Wang Jianhua couldn't be bothered to entertain his old troublemaking friends. He simply led his team out of the gym.
After bidding Wang Yi goodbye, the coaches also left the gym, chatting and laughing among themselves.
Wang Yi handed out water to the players and told them they could sit or lie down on the court while they listened to him.
Once they'd rested a little and caught their breath, Wang Yi's smile faded. He stood before them and spoke seriously.
"Two days ago, you crushed the reserve team because they were weaker than you. Yesterday, the second team crushed you because they were stronger. But today, you held your own against the even stronger first team, and nearly won. Have any of you figured out what that tells you?"
The students thought about it. They could all sense there was a lesson there, but couldn't quite put it into words.
Only Classmate Guan, after a moment's thought, said, "Stay humble in victory and resilient in defeat. Keeping the right mindset is the key to winning."
Wang Yi nodded. "Exactly. I arranged these three games so you could learn that lesson for yourselves. After you beat the reserve team by a wide margin in the first game, I saw a lot of players patting themselves on the back. You got arrogant after winning, then grew dejected after the second team gave you a lesson."
"But today, in the third game, you faced the much stronger first team and stayed with them until the final minute, when the game was decided."
"I want you to understand this: never get arrogant after a win, and never get discouraged after a loss. Keep a level head. When you win, review why you won and what you did well, then keep doing it."
"When