In the first half, the Sooners and the Wildcats were tied at 44.
Blake Griffin was in a terrible mood. This was his home court.
Look at the crowd. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook from the Thunder had come to watch. NBA scouts and agents, the kind who had discovered countless rookies, were sitting in the stands. The game was being broadcast live, with none other than Reggie Miller—one of the greatest shooters in NBA history—on commentary.
Wasn't this exactly what Blake Griffin had dreamed of?
Beating Stephen Curry's Davidson Wildcats on this stage, taking down the Southern Conference's top scorer—the guy who had been putting on a show all tournament—and putting up legendary stats that would make every scout in the building take notice…
This was what Blake had planned for.
He was ready to prove himself as an NBA star.
But he never expected some random, tall, light-skinned Chinese to crash the party.
Curry's three-pointers had already sucked the energy out of Oklahoma's home crowd, and now this Lin Yi kid had just dropped seven straight points, turning the place ice cold.
"Blake, let Calvedep guard the Chinese center in the second half. Save your energy—we need you on offense," Jeff Kapoor said, trying to keep his star player focused. The Wildcats' Chinese center was catching them off guard, but Kapoor wasn't too worried. He was convinced Griffin was still the best player on the court.
He also wasn't about to get played by McKillop, the Wildcats' crafty old coach. He could see right through the plan—using Lin Yi to get Griffin into foul trouble.
"Don't let them mess with you. Get those points back. I don't believe Stephen's gonna keep hitting threes all night," Capel said.
And he was right.
The Sooners had more talent, but they were a one-man show. If Griffin had to go all out on both offense and defense, he'd burn out fast.
Blake took a deep breath and nodded. Now that he thought about it, Lin Yi hadn't even tried a second one-on-one move after that first high-dribble drive. Maybe that was just it.
Calvedep, the Sooners Team's backup center, was stepping in now. At 6'10" and nearly 260 pounds, he had a big body. Kapoor hoped this change would free Griffin to dominate offensively.
Meanwhile, Curry had already dropped 24 in the first half—more than half his team's points.
Before the second half started, Lin Yi patted Curry's shoulder. "Hey, move off the ball more this half. I'll handle the high post."
Curry grinned. "Man, we're a perfect match. I was thinking the same thing." He'd burned a lot of energy in the first half and needed a little break.
As Lin Yi checked in again, Jennings, the Wildcats' assistant coach, looked worried. "Coach, he just joined us… Isn't it too much to put the offense in his hands?"
McKillop didn't hesitate. "Listen, Jennings, there are no rookies on this court. This is the NCAA—if Lin's got potential, he has to show it now. Nobody's waiting for him to develop. I'm not handing him anything, but he needs to step up."
McKillop wasn't playing favorites. With so many scouts and agents watching, if Lin Yi could live up to his talent, someone would take notice.
..................
The second half tipped off. The Sooners had adjusted—Griffin wasn't guarding Lin Yi anymore, which was a relief for Lin. He wasn't ready to go one-on-one with a future NBA number-one pick just yet.
The Wildcats stuck with their pick-and-roll game—Curry and Lin Yi read the Sonners' defense like a book. Calvedep and David Pilson weren't quick enough to keep up.
Curry hit them with a slick crossover, breaking into the lane. The Sonners collapsed on him.
Then, with a flashy behind-the-back pass, he found Lin Yi wide open at the top of the arc.
Lin Yi took the shot.
Brick.
He wiped his palms on his shorts. Calvedep was slower than Griffin, but he had still closed out hard. The opponents wasn't going to let him take open threes.
At the other end, Griffin caught a pass under the basket and threw it down easily. After scoring, he turned to Lin Yi and smirked, as if to say, That flashy stuff won't work on me.
The crowd roared.
Then, all of a sudden, the arena went quiet.
Why?
Because of what they were watching.
Blake Griffin's eyes widened.
Kevin Durant nudged Westbrook, who was too busy checking his phone.
Reggie Miller was scrambling to figure out how to explain what he just saw.
The Wildcats' forward, McMillan, inbounded the ball. But instead of passing it to Curry, who was being tightly guarded, he gave it to Lin Yi.
At first, nobody thought much of it. Sometimes big men brought the ball up when the guards were getting hounded. Even in college, there were a few bigs who could handle in transition.
But Lin Yi wasn't just bringing the ball up.
He wasn't even looking to pass it off.
His rhythm, his dribble—he looked like a point guard.
A seven-foot point guard.
Sooners' forward Valdes decided to step up to press him.
Lin Yi didn't hesitate. With a slick behind-the-back dribble, he blew past Valdes like he wasn't even there.
The Wildcats had a 5-on-4 advantage.
Lin Yi kept pushing. He crossed over, split the defense, and drove straight into the lane. Calvedep stepped up to stop him. Lin Yi faked a layup, pulling Griffin up into the air—then, without even looking, he flicked the ball to the corner.
Right into Curry's hands.
And if there was one place on the court where Curry was absolutely lethal?
The corners.
Curry caught it, squared up, and let it fly. His shot was so slow and relaxed it was like he had time to eat a burger before releasing.
Nothing but net.
The Wildcats took the lead again.
But the real shock wasn't the three.
It was what Lin Yi had just done.
It felt like Yao Ming had just turned into Allen Iverson.
In the stands, a scout scribbled furiously in his notebook. "We're gonna have to take a serious look at this kid," he muttered.
Because a center with that kind of handle?
That was something you didn't see every day.