West broke past Harden, came to a sudden stop for a mid-range jumper, and it was good.
Turning around, Irving ignored Harden’s request for the ball and took on Curry himself, driving to the basket. Faced with a throw fake from Faried, he juked his opponent and spun for a layup that found the net.
Irving had taken care of the first 5 points for Team B.
Although he had yet to play a single NBA game, he didn’t seem the least bit stage-frightened.
When Team A advanced to the frontcourt again, Hansen started handling the ball.
After a pick-and-roll with Conningham, he penetrated, drawing a double team, and dished the ball back to Conningham.
The pass was at the right angle, but a touch too light, and Conningham had to reach forward to catch it.
It was that extra motion that gave Battier the time to close down; Conningham tried a shake and a step before shooting, only to have Battier’s hand-up defense force an airball out of bounds.
Hansen shook his head after seeing this.
Indeed, practicing passing on one’s own was the least effective way.
Just like the feeling he had during the playoffs, a tiny deviation could result in a huge difference in opportunity, and those deviations between training and real combat were entirely different things.
Irving continued to handle the ball in the frontcourt, once again getting past Curry and going directly for a spin layup against defensive help from Hansen.
But this time he wasn’t so lucky; Hansen predicted the move and treated him to a resounding block.
The ball was inbounded by Team B, and Harden finally got a touch; he initiated a pick-and-roll with Johnson, ending up mismatched against Faried. His signature step-back mid-range jumper swished through.
Team B took the lead.
Hansen stuck with his play, pick-and-roll, then pass.
He had set up this training camp specifically to train his "Passing Talent," with scoring a secondary concern.
This time, the pass to Conningham was much better than before, and Conningham swiftly caught and shot the ball, hitting the mark.
After two years in the NBA, his release had gotten a lot quicker.
On defense, Conningham came back to give Hansen a high five.
Although the two previously played together on the Cavaliers, it basically had been Conningham setting screens for Hansen to finish.
This new experience felt like trying a new position with a girlfriend; the people involved hadn’t changed, but the experience was completely different.
Then, Irving looked for a pick-and-roll from Harden to create a mismatch against Hansen.
Everyone on the court was startled, but Hansen wasn’t as surprised.
Irving’s response to Curry’s three-pointer at the start was proof of his competitive nature.
After being blocked by him, it was natural for him to want to make a comeback.
This time, Irving perfectly displayed his ball-handling skills, using a hesitation dribble to shake Hansen, then a mid-range fadeaway to dodge Hansen’s recover and nail the shot.
He seemed to be in great form today.
Even the court-side video crew couldn’t help exclaiming in surprise.
With that basket, Irving had racked up 7 points.
And by then, Team B had only 9 points in total.
Although it was just a scrimmage, Irving’s performance was quite eye-catching.
Irving even celebrated in front of Han’s face with a gun-polishing gesture after scoring.
Seeing this, Conningham knew Irving was done for.
Indeed, after a pick-and-roll with Curry, Hansen received the ball, mismatched against Irving, signaled to spread out, and without any fancy dribbling, blew past Irving for a slam dunk over the help defender Johnson.
And when he turned back, Hansen switched to defend right up against Irving.
This time his defense was much stronger than before; Irving couldn’t get past him with a behind-the-back dribble, his left-hand drive was sealed off, and he was forced into a dead ball situation, which Hansen anticipated and stole with a breakaway dash.
Team A executed a fast break, with Hansen taking it up the court and throwing down a signature windmill dunk.
Afterward, he turned and spread his hands out towards Irving, who was backpedaling on defense.
Team A eventually crushed Team B with a score of 26 to 14.
Hansen scored 14 points, over half of the team’s total.
After this quarter of scrimmage, it became clear to everyone on the court; antagonizing Hansen was not a good idea—the outcome wouldn’t be pleasant.
But after the game, Hansen was not pleased.
His intention was to practice passing, but Irving’s meddling turned it all sour.
That made him remember Irving’s nickname right away. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⟡𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵
"God of Ou," besides his top-tier ball control and excellent scoring abilities, was also quite adept at disrupting team dynamics.
After resting for a while, the ten players split into teams again.
This time around, Harden was adamant about not wanting to be on Irving’s team.
Irving might have enjoyed himself, but Harden barely got his hands on the ball.
Eventually, the players regrouped, with Curry and Irving swapping teams.
Staring strong, Irving immediately broke past Harden for a mid-range pull-up jumper that was good.
Then, Hansen fully understood why Harden didn’t want to team up with Irving—he couldn’t get the ball, either.
It wasn’t just about ball-hogging; Irving’s passing ability was also terribly lacking.
Sometimes he would think to pass, but by then the opportunity had long vanished.
More so, he had a particular propensity for ball-dominant, flashy play.
Hansen now truly grasped why Irving, despite his strong abilities, was astoundingly terrible when it came to leading a team.
Such a player could only be a secondary star; as the main leader, he was a disaster.
After two quarters, they sat resting at courtside.
Irving then came over with a "Fruit 4" smartphone in hand and sat next to Hansen.
He wanted a photo together with Hansen.
Unlike earlier on the court, when Hansen reached for the ball and Irving wouldn’t pass, he now looked up at Hansen with admiration in his eyes.