Chapter 34: Three Minutes of Tragedy
"Whew...... Call...... Call...... Whew......"
There was no noise in the quiet dressing room, except for the rapid breathing of the players, which Stevens could hear clearly.
March Madness is a brutal stage that tests the team's and players' overall ability, and there is no doubt that the intensity of the game will also be a big problem for the players' fitness when it comes to the Sweet 16 position.
The fierce game in the first half really made the fans in the stands too addicted. But for the players, these 20 minutes of confrontation made them tired one by one.
Stevens hasn't spoken since he walked into the dressing room, he just wants his players to rest a little longer, even if it's a second longer.
Among them, Yiyang's consumption is undoubtedly the largest. As the core of today's pit bulls team, Yiyang only rested for a short four minutes in the first half of the game. And when he is on the field, he often has to use his speed to attack the defense of Syracuse University.
As soon as he gets on the field, Yiyang has to run with all his strength without stopping. Shervin. The opportunities that Mark got were all made by Yiyang.
Hayward is still deeply blaming himself for his poor performance. Mark is thinking about how to share the pressure of Yiyang through individual attacks. What about Stevens? He struggled with how to allocate the playing time of his players in the second half.
As for Yiyang, this guy doesn't want to think about anything except rest now. Only by recovering as much fitness as possible will I be able to continue to perform well in the second half.
"Five minutes! In the second half, I can only give you a maximum of five minutes of rest! Mark! When Yiyang is away......"
"Three minutes! I'll just have to rest for three minutes! Before Stevens could finish speaking, Yiyang threw away the towel covering his head and pointed three fingers at Stevens.
Everyone's eyes fell on Yiyang, this taciturn guy usually just nodded silently when listening to the coach's arrangement. But today, for the first time in history, he disagreed.
Yiyang wants to win very much, don't look at his cold appearance as if he doesn't care about anything, but this guy doesn't like to lose since he was a child. He knew that if he went down, the Bulldogs' offense would be greatly affected. It's not that Yiyang doesn't have confidence in his teammates, but Hayward's state today is in front of everyone's eyes.
With only 2 points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half, the Bulldogs couldn't win with Hayward like that.
"Can you make it to the end of the game?" Stevens' tone changed, and he seemed to have compromised!
"There is nothing that cannot be done for the sake of victory!" The boy from Wood had a raging fire in his eyes. Finally had a chance to escape from the slums, and Yiyang didn't want all this good thing to be interrupted.
"Okay, for the first three minutes of the second half, you rest off the pitch first. Gordon, who continued to put pressure on Wesley in the second half. Listen, Wesley is a team player, and he doesn't have a lot of individual singles ability! I need you to bring Wesley. Johnson came out in isolation. Never let him get the ball easily, and if he does, either force him to shoot directly or don't give him a chance to pass it again! Stevens drew a big red cross to Wesley's name, and Johnson was best at catching and shooting, rather than attacking with the ball. If the Bulldogs can make Wesley dumb in the second half, and Yiyang continues to keep the firepower. Victory is not impossible!
Mougins tried to reminisce about the half-court that had just ended on the basketball court, and the others only saw Yiyang's wonderful fast offensive dunk, the extremely ornamental unseen passing and well-organized offense. Mougins, however, found that the No. 1 had been playing longer than in every previous game.
Affected by fitness, both Wesley and Yiyang struggled to maintain the momentum they had in the first half. Mougins is a little worried, because the fitness of Asian players has always been a very headache. Yiyang ran so hard in the first half, will his physical strength be overdrawn in advance?
Just when Mougins was thinking wildly, the scene suddenly became agitated. The reporter suddenly raised his head, and on the field, the energetic cheerleaders began to leave, which means that the battle in the second half of the game is about to start!
When the Bulldogs players re-entered the game, Jim. Boheim couldn't help but frown. Ronald. Norrid, the backup point guard, is on the court at the moment preparing to receive the ball. In the first half of the game, Yiyang, who disturbed Syracuse University, sat on the bench and watched.
"Fitness!" Boheim immediately knew Stevens' intention to press Yiyang on the bench, and it must be that the Asian defender was overwhelmed at the moment, so Stevens had to replace him.
"Seize the opportunity! Speed up the pace of the game, we need to score points quickly, score points quickly! Boheim yelled at the players who had already played that no matter how long Yiyang would sit on the field, Boheim was not going to waste it.
Taking advantage of Yiyang's absence, Boheim wanted his team to score as much as possible. If Stevens replaces Yiyang in advance, then Yiyang's fitness will be very problematic. If Stevens doesn't move, then Syracuse University will open up the gap before Yiyang plays!
