Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Sir Dao shook his head and leaned back against his seat.

Suzy did say that they were trendy, and that was why he bought them for her. It seemed like Kai Guo also liked trendy things!

The countdown finally started, which meant that the game was going to start in five minutes.

Coach Yixing quickly gathered the team, glancing at the Shizi Dogs before giving his players a pep talk.

"Remember everything we've trained for," Coach Yixing started off.

The players nodded, feeling more determined than usual.

"The last game—we didn't give it our all. We came to the court already thinking of playing with the Feng Foxes. However, amidst all that, we faced some commendable opponents," he continued.

"However, this time, it's different. We have to thank the Shizi Dogs for making us aware of our flaws. Yet, this is also the time to show them that our flaws can be quickly corrected," he smirked.

"With that, let's go into the game while taking the new skills we've learned into mind."

"They have their coach with them today," he said, glancing at their bench once more.

"However, I have a good feeling that he's not there for a good reason."

"Capitalize on this weakness and win the game."

Meanwhile, on the bench of the Shizi Dogs, Lina gathered the team and was about to say something when Coach Jin cleared his throat.

Lina looked up at him and pursed her lips. It seemed like she was so used to doing the pep talk at the beginning of the games that it just came to her naturally.

"Alright," Coach Jin said. "You've all done this before. You've played with the Xing Stars and won, so just do what you did back then."

"My training regimen is foolproof. I believe it had made you stronger," he continued. "With that, here's the starting players for the game."

The players turned to each other in surprise.

"That was it?" Jet whispered to Kun.

Kun shrugged, also finding his speech lackluster.

"Yuze, Kun, Zeren, Jinping, and Jet," he said. "Play as you like."

Kai frowned in confusion. He had been the starting player in the past two games, and it was also agreed that they were going to capitalize on his teamwork with Yuze for this particular game.

Lina, too, found it strange.

She turned to Yuze for support, but Yuze merely shook his head.

"You'll play later," Yuze said to Kai, to which the latter nodded in understanding.

With that, the buzzer resounded in the entire venue, signaling the start of the game.

The two teams felt the tension between them.

Having played with each other before, they already had a hunch of how the other was going to play. With that, they wanted to utilize their new skills to prove themselves as victors.

Zedong was going to play in the first set, and he seemed more determined than usual.

When he saw the Shizi Dog's line-up, however, he frowned in confusion. Then, he glanced at their bench and saw that Kai was sitting next to Lina.

Zedong's frown deepened.

When Coach Yixing said that he had a bad feeling about their coach, it seemed like he wasn't lying.

Why was he letting the player who became the key person to the Shizi Dogs' victory sit on the bench in the very first quarter?

The audience, too, was pretty confused.

"Why is Kai on the bench?"

"I came here earlier to watch the first-year players of Shizi High play!"

"I saw some of Kai's ridiculous plays on social media and wanted to watch him."

"Maybe he'll play later on!"

The referee blew the whistle, and the game finally began.

As expected, the two teams had tremendously improved since the last time that they had played.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Xing Stars seemed to have fixed their flaws as an overly-strategic team, while the Shizi Dogs solidified their title as the dark horses of the competition.

However, the Xing Stars quickly became the frontrunners in the first quarter. As much as the Shizi Dogs had improved, the Xing Stars' newfound unpredictability made them struggle.

Nonetheless, the Shizi Dogs still managed to keep the gap at the one-point digit.

As the game progressed, it became increasingly obvious that Jinping wasn't used to playing with the Xing Stars.

In their past game, Jinping didn't get to play as much, which led to a slower adjustment time this time around.

Lina pursed her lips before turning to Coach Jin.

"Coach," she said. "For the second quarter, I think Kai needs to go in."

Kai turned to the two of them, also anticipating Coach Jin's response.

However, the Coach remained unyielding, only looking at the court with a small frown.

Lina sighed in frustration as the quarter continued in the Xing Stars' favor.

Two quarters passed, and it seemed like Coach Jin wasn't planning on utilizing Kai.

38-44

The game was still in favor of the Xing Stars as half-time approached.

The members went back to their bench, feeling breathless.

Yuze chugged down his water and turned to Kai.

"You should play later," he said, to which Kai nodded in agreement.

"Coach," Yuze said, already arranging Kai's substitution with Jinping.

However, before he could utter another sentence, Coach Jin was already speaking.

"You guys are doing well. There's only a six-point gap. You weren't able to do that before, right?" he asked, his gaze focused on his phone.

Yuze and Kun turned to each other with deep frowns.

Contrary to Coach Jin's mindset, the Shizi Dogs actually felt like they were struggling more for this particular game.

For some reason, although the gap wasn't too large, Yuze had a feeling that the game would continue to progress as such if Kai didn't enter to play.

"Coach—"

Yuze attempted to intercept once more, but Coach Jin had already made up his mind.

"Yuze, keep on playing," he said. "Zeren and Jinping, you will also continue."

The three players nodded.

"The other two will be replaced for the next quarter."

Yuze's frown deepened as Coach Yuze called out the names of the new players.

"Gowon," he called.

"...and Gongwen," he smiled.

The players were all surprised—even those who were called to play for the third quarter.

They couldn't believe that they were being dispatched at such a critical time!

"Coach," Kai said, finding his decisions irrational.

"Time is ticking," Coach Jin smiled. "Go to the court."

Gowon and Gongwen were still confused, but they followed Coach Jin's instructions in the end.

Kai had a bad feeling about the game.

Although he wasn't punished for his scuffle with Roy and his friends, it seemed like Coach Jin had his own way of punishing him.