professional shooting guard

Chapter 81 The Bitter Lesson

"No one would have thought that Duke University, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest, would lose to Mercer University, the No. 14 seed. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought it was an April Fool's joke. In fact, it was the truth. .When was the last time Duke fell before the top 32. Sorry, it's been so long, I can't remember. Congratulations to Mercer, they played very well and restrained Parker well .They deserve this game!"

Walton is doing the post-match summary commentary.

Chen Wei in front of the computer felt heartbroken looking at Zhang Zifeng's lonely back when he walked into the player's tunnel.

Before walking into the player tunnel, Zhang Zifeng looked back at the field, closed his eyes and listened to the cheers of Mercer University fans.

When he opened his eyes again, he walked into the player tunnel with a tough face.

23 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, this is Zhang Zifeng's achievements in the NCAA tournament tour.

The data is very beautiful, the highest score in the game.

But the ending was bitter.

He worked hard for a season, but lost in the round of 64.

That's it for the season!

Someone was crying softly, someone angrily punched the locker with their fists as soon as they walked into the locker room.

Assistant coach James saw Busy and yelled, "Hey, we don't do that. We don't do that!"

Then the head coach K, who walked in, inspected his players and shouted: "Reporters, friends, family members, fans, they will all ask you the same question."

"What happened, why did you lose the game?"

"This question will follow you all the time."

"Every time you have to tell them the truth."

"Mercer played better than us, so we lost the game!"

Old Coach K looked at his players and shouted, "Do you understand?"

"Yes, coach!" With a slightly choked nasal voice, all the players of the Blue Devils shouted in unison.

The old coach K patted a few tearful players, and comforted him: "But the loss is only the game, not you. Don't let a game define your life. It should be determined by your attitude towards life."

"I strongly believe that the most memorable lessons in life are when bad things happen to you, or when you face challenges. After today, you will all know yourself more clearly. We will all find out, about the team The core value. Today's failure will be your great wealth in life!"

"Clean up, let's go home!"

This is the happy ocean of Mercer University, but the sad place of Duke University.

Everyone didn't want to stay here at all, so they tidied up and got on the special plane, and then took the school bus back to Duke University.

Originally thought that he lost the game in the first round. After returning, the Blue Devils fans would definitely treat him with boos and curses.

But when they got off the school bus, everyone was stunned by what happened before them.

A large group of fans stood at the gate of the school bus, holding up the signs in their hands.

"Don't be depressed, we are proud Blue Devils!"

"Today is not the end of the world!"

"It's just a loss, we will compete for the championship next season!"

"Go Blue Devils!"

Looking at the slogans on the cards and listening to the fans' encouragement and consolation, the Blue Devils players felt even more guilty.

Looking at the fans around, the Blue Devils bowed one by one, apologizing to the fans for not getting good results.

……

After apologizing, more players walked into the arena with red eyes.

Duke University's NCAA journey this season is over.

Next season, some of these players will graduate, some will participate in the NBA draft, and some may go to overseas leagues to work hard.

Iron barracks, flowing soldiers.

Starting next month, James will go to inspect high school students to write evaluation reports, and he will also select new players from them.

Next season will likely be a brand new Duke Blue Devils team.

Sighing, the old coach K simply explained a few things, and then disbanded the team.

When Duke University returned to school, famous newspapers such as "USA Today" had released the latest news on their official websites.

今天NCAA爆出了最大冷门，中西部赛区3号种子杜克大学以71-77不敌14号种子莫瑟尔大学，无缘32强。

杜克大学当家后卫、2014年选秀状元大热门贾巴里-帕克表现低迷，14投仅4中，其中三分球3投全失，得到10分4个篮板7次失误。

反而得分后卫中国人张子枫轰下23分5助攻3抢断（三分球10投7中）这才支撑起球队的攻势。

With less than 5 minutes left in the game, Duke still led by 4 points. However, Mercer University was extremely aggressive in offense when life and death were at stake. The team scored 5 points in less than 15 minutes!
While the team's shooting percentage was as high as 55.6%, it also defended against Duke's shooting percentage of only 35.5%.

Duke University's defense collapsed, directly putting itself to death.

This game also made Duke University set a record of shame in history. In their school history, they have lost to double-digit teams five times in the top three seed rankings. Became the record for the most upsets (by double-digit teams) among the top three seeds in the NCAA.

Duke University is already a wealthy team, and this year's team has the popular player Jabari Parker in the NBA draft, which has attracted wide attention.

However, Parker's performance today is very average, and he does not seem to have the demeanor of competing for the No. 2014 pick in [-].

Countless people flocked to Duke University to interview Parker.

"Jabari, Duke University's season is over. Have you decided to participate in this year's NBA draft!"

Hearing that, Parker hesitated when he thought of the fans who had stuck together after the game.

Parker said: "I feel that if there is anything I need to improve or if there are any tasks that have not been completed, then I may also return to school. I don't regret saying this, because I owe a lot to the school's basketball development plan. Is it to see where I can grow the most by playing, in the NBA or in college?"

Those reporters would not let Parker go, one reporter immediately asked a tricky question.

"Jabari, this summer's NBA draft is full of talents. Wiggins, Embiid, and Randall of the University of Kansas are all considered to be the top picks. Is it because this loss will affect you in the draft? The ranking in the conference? That's why you dare not participate in this year's draft?"

Parker replied coldly, "I believe in my own strength, and I don't care about the ranking predictions of the outside world."

Before the reporter continued to ask questions, Parker had already walked away.

After interviewing Parker, these reporters wanted to interview another popular figure——Zhang Zifeng.

But it's a pity that they knew where Zhang Zifeng was, but they couldn't get in.

The flames of the NCAA Tournament are still burning, and March is still crazy.

It's just that none of this has anything to do with Zhang Zifeng.For him, what he urgently needs to do now is to train and make himself stronger.

In this season, Zhang Zifeng clearly knows that he still has shortcomings in many aspects, and what he wants to improve most is his physical fitness and ability to take the initiative to attack.

If it weren't for his lack of physical fitness, Duke University would definitely not lose.

If it wasn't for his poor ability to take the initiative to attack, he wouldn't have restricted Dennis at the last moment.

The Blue Devils are disbanded, but Duke University has not yet reached the time for summer vacation.

The training hall continues to be open to the players. Zhang Zifenghao spends almost every day in the training hall from morning to night, trying his best to use the time to train every day.

(End of this chapter)