First Performance, Instant Explosion

Chapter 11: A Debut That Explodes

There were still nearly two months until the new EBA League season began, and those two months were crucial for Sun Hao.

On one hand, he needed to use this time to fully integrate with his teammates.

On the other hand, he also had to secure his position on the team through consistent performance.

Although Raul had broken precedent by announcing him as a starter early, whether he could earn the respect of the team still depended on his on-court performance.

The Real Madrid youth team spent those two months doing exactly those two things: running integration drills and playing a series of exhibition games.

Sun Hao's performance did not disappoint. Over the two months, he had become the team's undisputed core.

The smile on Raul's face never faded.

Sun Hao could propel his coaching career to new heights!

While things were going smoothly on the court, Sun Hao's life off the court was also quite comfortable.

With Fernandez as a free tour guide, he had visited all the attractions in Madrid.

As the capital of Spain, Madrid had a developed economy and numerous tourist sites.

The Royal Palace of Madrid, the third largest royal palace in Europe after the Palace of Versailles and the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna;

The world-famous Plaza de España Cervantes Monument;

The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid's football team...

And the Las Ventas Bullring, full of Roman style, located just two or three kilometers from their gym.

For someone like Sun Hao, who loved to travel, this place was practically paradise.

Two months passed quickly. The youth team's preparations were complete, and the doors to the new EBA season officially opened.

The Real Madrid youth team's first game was a home match against the Barcelona youth team.

This was undoubtedly the most anticipated and most hyped game in the entire EBA League.

Real Madrid and Barcelona, due to the historical reasons between Madrid and Catalonia (Catalonia had been bloodily conquered and subjugated by Madrid multiple times throughout history, and had been constantly pushing for independence), no matter the sport or the level of the league, whenever they met, it was a marquee matchup.

At higher levels of competition, it was even called El Clásico.

Raul placed great importance on this game as well. His pre-game training and tactical arrangements were meticulous to the extreme.

And this time, he was full of confidence.

Last year, because Barcelona had the super rookie Pau Gasol, Real Madrid had taken a beating.

But after last season ended, Gasol completed a three-tier jump and moved up to La Liga, causing the Barcelona youth team's strength to plummet.

Coupled with his unexpected acquisition of Sun Hao, one side's strength rose while the other's fell—he was brimming with confidence.

"Barcelona's current core is Marcelo Huertas, a point guard from Brazil, 1.80 meters tall. You need to be careful of his drives," Raul said, pulling Sun Hao aside for a private word after finishing the tactical setup.

Hearing the name Huertas, some impressions surfaced in Sun Hao's mind.

This guy didn't make it to the NBA until he was 32 in history, a classic example of a late bloomer.

Moreover, even at his peak, he was always a backup on Barcelona's first team. His strength probably wasn't that great, let alone during his youth team days.

But since Raul had warned him, he still gave it 100% focus. After all, this was his first official game since arriving in Spain.

That night, the basketball gym, which could hold over a thousand people, was packed to capacity.

Football was the number one sport in Spain, but there were plenty of local basketball fans, many of whom came with their whole families, creating a lively atmosphere.

The two teams jumped for the ball, and Barcelona got the first possession.

Huertas immediately ran a pick-and-roll with his team's center, then drove into the paint and used a change of pace to score a layup.

Raul's warning was correct; at the very least, Huertas had a high basketball IQ.

On the other end, Real Madrid ran their offensive sets. Sun Hao dribbled the ball, saw that Huertas was keeping a bit of distance, and shot directly from beyond the three-point line.

Just like Velazquez's reaction before, Sun Hao's style of play was too ahead of its time. Huertas never expected him to shoot like that and just stood there frozen, not moving.

Swish!

A crisp sound—Sun Hao made it as soon as he shot!

He scored Real Madrid's first points!

The arena suddenly went silent, followed immediately by an explosive roar of cheers.

Although they had never seen anyone play like this before, the feeling of hitting a three-pointer right from the opening tip was exhilarating!

Barcelona's next possession, an inside attack, was disrupted. Without Gasol, their interior strength had visibly declined.