With this in mind, Syracuse University accelerated the pace of the game from the beginning of the second half.
The first goal of the opening game, Shervin. Mark then made a good pass that allowed Hayward, who cut inside, to go straight to the basket.
But today, Hayward, who was not doing well, even ran into a layup. Extremely excited Wright. Philips jumped hard and flew Hayward's layup fan out.
Wesley. Johnson grabbed the basketball, but this time, Syracuse University did not wait for the position to be played slowly, but immediately reflexively ran and launched a fast attack!
The Bulldogs' offense had just begun, and they had to follow the rhythm of Syracuse University. Stevens gritted his teeth, that old fox in Bohaim wasn't going to give himself a chance!
"My fault, blame me!" In Wesley. After Johnson made an easy layup, Hayward picked up the basketball and raised his hand at his teammates to admit his mistake.
But right now, what the Bulldogs need is a real score. If Hayward can't find his form yet, no amount of good attitude will help.
The second offense of the Bulldogs, Shervin. With his strong body, Mark squeezed under the basket and forced a layup. The tough captain won praise from the fans, but Stevens knew the game couldn't go on like this.
After that, the players of the Bulldogs successfully implemented Stevens' setup. Wesley. Johnson found it very difficult even to just try to catch the ball. Instead of being discouraged, Hayward, who was not good offensively, wanted to make up for his shortcomings on the offensive end with defense.
Willie. Warren waited for Wesley to make several runs before finally seizing his chance to give the ball away. Wesley. Johnson took the ball and shot, and Hayward, who already knew the rhythm of Wesley's shooting, blocked it in time.
The defense of this ball is quite well done, but unfortunately Johnson's hand and Hayward's feel today are simply two extremes. As cold as Hayward is, how hot Wesley is!
"Shoot against the defense! Wesley. Johnson is amazing! ”
Seeing Johnson still score under such a high-pressure defense, Stevens was not too upset. When the game comes to the last minute, he wants to see if this Syracuse No. 4 can still score like this!
As the minutes ticked by, Syracuse University, which had quickened the pace, gradually gained the upper hand.
"Coach!" Just when Stevens was at a loss, Yiyang beside him suddenly called himself.
Stevens looked up at the big screen at the scene, there were still 17 minutes left to end the game, and Yiyang's 3-minute break had arrived.
"Let me play, I promise to come back with a victory!"
Stevens glanced at Yiyang and was stunned.
"Pause! Time out! The young marshal suddenly stood up and yelled at the referee, and he decided to replace him immediately! Just now, Stevens saw a restless heart of a champion!
"The pit bulls called a timeout, and it looked like they were overwhelmed! Last year, Butler University stopped there, and Coach Stevens couldn't break the curse of the Sweet 16 round! ”
"Oh, dying and throeping!" Boheim looked at the eight-point advantage and Stevens, who was nervously laying out his tactics, and he couldn't think of what this timeout could bring to the Bulldogs. This veteran may not have noticed that behind him was Wesley. Johnson, his chest has begun to rise and fall violently.
Yiyang looked at the five teammates who had just left the game, all of them were out of breath by the super fast pace of Syracuse University. Later, he will take the second lineup and fight each other for a while. If he can't stand it during this time, Yiyang knows that his crazy March journey may end here.
This No. 1 defender stood up, when he played in the past, no one liked him, and Yiyang naturally didn't have any sense of collective honor at all.
But now, Yiyang looked at his teammates. This feeling, these feelings of hope and desire to win, not only for himself, but also for the people who have fought with him until now!
Just when everyone was drinking Gatorade, Yiyang suddenly opened his hand and placed it among everyone.
He didn't speak, and he still had no expression. But this action is still maintained.
It was Hayward who was the first to see what Yiyang wanted to do, so he hurriedly threw away the paper cup in his hand and put his hand on it.
After that, it was Shervin. Mark, it's Matt. Howard, Willy. Wesley...... After a while, everyone piled their hands on top of Yiyang.
Yiyang still didn't speak, if he said something impassioned in front of so many people, then he wouldn't be Yiyang.
Mark knew Yiyang's character, so as the captain, he helped Yiyang open his mouth.
"One, two, three......"
"Pit Bull!" Yiyang violently exerted force, and at this moment, he felt that his whole body was full of strength and blood!
The No. 1 defender stepped onto the pitch with a ferocious expression and snapped his finger at the Orange People bench opposite.
?? Seventeen minutes later, I'll take away the victory!