003: A Little KG Plus a Whole Lot of Moses. Marlon (Please Keep Reading!)

After Lynch completed a dunk over the tallest player on the team, Boshko suddenly bent down to tie his shoelaces. He untied and retied the laces—though they hadn’t come undone—repeating this three times to avoid Durovic’s scrutinizing gaze.

The great Arnold Jacob Olbakh once said, “Anyone can mess up the draft.” This meant that everyone could make mistakes in judgment. But he never said anyone could mistake Shaquille O’Neal for Kwame Brown!

According to Boshko’s depiction, Lynch seemed only fit for the Serbian rural women’s league. Yet now, the tallest player on the team could only be under Lynch’s shadow.

His athleticism was even more astonishing than expected. His toughness was exactly the opposite of what anyone predicted.

Yes, one basket alone doesn’t prove Lynch is an excellent player, but it is enough to show he is far from someone who should be abandoned.

On the court, everyone stood frozen. Even Teodosic, who rarely showed emotion, opened his mouth wide in surprise.

Lynch himself marveled at the strength of his body. The slight tension vanished completely, replaced by an intense yearning. He was eager to use this body to continue overwhelming his opponents.

The system’s task was to stay on the court for five minutes? Ha! Lynch felt he could keep dominating for fifty minutes! That’s the capital of youth!

On the sidelines, Boshko finally finished tying perhaps the world’s most complicated shoelaces and inevitably met Durovic’s eyes.

Durovic’s gentle smile disappeared, replaced by a serious tone: “Boshko, my old friend, tell me what you’re thinking. Do you want to, like those foolish Ukrainians, voluntarily give up your nuclear weapons?”

Boshko said nothing, merely taking out a comb to brush his hair to mask his embarrassment.

His unwillingness to speak was, in some way, an admission of error.

As a youth team coach, the greatest taboo isn’t losing a game or having thinning hair—it’s misjudging talent.

How can a youth coach who misjudges players determine who’s worth nurturing? How can he supply talent to the first team?

Thus, any excuse now seemed feeble to Boshko.

The following match was practically a public execution of Boshko by Lynch.

The “softie” Boshko spoke of was the roughest player on the court.

McClung’s leaps gave Lynch a taste of success; AC Green’s ironclad defense eased his worries. Next, he wanted to test Reggie Evans’s rebounding instincts.

Lynch began deploying elbows, knees, shoves, and punches on teammates, violently pushing opponents aside to snatch every rebound, outmuscling everyone.

His keen rebounding sense combined with elite jumping made Lynch savor the thrill of controlling the boards.

Beyond that, Lynch showed formidable dominance on defense.

Having trained with FMP’s youth system since age 12, Lynch possessed a strong ability to read the game, enabling him to always make the right defensive moves.

European teams’ style—everyone can pass and shoot—often misleads fans into thinking European basketball emphasizes fundamentals.

In fact, European basketball focuses on training players to think the game through, teaching them to read basketball and understand what the game truly entails.

In FMP’s youth system, individual fundamentals account for only about a quarter of training; the rest involves tactics classes, coaches organizing drills, and scrimmages.

For European players, making the right choices on the court becomes instinctive.

Lynch, bred in this system, naturally possessed this instinct.

Once, Lynch had every trait to be an excellent defender but squandered his talent out of fear of confrontation.

Now, a braver Lynch fully displayed his defensive dominance.

He had excellent speed and help-defense awareness, a sharp sense for blocks, and a vertical leap powerful enough to swat opponents’ shots away.

Durovic seemed to see a yellow-skinned Scottie Pippen on the court—no, more precisely, a Kevin Garnett with a more interior defensive style.

Lynch repeatedly stole balls from teammates, grabbed rebounds, and ravaged the basket—everyone paled in comparison.

At four minutes and thirty-seven seconds remaining in the scrimmage, Lynch’s iron elbow, like a medieval battering ram, swept away Luka Modric, who tried to approach the basket. Then Lynch turned his rear to block another, and as the ball hit the rim, he soared with incredible height to snatch his fourth offensive rebound in five minutes.

After grabbing the board, Lynch jumped straight up and slammed the ball through the hoop again.

The rim shook for who knows how many times. Seeing his teammates’ astonished gazes, Lynch felt this was perhaps the most exhilarating day of his life.

Neither Durovic nor Boshko spoke again; neither dared to look away for even a second.

This was the most definitive display of “you and I are not on the same level” they had seen recently.

Yes, Teodosic was strong, but his strength didn’t bring such a striking visual shock.

You know his shot is accurate and his passing excellent, but his mediocre athleticism and slender frame constantly remind you he’s still a kid.

Lynch? He was a lion storming into a flock of sheep, wreaking havoc!

In the remaining time, Lynch tirelessly fought for boards, set screens for Teodosic, assaulted the rim, and swatted every opponent’s shot.

Though it was clear Lynch’s fundamentals were lacking—his dribbling and shooting were poor—his talent was tantalizing.

On the sidelines, Durovic tried to find a template for Lynch in his mind. Countless brilliant names flashed by, but in the end, none fit.

If he had to choose a template, it would be a defensively superior Moses Malone.

Look at Moses Malone’s game—almost perfectly overlapping with Lynch’s.

Outstanding athleticism, super toughness, lacking refined offensive skills, able to influence the game through rebounding.

Malone’s ease in grabbing boards in the NBA was akin to Lynch’s dominance at the youth level; he’s the greatest rebounder in history, bar none.

In the 1983 Philadelphia sweep over the Lakers, Malone’s rebound share was 70 to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 30—he effectively pickled and roasted the Skyhook.

