God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 151 Experienced
Chang Wei thought that his team had arrived relatively early, but only after arriving at the hotel officially designated by the NCAA to stay did he realize that the other three teams in the final semifinals had already been preparing for battle, and they were also members of the NCAA. Traditional strong team.In addition to Colorado State, the dark horse, the other three teams are the University of Florida, the No. 5 seed in the East, the University of North Carolina, the No. 8 seed in the South, and Michigan State, the top seed in the Midwest.

The semi-finals will be held on April 4st, but none of the four teams is far behind. Everyone has come to Indianapolis in advance for intense and orderly preparations, and by the way, draw out the semi-final matchup table.Unfortunately, the luck of Colorado State University seems to be not very good. Their opponent in the semifinals is Michigan State University. This is also the strong team that eliminated Duke in the Final Four last season and entered the finals. The side that is doomed to lose in the eyes of the people.

The most outrageous thing is that a local media in Michigan grandiosely reserved a spot for Michigan State University in the finals, and trampled Colorado State University into nothing in the NCAA report.Under normal circumstances, everyone’s guesses are guesses, and they will not overly attack their opponents. No matter how weak the team is, as long as they reach the final four, they must be given enough respect, and this media’s approach obviously made them even neutral. Many people, including fans, cannot accept it.

Of course, the most angry ones are the Colorado State University players. Anyone who is full of ambition will not feel good if they are directly poured with cold water.However, after a season of polishing, their mentality has become mature enough, so this time they only expressed their anger in private, and did not refute the media's remarks in public, because they all knew , the best way to counterattack is to directly eliminate Michigan State.

In fact, in Chang Wei's view, Michigan State is nothing to fear. They eliminated Duke last year just to take advantage of Langton's accidental injury. In terms of overall strength, they still cannot be compared with Duke.Michigan State players have indeed made some progress this season. During the regular season, four of the team scored in double figures. The top star Peterson has grown into a high-quality wing averaging 16.8 points and 6 rebounds per game, but Chang Wei still believes that Colorado The big strength is above Michigan State University.

However, the Colorado State University players are participating in the Final Four for the first time, and they are slightly inferior to Michigan State University in terms of experience and mentality.In Michigan State University's 13-man roster this season, as many as 8 players have already played for the team last season. The team's overall rich experience ranks among the top four.

The time soon came to April 4, and the Colorado State University VS Michigan State University game was placed in the first game.When players from both sides entered the field, Chang Wei keenly noticed that there was something abnormal about the players of his team.Apart from Palesio's face as the team captain, many players were obviously not used to the deafening drum noise of the fans. Their faces were slightly pale, and their arms trembled unconsciously. Specific manifestations of tension.

Especially the two rookies West and Korver, they have never seen such a hot scene.Originally they thought the noise during the conference finals was the limit of what the fans could achieve, but now they realize that some things will be far beyond their imagination.West, the inside tough guy, is relatively better. Korver was so nervous that he made 5 of 0 three-pointers during the warm-up before the game. This is not good news for Colorado State University.

Seeing such a situation, Chang Wei was very worried about whether the players would be able to display their strength normally. After all, it was the final semi-final match, and everyone in the team except Chang Wei was an absolute rookie.After the start of the game, Chang Wei's worries quickly became a reality. The team only hit one goal in the first seven offenses, and Korver even changed his shooting style.

He sighed silently. Korver's three-point shooting in the NBA in his previous life was quite stable. Although he was not a famous key player in the league, his three-point shooting still greatly helped the team in some strong dialogue games. .I didn't expect that such a top outside shooter would lose his position because of the hot atmosphere in college. This is like slapping Chang Wei in the face.

On the other hand, Michigan State University, they did not play a mercury-laden offense like they did during the regular season, but instead minimized the rhythm of the game.Chang Wei noticed that this was an instruction given to the players by the opponent's head coach on the sidelines. Chang Wei gasped when he saw the name of that coach. Tom Izzo, this is a great god. In his previous life, he refused After being invited by the Eagles, Raptors, Cavaliers, Pistons and Lakers, he would rather continue to take root in Michigan State University, and was finally selected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.With Izzo's ability and experience, it's all too easy to exploit Colorado State's weaknesses.

McKay didn't expect the team to fall behind by a large score at the beginning, and the shooting percentage was still shockingly low, but no matter how he looked at it, he didn't know what was wrong with the team.No way, this can’t be blamed on him. Before coaching Colorado State University, McKay only served as the head coach of Portland State University for two seasons. I have also become quite nervous, and I can't turn my head when I am nervous. It is normal to not see the crux of the team.

Chang Wei didn't want the team to fall one step away from the final, so he hurried to McKay and whispered a few words, and then calmly sat back in his seat.After getting along for two seasons, Chang Wei knew that McKay was already a qualified NCAA head coach, as long as he told him what the problem was, he should be able to respond quickly.

Originally, Chang Wei's idea was to replace one of West and Korver, which would not only stabilize the mentality of the players on the field, but also allow the rookies to get enough exercise to prepare for the next season.However, McKay's approach was more radical. He directly replaced West and Korver with Goodwin and Svensey, playing the old routine of last season.

Chang Wei couldn't help but frowned, but soon he was relieved.From McKay's point of view, this substitution is no problem, because the head coach must first ensure the victory of the game. After all, this is not a regular season where one or two games can be lost casually, but a single in the final four of the NCAA National Championships. A knockout game, once lost will be beyond redemption.Of course, McKay is also willing to train new players, but now is obviously not the time. For him, stabilizing the situation on the field is the top priority, and everything else has to be sidelined.

(End of this chapter)