Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 70 Can Dark Horse Win?
Western Kentucky University is a dark horse in the Western Division. As the 12th seed in the Western Conference, they defeated the 5th seed Drake University in the first round.In the second round, they faced another dark horse in the division and eliminated the 13th seed University of San Diego from the prestigious Connecticut University. They also had the last laugh.But this time, many media and experts do not believe that they can continue their dark horse road, because standing in front of them is UCLA.

This is already the semifinals of the division. Coach Holland's expression is very serious, but he is also vaguely grateful. The other semifinal is No. 3 seed Xavier University vs. No. 7 seed West Virginia University. Relatively speaking, Western Kentucky is a An easier opponent.He sat at one end of the conference table, looked at a group of players who were sitting upright, coughed lightly and said: "I have sent the information about Western Kentucky to you, please go through it carefully first, and then tell me what you think. Seeing the serious expression of the coach, the team members dared not neglect, and quickly picked up the few pieces of paper in front of them and turned them over.

In the material that Holland distributed, a lot of space is devoted to one person: Western Kentucky guard Courtney Lee, who is also the opponent's ace player.Lee is a senior player, this is his last year to participate in the NCAA, and he averaged 20.4 points per game during the regular season, but correspondingly, except for his backcourt partner Tyronn Brazelton (14.4 points per game) , none of the other teammates averaged more than 9 points per game.Obviously, like UCLA, they are also a guard-centric team, and just from the data point of view, their performance is much better than Ye Feng and Westbrook.

But Ye Feng doesn't care, mainly because the team still has a scoring point like Love, Shipp can occasionally hit a few mid-range jumpers, and Mbah a Moute... forget it, be your own perimeter leader The gate will do.In other words, the team has more firepower than Western Kentucky. If the two sides play against each other, UCLA doesn't have to fear anyone.But suddenly his eyes froze: 1.8 steals per game!This is not a very strong statistic, not even in the top 20 in the league, but it is a bit scary when coupled with an average of 20.4 points per game. This should be a player with excellent offense and defense, but the strength of the team requires him to Put more energy on the offensive end, but even so he can get such steals data.If you go back further, Lee averaged 2.6 steals per game in his sophomore year, which further shows that he is not a scorer in the traditional sense, and his defensive accomplishments should not be underestimated.

Just as he was thinking seriously, Holland clapped his hands and said loudly: "Does anyone want to talk about their own ideas?" At this time, the team captain is naturally duty-bound. Westbrook raised his hand and said with a smile: "West Kentucky is obviously similar to our style, and Ye and I can handle their backcourt. As long as they gain an advantage in the backcourt, everyone can play whatever they want."

Originally, he thought that the coach would agree with him, but Holland still had a tense face, without a trace of a smile.Westbrook's voice became smaller and smaller, and finally closed his mouth altogether.Holland looked around and said calmly, "Does everyone else have the same thinking as Russell?" No one answered, even if they originally had the same thinking as Westbrook, no one would be so stupid Speak out in public.Seeing that everyone was quiet, and several people even buried their heads like an ostrich, Holland shook his head and called his name directly: "Ye, Russell mentioned you just now, so you can also share your opinion .”

Ye Feng touched his nose and said, "Uh... Coach... Russell's opinion, I agree with half of it..." Holland raised his eyebrows and asked aggressively, "What do you disagree with?" Ye Feng He glanced at Westbrook helplessly, made an apologetic expression, and then said bluntly: "Obviously, we can get their backcourt, then we are basically invincible, but Western Kentucky The backcourt is not so easy to beat. I haven't watched their game video, so I dare not make a judgment, but from their data, I guess the opponent's ace defender Courtney Lee is a defensive champion who is good at running , His scoring average of more than 20 points is likely to be through a lot of off-ball running to get shots."

Holland's eyes lit up, and he asked: "Then do you have any solution?" Ye Feng smiled and said: "Coach, you know me, for me statistics are far less important than the team's victory , and during the regular season, I also made my reputation. So in this game, I asked to give up the right to shoot, put most of my energy on defense, and use my running to limit the play of the opponent's ace."

