God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 86
At halftime, McGrady returned to the locker room with his teammates. His heart had calmed down. Even though the coach seemed to have forgotten him on the bench, he knew that he still needed to do better.

McGrady sat in his seat calmly, watching his teammates seize the time to get food and do physical therapy.Rappers walked up to him and asked with a straight face, "Tracey, have you thought it through? If you still need time to reflect, I don't mind letting you sit on the bench in the second half." Just finished speaking Rappers regretted it, what if McGrady feels that he needs to reflect on it?He didn't want to wait until the last minute or two of the second half to decide the outcome.

However, what he was worried about did not happen. McGrady did not speak, but nodded confidently.He already knows what role he should play on the court. Putting the last nail in the opponent's coffin is exactly what he likes to do. There is no doubt that his task in the second half is to lead the team to take Kentucky away.

The second half of the game began quickly, and reporters and fans were surprised to see that Villanova's lineup was still their starting five in this game, and Tracy McGrady was on the list.The coach of the University of Kentucky, Tabby Smith, was also surprised, but then he was ecstatic. In his opinion, Villanova sent McGrady to kill himself. Everyone could see that he was not in the game at all. Smith even thought that the opponent It was kidnapped by public opinion.

After all, when you come to watch the game, you still want to see the performance of the stars. Although the NCAA championship is a hotbed of unpopularity, most of the strong teams can still stand out, and the stars in the team naturally become the focus of much attention.For the number one star of a top team like McGrady, almost all fans would want him to appear on the field, at least he must be worthy of the ticket price. What's the point of not sending a star?No one pays attention at all, okay?
That's why he thinks that Rappers had to replace McGrady to please the fans, not for the sake of winning the game. If he really insists on winning, he should continue to maintain the lineup in the second half of the first half.In Smith's heart, he firmly believed that Kentucky's opportunity had come, so he waved his hand and signaled the players to attack across the board.

But Shepard's layup was interfered by Allen. McGrady quickly launched a counterattack after getting the rebound, and it was a one-stop fast-break dunk, which was not at all the sluggishness at the beginning of the game.But Smith didn't take it to heart. Who doesn't eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year?A fast-break dunk doesn't mean anything.

However, McGrady then completely took over the team's offense, and Villanova's tactics have switched back to their most familiar point forward.Due to his limited height, Sheppard couldn't stop McGrady at all on the defensive end. The latter scored 7 points with sudden shots, helping Villanova to pull the score to double digits in an instant.

Not only that, but his powerful assault ability also attracted Kentucky players to double-team. Although Smith did not confess that they double-teamed McGrady, the players' instincts made them respond.However, double-teaming means that there is a gap, and the other four players in Villanova except Allen all have beautiful shots. McGrady doesn't have too many shots.

With Brown and Battier hitting three three-pointers from outside, Villanova has opened up the point difference to more than 20 points. The start of the second half was only 7 minutes, which means that Kentucky still had to endure 13 minutes of torture.

Smith's face turned green on the sidelines. He didn't expect Villanova's offense to become so sharp after McGrady came on the court, and even the video he watched before the game was much better.Watching Tracy McGrady gallop across the field, Smith felt particularly helpless.In fact, Kentucky's performance this season is still very good. In the regular season, they scored 35 wins and 4 losses, and were placed as the second seed in the Southern District, but unfortunately they encountered Villanova, who won all.

The Kentucky players were obviously stunned by Villanova's stormy offense. Their shooting percentage was dropping rapidly, and there was also a strange situation where three players in a row were in space on the outside but did not dare to shoot. Kentucky, with its obvious team play and championship ambitions, is unthinkable, at least not before.

The reason is simple. Allen and Brand have an absolute advantage in the interior. One of them is good at judging the landing point of the rebound, and the other is strong enough to get stuck in the position. This combination of inside has completely become Kentucky's nightmare.Their protection of the backcourt rebounds made Kentucky players afraid to shoot from the outside. Their three-point shooting percentage was low. Without the guarantee of frontcourt rebounds, what else would they shoot?The bullet can't go back to the chamber at all!

Although Smith called a timeout continuously, Villanova's offensive rhythm did not stop, and Kentucky's own offense was affected. In the end, only Shepard and Padgett helped the team to increase points piecemeal, and there was no Villanova at all. Nova's flowing momentum.McGrady played more and more smoothly, switching between the two modes of scoring and assisting teammates at will, and he messed up Kentucky's seemingly solid defense line by himself.

If it is in the regular season, Smith will withdraw all the main players at this time, because it is meaningless to hold back.But now it is the final of the championship, no matter whether he wins or loses, it is the last game of Kentucky's season. Even if he wants to make a substitution, the players may not be willing. For them, it is a second to stay on the court for a second.

Rappers also did not remove the starting lineup. As time passed, almost the entire audience stood up and cheered for them. This is the glory that Villanova players deserve.Even now that Villanova has the chance to win, Rappers subconsciously wants to eliminate the last possibility. If Kentucky does not withdraw the starter, he will not withdraw the starter.

The point difference between the two sides has always hovered around 20 points, Kentucky is unable to narrow the point difference, and Villanova is unwilling to kill them all.It’s just that every time Kentucky hits a small climax, the Villanova players seem to be wound up, and they will return a wave of scoring climax, and continue to maintain the point difference at a level that makes the opponent desperate .

Unknowingly, the time of the whole game came to an end.At the moment when the referee blew the whistle, McGrady, who was in control of the ball, threw the ball into the air suddenly, and two lines of hot tears ran across his face...

The 1997-98 season is over, and the championship belongs to Villanova!

(End of this chapter)