Chapter 023: Champion of the Western Region
With the end of all the games on March 23, the NCAA's elite quarterfinals have been selected one by one, and on the whole, there are no big upsets in this year's NCAA. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info
Central and Western Division: No. 1 seed Florida vs. No. 3 seed Oregon
Western Division: No. 1 seed Kansas vs. No. 2 seed UCLA
Eastern Conference: No. 1 seed North Carolina vs. No. 2 seed Georgetown
Southern Division: No. 1 seed Ohio State vs. No. 2 seed Memphis
The top seeded teams have basically made it to the elite quarterfinals, which also means that the next matches will inevitably be the most tragic confrontation, and there is no room for luck.
It's fair to say that any NCAA player aspiring to the NBA has to fight hard every game if he wants to get a high pick in the next draft. Of course, if it's a prodigy like Kevin Durant, it's a different story.
At the moment, UCLA is using the last minute to prepare for the tournament, and their opponent is the No. 1 seed in the West Conference, the University of Kansas Jayhawks, who are better than their opponents in terms of their overall regular season record.
Ruan Erniu looked at the counterpoint, his opponent was Julian Wright, and he was the same short PF type, but judging from the video, he always felt that his skills were a little rougher than his own, which should not be difficult to do.
Center Sasa Cowan is from Russia, Mata can basically handle it, and Erniu feels that he has no problem paying attention to the defense.
What really worries him is the Kansas perimeter, where Brandon Rush just finished with a magical 6-of-6 shooting last game, compared to Aflora's inconsistent form. Mario Chalmers is also not an easy player at the back, and this guy called Super Mario is also a strong guy and must put enough defensive pressure on him.
The biggest pressure is Aaron Aflora, whose inconsistent play in key games has been affecting the outside world's evaluation of him, and most people have overlooked the help he has given UCLA on the defensive end. The fight against Kansas was also his chance to prove himself.
Coach Ben Holland made one last change before the game, and this time he made up his mind to take Josh Shipp off the starting line-up and move Luke Richard Palmert to the small forward position. Replace an attacker and strengthen the defense up front. It's also a clear way to tell Afflaro that I believe in your scoring ability.
March 25, still the HP Coliseum San Jose.
Lorenzo Mata jumped up at the same time as Sasha Cowan, the ball was picked up by Kansas defender Russell Robinson, and the game began.
Brandon Rush continued his good run from the previous game by firing first from beyond the 3-point line to score points for Kansas.
Darren Collison dribbled the ball across the front court, and Avralo immediately demanded it, and then resolutely burst inside. In the face of Julian Wright's help defense, he did not directly distribute the ball as usual, but faced the opponent, a dashing lever, sent the ball into the basket, and caused the opponent to foul, plus a penalty!
When Afflaro made free throws, Nguyen Erniu stood on the side, ready to grab the board at any time. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and he looked confident. Because he felt that he had won 80 per cent of the game today, Afflalo's tough stance spoke for itself, and he added a penalty to the goal.
The game gradually fell into a tug-of-war, and the two teams went back and forth, and they were very happy. Nguyen Er Niu dominated the confrontation with Julian Wright and his substitute Darrell Arthur, and although the offensive focus of this game was not on him, he still conscientiously completed every defense and attack, without giving the opponent the slightest chance!
At 31:40, UCLA ended the first half with a nearly double-digit lead.
Darren Collison has not fully recovered from a wrist injury, and Westbrook has also gained a lot of playing time.
Although he hasn't scored much on the offensive end for the time being. (Ben Holland won't give him that chance either, and if he dares to hold the ball too much, he'll be off the court immediately.) But on the defensive end, he still did a good job of containing Mario Chalmers. Super Mario couldn't jump, and the inside line was locked up by Ruan Erniu, and Brandon Rush alone was far from enough to recover the score.
Intermission, UCLA's locker room.
"How does it feel to get so much playing time?" said Ruan Erniu to Westbrook, who was still shaking his body excitedly.
"Great! I can play the whole game at any time!" Wei Shao said without hesitation.
Mata heard this and accosted: "Hey, that's not going to work! If you play the whole game, we and the opponent will go crazy together, because for at least 20 minutes or more, the ball is stuck in Russell's hands alone!"
UCLA was suddenly filled with laughter, Wei Shao rolled his eyes, and sat alone on the side, he didn't want to talk to these bad guys anymore.
Ben Holland stopped the laughter and said solemnly: "Okay, gentlemen, that's the end of the joke time, now let's talk about the tactical arrangement of the second half, we have to put enough pressure on the opponent in the opening stage!"
With Ben Holland's strokes on the tactical board, a whole set of defensive plans appeared in the players' minds, and they were all things that were constantly practiced in the usual training. As for the offense, give the ball to Avlalo, give the ball to Kraft Nguyen, put the ball ...... , well, it's really not that complicated, and it might be okay to summarize it directly with the legendary tactical xjbd (pinyin).
Ben Holland's tactical set-up worked wonders at the start of the second half.
UCLA, which further tightened the defense, completely choked Kansas's throat, and with Ruan Erniu and Afflaro scoring consecutive points, as well as strong pressure on the defensive end, a wave of 13:3 attacks stretched the score to a desperate state.
In the NCAA, the average score difference is more than 10-15 points, and the possibility of recovering it is very small. Faced with a gap of nearly 20 points, Jay Hawks coach Bill Sell still asked his players to play every ball and not give up when he took a timeout.
Coach Seef is right, playing hard is not necessarily winning, but giving up the game is bound to lose. Kansas gradually chased the score back.
Brandon Wright once again led the team forward with his accurate long-range shot. Chalmers also took advantage of Westbrook's substitution to score points in succession, but Darren Collisson's injury still affected his performance to a certain extent.
Looking at the approaching Kansas, UCLA's side is also not to be outdone. Afflaro broke out completely, repelling Kansas counterattacks with crucial answerballs again and again.
Soon, Ruan Erniu was also powerful in the low position, and he used his beautiful turn to play with his opponent. Among them, there are even wonderful buckles that are destined to be selected as the top five of the day. And the backdrop is none other than the Russian inside line - Sasa Cowan.
The 211cm tall and weighing more than 110kg of the Meat Shield Center is obviously too fast. His most sensible choice would have been to finish the race hand in hand with Mata, who was also a slower move. But he was bent on helping to defend Ruan Erniu, who rushed up, and the tragic ending was basically predictable.
At 78:55, UCLA defeated the opponent, won the Western Conference championship, and reached the final four of the NCAA!