You have to understand that this kind of test is different from regular self-training.
When shooting, there's a slight sense of tension. If your rhythm is off, it's easy to keep missing consecutively, which can really mess with your mindset.
Even just picking up the ball can be exhausting.
The player after Booker was obviously nervous and ended up with a lower accuracy than usual practice, taking less than 60 shots and constantly picking up the ball.
A couple of guards and small forwards who followed Booker had shooting percentages below 50%, forming a stark contrast with Booker.
Calipari frowned watching this; none of these players met his standards.
If guards and small forwards can't shoot, what's the point of having them? Don't bring up the exceptionally talented ones.
Not everyone is like Rajon Rondo or Andre Miller.
It wasn't until the 2.08-meter forward, Trey Lyles, took the stage that things slightly improved.
Though Lyles is considered a big guy, his shooting rhythm and touch are excellent.
Takes one step and jumps for a three-pointer.
"Swish!"
Immediately runs to retrieve the ball, runs again, and shoots.
"Swish!"
....
....
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
Lyles started with seven consecutive three-pointers.
Calipari's previously furrowed brows also relaxed again.
The onlookers cheered.
Though Lyles' self-shooting and retrieval wasn't as insane as Booker's, his accuracy was close to 75%, and his feel on the three-point line in two minutes wasn't bad either, hitting 30 with a 60% accuracy rate.
This level clearly set him apart from the other players.
Zeng Xingyang looked at Lyles with admiration; this big guy's touch is really good.
Zeng Xingyang remembered that in his previous life, this guy seemed to have been drafted by the Jazz. Although he didn't become a super-star, he was a journeyman, but he could stay in the NBA.
Don't underestimate such players. Those who can stay in the NBA are necessarily strong!
After Lyles, a few more players quickly dropped to an average level, especially after the 5-minute shooting, with many players showing a steep decline in accuracy while shooting set three-pointers, with quite a few not even completing 50 three-pointers in the last two minutes.
"You don't look like an eighteen-year-old, more like an old guy older than my grandma."
"F*ck, I got it wrong. Even my grandma is better than you."
"I don't know what you've been doing since you entered college?"
"Is this the standard of a four-star high school student? Tsk tsk, ESPN's rating is getting more and more watered down."
"You don't usually train hard and expect to perform well in the test?"
Kenny Paine saw so many players with just average endurance and rotten shooting, and immediately grabbed a few people and started scolding them.
Many of these players' training plans were developed by him, but their display this time was terrible, which made him feel a bit embarrassed in front of Calipari.
As he cursed beside them, it made the testing players even more nervous.
After scolding a few, Kenny Paine was out of energy, feeling a bit speechless.
Calipari's expression was also not looking good.
After waiting for a while, it was finally Zeng Xingyang's turn.
Zeng Xingyang's appearance immediately attracted the surrounding attention.
Many people wanted to see how the Chinese person, known as the most hardworking at the University of Kentucky, would perform.
Some people unhappy with Zeng Xingyang hoped he would embarrass himself.
Zeng Xingyang quickly stabilized his breathing. He tried his best to immerse himself in a rhythm similar to his previous training.
The crazy training clearly benefited Zeng Xingyang, making him very suited to this rhythm.
"Thunk!"
The first corner three-pointer missed.
But Zeng Xingyang quickly adjusted his rhythm while running.
Retrieving the ball, quickly shooting a three-pointer from the top of the arc.
"Swish!"
Once he made the shot, Zeng Xingyang felt his rhythm kicking in.
Picked it up again, came to the left 45-degree position.
"Swish!"
...
"Swish!"
...
"Swish!"
...
Actually, to conserve energy in this kind of self-shoot-and-retrieve scenario, the best way is to keep sinking the shots.
Because after a goal, the region where the ball falls remains roughly the same.
If you're crazily missing, the landing spots become uncontrollable, which increases retrieval distance and quickly drains energy.
The improvement in shooting reflected his enhanced capability!
The basketball looked like rainbows repeatedly threading the net.
Zeng Xingyang displayed the result of his hard training; his mindset was extremely calm.
He made sure his muscle memory and shooting rhythm were almost the same as during regular training.
The players on the scene, initially silent and ready to watch a joke, gradually began to cheer.
There weren't many players as accurate as Zeng Xingyang, and those people were all Five-Star High School Students.
Both Booker and Lyles had long been on the NBA scouts' lists.
Once Zeng Xingyang left the stadium, how many American fans would recognize him?
But at this moment, Zeng Xingyang shone as brightly as the Phoenix Suns.
With each shot Zeng Xingyang sent into the basket, assistant coach Kenny Paine couldn't help but clap.
Kenny Paine knew how hard Zeng Xingyang worked.
He hadn't seen 4 AM in Kentucky, but he knew Zeng Xingyang surely had.
Every day, Zeng Xingyang was the earliest to the gym and the last to leave. Even the janitor and cleaning lady complained to Kenny Paine about the young man's insane training.
Zeng Xingyang severely disrupted their rest, and at this rate, they would ask for a raise.
At first, Kenny Paine didn't think this kind of effort would prove useful, but the sheer attitude deserved respect, and he couldn't stop him.
Calipari now also had a smile on his face.
Calipari had an impression of Zeng Xingyang, as he was the one he'd previously reminded Kenny Paine to take note of.
It seemed this kid's performance was quite surprising.
"How is this guy so accurate?" muttered Dakari Johnson, who had just mocked Zeng Xingyang.
"When I have a good touch, I'm just as accurate. This guy just got lucky," replied Aaron Harrison in resignation.
"If he had maintained this level all along, this guy would have been famous throughout the United States by now," said Dakari Johnson.
Touch is indeed a mysterious thing; when it's good, the basket seems as wide as the ocean.
Zeng Xingyang did have a good touch, but in this kind of self-shoot-and-retrieve format, it was often designed to avoid statistical bias from a player suddenly having a good touch.
The long duration would also showcase a player's endurance and stamina. If someone's touch truly remained good for long, that's a strength in itself.
What Zeng Xingyang was showing was merely the fruit of these days of training.
The self-shoot-and-retrieve three-point shots in 5 minutes totaled 68 attempts with 55 successes, an accuracy as high as 80%, lower than Booker, but higher than Lyles.
In terms of shot attempts, Zeng Xingyang had fewer than Booker due to the speed and rhythm of his shots, not being as nimble-bodied as Booker.
But compared to anyone, Zeng Xingyang's performance was still extremely impressive.
"Wow, so cool."
"This guy has crazy accuracy."
Zeng Xingyang successfully captured everyone's attention with his self-shoot-and-retrieve shots.
To them, it was as if they were witnessing a monster in Zeng Xingyang.
Wasn't this guy a rookie before? How'd he become so accurate now?
Could hard training improve you so much?
Immediately after, Zeng Xingyang ran to the right corner behind the three-point line to begin set shooting.
Unlike the first self-shoot-and-retrieve shot, Zeng Xingyang entirely shed his nervousness by now.
He now approached the test as part of his normal training.
Again and again, he shot like a robot.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
With every consecutive shot Zeng Xingyang made, the people on site continued to be stunned.
The basket seemed as vast as the ocean, as if in Zeng Xingyang's eyes, it truly was!!