At the coach's order, everyone returned to their own rooms.
Of course, even after Gentry's words of comfort, the players, who understood the situation all too well, were still downcast.
Blake Su returned to his room too.
Tonight, he was alone again. His mood... was obviously low. Or rather... there was frustration and helplessness mixed in.
Because aside from that crucial three-pointer tonight,
Blake Su's performance while constantly facing high-intensity double-teams had been impeccable. It could even be called flawless.
One 30-plus-point triple-double.
Two near triple-doubles close to 30 points.
That was enough to say everything.
Under circumstances like that, if they still could not win, then Blake Su could only say... he was still not strong enough. Or, if he wanted to be a little shameless about it,
aside from him, his teammates simply had not done enough.
The current Suns still needed to grow. They still needed time to settle and develop. Maybe next season, they would be better. Maybe they would become unbelievably strong.
But right now,
all they could do was lose. All they could do was stop in the first round of the playoffs.
"Getting knocked out in the first round as the No. 1 seed in the West... I really am useless."
He mocked himself.
Blake Su leaned against the bed, his heart heavy and aching. It really hurt. It hurt even more than when their 23-game winning streak had ended.
Besides the pain, he also felt a little helpless.
He wanted to win, but he had already given everything he had. Absolutely everything. He had no idea what else he could do to lead the team to victory.
"What else can I do to win?"
"Sigh..."
"I'll sleep first. Maybe when I wake up, we'll have won the series. Or maybe... I should just let it go and fight again next season?"
With that thought,
Blake Su smiled faintly and closed his tired eyes, as if trying to accept it. As if trying to give up.
"Beep, beep, beep~"
At that moment, his phone rang.
Blake Su saw that it was Mia Quinn. For a moment, he didn't want to answer. He didn't want the woman he liked to see him in such a miserable state.
But after hesitating for a while, he still picked up.
"Quinnie!"
Blake Su forced out a faint smile, trying his best not to let his voice sound too sad.
But how could Mia Quinn not hear it? Her delicate brows furrowed, her lips puffed into a pout, and she said with a bit of anger in her voice, "Hey, Blake, do you not like Quinnie anymore?
"Are you just brushing Quinnie off now when you talk to me?
"Do you not care about Quinnie anymore?"
"No."
Blake Su shook his head. "I'm just feeling a little down."
"Feeling down?"
Mia Quinn put on an unreasonable tone and said angrily, "What's there to feel down about? You only lost three games.
"What's the big deal?
"What is there to be unhappy about?
"Even superstars as amazing as the 'basketball god' Jordan and 'The Answer' Iverson didn't even make the playoffs in their rookie seasons."
At that point,
Mia Quinn paused, flipped through the papers in her hand, then continued, "And then there are stars like 'King James' James and 'T-Mac' McGrady. They didn't lead their teams into the playoffs in their rookie seasons either.
"But you, Blake, led your team into the playoffs.
"And you did it as the lone leader. That's already amazing."
At this point,
Mia Quinn's tone softened all at once. She smiled gently and said, "Blake! Don't be sad. You've already done so well.
"This isn't your fault.
"You're on a weak team. Winning was never that easy to begin with.
"You already worked hard. You don't need to regret anything.
"So... it's okay if you lose.
"Next year. Next year, we'll fight again. Jordan played for years before he won a championship, and didn't he still become a legend? I believe you can do it too, Blake.
"So... don't be sad.
"Blake always says he doesn't want to see Quinnie sad or unhappy, and Quinnie doesn't want to see Blake sad either.
"If I could, I'd really want to go over and stay with you.
"But I'm really sorry I can't, so... I hope you'll take good care of yourself. Don't be sad or upset, okay?"
"Okay~"
Mia Quinn had said a lot, but Blake Su, who had been listening quietly the whole time, only replied with one simple word.
But in his heart, he really did feel much better.
Tonight was when he felt his worst. And at a moment like this, the girl he liked had called him on purpose, seen through his thoughts, and comforted him.
How could Blake Su not feel happy?
"Heh."
Blake Su smiled and said, "Being down 0-3 really did feel pretty awful, but after hearing Quinnie talk me through it,
"I feel much better.
"And besides, there's still one game left. I won't give up that easily. At the very least, like Quinnie said, even if we lose, I have to make sure...
"I worked hard, and I have no regrets."
"Mm-hm, that's good."
Mia Quinn nodded happily. She knew... now that Blake Su had taken the initiative to say what was bothering him, he had truly let some of it go and really did feel a little better.
"Also..."
Mia Quinn widened her eyes again and returned to her fierce tone. "Blake! Do you know this? You don't look handsome at all when you're sulking.
"Quinnie doesn't want to see or hear that again, got it?"
"Mm."
Blake Su nodded obediently.
If Blake Su had always been the one taking care of Mia Quinn before,
then today, Mia Quinn was the one taking care of Blake Su.
"All right!"
Mia Quinn smiled softly again. "It's getting late over there too. Get some rest early, okay?"
"Got it!"
Beep, beep, beep.
The call ended.
Although Blake Su's mood had not completely changed, Mia Quinn's comfort really had made him feel much better.
"Beep, beep, beep!"
But just as the front foot had landed and the back foot had not yet followed, another call came in. When Blake Su looked at the caller ID, he was completely surprised.
Because the person calling was none other than the visual center of the wildly popular South Korean girl group Girls' Generation... Yoona!