The Path He Chose

"Yo, rookie, you're finally willing to step in for that useless captain of yours and guard me?" Xu Ling could tell that the Big 12 Conference's top point guard had an unusually strong urge to make his voice heard on the court. "If you ask me, what right does someone who can't even handle his schoolwork have to be captain? And as for his game, it's nothing special. Wouldn't you say so?" Xu Ling didn't take the bait, replying with a flat question of his own: "Instead of worrying about J.J., shouldn't you take care of yourself first?" "Me? I'm doing great!" Law said, angling his body as he readied himself to receive the inbound pass from his teammate. "I'm on fire!" Xu Ling, however, was thinking about something else entirely—if he completely dismantled Acie Law tonight, how much would that boost his draft stock? Shifting his focus, Xu Ling suddenly lunged forward into a direct fronting defense, his posture as relentless as if he were guarding the final possession of a game, giving Law zero space to receive the ball. His height and wingspan completely swallowed the passing angles, and sure enough, Texas A&M couldn't get the ball cleanly into Law's hands. "You think that's going to stop me?" Law quickly back-cut, curling off a teammate's screen to finally reel in the pass. But Xu Ling stayed glued to him, tracking him stride for stride without giving up an inch. Law pulled up beyond the three-point line, ball in hand, leaving the two in a one-on-one showdown. Xu Ling intentionally gave him half a step of cushion to feel out his next move. To his surprise, Law pulled up from downtown without a second thought— *Swish!* 8–3. "Giving him way too much room, Eli!" Dan Shulman's voice rang out clearly from the broadcast table. "Acie Law is shooting forty-six percent from three-point range this season! You can't give him an inch of daylight!" *Not an inch of daylight?* Xu Ling glanced toward the commentators' table; Shulman wasn't far away, and he had heard the call loud and clear. Regardless, the immediate priority was to get a basket back. Xu Ling ran to the frontcourt, emphatically calling for the ball from Martin Zeno, but waved off any screen from his teammates. "Do you realize the gap between you and Acie now?" The words had barely left Dominique Kirk's mouth when Xu Ling drove and snatched the ball back to his left, completely shedding Kirk's defensive stance. Just as a collective gasp rippled through the United Spirit Arena, the ball had already left the hands of TTU's No. 1, tracing a gorgeous arc through the air before snapping the net clean. *Swish!* "Arrogant punk!" Bob Knight cursed from the sideline. "Damn it, if he'd missed that, I would've had his head!" But since it went in, naturally he acted as if nothing had happened. On the other end, Xu Ling matched up with Acie Law once again. Law made sharp use of screens, relying on his craft and quickness to slip past Xu Ling's defense and bury a jump shot. Every time he scored, Law carried himself as if he demanded the entire world's attention—his body language was a masterclass in showmanship. Even the worldly Bob Knight couldn't help shaking his head. "Acie Law is without question the most valuable point guard in college basketball. He reminds me of Quinn Buckner. He might not become a great pro, but he'll unquestionably be remembered as a great college player." Beside him, assistant coach Chris Beard was astonished that Knight had drawn a comparison to Buckner. And who was Buckner? He was the captain and star floor general of the 1976 undefeated national champion Indiana Hoosiers, Knight's prized pupil, and what Knight called "the most natural leader I've ever seen." For Knight to put Law in the same breath as Buckner spoke volumes about his respect for this opponent. "As he is right now, it's still too much of an uphill battle for Xu Ling to guard Law alone," Beard suggested. "Coach, should we adjust our defensive coverage and send him some help?" Knight merely kept his eyes fixed on the court, his tone calm and resolute: "No need." "He'll figure it out himself." Xu Ling's assessment of his own defensive capabilities had always been rather vague. In his previous life, due to subpar physical tools, he had frequently needed help from his teammates on the defensive end. When someone's athletic gifts were too limited, defense wasn't something they could play well simply through determination. Now, however, he gradually realized that the footwork drills he had ground through in his previous life were paying dividends. The defensive fundamentals that opponents had once easily bypassed, now paired with his elite physical gifts, produced extraordinary results. Acie Law was a lethal dual-threat who could drive and pull up, backed by scorching three-point accuracy, making him a brutally tough matchup. Yet he lacked game-breaking top speed and didn't possess the explosive burst to overpower defenses by force. While he excelled at operating out of the pick-and-roll, the big men screening for him were not perimeter shooting threats, meaning Xu Ling didn't have to worry about him kicking out to a popping big. Xu Ling sank into a deeper stance, brought far more physical contact to bear, and actively used his wingspan to contest every move. Acie Law began to unravel. Unlike the NBA, where rosters were packed with elite athletes at every position, NCAA players rarely had fully maxed-out physical tools. Tall, short, heavy, lean, slow—every player had a glaring flaw to exploit. Meanwhile, the raw