God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 115
By the end of February, the regular season of the Western Athletic League had come to an end. Colorado State University still failed to overtake the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of Tulsa, and continued to rank No. 3 in the Mountain Division. This means that their opponent in the first round of the league championship is No.6 San Jose State University in the Pacific Division.

As the No.6 in one of the minor league divisions, San Jose State's strength is very average, and it also has no star players.However, like Colorado State University, they also mainly play team basketball. During the regular season, four players in the team averaged double figures per game, but none of them scored more than 15 points.

In contrast, the overall strength of Colorado State University is much higher than them. Under the training of Chang Wei, captain Palesio has become a scorer with an average of 18.3 points per game. Even in the entire NCAA, he can be regarded as a figure. up.In addition, Goodwin's scoring average exceeded 15 points per game, reaching 16.1 points. At the same time, he can also contribute the team's second 6.3 rebounds per game. Impeccable.

In addition to Palesio and Goodwin, there are four players on the team averaging double figures per game.But the most striking thing is not this, but five players in the team averaged more than 3 assists per game. This is a terrifying statistic. More assists means that the players love to share the ball, and it also proves their teamwork Ability is not generally strong.

The first round of the league championship officially started on March 3. Except for Colorado State University VS San Jose State University, the other three games were Rice University VS Brigham Young University, Texas Christian University VS University of Texas at El Paso and Southern Methodist University vs. Fresno State University, all three games also played on the same day.

Facing San Jose State, whose overall strength is not as good as its own, Colorado State had the upper hand at the beginning of the game.San Jose State coach Jackson was horrified to discover that opponents' physical fitness was almost unfathomable, and they were tireless.On the defensive end, there is a full-court press that makes any team look pale. This is the first time Jackson has seen a team use a full-court press at the beginning of the first half in the game.

McKay's strategy is simple, that is to seize the opportunity to defeat the opponent in the shortest time.Chang Wei's special training is his reliance. After all, the players who have undergone special training run back and forth on the field like perpetual motion machines. They can often wear down their opponents in the first 10 minutes of the first half. Most importantly, They acted nonchalantly when their opponents were out of breath.

Their running was even crazier in this game, and they brought San Jose State into a game rhythm that they were completely unfamiliar with from the beginning.Although Jackson was jumping anxiously on the sidelines, and even interrupted Colorado State's offensive rhythm by calling a timeout, but these were of no avail, and the point difference between the two teams was quickly widened.Before halftime in the first half, San Jose State had fallen behind by more than 15 points, which also made Jackson, who had hoped for a gram before the game, look livid.

Originally, he thought that the opponent would restrain himself a little in the second half. After all, the whole 40 minutes of the game was such a crazy run, and no player could stand it.But he soon realized that he was wrong. After the intermission, McKay still put the starting five on the field, and then started a new round of indiscriminate bombing under the desperate eyes of the San Jose State players. .After the difference between the two sides exceeded 30 points, McKay was finally willing to replace the substitute players to consume the remaining garbage time.

The four games in the first round almost ended together. In addition to Colorado State University, Southern Methodist University, Brigham Young University and Texas Christian University advanced to the quarterfinals. In the quarter-final draw ceremony on the morning of the 3rd, Colorado State University was lucky enough to be assigned a familiar opponent, the University of Tulsa, also from the Mountain Division, and the other three groups were Brigham Young University VS University of Utah, Southern Methodist University VS University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Texas Christian University VS University of New Mexico, from the outside world, the only suspenseful matchup among the four groups is Colorado State University.

In fact, the University of Tulsa's players are not as good as Colorado State's first-round opponent San Jose State in terms of statistics. Only three of their team scored in double figures. Olds, the reason why they surpassed Colorado State University to become the second place in the mountain division and avoided the first round of the conference championship is because they hit lore shots in many games. The strength of strength.

Of course, McKay knows that the University of Tulsa is very good at shooting game-winning shots, so the best way is not to give opponents a chance to shoot game-winning shots.I have to admit that the University of Tulsa is very resilient, and they once beat Colorado State University in the regular season. They have a certain psychological advantage. The two teams even drew the battle in the first half.

McKay went into a rage in the dressing room at half-time, and the first-half score was completely unacceptable in his opinion.After a burst of rants, he said: "Think about how we lost to them in the regular season. If you don't want to try again, just give me your all in the second half!"

McKay's words became a boost for the Colorado State players. The University of Tulsa players felt something was wrong from the beginning of the second half. They all seemed to have revenge for killing their father, and physical confrontation filled every round of the game.

While improving the physical fitness of the players, Chang Wei also improved their speed and strength. When Colorado State University deliberately pursued physical confrontation, the University of Tulsa had no way to fight back.At the same time, Colorado State also opened three-pointers from the outside. Palessio hit three three-pointers in one go in the first five minutes of the second half, and McCance added two, and they were full of oppressive defense. During this period of time, the University of Tulsa was forced to score only 5 points, and the difference between the two sides was opened in the blink of an eye. The head coach of the University of Tulsa, Self, had no time to call a timeout.

In the end, Colorado State easily defeated the University of Tulsa 87-70 by virtue of a wave of scoring at the beginning of the second half.The other three places in the semi-finals are occupied by the University of Utah, Southern Methodist University and New Mexico University respectively. The semi-final matches are Colorado State University VS University of Utah, Southern Methodist University VS New Mexico University.

(End of this chapter)