Real Madrid grabbed the rebound and immediately pushed the fast break. Sun Hao was fast, grabbed the ball, charged to the frontcourt, and drove directly into Huertas, going up strong.

He intentionally sought out the contact to test Huertas's physicality.

As the two collided, Huertas was clearly at a disadvantage, getting pushed all the way out of bounds. He reached out and grabbed at Sun Hao but couldn't stop him.

The baseline referee's whistle blew, signaling a defensive foul on Huertas.

Sun Hao was still able to score the ball even after being fouled.

And one!

The results of his four years of hard training in the system were way too overpowered for the youth team!

The moment the ball went in, the crowd erupted in cheers again.

The youth team had big roster changes every year, let alone with an Asian face, so they hadn't paid any attention at all.

But once the game started, that Asian face kept bringing them one surprise after another!

Sun Hao also made the free throw, and he opened the game with a 6-0 scoring run on his own!

Incredible!

Although the intensity of youth games wasn't as high as the senior team's, they really hadn't seen such a dominant start in a long time.

Huertas came back trying to use the same trick to help his team score, but Sun Hao was clearly on guard this time, stepping up early before the screen even came.

This sudden step-up caught Huertas off guard, and after the physical contact, he lost control of the ball.

"Slap!"

Sun Hao straight-up stole the ball from Huertas!

This was 90s basketball, European basketball, where contact was encouraged and the referees were lenient with foul calls. The refs completely ignored this level of contact.

Sun Hao pushed the fast break again, and with a 1-on-0 in the frontcourt, he easily added two more points with a layup.

He had scored 8 straight points to start the game!

The head coach of Barcelona Team called a timeout right away!

This Asian who came out of nowhere had dominated the game from the opening tip.

Raul's smile was brighter than a chrysanthemum right now—this was exactly the feeling he wanted!

During the timeout, fans in the stands started whispering to each other, discussing who this suddenly appearing Asian face was.

"His name is Sun Hao. My son is friends with him."

In a corner of the stands, Fernandez's parents began spreading Sun Hao's information.

Soon, quite a few people in the arena knew that the Asian face on the court was called Sun Hao.

After the timeout, Barcelona scored a basket, and then they immediately double-teamed Sun Hao on the next possession.

But with the Basketball IQ Badge in hand, Sun Hao read the defense perfectly, passing out of the double-team to an open teammate under the basket, who easily laid it in.

And on the next possession, Sun Hao used a teammate's body as a screen, jumped the passing lane, and stole another ball from Huertas, forcing him to foul on the spot!

He was truly unstoppable!

Seeing this, Barcelona's head coach couldn't help but grab his head with both hands.

He knew Huertas's abilities well—he had good basketball IQ and played with a maturity unusual for a young player.

But he never expected that against Sun Hao, Huertas would look like he didn't even know how to play basketball!

And in such a crucial game at that.

But this wasn't entirely Huertas's fault.

He relied on his basketball IQ to play, and Sun Hao did too, but with the badge boost, Sun Hao was clearly a tier above him.

In other words, whatever Huertas was good at, Sun Hao could do better.

And whatever Huertas wasn't good at, Sun Hao was even better at!

He was completely suppressed across the board.

Over the next few possessions, Huertas, wary of Sun Hao, didn't attack with the ball, and Barcelona's offensive focus shifted from the perimeter to the inside.

But European basketball followed FIBA rules, with no defensive three seconds in the paint. Without Gasol, the inside game couldn't open up, and Barcelona remained passive.

On the other side, Real Madrid's Sun Hao knocked down two more three-pointers in a row, pulling Barcelona's defense completely out of position.

Completely opposite to last year, when they were suppressed the whole game, this year Real Madrid was dominating Barcelona.

By the end of the first quarter, Sun Hao had scored 14 points and added 3 assists.

Under his leadership, Real Madrid posted a 22-8 score in the quarter, getting the home crowd completely hyped.

In the latter part of that quarter, every time Sun Hao got the ball, the fans started chanting his name together.

In other words, Sun Hao had won the hearts of Real Madrid fans in just one quarter!

During the substitution period between the first and second quarters, Sun Hao rested on the bench.