Before Holland could speak, Westbrook became anxious. He said loudly: "Ye, even if you are right, but we still have Richard, why did you take the initiative to ask Ying to guard that Lee? You let Richard and Can you just change it?" Ye Feng shook his head, looked at Ba Moute and said, "Richard, it's not that I don't believe you, but the opponent is a defender who is less than 2 meters long, and he may be very good at running. , For the team's victory, I have to make a perfect plan." Mbah a Moute smiled helplessly, didn't say anything, but nodded fiercely.

Seeing that Ye Feng persuaded his teammates with a few words, Holland nodded slightly and said, "Ye's observation ability is really good, his conclusion is almost the same as our coaching staff's, but I didn't expect him to give up the right to shoot himself." After all, he is the most powerful firepower of our team. So in this game," he looked at the other starting players, "Russell, Kevin, and Josh, you three have to take responsibility for the ball. The team has the heavy task of attacking the city and pulling out the stronghold. You should take more decisive shots when opportunities arise. As for Richard, you should help Ye on the outside. If the opponent takes turns, you should also pay attention to Li's movements and don't give him easy Opportunity to make a move."

Several people said yes loudly.After Westbrook sat down, he pulled Ye Feng's clothes quietly, and asked in a low voice, "Ye, this is the semifinals of the division. Are you really willing to not have so many shots? You must know that your performance in the championship is very important. It decides your pick in the draft." Ye Feng shook his head and said, "You don't have to persuade me anymore, I know it's cool to collect statistics, and unless it's those top general managers or head coaches, otherwise Most of the time they will go for the player with better stats or looks more talented. But like I said, I prefer to win, and I can do anything to win the game, and taking fewer shots is just a small thing It's just a matter, nothing compared to the game. Besides, I didn't say I didn't shoot the whole game. If I'm open and you can't create a shot, why don't you pass the ball to me ?”

Westbrook grinned, slapped Ye Feng on the shoulder, and said, "My brother is loyal, I knew you wouldn't let me and Kevin score, otherwise it would be a pity to waste your hand." Ye Feng said: "Don't worry, but the two of you need to score more points, so that I can relax a bit. You must know that long-distance running on the basketball court is much more difficult than playing basketball."

Since this game is a divisional semifinal, the media attention has become quite a lot.The Pacific Ten Schools League is indeed the first-level division of the NCAA. In addition to UCLA, Washington State University and Stanford University have also reached the semifinals of their respective divisions. However, Stanford University has much better luck. They are the No. 3 seed in the Southern District. They encountered the No. 2 seed University of Texas, and the University of Washington, as the No. 4 seed in the East, their opponent was the No. 1 seed University of North Carolina.

Before the start of the game, reporters from afar from Los Angeles began to help UCLA build momentum on their respective platforms. After all, it is a top local team, and it would be impossible not to support it.But their relentless reports also provided Western Kentucky with a lot of intelligence, and their head coach Darin Horn also had a deep understanding of the upcoming opponent.In his view, although the overall strength of the team is not as good as that of the opponent, it is not without hope of winning, because the running distance of his ace player Li in each game is already comparable to that of NBA players. As much as 8 minutes less, he was able to run such a long distance under such circumstances, which shows how unfathomable Li's endurance is.

In addition, Horn also designed a lot of running routes and catch-and-shoot tactics for him to maximize Lee's ability on the offensive end.As for defense, in order to reduce Li's burden, Horn specifically asked other players to assist in the defense as much as possible to minimize Li's physical consumption. The real reason no player outside the field combined has scored more than 8 points.In fact, this kind of tactic is a double-edged sword. If you don’t do it, you will kill yourself. However, Horn has absolute trust in Li, and this style of running and catching the ball through continuous cover is very disgusting to many opponents. , but the hatred of the opponent is one's own success.

As a team with 29 wins and 7 losses in the regular season, Western Kentucky's combat power should not be underestimated, and they defeated the strong with the weak in the first round, and also defeated another dark horse in the second round. Many people who supported them The media and fans hope to see this dark horse continue to go on, and it is best to reach the final four, because it will be interesting, but as the top seed in the West, will UCLA really let this dark horse continue the legendary road? ?You know, in many cases, a dark horse means that there is a gap in their own strength!
(End of this chapter)