God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 59
North Carolina's locker room was full of gloom, and even the few players who usually like to make trouble the most were silent.Everyone knows that North Carolina is in big trouble now, and it seems that coach Smith has nothing to do.After all, North Carolina has never been known for its strong defense. Unfortunately, Villanova's firepower is stronger than theirs. Although the coordination is a bit rusty, it is enough.

Smith pinched his eyebrows vigorously. It was only half of the game, but he looked very tired, and even his eyes were bloodshot.He looked at the players who bowed their heads and said hoarsely: "I must admit that Villanova is a strong team. Although there are many rookies in their roster, the overall strength is stronger than last season." powerful."

"I underestimated them. I don't even know if we have a chance to win this game, but I hope everyone will not give up in the second half. We have our pride. Even if we are destined to lose the game, we can't bow our heads. In the second half we return to One-on-one marking, preventing other Villanova players from receiving the ball, allowing McGrady or Brand to use their personal ability to solve the game. If they play a high scoring efficiency, then I will recognize it, but if they feel Well, here's our chance."

What Smith said made most North Carolina players excited, but Carter, Jamison and Shamond were sad.They are not rookies who will be emotionally stirred up by a few words. They are experienced and have already seen the team's dilemma.

Even so, as the core combination of the team, they cannot show any negative emotions on the surface, but must continue to motivate their teammates to fight on the court.So the core is not so easy to do. Although you have a lot of power, you have to take on more responsibilities. You enjoy the cheers when you win, and of course you are responsible for losing.

The second half of the game started soon. Seeing that North Carolina switched back to one-on-one marking, Rappers smiled slightly, and had a little more confidence in winning the game.He is very sure of the abilities of Tracy McGrady, Brand and Battier, and they won't be afraid of any player one-on-one.Even if Carter and Jamison can guard McGrady and Brand, Battier is not a vegetarian. Although he has always been polite and willing to be the third leader of the team, he is actually good in offense and defense. An NCAA team is enough to play the core role, and Villanova can have such a luxury.

But obviously in the second half Battier did not need to take on heavy responsibilities. Under the leadership of Brand and McGrady, the team constantly switched between the two tactics of point forward and point center according to the situation on the field.When McGrady holds the ball, Brand will drop to the low post to play Jamison, and if Brand holds the ball, McGrady will continue to use the screen to find gaps, before Carter touches the corner of his shirt. The ball is scored.

Others are relatively free. Battier and Brown act as three-point forts on the outside, ready to receive passes from the inside to the outside and shoot three-pointers. Allen is busy constantly covering for everyone, and there is Competing for rebounds with Okuraja.It can be said that Brand and McGrady turned North Carolina's defense upside down.

North Carolina's other core Shamond also tried to stand up to help the team narrow the point difference, but he was entangled by Battier.This made Shamond very surprised. He has always been proud of his speed, but Battier is obviously just a small forward, and he can easily keep up with his speed. It really makes people feel a little incredible.

If Chang Wei knew what Shamond was thinking, he would definitely give him a slap in the face.Although Shamond is North Carolina's starting point guard and is as famous as Carter and Jamison, Chang Wei, who traveled through time, knows very well that this guy didn't play well in his previous life, but Battier has become the top 3D player in the NBA. , which is strong and which is weak is clear at a glance.

Shamond was intercepted by Battier for a wide-range pass, and Battier interfered with an outside shot. He didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of this seemingly harmless guy.Battier took advantage of the opportunity of the opponent's defense to hit two consecutive three-pointers in front of Shamond, and Shamond was completely unable to cause any interference due to his height.

With 3:12 left in the game, Villanova's lead was up to 22 points, and it didn't look like they were going to slow down.Now McGrady has scored 25 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, Brand has 18 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, Battier is slightly worse, but also has 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 With the comprehensive data of 2 assists, 2 steals and [-] blocks, it can be said that the Villanova trio has already made their name in this game. You must know that they are facing North Carolina led by Jamison and Carter. The degree of tacit understanding is not comparable to them.

But the reality speaks for itself. It is North Carolina that is behind instead of Villanova, which shows that Villanova has at least demonstrated strength in this game that surpasses its opponents.Even if they can't play the same performance this season, they will be respected by every opponent, because they have the capital to overthrow the powerful.

Smith sighed helplessly, replaced the four players Jamison, Carter, Shamond and Okuraja, and let the newcomers go up to feel the atmosphere of the game, which also meant that the North Carolina pitchers conceded.Rappers also reciprocated and replaced the substitute lineup to kill the remaining three minutes. This is also a tacit approach between the two sides.

"Di--" With the beep of the timer, the game ended. The final score was 92 to 77. Villanova beat North Carolina by 15 points and got a good start to the season.The media naturally focused on the Three Musketeers of Villanova. McGrady and Brand's statistics are of course very beautiful, but as veterans in the basketball circle, they will not forget Battier's role in the team's tactical system. What's more, Battier has shown a mouth-watering versatility.

When the Wildcats of Villanova University left the field, Carter suddenly ran over and stuffed his jersey into McGrady's hand, turned around and left without saying anything.McGrady was about to catch up, but was stopped by Chang Wei.Looking at McGrady's puzzled eyes, Chang Wei said in a low voice: "What are you going to say to him when you catch up? No matter what you say, it will be embarrassing, okay? It's better to pretend that nothing happened, anyway, we won the victory , isn't it?"

McGrady nodded, watched Carter's back merge into the crowd, turned around and followed the large army and walked away.

(End of this chapter)