Infinite Range

A Misunderstanding Incident gave Sun Hao some recognition back home.

But it did not have much impact on Sun Hao.

His situation on the Real Madrid Team was far more difficult than it had ever been before.

In the Youth Team, his strength stood out. In the second- and third-tier leagues, he could shine as long as he was given an opportunity. But here...

The Real Madrid Team was among the best in the league and had been winning consistently. He could only scrape together a few minutes of playing time during Garbage Time.

In other words, he had no opportunities at all!

At sixteen, he had to wait his turn. Combined with his style of play, if things continued normally, he would spend the season as the team mascot, warming the bench until it wore through.

After a while, Sun Hao was truly starting to lose his mind.

People said sitting at the end of the bench was like watching games for free, but that was the mentality of a spectator. For a player, it felt completely different.

Sit in this spot for too long, and the day you left the team would not be far away.

But losing his mind would not solve anything, so during games, he simply entered the system to train.

After all, Laso would not call his name all night.

"This kid's finished. He's gone stupid from sitting on the bench."

"Look, he doesn't even get up to listen when the coach explains tactics. He'll probably be cut before long."

"Didn't he get promoted through three straight jumps? Did the coach misjudge him?"

He had already been frustrated, and being able to hear the outside world from within the system only provoked Sun Hao further.

He trained harder than he ever had before.

After some time, he still did not get many chances to play, but he could feel himself improving in every aspect.

And he began adding more ways to score.

Ultra-long Three-pointers.

The European League did not place much emphasis on Three-pointers at the moment, let alone ultra-long ones.

If he could develop that range too, he would have more scoring opportunities.

Since he had chosen the path of a scoring Point Guard, he had to take it to the extreme.

Starting from scratch and training a three-pointer to a high level required a long time.

But going from Three-pointers to ultra-long Three-pointers would take much less time.

Because Sun Hao had more than enough strength to support that kind of shooting.

In other words, he only needed to adjust to the new range.

More than half a year passed. Sun Hao's strength continued to grow, but he still did not receive many opportunities.

This was when having hobbies became especially important.

Besides training, he also took time to travel around Spain with Fernandez.

Doing what one liked was the best way to maintain a positive mindset.

With that positive mindset, Sun Hao also received the favor of Lady Luck.

It was a bright, sunny morning. As usual, he jogged to the gym for training.

Not long after leaving home, he found 1,000 Pesetas on the ground.

Sun Hao had always been a passionate young man full of positive energy, and he always remembered that children's song, "A Penny."

After finding the money, he... headed toward a nearby convenience store.

There was no name written on the money, so he could not contact the owner, right? Even if someone came looking for it, he had no way to verify that they had dropped it, right?

Since that was the case, he might as well donate it to the convenience store owner. That way, the owner could increase the family income, and he could drink a bottle of energy-packed beverage.

That was what Sun Hao thought, but he changed his mind when he reached the convenience store.

Because he discovered that they sold sports lottery tickets, the kind that could be wagered on instantly.

A game happened to still be in progress, so he placed a bet.

Then, after waiting more than ten minutes, the game ended, and he... won.

The 1,000 Pesetas immediately became 2,000 Pesetas.

Sun Hao bought the drink he wanted, then turned and walked toward a nearby police booth.

"Officer, I found 1,000 Pesetas."

"I found a penny by the roadside~ And handed it to the police officer~"

Sun Hao hummed as he walked forward, in an exceptionally good mood.

He realized that there really were times in this world when he could have it all.

Then, when he arrived at the team facility, Laso came in before training and announced some news.

Prigioni was injured. He had sprained his ankle while arriving early for training, and it was fairly serious. He was expected to miss around a month.

When Sun Hao first heard the news, he was a little stunned.

But when he looked at the unfinished drink in his hand, he finally realized that today was his lucky day.

The La Liga season was long, and injuries were common among players, especially guards.

Most European Point Guards were excellent organizers but weak physically. Put another way, they were rather fragile.

The Real Madrid Team only had three Point Guards on the roster. Even if Laso did not particularly like Sun Hao's style, with Prigioni injured, he could only put Sun Hao into the rotation.

