I Really Just Want to Hit the Iron

the timeout, the game resumed.

On the Chester High School offensive, Coach Conte called for a high-post coordination play.

Following a handoff between DeMarcus and Chris, the latter nailed a high-post jumper—a tribute to the future Wolf King.

Though you're not in the rivers and lakes, the rivers and lakes await your legend.

After that fierce jumper found its mark, Chris pounded his chest, stomped the floor, and looked to the sky.

Naturally, Chris's excitement stemmed from one thing…

Chester had finally broken the deadlock!

8 to 2.

It was now Lower Merion's turn to attack, and this time the utility man Swartz didn't even bother dribbling.

Why? Because after Su Feng "piped the sewer" to Kobe with his Amway-like sales pitch, of course it had to be Kobe himself on the ball.

On the court, Su Feng slipped from the left corner to the right.

Using a pick-and-roll from teammate Lasman, Su Feng broke free into space.

Chester's wing defenders couldn't rotate in time, leaving only DeMarcus to fight through the screen.

And, true to his reputation, DeMarcus gave everything to chase Su Feng down.

But in Kobe and Su Feng's eyes, if the pass gets there on time, the shot will follow.

A skilled facilitator with excellent vision, Kobe swiftly dished the ball to Su Feng.

Hmm… That assessment came from Lower Merion's Coach Greg, not Su Feng himself.

Swish—!

Even though Su Feng didn't earn any stat credit for hitting the shot, he was slightly "bummed"—but in his eyes, sacrificing a bit of stat value was nothing compared to reaching the NBA.

11 to 2!

Su Feng had scored 11 straight.

This marked step two of Su Feng's "sewer data-padding scheme":

Use his flawless iron-jumper to make Kobe his full-time distributor.

And Su Feng's pitch to Kobe? Simple:

"Kobe, you're elite at scoring and rebounding—but your assist stats are lacking."

"Look, you're already a floor general. How can your 6+ assists per game do justice to your court vision?"

"In my opinion, it's just that you're not in the NBA yet. Once you are, with that vision and those passes—John Stockton who?"

"To be fair, our other teammates aren't the most dependable."

"But me? I'm rock solid. Feed me the ball, and I'll boost your assist count for sure."

Kobe, once again, fell for Su Feng's pitch. What could he do—Su Feng's game was just too convincing?

And besides, Kobe saw Su Feng as his best friend—of course he had to help him.

That's sandwich diplomacy.

Back in the game, Chester started finding their rhythm under the coach's guidance.

Chris once again received the ball at the high post, this time executing a fake before handing it to DeMarcus.

This time, instead of a jumper, DeMarcus used his bounce to drive inside, aiming to finish with a thunderous high school-level slam…

Smack—!

Uh-oh…

This play had nothing to do with Su Feng.

It was Kobe who met DeMarcus at the rim.

"They're clearly targeting me!" DeMarcus thought. But rather than deflate him, it fired him up.

Being guarded by Kobe? That meant he was a threat.

After the ball went out of bounds, DeMarcus shot Kobe a knowing glance and said, "Bro, don't be so scared of me. Really."

Kobe: "?????"

"I get it—I'm strong. Thanks for the respect. Now I'll work even harder," DeMarcus added.

Kobe was dazed.

And Su Feng, hearing it all, couldn't help but grin.

He had to wonder: are all ballers named DeMarcus just naturally gifted?

Without thinking, Su Feng turned to him and asked, "You don't happen to have a cousin named DeMarcus Cousins, do you?"

"!!!"

DeMarcus froze—because that was, in fact, the name of his four-year-old cousin living far away!

When they were born, the two families were so close that both boys were given the same name—Cousins.

The meaning was clear: no matter how far apart they might be, they would always share the same name as brothers.

But...

"How did he know my little cousin's name?" DeMarcus was stunned.

Suddenly, he felt that Lower Merion was terrifying.

"Have they really started researching my family just to deal with me?" DeMarcus thought, a bit shaken.

Unfortunately, the conversation between Su Feng and DeMarcus didn't continue.

Otherwise, Su Feng might've realized that his offhand comment had accidentally hit the truth.

Back on the court, Chester High School had possession again. After running down the shot clock, DeMarcus's jumper missed off the rim.

Lower Merion grabbed the defensive rebound and pushed the pace.

In the past, Kobe would've gone full dragon mode and attacked on his own.

But today… even without scoring, Kobe felt unusually relaxed.

So, instead of rushing, he slowed down in the frontcourt.

Su Feng cut sharply to the basket, using the space created by Kobe's gravity. After receiving a slick pass from Kobe, he laid it in for two.

13 to 2!

No doubt about it—Lower Merion's offensive efficiency today was off the charts.

Inside the Capital Stadium, the crowd began to feel like they were watching an NBA-level game.

And honestly… it wasn't just a feeling.

The energy and intensity live at the arena far surpassed what could be seen on a broadcast.

Su Feng had once watched a CBA game in person in his previous life—and the passion left a lasting impression.

So, it's no surprise that the fans in Pennsylvania today were blown away by this Lower Merion offensive surge.

On the court, DeMarcus felt like his defensive spirit had been shattered.

After receiving the ball, he faked with his left foot, then tried to bait Su Feng with his eyes.

"He's not falling for it?" DeMarcus blinked, suddenly overwhelmed.

This Chinese kid in front of him was like a reincarnated Pippen—an elite defender who had studied him to perfection.

So strong!

That kind of dedication… how could such a person not succeed?