Barcelona tried to close the gap during this time, cutting the deficit to 8 points before the starters returned, preventing the game from becoming a complete blowout too early.

Barcelona's head coach's tense nerves relaxed slightly.

If this kind of game had been decided in one quarter, he'd probably have to go back and submit his resignation.

But just as he started to relax, a short whistle blew from the sideline, and he saw Sun Hao stepping back onto the court.

His eyelid twitched involuntarily.

He called Huertas over and kept instructing him before he went on the court, deeply afraid the latter would get stripped again.

In the last five minutes of the second quarter, the main players from both sides all returned.

Huertas held the ball beyond the three-point line, directing his teammates on their cuts. He didn't even have the desire to look at the rim anymore.

The Barcelona team ran their weak-side tactical play, and Huertas spotted an opportunity to pass.

But just then, he felt a wave of pressure bearing down on him from the front.

He turned his head and saw Sun Hao pouncing on him again!

An eagle pouncing on a rabbit—a strike so fierce it left one in despair!

He wanted to dodge, but Sun Hao had timed it to catch him in that moment of turning his head. Both hands clamped onto the ball like vises.

Two men, four hands, locked in the most direct contest of strength over a single ball.

And just like every previous possession, Huertas was completely overpowered.

He felt his body lose control, and then the ball was ripped clean out of his hands by Sun Hao!

A pure steal!

The Barcelona head coach's eyes went wide.

That's... a foul! A foul!

He waved his arms and shouted.

But the referee didn't blow the whistle. There wasn't even any contact with the hands—it couldn't be called a foul by any measure.

Barcelona's other guard reacted quickly, closing in on Sun Hao the moment the steal was made, denying him another 1-on-0 opportunity.

Sun Hao drove to the frontcourt under pressure, still taking a tough shot after confrontation.

The opposing guard was afraid of fouling and didn't dare reach in. Sun Hao easily muscled past him and scored the layup.

Basketball really is a sport that relies on the body. With his current physique, he felt like an EBA version of James.

Two easy points.

"Congratulations, host. Successfully unlocked the 'Fast Break Finisher' badge."

Just then, the system notification sounded in Sun Hao's mind once again.

Fast Break Finisher (Bronze): Slightly increases speed and finishing success rate during fast breaks.

After scoring one fast break after another, completely dominating Huertas with overwhelming performance, Sun Hao had unlocked another badge!

It was similar to the scene when he'd unlocked Basketball IQ before.

Over the past two years playing domestic games, Sun Hao's physicality had been far superior to his opponents'. A fast break after a steal was his signature scoring method.

He had also reached the critical threshold for breaking through a bottleneck, and Huertas had helped him get there.

Even without the badge, Sun Hao had already been making Huertas question his life. With the badge, the latter was completely shut down mentally.

All night long, it was like he was tied to a post, being whipped relentlessly, unable to do anything but let out cries of pain.

The Barcelona team was dominated the entire night as well.

In the end, Real Madrid crushed the Barcelona team 78 to 46 in the season opener, delivering a powerful and resounding start to the new season.

Sun Hao only played three quarters, shooting 11-of-12 from the field, 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point line, and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. He nearly shot 100% and put up a monstrous stat line of 30 points, 5 rebounds, 6 steals, and 3 assists—an absolutely explosive debut.

Although youth team stats aren't the most reliable benchmark, such performance from Sun Hao was enough to make the Madrid fans remember him.

And he was only 15 years old!

To play like this at his age meant his future was boundless.

"I have a feeling that if you keep playing like this, you'll really be like Pau Gasol—moving up to the first team in just one year."

After the game, Fernandez looked at Sun Hao with eyes full of admiration.

For an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy just starting his journey in professional basketball, Sun Hao's performance tonight was enough to make him an idol.

"You have to work hard too. The future is yours here."

Sun Hao did what an idol should do, reaching out to pat Fernandez on the head as encouragement.

Thanks to Vulgar, Jiahe Xuyang, I Am Eighteen Every Year, Amumu, Jian Wang, Undying Eternal Immortal, and Ling Tian Feichen for their tips. Thank you for the support, big shots~ muah~

Daily request for recommendation tickets~ and chapter comments~