I'm not really a role player

Chapter 22 The low-intensity preseason
The alligators finally defeated the Jayhawks. In the new season of the NCAA, the alligators will still be the biggest favorites to win the championship.

"Al Horford... Joakim Noah... Corey Brewer and Tauring Green on the perimeter..."

Late at night, in the brightly lit Frank Irving Center, Rick Barnes scratched his head.

This Alligator team is really too strong, invincible inside and one of the top NCAA outsiders. This team with few weaknesses seems to be heading towards its two consecutive championships.

After thinking for a long time, Rick Barnes, who had no countermeasures at all, threw his pen aside: "Forget it, what are you thinking about so much, as long as you play well in the preseason, regular season, and regular season, you will at least be in the final four when you meet the alligators."

The NCAA March Madness has a special competition system. The 32 league champions and the 36 wild-card teams selected by the selection committee will enter the final championship.

首先进行的是“最先四场”的比赛，由32支冠军球队中排序靠后的4个球队迎战36支外卡球队中排序靠后的4个球队，这8支球队经过淘汰赛，角逐出4支队伍与剩下的60支队伍组成64强。

The top 64 will be divided into four divisions, namely the Eastern Division, Midwestern Division, Southern Division and Western Division. The next game will be the real March Madness.

Generally speaking, the University of Texas will be assigned to the East Division, while the University of Florida will be assigned to the Midwest Division.

(Although I don't understand why the Dezhou University of Texas went to the East, and the Florida University of Florida went to the Midwest, but Yi Wen looked at the NCAA historical records, and the division at that time was indeed like this.)
Before breaking out of the competition area, it is obvious that Deda University and Buddha University will not meet each other.

And once the German University breaks out of the competition area, it means that they have won the final semi-finals.

In the final semifinals, this result is enough to satisfy Rick Barnes. Of course, no one will have delusions about the final championship.

"Let's talk about it after the call, let's study Kansas first..."

After a long time, Rick Barnes rubbed his sore eyes, got up and stretched.

"Go home!"

He opened the door of the office, but heard a continuous sound from the training ground.

He raised his hand and glanced at his watch, it was already past 11 o'clock at night.

"Who the hell is still at the training ground so late?"

Driven by curiosity, Rick Barnes walked softly and slowly to the passageway where he often appeared.

"Kevin, Sheldon?"

On the training ground, Li Ke defended Xiao Du.

Xiao Du's long arms made Li Ke a little desperate, but his speed and strength still put a lot of pressure on Xiao Du.

The two of them can't be regarded as taking what they need. Strictly speaking, they are not suitable for one-on-one training together.

"You're so rambunctious, Kevin, with a height of seven feet and a wingspan of almost 230cm, you're not even human!"

"You are not human, Sheldon, you weigh more than 80 kilograms, but you have such great strength."

"There's Jill with great power, and I can't guard against you."

Li Ke rolled his eyes, but Xiao Du laughed.

"Keep going."

"Go on, you bastard, you must have missed a date tonight, so you came here to practice more, so that you can vent your excess energy..."

It turned out that Xiao Du was about to leave after watching the game between Kansas City and Buddha University, but before leaving, he asked Li Ke to leave it to him.

Li Ke found it strange that this guy still wanted to go out at night to have fun.

After asking a few more questions, I realized that Xiao Du was planning to go to the training ground for extra training.

Li Ke thought for a while, and those who scored 100 points in the test had to practice more. He who barely passed, wouldn't he have to study at night by candlelight.

After much deliberation, I still followed Xiao Du and practiced together.

As a result, this extra training seemed to yield nothing other than exhausting physical strength and energy.

……

After the victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels, the University of Texas rested for three days.

In the second game of the preseason, the University of Texas played against the University of North Texas in the Sun Belt League.

This time it is not an away game. Of course, even if it is an away game, there will be no longer a long journey, because Denton, where the University of North Texas is located, is only more than 400 kilometers away from Austin, and the bus will arrive in three or four hours.

The opponents this time are not strong. The Sun Belt League is only the bottom-ranked minor league among the 32 leagues. Although the University of North Texas is the top class in this league, it does not have any outstanding players.

The head star is Calvin Watson, a shooting guard that Li Ke doesn't know.

That is to say, to be able to dominate the Sun Belt League, once it hits March Madness, the University of North Texas will definitely give away points.

In this game, Deda won easily.

Xiao Du's outside offense cannot be limited by unknown people like Quincy Williams and Keith Wooden.

Li Ke's defensive performance was also very stable, easily locking up Calvin Watson.

In terms of personal data, he has already settled in the starting lineup, and he got more opportunities in this game. He scored 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. All data easily broke his personal record.

At this time, Li Ke was even thinking that if he hadn't attracted the attention of USC and TU, he would eventually belong to a minor league class bully like the University of North Texas.

But as soon as the game starts, he will be tortured like this by the top teams in the major leagues every game. Will he have a cerebral hemorrhage because of this?

I'm afraid it will...

After this game, it was another four days of rest.

Then, the University of Texas ushered in the third preseason opponent.

This time the opponent is not so weak, and the reputation is also great. The University of Kentucky, which belongs to the Southeast Conference, is head coached by Tubby Smith, who has coached for ten years.

Lagalondo has just been sent to the NBA, and now the famous players in the team include juniors Randolph Morris and Joe Crawford, and freshman Jody Meeks.

Although it is a traditional NCAA school and has won countless championships in team history, Kentucky has been at their lowest point in recent years. It has been suppressed by the University of Florida in the league, and it has made no achievements outside the league.

This bad situation continued until John Calipari joined, and after that, Kentucky became the top team in the NCAA, and could even be removed. After all, every year after that, Kentucky can almost send three to four rookies to the NBA.

Li Ke originally thought that Kentucky, which is not weak, could make the preseason game more intense and exciting, just like their first game against North Carolina.

And Randolph Morris and Joe Crawford, who later played in the CBA, and Jody Meeks, who played well in the NBA, can also stand up and hone his defense.

The result is that Joe Dimix is ​​still young and has almost no playing time. What Li Ke needs to defend is the junior Joe Crawford.

His defense did not go wrong, but it was Xiao Du who beat Randolph Morris on the offensive end to decide the outcome.

Another game with a single score of 34 points, because the opponent is not weak, Xiao Du once again won countless praises.

"It's too boring, when will a stronger opponent come..."

At the end of the game, Li Ke put his hands on his hips.

In fact, at this moment, he already felt that the single defense was about to be upgraded. The sense of urgency and expectation made him miss a powerful opponent like North Carolina.

(End of this chapter)