King of the Point Guard Era

Chapter 32
A Chinese restaurant in Memphis. This is the place that He Yixiang and Su Ruoxuan must visit once a week since they came to Memphis. Although there is no confirmed relationship, the two of them have long been considered managers in the eyes of others.He Yixiang, who used to be active when alone, is a little silent and absent-minded today.

A small jade-like hand waved in front of He Yixiang's dazed face: "What? You're still in a daze." Su Ruoxuan propped up her small face and looked at He Yixiang opposite with a half-smile.

He Yixiang was a little embarrassed all of a sudden, it's a big taboo to be in a daze when dating a girl: "I'm sorry, it's because of me"

"Because of the national team, right? Seeing that the netizens support you, but the Basketball Association hasn't recruited you, isn't it a bit unhappy." After getting along for a year and a half, Su Ruoxuan already knew what the little boy in front of her was thinking. Sometimes he looks careless on the surface, but the things he cares about can easily affect his emotions, "But your focus now should be on the current game."

Speaking of the NCAA competition, He Yixiang couldn't help laughing: "That's for sure, I still remember what you promised me after winning the championship in high school."

Su Ruoxuan also blushed when she thought about what she promised after the high school finals: "Then you have to work hard, I won't admit it if I lose."

Two days later, the University of Memphis ushered in the biggest dark horse of the competition - the Butler University Bulldogs, which won the Western Conference Championship as the No. 5 seed, and the opponent they defeated was the one who won the championship by defeating Memphis in the 08 final Kansas.Butler University has a young coach, Brad Stevens, who is only 33 years old. He is the youngest head coach to lead his team to the NCAA Final Four since Bob Knight in 1973.His team is not very talented. As a school with only more than 4000 people, they are not very attractive. The core of the team is two white forwards Gordon Hayward and Matt · Howard and convulsive guard Shelvin Mack.But Stevens has brought Butler to today for ten years, and finally completed the explosion this year, a wave of 24 consecutive victories directly reached the semi-finals.

At the beginning of the game, Cousins ​​was overwhelmed by Butler University's inside line and succeeded in singles one after another. Butler University had nothing to do about it, but Butler University's Hayward had a good touch. Don't look at Hayward. However, his quality is not the same as that of ordinary white people. His strong core strength and speed make Zach miserable.Memphis has two absolute strengths, He Yixiang and Cousins, on the back line and the inside line. However, it lacks a reliable defensive point on the front line. In the first few games, there was no top-level striker. In the last game against Kentucky, Patterson, the forward Just scored the highest 23 points of the Kentucky team, and this game has just begun, and Hayward has already scored 6 points.

The two sides were extremely anxious for a while, and Memphis even led by two points, but John Calipari frowned, because he found that the core of the team, He Yixiang, was completely out of shape at this time.Two open three-pointers were missed, no sports goals were scored, and the ball after the breakthrough was intercepted twice. If it weren't for Cousins' brave performance, the team would have fallen behind.At this time, Coach Stevens of Butler University also discovered this problem: "Mike, I'll give you a chance, now attack, what point to hit." This made Shelvin Mack a little confused.He remembered the team meeting before the game, and the coach told him not to be convulsed in front of He Yixiang, because He Yixiang is now one of the top five defensive guards in the NCAA, but now he made himself decisive and bold to attack.But since it is the coach's arrangement, he will execute it.He is absolutely obedient to Stevens.

Mike reached out to get the ball from the outside, and after dribbling for two steps, he found that although He Yixiang was staring at him, he was not very focused, so he jumped up and shot a three-pointer. It was not until he made the shot that He Yixiang realized it and jumped up to block the shot, but it was too late .In the next few rounds, Mike, who had tasted the sweetness, was chasing He Yixiang's point. He Yixiang's defense at this time was comparable to that of a traffic policeman. He was simply directing the traffic on the field and guiding the route for Mike's breakthrough.For three consecutive rounds, Mike scored 7 points in a row. The Memphis fans in the United Express Center Arena were a little uncomfortable at this time. Is this still their hero?Even Reggie Miller in the commentary can't help shaking his head. He can't believe that this is the He Yixiang who let him see the shadows of Nash and Paul two days ago.Many people in China who opposed He Yixiang's entry into the national team were also happy for their "correct" vision at this time. Sure enough, they still understand football.

Coach John Calipari finally couldn't help calling a timeout and replaced He Yixiang. He Yixiang lowered his head a little ashamedly: "Sorry, coach, my problem."

"Now is not the time to talk about this. Listen, from now until the second half, your task is to calm me down. Remember, the points lost now will be recovered by me in the second half." Coach John Calipari waved his hand , let He Yixiang adjust by himself.

The game continued tensely, and the situation on the court turned to Butler University. Hayward and Mike's offenses were still sharp, but here they adopted a zone defense, attacking Cousins ​​back and forth, making it difficult for Cousins ​​to receive comfortably. After He Yixiang left the field, Memphis lacked powerful singles players and rhythm controllers on the outside line, and could only rely on quick jump shots after running to score points.

"Hey, it seems that Butler University is going to be blacked out to the end. This is how a single game wins and loses. This is how basketball is fun, isn't it? No one can predict the outcome. This is the charm of the game." Reggie Mee Le watched the player he was optimistic about sitting on the bench in a daze, and seemed a little helpless. After explaining the game, he was shocked by the boy. Back to TNT and Barkley, Kenny Smith boasted that this year's MOP himself He Yixiang, who is optimistic, is determined, but now he is pressed on the bench because of his poor play.

"Oh! You're going to lose to me this time. I'm optimistic about Singler from Duke University. He has already led Duke to defeat Michigan State University, just two hours ago." McHale thought that he finally He could save face with Reggie Miller, and he was so happy that he wanted to dance in the live broadcast room, but he was no longer allowed to do so because of his age.

At the end of the half, the University of Memphis trailed by 27 points at 39:12. It is a blessing for Memphis to only fall behind by so much. First, Cousins ​​played well and scored 14 points and 7 rebounds in the half. The backup point guard Fritz resolutely implemented coach John Calipari's tactics, suppressing the rhythm, trying to consume enough time for each attack and reducing the number of rounds.

(End of this chapter)