than anyone else towards his goals. 

And Nie Chuan knows that what he always lacked in his life is precisely this persistence. 

The weekend pa.s.sed just like that and Nie Chuan packed up and returned to school. 

At the end of the day's cla.s.ses, Carlo actually came to the door of Nie Chuan's cla.s.sroom to intercept him again. 

“Hey Allen, I know I stole your limelight at the pool party that day. Please don't be angry with me! Would you like to practice with me? Montenegro organized a practice match for us. The opponent is one of the 64 teams from last year's league. Although they're a lot worse than us, it's still a match! This is an informal practice match and it's been decided that only four of us can partic.i.p.ate but we want you to partic.i.p.ate this time!” 

“What?” Nie Chuan almost choked to death. “What am I going to do?” 

“What do you think we lack right now?” Carlo looked at Nie Chuan, and his originally undisciplined eyes became extremely serious and oppressive. 

“Point guard.” 

“Yes. Point guard.” Carlo held his forehead with his palm. 

“I'm still far off from Connor… I'm not good now…” 

“Nie Chuan! If you're far from it, then just get closer step by step! Moreover, this is just a practice match! Not even a conventional match! This is an opportunity for us to cultivate a tacit understanding! Come on! Nie Chuan!” 

Nie Chuan once again thought of Reece's  pull-up layup. It was so vivid and profound that it could not be erased. 

“Will Reece be going too?” 

“Of course, he's our scoring expert!” Carlo seemed to suddenly realize something and patted Nie Chuan on his shoulder, “Don't be afraid of Reece. He must have agreed for me to come find you.” 

"When is the practice session?" 

“This Sat.u.r.day.” 

Not many days… 

“Come on! Nie Chuan! It'll be fun, let's go together!” 

Nie Chuan tilted his head and looked at Carlo with skeptical eyes. It's a practice match against one of the teams that entered the quarter-finals and the best time to learn from experience but Carlo actually said that it would be fun? 

“Won't I get crushed?” 

If it's a team that can stand out from the regional compet.i.tion, how can their strength be lacking? Even if it's not at the level of Reece or Raven, but it at least far surpa.s.ses Nie Chuan. 

“With us here, how can you get crushed by them? And believe me, you will give those guys a big surprise.” Carlo is full of confidence. 

Nie Chuan has the feeling of jumping into a fiery pit. 

“Alright, I'll try it out. But you'd better find another person. That way if I really drag you guys down, you won't lose too badly.” 

Although he felt very stressed and that it didn't belong to his own world, but when he thought of how he can fight alongside Reece, Nie Chuan's heart felt an inexplicable yearning. 

“We won't! This is great!” Carlo suddenly picked Nie Chuan up and turned in circles a few times at the door of the cla.s.sroom. 

Nie Chuan almost vomited. 

“Quickly put me down! I'm going to throw up, Carlo!”

Re: I must say, Reece can be pretty inspirational o.o I especially liked his "don't be as good as someone else, be as good as you can be" 

MadMadamMims: I'm going to pretend Reece smells like Black Orchid by Tom Ford Bc it's a s.e.xy spicy chocolatey scent ><>