God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 117 National Stage
After successfully eliminating the University of Utah, Colorado State University began to prepare nervously for the last game against the University of New Mexico.Such a dense schedule also made the whole team complain. The first knockout round is on March 3nd, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals on March 2th, 3th, and 4th. , Isn't this cheating?

Even so, the schedule has been determined, so it cannot be changed. The players and coaches of Colorado State University can only complain while hurrying to prepare for the final of the league championship.They have already expected their opponents. Southern Methodist University is only No.6 in the Mountain Division. They are lucky to reach the semifinals, while the University of New Mexico is actually the second in the Pacific Division. In this critical game Certainly will not leave any room for the opponent.

But the coaching staff of the University of New Mexico was stunned. They all formulated targeted tactics using the University of Utah as an imaginary enemy at the beginning, and they waited for the finals to send their opponents to explode on the spot.But they never expected that their opponent in the final was not the University of Utah, the leader of the Pacific Division, but the No.3 Colorado State University in the Mountain Division.

There is no doubt that all the so-called targeted tactics they prepared before were in vain. What's worse, the coaching staff has never paid attention to the Colorado State team, let alone understand the opponent's strengths and weaknesses.The members of the coaching staff had to work hard to start the night shift, preparing to watch all the videos of Colorado State University that they could find.

However, it seems that they started a bit late, and all they could find were videos of Colorado State University's previous games this season, but it was better for them than nothing, so they all gathered in the head coach's room to watch the videos. .It's a pity what they don't know is that there is a very obvious difference between the Colorado State University in the early season and the late season. If they play according to the tactics used to treat Colorado State University in the early stage, then they will directly explode into the sky.

Targeted tactics can't be done overnight, and even if they are done well, they can't be learned in a day.The only thing New Mexico head coach Dave Bliez can do is figure out how to counter Colorado State and teach it to his players, and whether they can implement it on the court is not guaranteed.

On the contrary, Colorado State University can be said to know the University of New Mexico quite well, just look at their roster.Unlike Colorado State University, which maintains at least one or two registered C players, the University of New Mexico does not bother to draw a center. Their roster includes guards and forwards, and it is obviously a team that likes to play small ball tactics.

If Colorado State was a bit intimidated by small-ball teams at the beginning of the season, they now have a lot of confidence in such teams.First of all, everyone is playing small ball tactics. Ford, the center, can barely keep up with his teammates under Chang Wei's training. Secondly, the physical fitness of Colorado State University players is the biggest weapon. As long as the opponent's physical fitness is brought to collapse , who can win the final victory is self-evident.

So this time, the University of New Mexico, which is proud of its fast-playing whirlwind, encountered a team that ran faster and crazier than them.Bliss believes his team is the fastest team in the league and even the entire NCAA, but Colorado State's speed opened his eyes.

To be honest, the offensive and defensive speed of the University of New Mexico is normal, but this reflects the inhuman performance of Colorado State University.Moreover, the inside players of the University of New Mexico look even shorter standing next to Ford, so Colorado has a big advantage in rebounding.When a team rebounds better than you, is faster than you, and shoots more accurately than you, is there any reason for you not to lose?The answer is no, so the University of New Mexico was beaten in the first half.

Rao was the University of New Mexico players mustered up the courage to continue to charge in the second half, and the gap in the execution of small ball tactics also made them fall behind more and more.Such a result made Billies start to doubt his life. He suspected that the team practiced fake tactics. Everyone is also a small ball. How can there be such a big gap?
Billies is still complaining about himself. Colorado State has already led by more than 20 points.Indeed, few teams can stick to a full game of fast offense and defense, and the University of Colorado taught them a lesson.

With 5 minutes and 26 seconds left in the second half, Billes simply replaced all the starters and let the substitutes play the rest of the time.McKay also thoughtfully replaced the substitutes. It's already like this, so it's not easy to chase after him, isn't it?Anyway, the team has already firmly held the victory of the game, and the only thing to look at is how many points the opponent can recover.

In the end, the score of the whole game was fixed at 97 to 88. The University of New Mexico narrowed the point difference to single digits with difficulty, but it was of no avail. The championship of the Western Athletic League still fell firmly on the head of Colorado State University. , They also obtained the qualifications to directly enter the national championship.

After reaching the national championship, McKay generously gave the players two days off to let them relax and prepare for the next game.Soon the top 68 of this season's National Championship will be released. Of course, the last eight teams need to play a game first, and the four winning teams can really set foot on the stage of the National Championship.Of course, as the champion of the Western Athletic League, Colorado State University doesn't need to care about these things, they just need to focus on the official grouping.

Since all the orders were made by the selection committee, as a minor league champion, Colorado State University was placed in the position of the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Division. Among the 16 teams, it already belongs to the lower half of the division. up.But it's good to think about it carefully. Their opponent in the first round will be the No. 8 seed, and they have every chance to advance to the second round. Therefore, after the initial anger, McKay also secretly hid in the office and laughed.

Top 16 Eastern Conference rankings: Duke University, University of Miami, University of Cincinnati, University of Tennessee, University of Wisconsin, Temple University, University of Texas, College of Charleston, Colorado State University, Purdue University, Kent State University, Southwestern Missouri State University, University of Delaware, George Mason University, Lafayette University, Florida A&M University.

(End of this chapter)