There were still nearly two months before the new EBA League season began, and those two months were crucial for Sun Hao.
On one hand, he needed to use that time to fully build chemistry with his teammates.
On the other hand, he needed sustained performances to establish his standing on the team.
Although Raul had made an exception and announced early that he would start, whether he could win everyone over still depended on his performance on the court.
The Real Madrid Youth Team spent those two months doing those same two things: chemistry-building practices and a series of warm-up games.
Sun Hao did not disappoint either. After two months, he had become the team's unquestioned core.
The smile on Raul's face never faded.
Sun Hao could send his coaching career soaring!
Sun Hao was thriving on the court, and life off the court was equally enjoyable.
With Fernandez as a free tour guide, he visited all of Madrid's attractions.
As Spain's capital, Madrid had a developed economy and countless tourist destinations.
The Royal Palace of Madrid, Europe's third-largest royal palace after the Palace of Versailles and Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna;
The world-famous Plaza de España Cervantes Monument;
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid Football Club...
And the Roman-style Las Ventas Bullring, only two or three kilometers from their Basketball Gym.
For someone like Sun Hao, who loved traveling, this place was practically paradise.
The two months passed quickly. The Youth Team's preparations came to an end, and the doors to the new EBA season officially opened.
The Real Madrid Youth Team's first game was at home against the Barcelona Youth Team.
This was undoubtedly the most anticipated and talked-about matchup in the EBA League.
Real Madrid and Barcelona, because of the historical conflict between Madrid and Catalonia—Catalonia had been bloodily conquered by Madrid several times throughout history and had long sought independence—were always the center of attention whenever they met, regardless of the sport or league level.
At the highest level, their matchups were known as El Clásico.
Raul attached particular importance to this game, making the pregame training and tactical preparations as detailed as possible.
And this time, he was very confident.
Last year, Barcelona had that super rookie Pau Gasol, and Real Madrid had been beaten badly.
But after last season ended, Gasol made a Three-Step Jump to La Liga, and the Barcelona Youth Team's strength plummeted.
On top of that, Raul had unexpectedly gained Sun Hao. With one side rising as the other fell, he was brimming with confidence.
"Barcelona's current core is Marcelo Huertas, a Point Guard from Brazil. He's 1.80 meters tall. Be careful of his drives."
After laying out the tactics, Raul pulled Sun Hao aside for a private reminder.
At the mention of Huertas's name, Sun Hao recalled a few things about him.
In history, Huertas did not make it to the NBA until he was thirty-two, making him a classic late bloomer.
Even at his peak, he had remained a reserve for Barcelona's senior team. His strength probably was not that impressive, let alone during his Youth Team days.
Still, since Raul had warned him, Sun Hao gave it his full 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 Spain's number one sport, but there were plenty of local basketball fans too. Many had brought their families, and the atmosphere was electric.
The two teams went up for the opening tip, and Barcelona gained the first possession.
Right away, Huertas ran a pick-and-roll with the team's center, then drove into the paint and scored on a layup using a change of pace.
Raul's reminder had been correct. At the very least, Huertas had solid basketball IQ.
On the other end, Real Madrid ran its half-court set. Sun Hao dribbled the ball, noticed Huertas was playing far off him, and fired directly from beyond the three-point line.
Just like Velazquez's earlier reaction, Sun Hao's style was far too ahead of its time. Huertas had never expected him to shoot like that and froze in place.
Swish!
With a crisp sound, Sun Hao's shot dropped as soon as it left his hand!
He scored Real Madrid's first points!
The arena suddenly fell silent, followed immediately by an explosive roar of cheers.
They had never seen anyone play like this before, but opening the game by drilling a three-pointer felt incredible!
Barcelona's next interior attack was disrupted. Without Gasol, the decline in their interior strength was obvious to the naked eye.
After securing the rebound, Real Madrid immediately launched a Fast Break. Sun Hao was quick. He took the ball and charged into the frontcourt, driving straight into Huertas for a powerful finish.
He had deliberately sought out the contact to test Huertas's physical strength.