Sun Hao's performance after entering the rotation was also quite outstanding.

Although he had not changed his style, he possessed the Silver Grade "Basketball IQ" Badge, so his playmaking was not weak at all.

Not to mention his style of play. Whenever the offense broke down and his teammates passed him a bailout ball, he was highly likely to make the shot.

That was crucial.

When a bailout pass became an assist, even if the teammate was Kobe, he would be willing to pass the ball to you.

At first, nearly every pass Sun Hao received was a bailout pass. But gradually, once his teammates realized he could shoot, they began proactively giving him the ball.

Then, little by little, Laso accepted Sun Hao's shooting ability and occasionally designed one or two pick-and-roll shooting plays for him.

After sitting on the bench for most of the season, Sun Hao's performance after entering the rotation could only be described as smooth sailing.

Of course, only Sun Hao himself knew how much effort and preparation he had put in for such an opportunity.

There was no such thing as pie falling from the sky, but opportunities always belonged to those who were prepared.

A month later, Prigioni returned from injury. Thanks to his steady performances, Sun Hao displaced Lopez and became the team's backup Point Guard.

Not long after that, he produced his signature performance of the season against Canarias.

He came off the bench for twenty minutes, making four of seven shots for eleven points and two assists.

Do not underestimate those eleven points. La Liga was extremely intense, quarters were only ten minutes long, and the shot clock at the time still matched FIBA's thirty-second rule, making the pace very slow.

By the end of a game, an entire team might score only sixty or seventy points.

Here, any player averaging over five points was a key rotation player. Averaging over ten made one a core player, and averaging fifteen made one a superstar.

That was also why many European players had unimpressive league statistics when entering the NBA draft.

Even someone as strong as Gasol averaged only 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds before declaring.

Even Doncic only posted 14.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists, and those numbers came after the European League changed the second-chance possession clock from twenty-four seconds to fourteen.

And more importantly than the numbers, after this game, Sun Hao finally unlocked a new Badge!

Infinite Range (Bronze): Slightly increases the accuracy and consistency of Three-pointers taken from farther distances.

This Badge was crucial to Sun Hao.

As his playing time and opportunities increased, opponents were beginning to guard him right at the Three-point line.

If he could extend his range under those circumstances, it would be tremendously helpful to him on the court.

And after putting up such a performance, Laso's recognition of Sun Hao rose another level. He began considering how to make Sun Hao a starter.

This was where the advantages of Laso being a coach from the middle generation had to be mentioned.

If it had been an older coach, let alone elevating his role on the team, whether Sun Hao would get playing time at all would have been questionable.

After delivering two more outstanding performances in a row, Laso finally made up his mind to promote Sun Hao to the Starting Point Guard position.

More accurately, he would form a two-Point Guard lineup with Prigioni.

There were two reasons Laso decided to do this. One was that the team's starting Shooting Guard, Trinidad, was too weak offensively. The other was Sun Hao's defense.

Generally speaking, short players were poor defenders and were constantly targeted on the court.

But Sun Hao was an exception. His physicality was extraordinarily tough, and European guards generally could not overpower him.

More importantly, Sun Hao's Basketball IQ was also high. He was rarely fooled by fakes, so even though he was short, he was not a defensive liability.

If he grew a little taller, his defense would even be above average.

In other words, Laso intended to use Sun Hao as a 3D Player and a secondary playmaker.

On offense, he would mostly do the work of a Shooting Guard: shoot Three-pointers and occasionally facilitate.

On defense, he would guard the opposing Point Guard, so he would not be at too much of a disadvantage because of the height difference.

And with Prigioni standing 1.9 meters tall, he could also defend opposing Shooting Guards.

Because of Laso's decision, Sun Hao was about to make the first start of his La Liga career.

And the opponent was the Barcelona Team, whom they had faced in the season Opening Game.

Thanks to Ling Tian Feichen, Guoran Shi Ren, Zui Shuai De Qingge, and Xianglai Yuanqian Naihe Qingshen for the rewards. Thank you, bosses, for your support~ Muah~ Love you all~

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