Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 68 Passing the First Round Easily

The NCAA national championship has another name: March Madness. It is conceivable how enthusiastic Americans are for the top competition of college basketball. 20 games in 67 days, regardless of heaven or hell, a player can only play up to [-] times in his life, and all the sorrows and joys are presented in this intensive March. "March Madness" attracts money and influence in the knockout part of American sports events, except for the Super Bowl of football, almost no one can match it.As Valparaiso University head coach Bryce Drew said: "When you enter college, maybe the most important goal you want to achieve before graduation is to be able to play in the NCAA. This is the biggest stage of college basketball and the biggest stage in the United States. One of the national competitions."

For the die-hard fans of each team, it is normal to drive hundreds of kilometers in "March Madness". The games between the teams are really unspectacular, such as UCLA's game against Mississippi Valley State University.But the game still attracted a large number of fans to watch the scene, of course, more than 80% of them are UCLA fans.UCLA's unrestrained and violent offense throughout the regular season has also attracted a large number of fans outside of Los Angeles. In terms of popularity, perhaps the No. [-] seeds in the other three divisions cannot compare with them.

Compared with the relaxed state of mind of the UCLA players, the Mississippi Valley State players were very nervous and extremely disturbed.However, it is not easy for them to enter the NCAA 64 finals through a knockout game, otherwise they will not be selected by the selection committee as one of the last two seeded teams in the Western Conference.But, after all, they are all young people, and they still have dreams. What if they beat their opponents in an upset?Is it possible to advance to the second round?Generally speaking, only the top teams will have an early overview of the entire division's schedule, while some other small teams are relatively more focused, earning every game they win, at least to prove that they are not here to accompany the prince to study role, the next round?Who cares, let's finish this round first!

Holland is well aware of the mentality of these small teams, but he did not deliberately make tactical targets.This is not arrogance, but confidence in his team. In his opinion, UCLA is going to reach the final four to compete for the NCAA championship. It's better to disband.But having said that, he still told everyone to take his opponents seriously during training. The so-called lion fights the rabbit also needs to go all out, but he will not design special tactics. The players can play at a normal level on weekdays It is enough to eliminate the opponent.

The players didn't have any special thoughts. Strictly speaking, they still lost two games in the regular season, one was Iowa State University and the other was Memphis University.These two teams have two completely different styles. The former team spirit is paramount, while the latter is individual heroism. It is these two defeats that let the players understand that they have not yet crushed everything.Team and individual have always been the most distinct tactical styles on the court. UCLA players have no excuse to say that their loss was just an accident. Obviously, when they lose, they have both personal strength and teamwork. problem to a certain extent.After being tempered in the regular season, they have become more mature, the most obvious point is that they will not underestimate any opponent.

After the last training session before the game, Westbrook sat next to Ye Feng with a big towel on his buttocks, and said lazily, "Ye, do you want to go out for a stroll at night? Maybe we won't be so free after the tournament officially starts. Ye Feng smiled and said: "Let's go to bed early at night, Russell, lest you won't be able to get up tomorrow. Although the game starts at night, if you sleep too long, I can't guarantee that you will play You can still be in a good state." Westbrook's enthusiasm disappeared in an instant, and he said helplessly: "Okay, you are such a 'good baby', do you want me to buy you a pacifier? After he finished speaking, he laughed out loud at his own joke.

Ye Feng rolled his eyes at him, and ignored this self-entertaining bastard.He turned his head and said to Love, "Kevin, what do you say? If you want to go out for a stroll, you can form a team with Russell." Love smiled honestly and said, "I'll forget it." How can I say that tomorrow is also the first match of our March Madness, I don't want to lose face. Although the coach forbids us to practice more at night, I still plan to play games in the room and go to bed." He said slightly apologetically to Wei Sbrook said, "Sorry Russell, maybe you'll have to be alone tonight."

