The game continued.
Van Horn kept firing away from the perimeter.
You'd think he was showing off his incredible shooting skills?
No.
The truth was, he just couldn't score down low.
And even from midrange, he couldn't see the basket on half his shots.
Halftime.
Li Fei had already gone 10-for-13, scoring a game-high 22 points, along with 12 rebounds and 7 blocks.
Keith Van Horn, meanwhile, had gone 1-for-10, managing just 4 points and 2 rebounds. His team was trailing by a whopping 20 points.
Back in the locker room, Van Horn sat on the bench.
He fell silent.
"Looks like I still have a long way to go..."
The enormous gap in their performances had left Van Horn thoroughly humbled.
"If an NCAA center can give me this much trouble, what kind of monsters are those NBA guys?"
He'd figured he could play college ball for a year or two and dominate the NCAA with his talent, then leave at the top of his game and take on the NBA as the first overall pick.
But his college debut had been a crushing setback.
At this rate, he'd probably need at least three or four years of college to hone his skills before he'd be ready to contend for the top pick.
Duncan: Take it easy, kid. I'm still here.
The second half began.
Li Fei's show continued.
Though the University of Utah sent two defenders to double-team him, slowing his scoring somewhat,
Li Fei was still a force to be reckoned with on defense.
With six minutes left in the second half,
Li Fei blocked Van Horn for the seventh time that game.
It was also the tenth block of the game for Li Fei.
After that block,
the University of Utah's head coach, seeing no hope of winning, called off the dogs.
Van Horn was taken out of the game.
Sitting on the bench, he no longer had the fire of a golden boy in his eyes.
"If I'm not mistaken, Keith's been completely shut down by Li Fei."
The commentators at the arena were merciless once again. "The truth is, Li Fei has absolutely demolished Keith Van Horn tonight!"
"Li Fei finished with a game-high 32 points, 22 rebounds, and 10 blocks!"
"He's broken the Pac-12 single-game blocks record and become the first freshman to record a triple-double with blocks in his regular-season debut!"
"He's also the only player in Pac-12 history to put up 30-plus points, 20-plus rebounds, and 10-plus blocks in a single game!"
After a pause, Kevin Harlan, the other commentator, summed it up perfectly:
"There's no next Larry Bird here. There's only the next Hakeem Olajuwon!"
Just as Kevin Harlan had said,
the supposed next Larry Bird had been exposed.
And the next Hakeem Olajuwon was stepping into the spotlight!
The game finally ended, with the score set at 88–50.
Besides Li Fei's MVP performance of 32 points, 22 rebounds, and 10 blocks,
Kidd also orchestrated the game with 18 points, 18 assists, and 8 rebounds.
Lamond Murray scored 21 points efficiently, shooting 50 percent from the field.
Berkeley's three stars had all come through.
After the game.
In the interview area near the front row,
"I should thank Li Fei."
Van Horn, whose performance had been a letdown, with just 5 points and 4 rebounds that night, took it in stride. "He helped me face reality."
"This isn't high school basketball. Here, everyone has to start over."
To be fair,
Van Horn was a pretty humble guy.
He'd actually been good enough to go pro for a while, but he'd spent four years in college to stay with his college girlfriend. That said a lot about his character.
"What do you think of Li Fei?"
Asked that, Van Horn smiled ruefully. "Man, he's nearly 2.25 meters tall. Until you've played against him, you have no idea how terrifying his defense is."
"And his offense—he completely dismantled our defensive scheme. At the moment, I can't think of any way to stop him one-on-one."
In Van Horn's eyes,
Li Fei was basically a boss character from another version of the game.
You couldn't score on him, and you couldn't defend him.
"I don't think Keith played that badly tonight."
Meanwhile,
University of Utah head coach Rick Majerus came to his player's defense. "You can't compare a 2.08-meter player to a 2.24-meter player. They don't even play the same position."
"Coach Majerus, then how will you deal with Li Fei in the rest of the season or the playoffs?"
"The only solution I can think of right now is to bring in a giant center."
Rick Majerus shrugged. "But unfortunately..."
"Looking across the entire NCAA, I don't think there's anyone like that."
That one game had been enough to completely convince Rick Majerus.
He was also genuinely envious of Todd Bozeman.
He had Jason Kidd and Li Fei.
One inside, one outside.
Together, they could make one plus one greater than two.
And they also had Lamond Murray, a dependable scorer.
This wasn't just a case of one plus one being greater than two.
It was one plus one plus one being greater than three.
Maybe even greater than four!
The University of California, Berkeley had already
been declared unbeatable in the Pac-12!
"Unfortunately, Carl and I couldn't bring Salt Lake City a win."
John Stockton was also interviewed by a reporter before leaving the stands.
"But at least this is only the first game of the new season. The start of a season always comes with plenty of problems. They'll get back to winning."
"As for Keith Van Horn, he's only a freshman. This was his first official game."
"It won't be long before he finds his groove again."
Stockton's answer was about as diplomatic as it got.
"Whether it's his first game or not has nothing to do with it, man."
But Carl Malone was a straight shooter.
He had no interest in standing around reciting official talking points.
"As far as I know, Li Fei's a freshman too. He's even played three fewer exhibition games than Keith Van Horn."
"So this is the difference in talent and ability. There's no arguing with that!"
"What? Can he play in the NBA someday? Buddy, with a physical frame like his, he could start in the NBA right now!"
"And I completely believe he'll make his name shine on the NBA stage one day!"
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