prospects blessed with NBA talent either refused to defend or had no idea how to defend; despite possessing ceilings far higher than Law's, they were powerless against him. In Law's mind, Xu Ling was no different—at best, they'd trade blows, but when push came to shove, Law would still emerge victorious. So after scoring several baskets against Xu Ling, when suddenly confronted with genuine NBA-caliber defensive pressure, Law lost that composed command over the game. For the first time since the opening tip, the suffocating intensity forced him to give up the ball. The pass was sloppy, and Martin Zeno snatched it out of the air. Having forced a turnover through relentless defensive pressure, Xu Ling bolted down the court at full speed. Zeno pushed ahead and lofted the ball into the air. "Eli takes flight, reels it in, and slams it home! BOOM BABY!" Whenever Xu Ling delivered a highlight-reel play, the United Spirit Arena erupted as though shaken by an earthquake. Yet he didn't offer so much as a single reaction. His aloofness inadvertently ignited a defiant streak in the crowd—the less he acknowledged them, the louder they roared. Xu Ling paid none of that any mind. He high-fived Zeno, then turned his focus back onto Acie Law. A single defensive stop wasn't enough to shatter an opponent's spirit. He needed more. Xu Ling ramped up his defensive intensity even further. He had gained confidence from the success of that last possession. If Acie Law was truly the nation's premier point guard, as everyone claimed, then if Xu Ling could shut down the best, couldn't he lock down anyone else? Carrying that conviction, Xu Ling turned up the heat again. Law was pushed farther and farther out toward the perimeter until, with no other option, he was forced to lob a difficult pass into the post. The sequence sparked another flurry of discussion at the broadcast table. "Unbelievable! Eli is giving Acie Law fits! Eli has completely bottled him up!" "Could this battle of No. 1s between Texas Tech and Texas A&M already be deciding its winner?" Indeed, Law also wore No. 1—a minor coincidence. Although Law had been forced to give up the ball, his teammate bailed out the possession, hitting a turnaround jumper from the low block. No one cared. Baskets like that didn't hurt TTU. That wasn't part of the game plan; it was merely an emergency bailout after Acie Law was stifled from orchestrating their offense. How many broken, unscripted plays could a team relying entirely on its star player convert over the course of a game? On the other end, Jarrius Jackson—who had been thoroughly overshadowed by the freshman—finally got on the board. Xu Ling moved off the ball to space the floor, and Jackson rotated to the top of the key to catch and bury a three. With Jackson scoring, TTU's offensive attack expanded into multiple dimensions, and shortly after, Martin Zeno created his own shot in isolation to score as well. Xu Ling saw noticeably fewer touches on offense, pouring all his energy into defense. While he couldn't completely shut down Law on every single possession, he disrupted Law's rhythm on half of them and heavily contested the rest. Even the Big 12's premier point guard couldn't sustain his dominance against that level of defensive pressure—at the end of the day, he needed teammates. Everyone needed teammates. Yet whenever Acie Law looked around, every single player on Texas A&M was waiting for him to guide and carry them. And that was precisely why Bob Knight was convinced Xu Ling could handle Law. "Quinn Buckner had Scott May (the 1976 No. 2 pick), Kent Benson (the 1977 No. 1 pick), and Bob Wilkerson (the eleventh overall pick) beside him," Knight said calmly. "Acie Law has only himself. That's why he can't truly win—basketball has never been a one-man game." The assistant coaches nodded one after another, taking it in. Yet what Knight left unsaid was that Xu Ling was just as isolated out there. He was practically locking down the premier floor general dominating the NCAA in pure one-on-one coverage. A freshman who had originally been labeled as all-offense and no-defense was now neutralizing the premier floor general of college basketball. How would the outside world reassess him? How high would his draft stock climb? On the final possession before halftime, Xu Ling pulled off a clean, emphatic steal. The margin was only ten points, and the outcome was far from decided. Yet Acie Law took off after him with reckless desperation, lunging at Xu Ling as if the game were on the line. Xu Ling glanced back over his shoulder, a cold smirk curling the edge of his lips. *Want to chase me down? Come on then, premier point guard!* Law did catch up. But the moment Xu Ling took flight with everything he had, Law was violently knocked aside, crashing down hard on his backside. Defeat is not always accepted the instant it occurs—true defeat often begins with a realization that can no longer be denied: some opponents simply cannot be beaten. And the feeling of that moment would be etched into his memory forever. The final crescendo of the first half was Xu Ling's thunderous, earth-shattering poster dunk. *BOOM!* The arena erupted in an instant, roars of celebration washing over the court like a tidal wave. Xu Ling turned around, his eyes sweeping past Acie Law, whose gaze had already grown vacant and unfocused. This time, Xu Ling didn't even bother to drop a single word of trash talk. He walked straight ahead without looking back. This was the path he chose. And he would never look back.