Coach Shi saw that things weren't going well and immediately subbed out the starting center. He said to the backup center:
"Dazhuang, you're going in next. You're stronger, more powerful, and taller. If they double-team you, use your body to push through them and force your way to the basket."
"But be careful: push through, don't shove. No offensive fouls!"
Hearing this, the backup center, whose name was Dazhuang, rubbed his hands together and showed off his muscles.
"Don't worry, Coach. Those little guys are so scrawny, I'll flatten them like biscuits. Otherwise, I wouldn't be called Dazhuang!"
His words made all the nearby players burst out laughing.
But the starting center who'd been subbed out felt a little down.
He was the starting center, and the team captain, too.
But he'd been taken off the court after just three minutes. Anyone would have found that hard to accept.
Coach Shi was naturally mindful of his players' feelings. He put a hand on the captain's shoulder. "Hao Qiang, you've studied Tian Ji's Horse Racing, right?"
Hao Qiang wasn't stupid. He understood as soon as Coach Shi brought it up, and his dejection vanished. He nodded at the coach. "I understand, Coach!"
Coach Shi smiled and nodded.
Coach Shi might not have been the best coach when it came to tactics or reacting on the fly, but he was second to none at understanding his players' psychology and communicating with them.
Coach Shi hadn't come from a professional basketball background. At first, he'd just been an ordinary teacher at Yuying Middle School.
He'd simply been a basketball fan who enjoyed watching games and liked to play whenever he had free time.
Later, after Wang Yi's arrival sparked a basketball craze across China, schools everywhere began forming their own teams.
Many schools