Driving back to the South Campus from the North Campus, Lin Feng ran into Wang Zikai and two of his roommates, who had changed into their basketball gear and were about to head to the basketball court.
"Damn, Lin Feng, you actually bought a car? You’re loaded!"
Upon seeing Lin Feng’s Passat, the three of them didn’t bother asking, just piled in and had Lin Feng drive. Wang Zikai said, "The four of us from the dorm should get together tonight. Military training is over, so it’s time for us to hang out."
Yang Ming chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, since everyone’s here, no time like the present. How about this, Lin Feng, you drop us off at the basketball court first. It’s still early, so we’ll play a bit of basketball, and then we can all go for dinner together."
"Damn, you guys are going to play basketball and leave me out? That’s not cool, is it?" Lin Feng complained.
Zhong Jialiang eyed Lin Feng’s physique and asked, "Do you play basketball?"
Lin Feng answered, "A little bit."
"Do you have a basketball uniform? If you want, we can wait for you to change into it, and then the four of us can form a team," Wang Zikai said.
Lin Feng shook his head. "I don’t have a basketball uniform. Let’s just go as I am; we’re only playing for fun, anyway."
Wang Zikai looked at Lin Feng’s outfit—tight skinny jeans, flat shoes, and a white short-sleeved t-shirt. He frowned and said, "At the very least, you should wear sweatpants for basketball. You won’t be able to move freely on the court in those skinny jeans. Plus, if you stretch too much, you might split your pants. There are going to be girls watching us play; you can’t go around exposing yourself. We might all end up getting beaten up."
Lin Feng was speechless. "Damn, so much fuss over a game of basketball."
Yang Ming also chimed in, "Let’s just go like this. Lin Feng isn’t really good at playing anyway, but he’s tall enough. He can just station himself under the basket and grab some rebounds or something; that should be enough."
Then it was Wang Zikai’s turn to be speechless. "So, our team would practically be one person short, wouldn’t it? Alright, forget I said anything. Let’s just play casually. We usually get crushed by the tall guys anyway... hopefully, we won’t end up crying this time."
Lin Feng parked the car by the side of the road near the sports complex. The South Campus of Jiangzhou University had two sports complexes; they went to the Fourth Sports Field.
Besides an artificial turf football field and a circular track, the Fourth Sports Field also had over twenty basketball courts. The courts had a plastic surface, ideal for basketball. So, every afternoon, it was always crowded with basketball players, who usually formed three or four teams and took turns playing half-court games.
Among Lin Feng’s group of four, Wang Zikai was only about 1.7 meters tall, while Zhong Jialiang and Yang Ming were both around 1.75 meters. Their heights were fairly even, but their rebounding ability was relatively weak. So, although they tried hard when they played basketball in teams, they were usually the ones getting crushed.
"Zikai, you guys are late today. There are already three teams here. If you want to join, you’ll need to find one more person; it’s four to a team." As soon as Wang Zikai’s group reached the court, an acquaintance from his hometown told him.
Wang Zikai pointed at Lin Feng and said, "We have four people today. Che Jun, this is our roommate, Lin Feng. Heh heh, the four of us from our dorm can form a team."
The guy named Che Jun was wearing a purple and gold Los Angeles Lakers Kobe jersey and stood a good 1.8 meters tall. He looked fit and strong with his dark skin—clearly a skilled basketball player.
He looked at Lin Feng and said, "He’s not wearing a uniform, huh? You guys might be in for a tough time today! All the teams here have tall centers. See those four guys in Houston Rockets jerseys on the court? They’re all from your School of Economics and Management’s team, and two of them are key players. The guy wearing the number 0 jersey is your school’s main shooting guard and also the team captain, Liu Yunfeng. He’s really good. He was even specially selected for the university team last year!"
Wang Zikai glanced over and saw four people in Rockets uniforms on the court, all around 1.8 meters tall. Liu Yunfeng himself was nearly 1.9 meters. He was currently dribbling; despite his height, Liu Yunfeng moved with surprising speed and dribbled rapidly. With a quick feint, he launched a pull-up jumper from beyond the three-point line!
The basketball swished through the net! The surrounding spectators were stunned.
"Damn! If they’re that tall, what’s the point of us even playing? If even you guys get crushed by them, won’t we be in for an even worse disaster?" Wang Zikai said helplessly to Che Jun after watching Liu Yunfeng’s performance.
Che Jun chuckled. "It’s just for fun, right? Besides, there are no other courts available now. They got here first, and we just joined their rotation. If you don’t play, you won’t get a court at all. Plus, they said they’d mostly stick to outside shots, like practicing their shooting accuracy."
"Have they ever been knocked off the court before?" Yang Ming asked.
Che Jun replied with a bitter smile, "Of course not! With their skill level, how could they possibly be knocked off? Especially Liu Yunfeng. Once he gets serious, we’re helpless against his three-pointers and two-pointers. Even if we’re up 4-0, Liu Yunfeng can score five baskets in an instant... Against our level of defense, he’s an absolute monster!" Shaking his head, Che Jun finished.
Half-court basketball games are usually played to five baskets. Against department-level teams like theirs, unless they’re facing another department team, casual pickup players are usually completely outmatched in terms of shooting, height, and strength.
"Damn, Zikai, should we join them or not?" Zhong Jialiang asked, starting to have second thoughts. "A bunch of us, mostly around 1.7 meters, against a team of varsity players who are all over 1.8 meters... that sounds like we’re asking to get slaughtered!"
Wang Zikai hesitated. "There are no other courts available. The other courts already have three or four teams playing, so we can’t join them. Why don’t we just play here for a bit?"
After saying this, Wang Zikai scanned the sidelines of the basketball court and noticed quite a few spectators, including several long-legged beauties. He licked his lips and said, "Besides, there are pretty girls watching over here. How great is that!"
"There are pretty girls watching... but they’re not here to watch you!"
Yang Ming complained, "We’re just going up there to be their punching bags! And look how happy you are... We’ll be the ones crying our eyes out when we get thrashed like dogs..." He then turned to Lin Feng and asked, "Lin Feng, what do you think?"
Lin Feng responded casually, "It’s just for fun. I’ll go with whatever you guys decide. If you want to play, I’ll play. If not, then let’s forget it."
After Lin Feng finished speaking, Wang Zikai immediately launched into an earnest attempt to persuade Yang Ming and Zhong Jialiang. Then, he turned to Che Jun and said, "Che Jun, let the other two teams know, okay? We’re joining. We’ll be up after your team!"