pinnacle of basketball

Chapter 323
I thought I would see an evenly matched opening game, but I didn't expect to see a "slaughter". Last season's Western Conference finals team was completely powerless in the game. If it wasn't for teammates to stop James in time, the point difference is likely to break the record.

It was already 22:00 at night when the game ended. At this time, Los Angeles was brightly lit, and the streets were busier than during the day.

The two went back to school by car to rest. The two of them watched the game with enthusiasm, and Mu Chenfeng couldn't calm down after returning to the dormitory for a long time.

Early the next morning, the news of Mu Chenfeng's donation was spreading in the school.

"You really donated." Felix hurried to Mu Chenfeng's room, only to see Mu Chenfeng sitting on a chair very casually, watching basketball videos, and holding an ice cream in his hand.

"En." Mu Chenfeng replied very calmly, as if he didn't take the 100 million seriously.

"That's 100 million, all donated?" Felix asked.

"Otherwise, it would be strange to donate more than 99 yuan."

Mu Chenfeng donated all the bonus he got yesterday to domestic charities to help children in impoverished mountainous areas build basketball courts. According to the budget, the money can build about 500 standard basketball courts and help at least tens of thousands of children play basketball.

For Mu Chenfeng, 100 million is indeed a huge sum of money, but it is more meaningful to spend the money in more meaningful places than in his own hands.

Felix was anxious for a long time, but Mu Chenfeng was very calm. After all, this is Mu Chenfeng's money, and he has the right to control it.

"Is there something wrong?" Mu Chenfeng asked.

"The knockout match list is out." Felix calmed down and said.

The 32 advanced teams are divided into upper and lower halves, with 16 teams in each half, and the teams face off against each other. Winners will be determined in one round, and the winner will advance to the next round. In the end, two winning teams will be born in the two halves, and the champion will be born between these two teams.

UCLA is divided into the upper half. In this half are the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina. It can be said to be the dead half. Michigan, North Carolina and UCLA also have an extremely glorious basketball history. The famous basketball god: Michael Jordan is from North Carolina. These two teams have sent a large number of stars to the NBA, which can be said to be a star maker.

Fortunately, UCLA will not meet these two teams before the semifinals. If there is no accident, the two teams will have a winner and another team to compete for the only place in the upper half.

Duke University, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Connecticut are in the bottom half, fighting for the final spots in the bottom half.

UCLA’s first opponent was the University of Nevada. The strength of this team was not outstanding, ranking 32th among all 26 knockout teams. Although the strength was mediocre, the team’s resilience was very strong. In the group stage, they encountered two universities, Kentucky and Memphis, and were entangled with their opponents until the end.

NCAA games are full of unknowns, and it is really impossible to guarantee who will have the last laugh until the last moment. The reason for this phenomenon is the nature of the game, where the outcome is determined by one game, which greatly increases the uncertainty in the game. Every year, some favorite teams will overturn inexplicably in the knockout stage, leading to early exit.

UCLA once encountered a dark horse in the knockout stage, but that was more than ten years ago. Since Barton became the coach of UCLA, UCLA has always maintained a "not bad" record, and the games it lost were evenly matched. It was not counterattacked by a dark horse. Only Barton has done this, and it has to be admired.

It is not difficult for a team to have the strength to rush to the championship in a short period of time. The difficulty is to keep the team competitive for a long time.

The attributes of NCAA players are different from professional leagues. The longest playing age of players is only four years. The average playing time of NCAA players is 1.4 years.

However, several prestigious schools including UCLA do not need such a process as a manager. After all, they are famous and have a fascinating tradition. As long as they are given full scholarships, most talented players are still willing to go. This provides a guarantee for the injection of fresh blood into the team.

The great thing about Barton is that he can assimilate players, even if it is a rookie who has just joined the team, he can help them integrate into the team in the shortest possible time.

His talent in this area is much higher than that of other coaches, which also allows UCLA to avoid many detours. In his own words: We have never recruited the strongest players, but the most suitable ones.

When they learned that the opponent in the first game was the University of Nevada, the UCLA players all acted confidently. There was still a big gap between the opponent and themselves, so they were not worried about losing the game. They only focused on Michigan and North Carolina. .

In a blink of an eye, a week passed, and the opening game of the NCAA playoffs officially started, with the upper and lower halves playing at the same time.

The first half of the game is the University of North Carolina, and their opponent is Washington State University.

The first game in the lower half is the game between Duke University and the University of Kansas.

Both games are strong-for-strong dialogues, and only the winners will advance to the next round.

UCLA collectively went to the scene to watch the North Carolina game.

As a result, the University of North Carolina defeated Washington State University by 50 points, creating the school's largest loss point difference.

The game played by Duke University was extremely difficult. Kansas showed the momentum to win the game.

A big victory, a lore.

The two games on the first day of the knockout round each occupied a large number of report pages and became the subject of discussion.

"North Carolina is very strong this year." Some old players in the UCLA team were talking.

Since Mu Chenfeng and Felix are newcomers, they are not familiar with the previous strength of these teams, so they are only listeners and do not participate in the discussion.

"Yeah, it's not easy to beat Washington State University by 50 points."

The tradition of North Carolina is to train new players. Veterans with more than two years of experience are basically in a state of giving up. Therefore, the outstanding players in the North Carolina game are all newcomers, otherwise they would not have 50 points left.

The problem with the rookies is that they don’t know enough is enough and love to show off. The game lost its suspense in the middle of the third quarter, but the North Carolina rookies still persisted and continued their offensive firepower until the end of the game, which led to a 50-point tragedy.

Compared to North Carolina's victory, Mu Chenfeng was more concerned about Duke being eliminated. Duke was so strong but was eliminated so early. Kyle Terry and Enzo Ronnie played at a dominant level, but they still couldn't lead the team to victory.

The NCAA game is really exciting, a game system that determines the outcome, and every minute and every second makes people's hearts rise to their throats.

"Tomorrow is our turn to play."

(End of this chapter)