Kansas City, the largest city in the central United States, is located at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. In the 21st century, this once agricultural and pastoral center has become an important industrial and commercial center in the Midwest of the United States.

The 19,500-seat Municipal Hall Coliseum was the home of the Sacramento Kings in Kansas City in the '70s. It seems that with the Kings gone, the once-palatial arena now looks a lot more vicissitudes and loneliness.

On the evening of November 19, 2006, the Duke Blue Devils arrived in the central city of Kansas City to participate in a mini-tournament. A total of four collegiate teams were invited to the tournament, with Air Force Academy, Texas Tech and Marquette University in addition to Duke University.

On the 21st, the Michelin tire-sponsored mini-invitational tournament will usher in the final championship battle, Duke University VS Marquette University. The day before, they had won over the Air Force Academy and the Texas Tech Institute, respectively.

An unfamiliar environment did not affect the performance of the Blue Devils and Sun Yi. In yesterday's 86-54 victory over the Air Force Academy, Sun Yi's performance was still the most watched player in the game. 24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 11-of-11 shooting, most of them were breakaways and slam dunks on the fast break, and there were two 2+1s. Unknowingly, this Chinese player once again broke the freshman record of the Blue Devils. Of all the freshmen who took more than 10 shots, he was the only player to hit all the shots. You know, because of the long-distance flight, the coach didn't let a starter play more than 25 minutes.

As a rival in the Duke finals, Marquette is much less famous, both academically and in basketball. Although the Marquette Golden Eagles, who belong to the Great East League, are very strong, the team's empty honor showroom obviously cannot be compared with some of the most profound giants. Marquette University, with a mediocre record, has the only resume that can make a shot is to produce the youngest Finals MVP player in NBA history - Dwayne. Wade.

The 40-year-old head coach of the Golden Eagles, Tom Brown. Collin seems to be very good at tuning outside players, especially two-way guards who can score and assist. After Wade, Travis, who was drafted by the Magic in '05. Diner, who averaged 20 points and 7 assists per game in his senior season. In the team's top scorer last season Steve. After Novak was drafted by the Rockets this year, Marquette relied more heavily on three perimeter players who were also sophomores.

Last season's team's No. 2 scorer, point guard Dominic. James, despite his height of only 1.80 meters, can make up for his lack of height most of the time, and he is an out-and-out core player of this team with 15.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists last season.

Jelle, who is known for his breakthrough sharpness. McNeil (a free agent signed by the Suns in '15 and played for Zhejiang in the CBA in '13), is 1.93 meters tall enough to establish himself in the college game quarterback position. After a summer of hard work, his three-point shooting percentage has almost caught up with Matthews, who is currently the most accurate on the team.

Wesley, who is 1.96 meters tall. Matthews is the most effective head coach Tom Brown. One of the players Colin was most pleasantly surprised. Matthews, who averaged 9 points per game in his freshman season, looked more like a pure outside shooter, but he didn't expect that after just a few months of vacation, his personal ability has been comprehensively improved. The ability to attack with the ball, which has been criticized by the coaching staff, is no less than the team's number one player, Dominic. James, and because of the height advantage, there is a tendency to catch up.

In another time and space, this NBA loser became a quasi-All-Star level inspirational guy with an annual salary of 10 million. His father was also a professional player, was drafted by the Washington Wizards in the first round and played in the NBA for nine years. However, Matthews' basketball path was not guided by his father. When he was two years old, he lived with his mother because of his parents' divorce. Moles. When Matthews was younger, he could be said to be an all-rounder in sports. She is not only an excellent track and field athlete, but also a member of the main team of the college women's basketball team. Under the careful guidance of his mother, Willis. Matthews became the 2005 Wisconsin Basketball Man.

2.06m Dan. Fitzgerald with his senior, Steve Brown. Novak's characteristics and playing style are very similar, and he is good at attacking opponents from the outside. And the 2.08-meter white man Ottoman. Barrow is the defensive pillar of the team's interior line.

Plus, the Golden Eagles have a decent freshman on the bench. Lazar at 1.98m. Hayward (who was drafted by the Wizards with a first-round pick of 30 in '10 and then sent to the Timberwolves) is a good swingman at the center with excellent wing defense.

