"Infinite Range"

# Chapter 28: "Infinite Range"

A misunderstanding incident gave Sun Hao some recognition domestically.

But things like that didn't have much impact on Sun Hao.

His situation at Real Madrid was far more difficult than at any point before.

In the youth team, his skills stood out. In the second and third tier leagues, given the chance, he could shine. But here.

Real Madrid was a top-tier team in the league, and the team kept winning. He could only scrape together a few minutes of playing time during garbage time.

In other words, he simply had no opportunity!

At sixteen years old, seniority ruled. Add in his playing style, and if things continued like this, he'd be the team's mascot for the season, glued to the bench.

After some time, Sun Hao was genuinely going crazy.

People said the end of the bench was free courtside seats, but that was a spectator's mindset. A player's feeling was completely different.

Stay in that spot too long, and you weren't far from leaving the team.

But going crazy didn't solve anything, so he just went straight into the system to train during games.

After all, Laso wouldn't call his name all night anyway.

"That kid's done for. Sitting on the bench has made him stupid."

"Look, he doesn't even get up to listen when the coach sets tactics. Probably getting cut soon."

"Didn't he make a three-step jump up? Did the coach misjudge him?"

He was already going crazy inside, and being able to hear the outside world from within the system only stirred Sun Hao up more.

He trained harder than ever before.

After some time, he still hadn't gotten much playing time, but he could feel his improvement in every area.

And he started expanding his scoring options.

Ultra-long three-pointers.

The European League didn't place much importance on three-pointers, let alone ultra-long ones.

If he could master ultra-long range too, his scoring chances would be even greater.

Since he'd chosen the path of a scoring point guard, what he had to do was take it to the extreme.

Starting from zero to train three-point shooting, reaching a high level took a long time.

But going from three-pointers to ultra-long three-pointers took much less time.

Because Sun Hao's strength was more than enough to support that distance.

In other words, he just needed to adapt to a new shooting range.

Half a year passed. Sun Hao's strength kept increasing, but he still didn't get many opportunities.

At this point, having hobbies really showed how important they were.

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

Doing things you love is the best way to maintain a positive mindset.

With that positive mindset, Sun Hao also welcomed Lady Luck's favor.

It was a clear, sunny morning. He was jogging to the gym for practice as usual.

But just after leaving, not far from his door, 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 about finding money.

After picking up the money, he... walked toward the convenience store nearby.

There was no name on the money, right? He couldn't contact the owner, right? Even if the owner showed up, he couldn't confirm it was theirs, right?

That being the case, he might as well donate it to the convenience store owner. That way, the owner could increase their household income, and he could buy a bottle of energy-packed drink.

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

Because he discovered they also sold sports lottery tickets, the kind you could bet on instantly.

There happened to be a game that wasn't over yet. He bought a ticket.

Then he waited over ten minutes. The game ended, and he... won.

1,000 Pesetas turned into 2,000 Pesetas.

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

"Officer, I found 1,000 Pesetas."

"I found a coin on the roadside~ I handed it to the police officer's hands~"

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

He discovered that in this world, there really was such a thing as having it all.

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

Prigioni was injured—he'd twisted his ankle during an early training session, and it was serious, expected to sideline him for about a month.

Hearing this news, Sun Hao was a bit stunned at first.

But looking at the drink still in his hand, he realized that today was his lucky day.

The La Liga season was long, and player injuries were a common occurrence, especially among guards.

Most point guards in Europe excelled at playmaking but were weak in physical confrontation—in other words, they were fragile.

Real Madrid's roster had only three point guards. Even though Laso wasn't fond of Sun Hao's playing style, with Prigioni injured, he had no choice but to put him in the rotation.

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

Although he hadn't changed his playing style, with a Silver Grade "Basketball IQ" badge, his playmaking was far from lacking.

Not to mention his style—when the offense broke down and teammates passed him a hot-potato shot, he had a high chance of sinking it.

That was crucial.

A hot-potato pass turned into an assist; even if the teammate was Kobe, he'd be willing to pass you the ball.

At first, Sun Hao was almost always receiving those hot-potato passes, but gradually, as his teammates saw he could score, they started actively passing him the ball.

And slowly, Sun Hao's shooting ability won Laso over, and Laso would occasionally design a pick-and-pop play for him.

After spending most of the season on the bench, 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'd put in for such an opportunity.

There were no free lunches in the world, but opportunities always favored those who were prepared.

A month later, Prigioni returned, and Sun Hao, with his steady play, edged out Lopez to become the team's backup point guard.

And shortly after that, in a game against Canarias, he delivered his season-defining performance.

Coming off the bench for 20 minutes, he shot 4-of-7 for 11 points and 2 assists.

Don't underestimate those 11 points—La Liga was extremely high-intensity, with 10-minute quarters and a 30-second shot clock aligned with FIBA rules, making the pace very slow.

In a full game, a team's total score might only be in the sixties or seventies.

Here, players averaging over 5 points per game were starters, over 10 points were core players, and over 15 points were superstars.

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

Even a powerhouse like Gasol averaged just 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds before his draft.

And Doncic himself only put up 14.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists—and that was after FIBA adjusted the secondary shot clock from 24 to 14 seconds.

But more important than the stats was that after this game, Sun Hao finally unlocked a new badge!

Range Extender (Bronze): Slightly increases the accuracy and stability of three-point shots from farther distances.

This badge was crucial for Sun Hao.

As his playing time increased and more opportunities came, opponents started guarding him right at the three-point line.

Under these circumstances, being able to extend his range would be a huge help on the court.

And after this performance, Laso's recognition of Sun Hao reached a new level; he began considering how to make Sun Hao a starter.

This was where the advantage of Laso being a middle-generation coach came in.

If it were an older coach, forget about elevating the team's standing—even giving playing time would be a question.

After two more standout performances in a row, Laso finally made up his mind to push Sun Hao into the starting point guard role.

To be precise, it was a dual-point-guard lineup with Prigioni.

Two reasons drove Laso's decision: one was the team's starting shooting guard, Trinidad, whose offensive ability was too weak; the other was Sun Hao's defense.

Generally, shorter players had poor defense and were constantly targeted on the court.

But Sun Hao was an exception—his physicality was unprecedentedly tough, and most European guards couldn't bully him.

More importantly, Sun Hao's basketball IQ was high; he rarely bit on fakes, which meant that despite his height, he wasn't a defensive liability.

And if he grew a bit more, his defense would be above average.

In other words, Laso was using Sun Hao as a 3D player and a secondary playmaker.

On offense, he mostly handled shooting guard duties—hitting threes and occasionally facilitating.

On defense, he guarded the opposing point guard, avoiding too much disadvantage from height mismatches.

Meanwhile, Prigioni, at 1.9 meters, could defend the opposing shooting guard.

Thanks to Laso's decision, Sun Hao was set to start his first game in La Liga.

And the opponent was none other than Barcelona, the same team from the season opener.

Thanks to Ling Tian Feichen, sure enough, it was Ren, the most handsome Qing Ge, and Xiang Lai Yuan Qian Nai He Qing Shen for their rewards—thank you so much for the support, big shots~ mwah mwah~ love you all~

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