With genuine admiration, DeMarcus looked at Su Feng and said, "You're the strongest defender I've ever seen."

Su Feng: "?????"

"I lost," DeMarcus said solemnly.

"But my team won't!"

Then, unexpectedly, DeMarcus passed to a teammate and sprinted along the baseline, following a rehearsed play pattern…

Su Feng froze.

Huh?

Weren't we going one-on-one?

Why'd he stop fighting?

Su Feng was baffled—and so were Chester's players.

Because once again…

DeMarcus's abrupt improvisation completely broke the team's rhythm.

Kobe, reading the chaos, timed a steal perfectly and swiped the ball clean with those quick hands of his.

Lower Merion wasn't able to convert the fast break this time.

But Chester, having grown used to DeMarcus's erratic energy, hustled back to defend quickly.

Still, Su Feng struck again!

Except this time, he didn't go for the score himself.

After receiving a pass from Kobe, he dished it right back.

Then, slipping in front of Kobe, Su Feng set a textbook screen on Chester's defenders.

To be honest, Chester's players had no idea what kind of tactic this even was.

And then… well, they understood even less—

Because Kobe fired.

Swish—!

It was his first made shot of the day, and it felt smooth.

16 to 2!

That's right—this was Su Feng's "third step of the sewer data-padding plan."

To pad a few assists, naturally.

The only issue? Su Feng's passing and court vision ratings were… not great.

Even if he wanted to pass, he struggled to identify the right window.

And if he spotted it, his passes were often sloppy.

Back in his past life, when playing pickup ball, most of his teammates were Kobe fans who loved iso ball. So Su Feng rarely passed—not to protect his stats, but because it was better than standing on the sidelines doing nothing.

Being uninvolved? That's worse than losing.

So now, to grab some assist stats and avoid being tagged as a selfish player by scouts, Su Feng had to get creative.

Luckily, Coach Greg was famously clueless about nuance, so Su Feng didn't worry too much about being questioned.

"Phew… racking up assists is tough!"

"Maybe I shouldn't have bragged at the turtle meeting last time," Su Feng thought.

"Su, I have to say… the play you came up with feels more solid than Coach Gregg's schemes," Kobe whispered on the walk back.

Su Feng: "..."

Fair enough.

If the goal is to pad the stats, this setup really works.

Thanks to the "third step of the sewer plan," Kobe's shots were now accompanied by teammates scrambling for offensive rebounds.

If someone grabbed it and passed back out—Su Feng could get a clean shot.

If not? No problem—he'd already be in position to retreat, and his defense could buy time for Kobe to recover.

Truthfully, this was a sewer system designed specifically for Su Feng and Kobe in the Pennsylvania high school league. It kept Lower Merion running smoothly while maximizing the numbers.

The only downside? The role players' stats would suffer.

But none of them cared much about personal stats anyway.

Plus, with everyone involved in this free-flowing offense, it felt fun!

Well… it's only fun if you win the state championship.

Inside Capital Gymnasium, amid the gasps of Pennsylvania's melon-eating spectators—

The game rolled on!

…

Looking up at the sky, the basket was still shaking...

Nonsense!

Let me emphasize again: if a scorer misses a shot, can it even be called a miss?

Su Feng never expected that after such a blazing start, the rest of the game would turn into...

Clank City.

In this match, Su Feng went 13-for-32 from the field, including 4-of-14 from three, and 1-of-1 from the line. Though he dropped a game-high 31 points and helped Lower Merion crush Chester 79–55...

He really thought he could put up 50 by the end of the first quarter.

He also grabbed 5 rebounds, delivered 3 "sewer" assists, blocked 3 "basketball dreams," and never missed 2 key shots.

And thanks to Su Feng's behind-the-scenes support…

Kobe's stat line tonight absolutely stunned Pennsylvania.

Because since Wilt Chamberlain, no one had posted such monstrous numbers in the Pennsylvania High School Basketball League.

Kobe Bryant went 9-of-9, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Total: 24 points on a perfect shooting night.

But wait—he also grabbed 23 rebounds, dished out 10 assists (most of them feeding Su Feng), plus 5 blocks and 5 steals!

In one word? Comprehensive.

Kobe walked off the court grinning. Turns out... playing this way? Kinda fun.

Okay...

Okay.

If Su Feng remembered right, Kobe would eventually shatter Wilt's high school scoring record his senior year.

Because with Kobe willing to team up with him like this, Su Feng figured he could help him post a historic, untouchable triple-double season.

After all, in his previous life, Kobe averaged almost a triple-double in high school—he was only 3 or 4 assists short.

But now? With Su Feng padding those numbers? It could happen.

"And what if Kobe's draft stock rises too much?"

"Would the Logo Man jump out of the Logo and punch me in the face?" Su Feng chuckled nervously.

Okay, okay—he was clearly overthinking it.

In his past life, Kobe was drafted 13th overall mostly because he was a high schooler.

And a guard, at that.

Drafting high schoolers back then was like buying a lottery ticket. Few NBA teams wanted to gamble—especially on young guards.

As for a certain future icon?

Well, he had a whole squad of legendary names to blaze the trail before him.

Honestly, in this era, some mindsets just won't budge overnight.

Su Feng might sneak into the second round with a flashy stat line. But Kobe? Climbing into the top picks on high school numbers alone? Brutally tough.

Only time changes rules. Time changes minds.

And time... sweeps away all geniuses.

"Next up—the semifinals!"

Fresh off the quarterfinals win, Su Feng had already started plotting how to "pad" the next one.

Because this sewer system?

Way too fun.