Shan He painfully closed his eyes at the coach's words.
He understood that if he rested for these two minutes, he might not play again this year.
After all, this was the final event of the year, and it was a knockout game in the quarterfinals. If the score gap grew to more than ten points during his two-minute rest, there'd be no reason to put him back in, even though he desperately wanted to fight until the final second.
When Huali's players returned to the court, all five of them charged forward like wolves and tigers, relentlessly pushing the fast break.
They had spent the past few days practicing fast breaks and had played that way on the court, too. They'd also trained longer than the Amateur Players, so they had better stamina.
They were tired, of course, but not as exhausted as the Yude Middle School players.
Shan He wasn't the only one at Yude Middle School who was tired. The other starters were exhausted, too.
With Huali constantly pushing the fast break, their stamina was being drained as well.
With five minutes left in the game, they could no longer keep up with Huali's pace.
Whenever Huali got the ball, they launched a fast break. Every time they got possession, they ran.
Fast breaks on every possession.
Yude couldn't get back on defense. All they could do was watch Huali go for layups and score.
With their stamina spent, Yude could only keep shooting from the perimeter, and their shooting percentage suffered.
During the two minutes Shan He rested, the score gap quickly widened to fourteen points.
With only four minutes left, trailing by fourteen in a game of this caliber meant there was no point in putting him back in.
Coach Lan stood by the court,