The moment they collided, Huertas was clearly overpowered. He was knocked directly beyond the baseline, and even reaching out to grab Sun Hao did not stop him.
The baseline referee blew the whistle, signaling a defensive foul on Huertas.
Despite being fouled, Sun Hao still made the shot.
2+1!
The results of his four years of professional training in the system were simply too overpowered at the Youth Team level!
The instant the ball went in, the crowd erupted again.
Youth Team rosters changed drastically every year, and Sun Hao was an Asian face on top of that. The fans had not paid attention to him at all.
But once the game began, this Asian face gave them one surprise after another!
Sun Hao made the free throw as well. He had scored six straight points by himself to open the game!
Unbelievable!
The intensity of Youth Team games was not as high as that of senior teams, but they truly had not seen such a dominant opening in a long time.
Huertas tried to repeat the same move on the next possession to help his team score, but Sun Hao was clearly prepared this time and pressed up before the screen could even come.
The sudden pressure caught Huertas off guard. After the physical contact, he lost control of the ball outright.
Slap!
Sun Hao ripped the ball straight from Huertas!
Basketball in the nineties, especially European basketball, encouraged physical play, and referees allowed a lot of contact. They paid no attention to a collision like that.
Sun Hao took off on another Fast Break. This time it was one-on-zero in the frontcourt, and he easily laid it in for two more.
He had scored eight straight points to start the game!
Barcelona's head coach immediately called a timeout!
This Asian player who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere had dominated the game from the opening minutes.
Raul's smile was more radiant than a chrysanthemum. This was exactly the feeling he wanted!
During the timeout, the fans in the stands had already begun whispering to each other, discussing who this suddenly emerged Asian player was.
"His name is Sun Hao. My son is friends with him."
In a corner of the stands, Fernandez's parents began spreading information about Sun Hao.
Very soon, quite a few people in the Basketball Gym knew that the Asian player on the court was named Sun Hao.
After the timeout, Barcelona scored a basket. On the next possession, they immediately sent a double-team at Sun Hao.
But with the Basketball IQ Badge in hand, Sun Hao read the defense perfectly. He passed during his drive to an open teammate under the basket, who finished with an easy layup.
Then on the very next possession, Sun Hao used a teammate's body as a screen, jumped out to steal the ball from Huertas again, forcing him to foul on the spot!
There was truly no stopping him now!
Barcelona's head coach could not help clutching his head at the sight.
He knew Huertas's ability. Huertas had excellent basketball IQ and played with a maturity uncommon among ordinary young players.
But against Sun Hao, Huertas looked like he did not even know how to play basketball!
And this was such a crucial game.
Still, Huertas could not be blamed entirely.
He relied on basketball IQ, but so did Sun Hao, and with the Badge's boost, Sun Hao was clearly a level above him.
In other words, Sun Hao could do everything Huertas excelled at even better than he could.
And Sun Hao was even better at the things Huertas was not good at!
Huertas had been completely suppressed.
Over the next few possessions, Huertas did not dare attack with the ball because of Sun Hao, and Barcelona shifted its offensive focus from the perimeter to the paint.
But European basketball followed FIBA rules, where there was no Defensive Three-Second Violation. Without Gasol, Barcelona could not open up the interior, leaving them passive throughout.
Meanwhile, Sun Hao hit two more Three-pointers from the outside, pulling Barcelona's defense completely outward.
It was the complete opposite of last year, when Real Madrid had been dominated from start to finish. This year, Real Madrid was the one crushing Barcelona.
By the end of the first quarter, Sun Hao had scored fourteen points and added three assists.
Led by him, Real Madrid posted a 22-8 quarter and sent the home fans into a frenzy.
During the latter half of that quarter, whenever Sun Hao got the ball, they began chanting his name together.
In other words, Sun Hao had won the hearts of Real Madrid's fans in just one quarter!
During the bench stretch between the first and second quarters, Sun Hao sat down to rest.
Barcelona fought hard to cut into the deficit during that span, trimming it to eight points before the starters returned and keeping the game from becoming lopsided too early.
Only then did Barcelona's head coach's taut nerves relax slightly.
