Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 73 Point Guard Ye Feng
Generally speaking, the NCAA's March Madness is from the start of the top 64 to the determination of the champions of the four divisions.According to the high-level arrangement of the NCAA, on March 3 local time, the finals of the Eastern and Western Divisions will start first, the University of North Carolina VS the University of Louisville, and the University of California, Los Angeles VS Xavier University.Before the start of the game, UCLA gained a large number of fans. The reason is very simple: several other survivors of the Pacific Ten Schools League have been directly eliminated in the semifinals of their respective divisions, which means that only UCLA is left in this league. Root only seedling.

But what is interesting is that only two teams in the Elite Eight are from the same league. The University of North Carolina in the East is from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the University of Louisville is from the Big East; UCLA in the West is from the Pacific Ten and Xavier University is from the The Atlantic Ten Schools Alliance; the University of Kansas in the Midwest is from the Big [-], Davidson College is from the Southern Conference; the University of Memphis in the South is from the American League, and the University of Texas is from the Big [-].Most of them attract all the fans in their respective leagues. After all, at this stage, as long as a team in their own league reaches the quarterfinals, it is a victory.

In order to show the NCAA's emphasis on the quarter-finals, these four games are arranged in the best arenas in the local area, and as long as the NBA team does not have a game or is on an away game that day, it will be directly arranged in the NBA team's stadium in the city. in the hall. The game between UCLA and Xavier University was arranged at the American Airlines Center, the home of the Suns, because according to the NBA schedule, the Suns would challenge the Nets away that day, so the team management generously lent the home to the NCAA as the venue for the Western Conference Finals .

Compared with the timidity of the Xavier University players, the UCLA players seem very natural. After all, as the most famous university team in Los Angeles, they can occasionally rub against the Staples Center.For a long-established giant like the Lakers, the Suns can only be regarded as juniors. It is logical that the American Airlines Center is not as luxurious as Staples. No wonder the players are calm on the way to the locker room. Those who knew thought they had the chance to win.

But only they themselves know how nervous they are. Although their movements are not stiff on the court, minor problems such as sweaty palms are indispensable.Holland is also very smart not to put too much pressure on the players, just let them play according to their own rhythm during the game, don't be led by the nose by the opponent, just try to play the role of the star.However, he urged Westbrook again, warning him not to start up just because he fell behind for a while, throwing himself into the crowd and rampaging.Westbrook said with a smile: "Don't worry, coach, I'm fine, besides, there are leaves!"

Ye Feng glared at him from the side, and said in a low voice: "I don't know who you are yet? Asking for the ball from you is like asking for your life. You play well in this game, and I don't want to pick you up." It's your fault." Westbrook still looked heartless, he patted Ye Feng on the shoulder and said: "Ye, I believe in you, just like I believe in myself. But in this situation, I am really easy-headed. Fever, so you have to be ready at any time!"

The pre-match warm-ups of the two teams also seemed to be very calm. At this time, no one would be stupid enough to provoke the opponent, and nine out of ten opponents would directly treat this stupid behavior as air.The two sides are completely indifferent, and even the players rarely turn their eyes to the other half, just doing a series of warm-up activities such as dribbling, layups, free throws and shooting.At critical moments, the team is no longer playing with skills and tactics, but with mentality. Although a good mentality may not necessarily win, a team with an explosive mentality is almost certain to lose.

After the players returned to the locker room to change into jerseys, sneakers and various protective equipment, the game began soon. The UCLA Bruins are still five starters, and the starters of the Xavier University Musketeers did not surprise Holland: point guard CJ. Anderson, shooting guard Drew Lawand, small forward BJ. Raymond, power forward Derrick Brown, and center Josh Dunn.Obviously at this time, there is no need to hide any tricks. It is true that there will be a final four in the future, but if you can't win the division championship, let alone talk about the final four or not.