Considering Malone was only 206 cm tall with short, small hands, and Kareem’s Skyhook is feared in any era, their rebounding disparity was astonishing.

That series even featured a “strategy”: if Malone was boxed in, just shoot randomly—whether it went in or not didn’t matter—because the “Prophet” (Malone’s nickname) would clean up the rebound.

Everything Lynch did was a replica of Moses Malone.

The only difference: Lynch’s defense was better than Malone’s.

So his template? A little Kevin Garnett plus a large dose of Moses Malone.

In the final minute of the scrimmage, when Teodosic missed a three-pointer, Lynch immediately ran to the rebound spot, raised his elbow, and prepared to fight for the board again.

Tonight, Lynch understood Dennis Rodman’s joy.

It turns out repeatedly snatching the ball over others’ heads is addictive.

But when Lynch was ready, he found no one within a meter radius.

After securing the rebound, Lynch looked around puzzled, only seeing pain on his teammates’ faces.

Why did no one contest rebounds anymore? Because personal pain is the best teacher.

Today, every player on FMP’s youth team learned a lesson: when Lynch is going for a rebound, you better stay far away.

Lynch glanced at the high center Luka, who had just been dunked on by Lynch himself: “Why aren’t you contesting?”

Luka Modric said nothing, just lifted his jersey to reveal dense bruises—the marks Lynch’s elbow had left.

Lynch scanned the court: “Who did that? We’re all teammates, how could you be this vicious?”

Nearby, Teodosic snorted coldly: “Challenge you not to laugh, Lynch? Then I lose.”

“Shut up, Teo!”

On the sidelines, watching Lynch dominate rebounds and defense while playfully bantering with Teodosic, Durovic patted Boshko’s shoulder.

“Boshko, you shameless bastard, I know what you’re thinking. You want to keep him to win a championship for you, you fear I’ll snatch him away, so you try to hide him. Damn it, don’t forget your job is to supply talent to the first team.

If I hadn’t put that kid in, you might’ve kept me in the dark.”

“Ah!?” Boshko was stunned.

I never had that thought, okay? Don’t assume intentions I don’t have!

But, you know, this explanation sounds better than admitting you misjudged him.

It might make him look a bit selfish, but at least not stupid.

So Boshko went along: “Ah yes, yes! Damn, you really see through everything. You’re a damn former secret police officer of Yugoslavia before coaching basketball—so sharp!”

The game ended; Lynch wiped sweat with his jersey as he walked off.

In 20 minutes, he scored an incredible 18 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and blocked six shots, experiencing the truth behind Tracy McGrady’s words: “I actually liked baseball as a kid because basketball was too easy.”

Too easy—basketball had never been so simple for Lynch.

He knew the door to his dreams was no longer tightly shut; it had finally opened a crack letting faint light through.

As Lynch left the court, first-team coach Durovic stood and shook his hand: “Well done, kid. Your courage and style impressed me. You’re tough—aren’t you afraid of getting hurt again?”

“Seeking immortality only brings death; dying generously ensures the spirit endures. I kept telling myself this, sir.”

After replying, Lynch looked at Boshko: “Thank you for giving this human time bomb a chance.”

Understanding, Boshko smiled and nodded: “Don’t say foolish things—you know I love you, all of you.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow, Mediterranean Commander.”

“You little bastard!” Boshko grabbed the tactics board and flung it like a frisbee. “You bastard! Say that again!”

Boshko’s affection arrived fast and vanished just as quickly, like how he completed homework.

Back in the locker room, Teodosic gave Lynch a thumbs up: “That line was cool.”

Lynch shrugged with a smile: “Saw it on a statue in the plaza below my apartment this morning.”

Elsewhere, back at the first-team training hall, Durovic’s mind was full of Lynch’s game and that phrase.

Of course, he knew it wasn’t Lynch’s original line but was engraved beneath the statue of Gavrilo Princip.

Princip was an ordinary man who did one thing that changed world history—on June 28, 1914, on the streets of Sarajevo, he fired seven shots from a Browning M1910 automatic pistol, killing Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife during their visit.

In fact, seven assassins were positioned that day. Princip wasn’t the strongest or best marksman; but undoubtedly, he was the only one brave enough to act on his target.

An unknown nobody changed history?

Durovic adjusted his glasses—perhaps this time, he would witness it firsthand.

Oh no, not just witness, he would be a participant.

He decided to focus on Lynch and Teodosic—they were already on the first team’s preliminary roster.

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“When I’m gone, the whole world will have trouble. But while I’m away, let Vice General Kobe Bryant take charge.” —Shaquille O’Neal, discussing his summer surgery on his right big toe and his expected absence for the first month of the new season.

“The only thing I don’t like is that they allowed that 17-year-old golfer (Tyrone) to participate in the PGA Tour. Some tennis players turn pro at 14—why not basketball players? The rules are unfair, but that’s life. I’ll repeat my senior year in high school. Of course, I won’t stop suing the NBA. I hope they change the draft rules.” —LeBron James, in an interview with The New York Times. (True story)

Yao Ming, 2002 NBA draft first pick, was the key that David Stern used to open the international market door. Perhaps the next Chinese player drafted in the lottery will soon appear. —Sports Illustrated

“He’s won many MVPs in Italy and defeated the Dream Team in this summer’s World Championship. So you ask if Manu Ginobili can adapt to the NBA? That’s a stupid question. Look at Yao, then Manu; more and more international players will flood into this league. They might be in China, Spain, or Serbia now, but eventually, they all gather here (NBA). Just wait—the international players will become an essential part of the league.” —San Antonio Express-News

(Thanks to the gracious and charming benefactors for their generous support!)

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