"This guy is too consistent."
"Why do I feel like Zeng has already become a qualified shooter?"
"That three-pointer is insanely accurate."
"So impressive."
The people around were all talking about it.
Zeng Xingyang's performance truly stunned them.
"OMG, this guy is way too cool." Towns on the other side, who had already finished testing, couldn't help but exclaim when he saw this scene.
Towns naturally knew of Zeng Xingyang, who was known as the hardest-working player in Kentucky.
It's just that he wasn't familiar with Zeng Xingyang, and he didn't have much of a feeling about hard training.
In Towns' experience, he felt that talent in playing basketball was far more important than effort.
Isn't it easy to become a Five Stars high school player?
Of course, Towns didn't look down on Zeng Xingyang, he just ignored him, he didn't care.
Towns' goal was the NBA, what he cared about was not whether he'd be eliminated from the team selection, but whether he'd be picked in the top few in next year's draft.
So when Zeng Xingyang shot comparable to Booker's shooting, he was only slightly surprised.
And those players who once despised Zeng Xingyang's effort were now feeling mixed emotions.
It seemed like Zeng Xingyang had caught up with them, or even surpassed them.
Finally, Zeng Xingyang's shooting results came out quickly.
After a crazy five minutes of self-shooting and self-rebounding, Zeng Xingyang still shot 35 out of 50, 70% for stationary shooting accuracy.
This shooting percentage is extremely exaggerated.
After finishing shooting, Zeng Xingyang stood there gasping for air.
Finishing these shots within 7 minutes was a huge challenge for physical fitness.
Fortunately, he persevered.
The place where Zeng Xingyang had a clear advantage over other players in this test was that he had already adapted to this rhythm for a period of time.
Most other players were not yet accustomed to such high-intensity shooting, and many performed out of character.
"Man, great shooting." Booker extended his hand in admiration as Zeng Xingyang came off the court.
"Mm." Zeng Xingyang didn't say much, but he felt Booker's respect and politely gave him a high-five.
This respect stemmed from his recent performance.
Booker was indeed startled by Zeng Xingyang's shooting percentage; he seemed somewhat special, someone he had never paid attention to before.
Coach Calipari asked as he looked at the statistics table handed over by Kenny Payne, "Has he always been at this level?"
The performances of Booker and Lyles hadn't surprised Calipari, but Zeng Xingyang's was entirely unexpected for Calipari, astonishingly accurate.
If Zeng Xingyang could maintain such stability during games, then Kentucky would have another tactical option.
Kenny Payne said, "When he first came, his three-pointers weren't very stable, but after training hard during this period, he's become stable, showing clear improvement."
In Kenny Payne's impression, Zeng Xingyang had some basic skills, nothing distinctive.
But now, how did his shooting become so prominent? Could increased training really yield such significant results?
For now, Kenny Payne could only attribute it to Zeng Xingyang's extraordinary effort.
Calipari said, "Hmm, re-evaluate this kid, and give me more detailed advanced data."
Kenny Payne nodded, "OK!"
....
Seeing so many surprised faces, Zeng Xingyang pumped his fist, knowing his hard work had paid off.
This urged him to become even stronger.
.........
On the next day, before the day broke, Zeng Xingyang was already up.
After yesterday's shooting test, he became even more determined about his goals.
As long as you work hard, there will be rewards. This feeling is truly stimulating for someone's progress.
"The old janitor at 4 a.m. is really grumpy, he might really be lacking love."
Zeng Xingyang posted on Weibo, attaching two photos, one of the streetlights at the University of Kentucky, and another of him gripping a basketball with one hand on the court.
TikTok isn't around yet, and Zeng Xingyang mainly used WeChat and Weibo as his social platforms.
There are too many acquaintances on WeChat Moments, and some feelings aren't suitable to post there, but Weibo is fine, as most there are strangers.
Besides, Zeng Xingyang registered a burner Weibo account.
.....
"Today's goal is to make 500 three-pointers! Push harder, improve a bit more."
.....
"Positioning training needs to speed up, progress is a bit slow."
...
"Want to know how to increase training intensity without getting injured?"
...
"Is this the limit? Not yet!"
...
"The college coach is truly professional, specially made a training plan, efficiency improved, but it's really exhausting."
...
"Those white girls watching the game today really have great figures, but training is more important."
...
"Booker actually invited me to a party, I declined, I chose to keep dunking."
...
"Who's the most talented player here? Towns. Who's the best in skill? Booker. But, who's the most hardworking player here? Me!"
...
"NBA!!! I must get into the NBA!!"
...
"Heard the list is coming out soon, the hope is quite high this time, nervous."
These days, before Zeng Xingyang slept, besides posting on Weibo, he'd also give likes to pretty girls.
Zeng Xingyang didn't care much whether the Weibo he posted now would come back to haunt him if he became famous in the future.
He started recording his emotions on it for a few consecutive days.
This counts as an emotional release besides training.
The self-encouraging words didn't receive many comments.
Most comments focused on discussing the white girls' figures.
Some of the girls he liked also sent him private messages, but he didn't have time to respond.
After the shooting test ended, Zeng Xingyang started getting attention from Coach Calipari.
Not only did he have a specially appointed nutritionist to tailor his diet, but he also had assigned offensive and defensive coaches to develop his training plan.
The coaches are getting a more in-depth understanding of him.
However, apart from significant improvements in shooting, his positioning saw some improvement, and the progress in other abilities wasn't as noticeable compared to before this selection.
The coaching team logically positioned Zeng Xingyang's development as a 3D player, intending to train him towards this direction.
The coaching team also arranged for more playing time for Zeng Xingyang in internal training matches.
Zeng Xingyang's performance was standard, not particularly bad, but not very outstanding either.
On the court, he was targeted by many; no one wanted to let him make open shots.
Apart from shooting, Zeng Xingyang's other abilities were somewhat lacking, just keeping up with the pace overall.
.....
It was another night at 11 p.m.
On the deserted basketball court.
The coaches had also left work, leaving behind only one figure still running on the court.
"Crack!"
"Squeak—"
The sound of basketball shoes scraping on the floor was incredibly sharp.
Humans dislike the sound of nails on glass, but the friction between basketball shoes and the floor doesn't sound that sharp.
Basketball lovers even get a bit excited hearing this friction sound.
Zeng Xingyang was still hard at practice on his off-ball movement.
After gaining attention, Zeng Zhen had more personnel to coordinate with him in positioning practice, which caused Zeng Xingyang's positioning experience to surge madly.
Finally.
"Clang!"
[Positioning: Level 2]
[Experience: 2/2000]
[Note: Positioning ability has reached NCAA shooter level.]
"Finally leveled up."
Zeng Xingyang laid back on the floor once more.
After so many days of effort, he leveled up his positioning attribute as well.
Zeng Xingyang had an epiphany and realized a bunch of positioning techniques and experiences.
"This progress speed is fast enough, right?"
After continuous monotony training, Zeng Xingyang achieved significant improvements.
Such rewarding results after effort made him feel that all this exhaustion was worth it.
Zeng Xingyang liked the sense of achievement from constant gains.
With Positioning at Level 2 and Shooting at Level 3, such offensive capabilities could ensure he had certain survival abilities on NCAA courts.