Jonny Flynn felt like he'd just smacked into a brick wall.
And well, considering he's only 6'0" (183cm), wasn't Lin Yi a moving building?
Curry didn't waste a second. He snatched the ball to his right, slick and quick. Syracuse's big man, Eric Devendorf, tried to cut him off—too late. The baby-faced guard pulled a slick behind-the-back pass.
Lin Yi caught it right at the top of the arc. Flynn was the closest defender, but let's be real—his hand in Lin's face wasn't doing much.
Lin straightened up and let it fly. The form? Pure. Picture perfect.
Swish!
Three points.
Wildcats on the board first, 3-0.
"Damn it…" Flynn muttered. Whether he was blaming himself or his slow-rotating teammates, who knew?
Lin and Curry exchanged a quick high five—business as usual.
Next possession, Syracuse had the ball. Flynn brought it up, expecting to face Curry, only to find McMillan guarding him instead—a bigger, longer defender.
Flynn still got past him, but the layup? Nope. Off the rim. Lin boxed out, grabbed the miss, and Curry launched a fast break.
And Lin? He was off like a jackrabbit.
Before Syracuse's guys could even turn around, Lin was already at the rim, catching Curry's perfect dime and slamming it down.
5–0.
Wildcats were rolling early.
Flynn was fuming. He'd spent hours prepping for this game, coming up with all kinds of flashy handles just to embarrass Curry on national TV, but Steph was no show.
"He's ducking me," Flynn grumbled to himself. "Cunning little…"
He managed to finish the next drive with a crafty floater—barely—arching it high to avoid Lin's looming wingspan.
"Man's too tall," Flynn thought. "I'm gonna need to take more jumpers."
Lin Yi grinned. This was working. Syracuse was playing right into their hands.
Sure, the Orange were deeper, more athletic, and had higher-rated players across the board. But they weren't playing their game.
The Wildcats? They were doing exactly what they wanted.
After eight minutes, the Orange coach had seen enough. Timeout. Davidson was up 24–15. That's 24 points in 8 minutes. Something was broken in Syracuse's defense.
They huddled up and switched it up, deciding to trap the pick-and-roll instead of fighting through it.
Bad move.
"That's just feeding the beast," Barkley said on commentary.
"Yeah, Curry's cookin'. And he's not even heating up from three yet," Kenny Smith added.
It was true. The basketball tactics of that era weren't ready for someone like Curry. He was already showing flashes of what he'd become.
People think Curry's all threes, but Lin knew better. Sure, threes were deadly, but Curry's finishing at the rim? Underrated. Super efficient.
In fact, Lin remembered that in the future, Curry would often get easy layups just on off-ball movement. Defenders were so afraid of his jumper that they'd crowd him, and when they did? Boom—he'd cut backdoor and score before they blinked.
That's the kind of spacing threat most guards dream of having.
And that's also why guys like Westbrook—no matter how athletic—weren't as efficient. They couldn't force the defense to stretch like Curry could. Defenders just sagged off and waited for the drive.
That's also why Harden shot so many threes—not always to make them, but to force defenses to react.
Davidson was starting to look like a poor man's future Warriors team. Not as smooth, but smart. High IQ basketball. Exploit strengths, hide weaknesses.
By halftime, both teams were living through their point guards.
Flynn had 14 shots. Hit only 5. Got to the line a bunch. 14 points, 3 assists. Solid numbers for college, but inefficient.
Curry? Only took 7 shots. Made 6. Nailed 4 threes with some 2-point jumpers and layups in the mix. Knocked down free throws. Ended the half with 22 points, 5 assists, 9 rebounds.
Yeah, 9 rebounds. Your average 6'2", 6'3" guard doesn't do that.
Lin? Quiet scoring-wise, just 10 points and 2 boards—but he did the dirty work: setting screens, sealing defenders, creating space. The kind of stuff that doesn't show up in a box score but wins games.
He was boxing out like crazy, making sure Curry could grab easy boards.
Adams, meanwhile, was sulking. The poor guy couldn't space the floor, which made Lin work even harder.
Halftime score: Davidson 42, Syracuse 34.
The score seems close, but anyone watching could tell—Davidson had the edge.
If their role players hit a few more shots? This could be a blowout.
Curry was thriving. You could see it—he loved this rhythm.
The reporters, including the Chinese, started swarming him instead of Lin. Made sense—Curry was stealing the show.
But for the scouts? They saw the bigger picture.
"Lin Yi's IQ is crazy," muttered one NBA scout. "Every damn play starts with him."
Especially the ones from New York—they had their eyes on Curry and Flynn, sure. But Lin? He was sneaking up their draft boards.
They already knew their coach, D'Antoni, needed a high-IQ guard. And if they didn't land Curry, maybe… just maybe… Lin was worth the gamble.
One scout scribbled in his notebook:
"High IQ, unselfish, initiates offense, makes teammates better."
He looked up at the court.
"I don't care what the box score says," he whispered. "That kid's a winner."
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