If the game had been decided in one quarter, he would probably have had no choice but to resign in shame when he got back.
But just as he relaxed a little, a short whistle sounded from the sideline, and he saw Sun Hao checking back in.
His eyelid twitched involuntarily.
He called Huertas over and repeatedly warned him before sending him back onto the court, terrified that he would get stripped again.
For the final five minutes of the second quarter, both teams' starters returned.
Huertas held the ball beyond the three-point line and directed his teammates' movement. He no longer even had the desire to look at the basket.
Barcelona ran an action on the weak side, and Huertas spotted an opportunity to pass.
But at that moment, he felt pressure closing in from in front of him.
When he turned his head, he saw Sun Hao lunging at him again!
A goshawk pouncing on a rabbit—so overwhelming it drove people to despair!
Huertas tried to evade him, but Sun Hao had timed the moment Huertas turned his head. His hands had already clamped onto the ball like pincers.
Two people, four hands, fighting in the most direct contest of strength over one ball.
And just like every previous possession, Huertas was completely overpowered.
He felt his body lose control, and then the ball was forcibly ripped from his hands by Sun Hao!
A genuine strip!
Barcelona's head coach stared wide-eyed.
This was... a foul! A foul!
He waved his sleeves and shouted.
But the referee did not blow the whistle. No hands had even been touched, so what foul could there possibly be?
Barcelona's other guard reacted quickly. He immediately stuck to Sun Hao after the steal, preventing Sun Hao from getting another one-on-zero opportunity.
Sun Hao pushed the Fast Break into the frontcourt against the defense and still forced up a tough shot through contact.
The opposing guard was afraid of fouling and did not dare reach in. Sun Hao easily muscled past him and laid the ball in.
Basketball really was a sport that favored physicality. With his current body, Sun Hao felt like the EBA League's James.
The two points came effortlessly.
"Congratulations, Host. You have successfully unlocked the 'Fast Break Finisher' Badge."
At that moment, the system's notification sounded in Sun Hao's mind again.
Fast Break Finisher (Bronze): Slightly increases speed and finishing success rate during Fast Breaks.
After repeatedly scoring on Fast Breaks and completely overwhelming Huertas, Sun Hao unlocked another Badge!
It was somewhat similar to when he had unlocked Basketball IQ before.
Over the past two years, Sun Hao had played games back home where his physicality far exceeded that of his opponents. Stealing the ball and taking it coast to coast on a Fast Break had become his signature scoring method.
It had reached the critical point of a breakthrough, and Huertas had helped him achieve it.
Even without the Badge, Sun Hao had already stripped Huertas so badly that he was beginning to question his life. With the Badge, Huertas was beaten into complete silence.
All night, he felt as if he had been tied to a pillar and relentlessly whipped with a leather lash. Other than crying out in pain, there was nothing he could do.
Barcelona remained in a one-sided beating all night as well.
In the end, Real Madrid massacred Barcelona 78-46 in the Opening Game, delivering a powerful opening victory to the new season.
Sun Hao played only three quarters, going 11-for-12 from the field, 4-for-5 from three, and 4-for-4 from the foul line. He scored a magnificent 30 points, 5 rebounds, 6 steals, and 3 assists at nearly 100 percent shooting, delivering an absolutely explosive debut.
Although Youth Team statistics were not particularly meaningful, Sun Hao's performance was enough for Madrid's fans to remember him.
He was only fifteen years old!
To put up a performance like that meant his future was boundless.
"I have a feeling that if you keep playing like this, you really will make the senior team in just one year, just like Pau Gasol."
After the game, Fernandez looked at Sun Hao with eyes full of admiration.
For a little boy who had only begun professional basketball at eleven or twelve, Sun Hao's performance that night was enough to make him an idol.
"You need to work hard too. The future is yours here."
Sun Hao did what an idol should do as well, reaching out to pat Fernandez on the head in encouragement.
Thanks to Suqi, Jiahe Xuyang, I Am Eighteen Every Year, Amumu, Jian Wang, Undying and Eternal, and Ling Tian Feichen for the rewards. Thank you, bosses, for your support~ Muah~
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