The Next Gasol?

# Chapter 24: The Next Gasol?

One step away.

But when he actually arrived at Oro Real Madrid, Sun Hao realized this was the hardest step of all.

Here there weren't only talented players who, like him, had completed the double jump, but also many adult players who had been eliminated from La Liga.

Some of these players had talent, others had strength.

Although Sun Hao's ability ranked relatively high among them, he was no longer as outstanding as before.

The competition here looked much smaller than in the youth team, but it was truly a case of thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge.

Or to put it more vividly, going from Oro Real Madrid to La Liga Real Madrid was as difficult as going from the NBDL development league to the NBA.

This was also the first real challenge Sun Hao faced after arriving in Spain.

But Sun Hao's conviction was firm.

It was like walking the Huashan Plank Walk—having already covered two-thirds of the path, there was absolutely no reason to turn back.

And deep in his bones, he wasn't the type to admit defeat.

Oro games were fiercely competitive. His physicality no longer gave him the advantage it had in previous leagues, so he trained that aspect in the system.

European basketball emphasized pick and rolls. Since he couldn't train that in the system for the time being, he built good relationships with his teammates and took the initiative to practice after games.

Whatever he lacked, he trained. He continuously improved himself.

Even when Fernandez came to invite him out, he suppressed his restless heart and politely declined, devoting almost all his time to training.

His goal was to enter La Liga within one year. Now there was still over half a year left. Counting the system, that gave him one year. He had to give it his all.

And the matter with Jocelyn, while it saddened Sun Hao, also spurred him on.

Throwing himself into training was the most effective way to forget that experience.

The Sun Hao who had been treated like a madman a few years ago had once again appeared at Real Madrid.

The high-intensity training finally paid off.

Sun Hao's ability was already near the top, and combined with his hardworking image, he quickly earned the head coach's appreciation. The coach made an exception and put the 15-year-old Sun Hao into the rotation.

Because he was fully prepared, Sun Hao performed well in his first appearance in the Oro League.

Whether it was setting a pick and roll screen for his teammates, making the right choice after a teammate set one for him, or even how to evade the opponent's screens, Sun Hao did everything right.

He made no mistakes on the court and even seized an opportunity to score 5 points.

Sun Hao only played 8 minutes off the bench in his first game, but his performance was quite outstanding.

For a player who was only 15 years old, competing against players who were 20 or even 30, this was already a very impressive showing.

And this was just the beginning.

Sun Hao's steady playing style, completely at odds with his age, continued to reveal itself in subsequent games, and the head coach's trust in him grew more and more.

What followed was steadily increasing playing time and consistently excellent performances.

If there was one biggest difference between the Oro League and the two leagues Sun Hao had been in before, it was the much stricter demands on tactical execution and the use of pick and rolls.

The game here emphasized teamwork more, so individual stats weren't as prominent. It emphasized pick and rolls more, so naturally it valued understanding of the pick and roll more.

In the following half year or so, this was exactly what Sun Hao focused on.

Using the pick and roll to frequently shoot from the outside and score, setting screens for teammates, receiving passes from teammates and scoring.

Although he was a point guard, his playing style was different from other European point guards. He leaned toward scoring, and the key was that he could score.

In the next half year or so, Sun Hao spent his first birthday in Spain and fully adapted to the physicality and game intensity of the Oro League.

More importantly, as the games continued, he unlocked a series of badges one after another.

Pick and Roll Master (Bronze): Slightly improves the player's ability to complete drives, layups, or shots after using a pick and roll.

Pick and Roll Evasion (Bronze): Slightly improves the player's ability to navigate through and get around opponent screens on defense.

Iron Wall (Bronze): Slightly increases the difficulty for an offensive player to get through or around a screen, and consumes the opponent's stamina.

Three badges, all related to pick and rolls.

European basketball placed immense importance on pick and rolls, so unlocking these badges was only natural.

And besides these three new badges, what delighted him even more over these six months was the Basketball IQ Badge.

Although Oro was a second-tier league, its tactical complexity was greater than the NCAA and the two leagues he had been in before. This was also one of the characteristics of European basketball.

Besides training, he spent his free time studying these tactics.

The result was that his understanding of techniques and tactics continuously improved.

Finally, before the season ended, he successfully upgraded his Basketball IQ Badge from Bronze to Silver!

He had his first Silver Badge!

Basketball IQ (Silver): Effectively improves the player's understanding and application of basketball techniques and tactics.

Although it was just a difference of two words, after upgrading the badge, Sun Hao could clearly feel that his understanding of techniques and tactics had reached a new level.

That feeling was like advancing from the first glimpse of the door to complete mastery in a fantasy novel!

The Silver Badge's effect was also immediate. In the Oro League Semifinals against Joventut, he recorded his first triple-double of the season.

13 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists! Plus 3 steals and 1 block!

That game became the turning point of the series. Real Madrid won that match, advanced to the finals, and ultimately claimed the championship.

Sun Hao, with his outstanding performance in that game, was named the Oro League Final Four MVP!

In one year, relying on some luck but even more on his own hard work, Sun Hao won his first MVP trophy in Spain.

Even though it was only a second-tier league with limited prestige, it was already dazzling enough.

Remember, no Chinese player had ever made it in the European League before, not even in the lower leagues. But Sun Hao broke that precedent.

Of course, back home, no one except his parents knew about this result.

A Most Valuable Player award from a Spanish second division wasn't worth the media's time to report.

What domestic fans were focused on now was who would become the first Chinese player to debut in the NBA.

Before this, the only Chinese person to appear in the NBA was Song Tao, selected by the Hawks with the 67th pick in the 3rd round of the 1987 draft, who ultimately missed the NBA due to injury.

And back then, NBA attention in China was very low.

But after the famous "40-Minute Wait to Open CCTV's Door" incident in 1989 involving new NBA Commissioner Stern, the NBA gained an audience in China, and fans' expectations naturally grew.

The one they were most anticipating now was the "Chasing Wind Youth" from the Bayi Team, Wang Zhizhi, who had blocked "The Admiral" David Robinson at the Atlanta Games a year earlier.

According to previously released information, Wang Zhizhi would likely be drafted by the NBA due to his age (22-Year-Old Automatic Entry).

In other words, that would probably happen about a year from now.

So compared to Sun Hao winning an MVP in the Spanish Second Division, that was what fans cared about more.

But Sun Hao didn't mind. Or rather, his ambitions went far beyond that.

The 1997~1998 La Liga season came to an end. After a brief Offseason, they would soon face the curtain of the New Season.

Sun Hao would most likely continue playing in the Oro League.

However, just before the season began, an assistant coach from Real Madrid's La Liga team came to the Locker Room.

Because the team's original Starting Point Guard, the Brazilian Fernando, chose to return to the Domestic League for the new season, the team ultimately failed to find a suitable replacement.

With no other option, they had to accept the loss of strength at that position and began turning their attention to newcomers.

And at this point, Sun Hao, who had been delivering one highlight performance after another over the past year, naturally came into their sights.

Opportunities always favor those who are prepared.

And so, with 95.5% effort and 4.5% luck, Sun Hao replicated Pau Gasol's feat from a year ago, completing a Three-Step Jump in one year and successfully entering Real Madrid in La Liga!

Thanks to God and the Devil, Broken Bridge Remnant Snow, Yousheng Book Friend Z, and Book Friend 20190530200536796 for their tips. Thank you for the support, big shots, muah~

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