Chapter Fifty-Six: Building Initial Confidence

There were no interviews from reporters, no crowds watching, no cheers or adoration from spectators. Even the home team, the university's finance school squad, left the arena early after losing to such an unremarkable opponent. So, after the game, the provincial youth team could only celebrate their first victory in an almost empty stadium.

No one had expected the match to end this way—not even Wang Lei himself, who found it rather miraculous. His chaotic strategy, after all, relied somewhat on luck: played well, it could topple even the mightiest opponent; played poorly, it would end in defeat against anyone.

The players themselves hadn’t expected to win, especially Cai Aihong and Wang Chaohui. Both were fringe members of the finance school's team, rarely getting playtime. Yet now, they had followed a squad that had been assembled less than two months ago to victory.

Throughout the match, the provincial youth team had no particularly outstanding individual. Scoring, assists, rebounds—all were distributed fairly evenly. The team’s top scorer was Turgen, who netted 16 points in the second half thanks to his impressive shooting and teamwork, but his inexperience also showed as he racked up an astonishing nine turnovers.

Aside from Turgen's 16 points, Cai Aihong contributed 12, his mid-range shots remarkably steady, though few in number but highly efficient.

Wang Chaohui quietly put up 10 points and 5 assists. His talent was limited, but he was diligent and, more importantly, played intelligently—he understood his role and always appeared in the right place at the right time.

The provincial youth team displayed excellent teamwork throughout. Although there were still plenty of mistakes, their collective play was sufficient against an opponent that wasn't particularly strong.

Victory is the best catalyst, dispelling all self-doubt and skepticism from others, and bolstering these young men’s confidence to continue training.

Though this win had a touch of cleverness about it, it was nevertheless a victory. That is the core meaning of competitive sports: without victory, all athletics lose their foundation.

In peaceful times, competitive sports are a battlefield without smoke and fire. That is why, on Earth, many Western athletes are known as “troubled personalities”—for the sake of victory, many are willing to break boundaries.

Wang Lei did not lecture the players about staying humble after their win. Instead, he was replaying the match in his mind, hoping to analyze the players’ “data” while it was still fresh.

After regular training and close contact, Wang Lei had already categorized and tallied the players. He kept a notebook recording everyone’s statistics, though these were based on his own standards. Yet some abilities couldn’t be captured by numbers alone—resilience under pressure, for instance, could only be revealed in formal matches. Some players were fierce in practice, but wilted in intense competition.

Overall, Wang Lei was satisfied—the players at least didn’t freeze up on the court, and after the initial tension, they quickly found their rhythm.

Still, Wang Lei noticed many shortcomings. For example, Hawule’s positioning and defense needed work. Wang Lei planned to develop Hawule, who stood at one meter ninety-six, into the team’s pillar in the paint, so he would focus on that in future training.

Cai Aihong’s ability to withstand physical confrontation was another concern. Wang Lei didn’t expect him to dominate the post like some seasoned big men, but at the very least, Cai Aihong needed to improve his ball-handling and offensive moves—otherwise, facing strong teams in the future, his weaknesses would be a major problem.

Turgen also needed to work on his timing for drives and passing. His shooting and ball control were fine, but his lack of experience meant that when facing zone or mixed defenses, he only thought to solve problems with shooting. This had to change, because against strong perimeter defenders, Turgen could be completely shut down, causing all sorts of trouble for the team.

Buoyed by excitement, Wang Lei and the others returned to the base. Those who had stayed behind, like Aili and Aziguli, were overjoyed when they heard of the team’s victory. Aili was somewhat puzzled, knowing exactly what the team had done in the past month, while Turgen’s sister Aziguli was simply elated—her brother had played and won in an official match, which made her happier than earning a fortune.

Back at the base, everyone waited for Wang Lei to say a few words, but he simply dismissed them and gave everyone a holiday, returning to his dorm to update his notebook.

With a face full of confusion, Xue Yongjiang, who had watched the entire match with the team, walked into Wang Lei’s dormitory.

“Lei, how did we manage to win?”

“What, was the victory that unexpected?”

“Well, yeah. You see, we didn’t really teach these young guys much about tactics or anything, but watching the game, I noticed they actually played with a sense of order. I just don’t get why.”

At this moment, Xue Yongjiang was genuinely perplexed. In truth, he was the least confident in the team—not out of pessimism, but because he had seen so much and had plenty of experience losing. In his view, a team with neither experience nor tactics could not possibly defeat a traditional squad.

“Look, Xue, what’s our average age? We’re absolutely a young team. Young people thrive in passionate, energetic games, not slow advances and complex tactics. If we really tried to match them in those areas, we’d be playing to our weaknesses. They’ve built their team over years; we’ve just started. So, we attack where they’re weakest—speed and chaos are our advantages.”

“Oh, that makes sense. So we’ll keep playing this way?”

Xue Yongjiang nodded, understanding Wang Lei’s logic. He now had a bit of confidence—just like the players themselves.

“Of course not. I said from the start, our foundation is perimeter play, fitness, and fundamentals. We’ll have to keep improving in training. After these three warm-up games, we’ll introduce some tactical routines. These are lower-level matches; tougher challenges await us.”

Wang Lei saw it clearly: this was only the beginning. The opponents ahead would grow ever more formidable.