Invitational Tournament

After redeeming the Open Three-Pointer skill, Tang Tian went to the training gym that night.

The previous Individual Defense was a defensive skill. For those, once the ability was improved, there wasn't much to adapt to; it was more related to his physical fitness.

But this Open Three-Pointer package was a bit different.

Shooting is something that requires time to adapt and adjust to.

The gym lights were on, but no one was there. After entering, he found two baskets of balls, placed them outside the three-point line, and then started taking spot-up shots.

It's not that this body couldn't shoot at all, but its skill level was low. With an open-shot accuracy of around 40%, it was completely amateur level.

In fact, shooting itself requires a lot of training to see results. However, this body was a late bloomer, hence the low skill level.

It was possible to improve through self-training, but it would take years of hard work. Moreover, for an ordinary person, even if they trained, they wouldn't reach Novak's level.

He took the ball, aimed at the hoop, and shot.

It was the same training as usual, but he could feel that his control over the ball and the follow-through after the shot were much smoother than before.

"Bang!"

The first shot was a little off.

He picked up the second ball.

He shot the second ball with the same motion, but at the moment of release, it felt like the hoop was as vast as the ocean.

"Swish!"

The ball went in cleanly, smooth as silk.

The seamless feeling was as if Novak's practice results had been directly attached to him.

After playing so many NCAA games without scoring, this shot felt so comfortable. It was like not having sex for a long time and suddenly seeing a naked woman in front of you, giving you an instant climax.

Awesome!

Tang Tian continued to shoot, and the balls kept going in.

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

The sound of the ball entering the net echoed through the gym.

There were 40 balls in total across the two baskets. Except for the first one he missed, he made all the remaining 39!

This was exactly as the system described, a 97% shooting accuracy, with no exaggeration.

After shooting all 40, his arms were a bit sore, so he rested for a while before continuing.

He wanted to enjoy himself tonight first.

In the gym's head coach's office, Cahoon was looking at an invitation letter, hesitating.

The NCAA has a regular season and a postseason (the postseason is also called the tournament). When people talk about the NCAA, they usually refer to Division I, which has 32 conferences.

During the regular season, teams within each conference play each other once at home and once away. The top eight teams in each conference are determined, and then they compete in a single-elimination tournament to decide the conference champion. This process determines the 32 teams that advance to the top 64.

After that, the NCAA officially authorizes a selection committee to choose the remaining 36 at-large teams, making a total of 68 teams that advance to the tournament, commonly known by fans as "March Madness."

"March Madness" also uses a single-elimination format. First, there are games for the at-large teams, reducing the field from 68 to 64. Then, 16 teams in each division compete to determine their respective top four, which combine to form the Sweet Sixteen, followed by the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and finally the championship game to determine the ultimate champion.

The entire season is incredibly long, and because the tournament games are single-elimination, upsets are frequent and the competition is thrilling.

During the regular season, home and away games between teams are mandatory. UConn has been playing these types of games since the start of the season.

However, in addition to these games, some teams also choose to play against schools from outside their conference to improve their team's strength and build publicity.

Cahoon was currently holding an invitation letter from Washington State University, inviting UConn to play an invitational game at their school.

The outcome of invitational games is counted towards the regular season record, and since it's an away game, the invited team usually proceeds with extreme caution.

Cahoon considered it for a long time before making a final decision. He eventually put the invitation letter back into his drawer, turned off the lights, and left the office.

Because he was still in the office, the gym staff hadn't turned off the lights. He walked out, turning off the lights along the corridor.

However, as he passed the training gym, he couldn't help but stop, as he heard the sound of basketballs hitting the floor from inside.

It was clear someone was training inside.

A flicker of confusion crossed his face.

There was a scheduled training session today, and it was so late. Who could be practicing extra at this hour?

He walked to the door, which was slightly ajar. He pushed it open gently and saw the scene inside.

Tang Tian was practicing three-pointers.

And he was shooting very accurately.

An expression of immense surprise appeared in his eyes.

He knew exactly what Tang Tian's shooting level was. It was so bad that opponents had started leaving him open in the last two games. But this... was he seeing things?

He took off his glasses and wiped them, then looked again. It was still the same.

Tang Tian's shot was incredibly smooth, and he almost never missed.

This was unbelievable.

After watching for a while, Tang Tian, drenched in sweat from shooting, turned and saw him standing at the doorway.

"Coach?"

With a surprised cry, he walked straight in.

Tang Tian really hadn't expected Cahoon to still be in the gym. He was almost startled when he saw the 70-year-old face peeking through the slightly ajar door.

But the old man walked in.

"You've been practicing for a while, haven't you?" Cahoon said, looking at his clothes.

"Mm," Tang Tian nodded.

"I just saw your three-pointers were quite accurate. Why didn't I see you take any shots during the game?" Cahoon asked.

The question caught him a bit off guard, but Tang Tian had been through worse. After a moment's pause, he quickly came up with an answer.

"My stamina is still a bit lacking. After putting too much effort into defense, I couldn't find my rhythm when shooting. Plus, my hands felt exceptionally good today."

It was a simple explanation, and Cahoon nodded after hearing it.

There was nothing wrong with what he said. With so many people watching at an NCAA game, you wouldn't dare take a shot without confidence. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a distinction between stars and regular players.

"I see your stamina has improved quite a bit too. If you have an opportunity in a game, you should dare to take those shots," Cahoon encouraged him.

"Mm, I will," Tang Tian smiled and nodded. Now that he had a new skill, he had to shoot whenever he was open!

Cahoon was about to leave when he suddenly remembered the invitational tournament. He also recalled the basketball IQ Tang Tian had displayed during the game, and couldn't help but speak up.

"Washington State University sent us an invitation to the tournament. Do you think we should play or not?"

Tang Tian seemed a little surprised. Usually, the coach made these decisions himself. But since Cahoon asked, he didn't mind giving his opinion.

"Washington State University, how good are they?" he asked.

"Besides Klay Thompson, the others aren't very strong," Cahoon said, seemingly not taking the opponent seriously.

Phew! Finally signed!