Within a few minutes of the start of the game, Holland found that his warning was really a rainy day.In fact, any player will be more irritable when facing the opponent's infinite interspersed running and running without the ball, but some people can restrain themselves well, calm their minds and then actively participate in offense and defense, but Some people have symptoms similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder: if you hit me, I have to hit you back, so I will use your routine to teach you how to behave!It doesn't matter whether there is one person in front of him or two, three or four, just rushing towards the basket without thinking.

Not to mention Holland, several other Bruins players on the court looked at Westbrook with trepidation.It’s true that the Musketeers play team-first, but their coordination is quite subtle, which also leads to a stubborn guy like Westbrook repeatedly being suffocated in the opponent’s screens and running, and even thinks that the opponent is doing it on purpose. play yourself.How can I save face?The way he thought of was—breakthrough, unlimited breakthroughs, and the fearless spirit of gritting his teeth and rushing to the basket for a dunk no matter whether there is help in defense or not.

Ye Feng guessed that Westbrook would definitely explode, but he didn't expect this moment to come so quickly. He entered the personal attack mode before half of the first half.This kind of mindless charge is in the arms of the Musketeers. In their opinion, the most difficult thing to defend is this kind of stunned young man who has no ability to fight one-on-five but insists on doing one-on-five.But Westbrook still held the ball firmly even when his head was hot, and it was difficult for the opponent to take the ball directly from his hands, so they chose another method that was easier to make the opponent crazy. It's an offensive foul.

At this time, the relatively short height of the Musketeers players has become an advantage. After all, it is difficult to find tall and agile players. Under normal circumstances, the shorter players in the same position will move faster relatively.It is this small advantage that made Westbrook get two consecutive offensive fouls within 3 minutes. It is a very dangerous thing for the Bruins to get the starting point guard into foul trouble, even if he is not sent off in the end, But his playing time will be cut to pieces, and he will naturally become a weakness for opponents.

After Westbrook failed to score another layup but was turned into a transition attack by his opponent, Holland quickly called a timeout. At this time, the Bruins were already behind by as much as 12 points.Westbrook walked off the field without saying a word, sat in his seat silently, covered his head with a big towel, and said nothing.Seeing that his love general looks like a walking dead, Holland sighed insignificantly, but now is not the time to take into account the inner thoughts of the players, and must take the most beneficial countermeasures for the entire team.

Originally, Holland planned to let Ye Feng control the ball, and then Westbrook played the shooting guard, but obviously the latter couldn't play immediately in this state, so he called Enrique immediately and said seriously: "Now the game is on the court. The situation is not good for us, and Russell can't play for the time being, so Bob, you replace him, and then play shooting guard, and Yep will be the point guard. You have seen a lot, so you shouldn’t have any doubts about my arrangement. We need a calm head,” he said here, and he took the time to look at Westbrook, who continued to be the air, and continued: “Ye’s I can trust my psychological quality, so I only have one request for you, and that is to follow the rhythm of Song Ye and carry out his orders unconditionally!"

Ye Feng, who was watched by all eyes, did not show a nervous look, instead his expression was quite calm, but the flames in his eyes still betrayed him, his heart was definitely not as calm as it appeared on the surface.Ye Feng nodded at Holland and said loudly: "Besides the coach's request to everyone before the game, I will only say a little bit more. If anyone thinks there is a problem with my decision-making, please communicate with me in time, I promise I will consider your suggestion after the round is over. But I hope everyone can listen to the decision I made, the running position that should be played, the screen that should be covered, and don’t say anything that you have forgotten how to play this tactic. I Don't hold back the team, but don't hold me back either, if something like this happens, I will ask the coach to replace you."

After hearing Ye Feng's murderous words, everyone's expressions changed, because in their impression, Ye Feng was a very gentle teammate, even if he made some mistakes on the court, he would just laugh and joke. Form to help teammates correct.But they had never seen such arrogance like today, which also made them feel very uncomfortable.

But Holland couldn't help but want to applaud, the Bruins only needed one voice in this game, and Ye Feng obviously did better than he imagined, because he was willing to modify his decision-making according to his teammates' suggestions.He said silently in his heart: "You are really a natural leader, Ye, I hope you can lead this team to the final four, please don't fall down in this game!"

(End of this chapter)