Chapter Thirty-Nine: Greetings from Kansas
In the locker room, Stevens picked up the remote control and turned off the TV. On television, the first game of the Final Four is being broadcast live, with Duke vs. West Virginia University.
The NCAA Final Four will be played in two games to determine the final two teams contending for the title, but the two games do not start at the same time. Duke's match against West Virginia starts at 6 p.m., while Yiyang's game doesn't start until 8 p.m.
By the time Stevens turned off the television, Duke had taken a 17-point lead. Moreover, West Virginia's leading star, the "lore king" Dacien. Butler's injury in the middle of the game completely lost the suspense.
Unless West Virginia performs a miracle in the last five minutes of the game, Coach K will once again lead his "Blue Devils" to the final.
How strong Duke is, how wise is Old K. These things, naturally, don't need Stevens to remind the players. But with the final four of the Bulldogs still underway, he doesn't want his players to focus on anything outside of the game. Therefore, this young marshal chose to turn off the TV and clapped his hands at everyone!
"It's almost time to play! Are you ready!?" The young marshal's voice was still loud.
"No problem!" The players replied in unison that although this group of guys were all participating in the NCAA March Crazy Final Four for the first time, they were already in high spirits and would not be afraid of any difficulties at the moment.
"Remember, our opponent is the Kansas Wildcats, not Duke! Win this race for me, and then let's go win again! "Brad. Stevens shook his fist, and the group of young men below him screamed one by one.
It's almost time to let these already pit bulls go out hunting!
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Since the NCAA Final Four was played in Indianapolis, a city with a paranoid love for basketball, the Bulldogs fans in blue T-shirts turned the entire arena into a beautiful "water world".
As a local Indian press polis team, it's no surprise that the Bulldogs are so popular. What's more, the Bulldogs team also made history this year, and the counterattack of the small club usually makes many fans crazy. There have been too many such legends in the history of Indianapolis.
Mougins was crammed into the press section, and the media that came to cover the game today were several times more than in previous games. After all, the final four are already the best part of the NCAA March Madness Tournament. No media, no fans, want to let go of such a game.
The excited Yiyang did not stand at the end of the line today, but took Erwen. Mark, at the head of the line! As the number one defender led the rest of the Bulldogs out of the tunnel, the stadium was overturned by the shouts of the fans.
Stevens stood on the sidelines with his waist up, enjoying the frenetic basketball atmosphere. Even coaching in the NBA certainly isn't so wonderful! This is March Madness, and this is the Final Four!
"Audience friends, the Butler Collegiate Bulldogs are now on the field! The fact that this team has been able to get to the stage today can be said to be full of legends! An obscure small team and a young young marshal defeated one strong opponent after another in the tournament and finally advanced to the semi-finals! Audience friends, this is not a movie, but a fact! Today, let's see if Butler can continue in the footsteps of the legend! What do you think, Chris. "T.NT TV for the live broadcast effect, today is also for Reggie. Miller has brought in a big-name commentator partner, former NBA legend forward, Chris Brown. Weber!
"Oh, of course I'm looking forward to it! Seriously, if I had to pick one game between the NBA and the NCAA today, I would definitely choose the NCAA! The match between Duke and West Virginia has ended, and the Duke Blue Devils are once again in the finals, aiming for the championship! Now, let's take a look at what kind of strength Duke's two potential opponents have! As soon as Webb finished speaking, the cameraman turned his camera to the court.
Over there, the Kansas Wildcats players have also been on the field. White center Cole Aldridge, who averaged 12.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, and Xavier Henry, a shooting guard who averaged 14.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, were the backbone of Kansas State's ability to reach the Final Four this year.
Don't look at these two guys, the stats may not be so "super", but on the basketball court, this two combinations of inside and outside are not easy to deal with.
Cole. Aldridge has an arm span of 2.26m, and one-on-one defense, rebounding and blocking are the strengths of the white man. With him, Kansas State's interior defense is simply impregnable.
Don't think that Kerr is just a blue-collar big man, this guy has a very soft touch on the offensive end, and his range can even extend beyond the three-point line. On both offensive and defensive ends, he is a fixture for the Wildcats.
As for Xavier. Henry, needless to say, is a tall outsider, soft in the hand, physically strong, able to shoot, can shoot, can defend and grab, and is a jack-of-all-trades modern defender.
Kansas State's classic combination of inside and outside can also make their head coach Marvin . Scott has a lot of tactical variations.
The cheers of the fans who can't wait are getting louder and louder, and the referee has finally summoned the players from both sides to move closer to the middle, and the life-and-death battle to decide the last final place is about to start!
As soon as it opened, Cole. Aldridge has shown that he is more athletic than the average white insider. Also a white center, Matt. Howard, both in height and bounce, is on par with Cole. Aldridge was too much worse.
Basketball was handily taken away by the Wildcats, and the Kansas Wildcats started point guard Mike Brown. Daniels pushed forward calmly.
Unlike a lot of NCAA stars, Xavier. Henry and Cole. Aldridge and the two don't rely too much on their individual ability to steal points. They can integrate well into the system and become the driving force of the whole system. Therefore, it is useless to just strengthen the defense against two people, because the threat of the Wildcats comes from their whole team!
It's not, mediocre Mike. Daniels had just reached the three-point line when Kerr was on the side. Aldridge came up and made a block for his own No. 1 position. It looks like Mike. Daniels is the star, and Cole is just a blue-collar worker.
Matt. Howard knew that Kerr's shooting ability was good, so he also followed this block and defended it, and he couldn't give Kerr a big open shot opportunity at the beginning.
Mike. Daniels broke through Yiyang by blocking and dismantling, but Yiyang used his speed advantage to quickly cross in front of Daniels. At the same time, Xavier. Henry struggled to run towards the weak side of the pitch in an attempt to create a path for Cole. Aldridge and Daniels open up space to attack.
However, Daniels was not the end point of this attack, he raised his hand and passed, and the basketball flew over Yiyang's head. Cole. Aldridge suddenly threw everything inside, and instantly shook off half of Matt's body!
Although both weight and height are greater than Matt, Cole. Aldridge's athleticism is better than that of Matt. Howard is much better.
This guy suddenly cut inward, so Matt. Howard couldn't bite at all. So, the white center easily received the basketball. Facing the basket that had long been empty and unguarded by Henry, Kerr jumped up and pulled hard!
"WOW, a violent dunk from the big center! God, I feel like he's going to pull the basket off! "Chris. Webber screamed, Cole and Matt, not players of the same level at all!
For this ball, Stevens could only shake his head helplessly. The Wildcats' tactics for this offense are not complicated, but the ability gap between Matt and Kerr cannot be changed by tactics.
After the goal, Cole. Aldridge and Xavier. Henry gave him a close high-five. They undoubtedly gave Butler University a powerful disadvantage!
Yiyang took the baseline ball from Matt and slowly advanced towards the hinterland of the Wildcats. He wasn't afraid of the white center and the black guard, even if they had just pulled off a brilliant offense.
"Don't worry, I'll give you one back!" The No. 1 defender said secretly in his heart......