Westbrook looked at the two of them in surprise, and murmured, "Is this a tradition of your freshman class? Or is it just a tradition of your dorm? This is my second year at UCLA, but it's still my first year." This is the first time I saw you like this in the team, Ye, are you what you Chinese call a monk? My admiration for you is like a surging river..." Ye Feng patted him on the shoulder and smiled Said: "Don't drag your words, what monk? I just have my own attitude towards basketball. If you want to go out for a walk, remember to ask Coach Holland to ask for a leave in advance, so that we don't have to go to the street to find you in the middle of the night."

Westbrook raised his middle finger in disdain, and said with a snort, "If you don't go out, what's the point of me going out alone? I'd better come to your place to play games at night, otherwise it would be too boring." Ye Feng He and Lu Fu looked at each other and smiled: Another boy who has been assimilated!

When I went to the arena the next day, everyone on the Bruins team was in good spirits. It was no longer a question of a good start. After all, this is not a league.During the warm-up before the game, everyone was very serious, and the opponents in the other half were terrified: You are so strong, can you give us a way to survive?If Ye Feng were to answer, his answer would definitely be: "No." No matter how strong he is and how weak his opponent is, he won't have any other emotions on the court, and only wants a victory.

In the locker room, Holland smiled and watched everyone put on their equipment seriously, and did not intend to give too much tactical guidance to the players. Even the blackboard at the door of the locker room only wrote one word: victory.When the game was about to start, he said lightly: "For this game, I don't want to say too much, and I don't ask you to win the opponent by how many points. After all, there is no deep hatred between our two schools. I only need one A win, and it's all about you. It's just the first round of the tournament, and I hope you don't let me down and don't let all the UCLA fans down."

Everyone looked at each other and smiled, even Westbrook, who usually talked the most, didn't say anything bold.Just like what the coach has always instilled in them, the team's goal is the final championship. As long as they play normally in the first round, it is enough. The strength of the opponent is not even worth the players' exhaustion. The root cause of mentality.They just need to warm up, play, beat their opponents, and that's enough.

Facts have proved that UCLA's strength cannot be stopped by Mississippi Valley State University, and even the troika of the team did not play their full strength, and Holland also dispatched substitute players to feel the atmosphere of the championship at the right time.In the end, this game created the most disparate score in the first round of 32 games: UCLA won 70 to 29 by 41 points.In addition to its powerful offense, UCLA once again let everyone see its own defense. Although it is an NCAA game, it is quite amazing to only allow the opponent to score 29 points in a single game.The second-largest game in the Eastern Division was the No. 1 seed against No. 16. North Carolina beat Mount St. Mary College by 113 points 74-39.However, UCLA players don’t think they are inferior to North Carolina. After all, they have many more substitute players than North Carolina. If the team tries its best to make the main players play for at least 30 minutes, it is not uncommon to score more than [-]. .

Soon UCLA's opponent in the second round was also born.Texas A&M narrowly defeated Brigham Young University 67-62 in the first round, successfully advanced to the second round, and became UCLA's next opponent.It can be seen that Holland is indeed very old. At the beginning of the championship, he mentioned Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan, and finally his premonition became a reality.For the UCLA team in the second round, the most pressure should be Love. This is the first time he faces a defensive center who is taller and heavier than himself. A key factor in making it past the second round.

In addition to UCLA, the top 64 schools in the Pacific Ten Schools Alliance include the University of Arizona, Stanford University, Washington State University, the University of Oregon and the University of Southern California.Of these five schools, only Washington State University and Stanford University advanced to the second round (Washington State University 71:40 Winthrop University, Stanford University 77:53 Cornell University), and the remaining three schools were directly eliminated (University of Arizona 65:75 West Virginia University, University of Oregon 69:76 Mississippi State University, University of Southern California 67:80 Kansas State University), of which Arizona University, as the No. 6 seed in the Midwest Division, still lost to a team ranked lower than itself.This is exactly the cruelty of the NCAA tournament.

But UCLA doesn't have time to think about those teams from the same league. They are more concerned about their next opponent, the No. 9 seed Texas A&M in the Western Conference.

　Some people say that the NCAA can't get high scores in a game, but North Carolina did score 113 points in the first round, which is also a reflection of their strong offensive power, so as long as the team is strong enough and the opponent is not so difficult, 40 minutes It is not impossible to score more than [-] points in a single game.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)