Judging by the characteristics of Marquard's college player makeup, this is a small team that focuses on the outside and is good at fast breaks. It happened to be against Duke University, which has been trying to play a whirlwind in recent games.

Because of his limited athleticism, the Blues' only regular centre-forward, Zobeek, has returned to the bench from the starting lineup. He was replaced by captain McRoberts at center, with McClure at the power forward and Paulus and Nelson as partners on the back line. The team's current top scorer, Sun Yi, was moved to the position of small forward. Due to the fact that players who play the small forward position in college, there are very few players who are more than two meters tall. Therefore, Sun Yi, who has the advantage of arm span, does not suffer from the defense of most players in this position, but still has a lot of advantages in movement. Although he switched to playing small forward, Sun Yi is still the best choice for the team to launch a fast attack. Because of the change of position, he was closer to his own basket ring in defense, and Sun Yi, who has a keen sense of rebounding, has become the team's rebounding king in the past two games. Of course, he is also the Blues' leading scorer and assist.

After the start of the match, the two teams that mainly play fast-break tactics invariably increased the tempo of the game. Teams that are generally good at playing fast break are also good at defending fast break. Two teams with similar characteristics made a series of mistakes under the opponent's tight defense for a while.

In the 8th minute of the game, Marquette University coach Tom Murphy couldn't stand it. Colin called the first timeout. At 14-18, the Golden Eagles trailed their opponents by 4 points.

In Coach Colin's impression, although Duke Coach Coach is also a coach who attaches great importance to outside offense, he didn't expect to play small-ball fast-break tactics this year.

"Wesley, didn't you sleep last night? How is it that in the counterpoint with that Oriental boy, it seems to be sleepwalking. "The team's defense as a whole is quite satisfactory to Coach Colin. Only Matthews, who usually has the best defense in the team, was completely blown up by the opponent's No. 8 player at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. More than half of all the opponent's scores came from the black-haired and yellow-skinned player. And Wesley. When Matthews was on offense, he gave his opponent 2 steals and 1 block.

Matthews, who was holding a towel on the bench and constantly wiping the sweat on his head, was already very depressed, and he had to endure the coach's chatter and questioning. Coach, it's really not that I don't work hard, but that the opponent is too perverted!

Although both of them are 1.96 meters tall, Matthews may still have a slight advantage in terms of size. But the players who have really played against Sun Yi will sigh at the Chinese player's unyielding defensive will and far beyond the average man's arm span advantage. Those two turnovers and one shot were blocked, not at all because of his own carelessness. Rather, it is a true reflection of the opponent's defensive strength.

On the bench of the Blue Devils on the other side of the pitch, the scheming Duke coach was not angry at the stalemate between the team and the little-known opponent. Coach K, who has been carefully observing the situation on the sidelines, found that his team's fast-break ability is not as good as the Golden Eagles, who have always adhered to small-ball tactics. If it weren't for Sun Yi's excellent scoring ability and captain McRoberts's all-round play, I'm afraid the side behind now would be the Blue Devils.

As a wise manager, he will definitely not be a person who goes all the way to the black. Playing to the strengths and avoiding weaknesses is a must-have quality for all good coaches.

In view of the opponent's excellent fast break and outside ability, Coach K Lao waved his hand. Let Henderson, who was already eager to try on the bench, replace McClure, who started the team.

And the position of Sun Yi, the core of the team's attack, has changed again. He became the team's power forward, with Henderson taking his place as small forward.

Because of the careful old Coach K, through his own observation, he found that the guy opposite Sun Yi was a player with a very comprehensive offensive and defensive skills. In order to allow his top scorer to play to his strengths, he decided to bring on the defensive tough Henderson to contain his opponents.

"Sun, pay attention to the opponent's defense. As soon as there is no chance of a fast break, give the ball to Paulus. You go to the opponent's interior and look for opportunities to go head-to-head with players you play against players, just like you do with your teammates in training. Coach K's witty tone drew laughter. It made many nervous team members feel relieved. Among them, McClure and Boykin's laughter was the most embarrassing. Because in the team's usual training, the two were ravaged by teammates who were a cut below themselves. Since being able to master the back-to-body technique, Sun Yi has become more and more experienced in dealing with some opponents who are taller than himself. Accurate step-back shots and quick turnaround ability often make opponents lose sight of the other.

In the game just now, Coach K had already discovered that the 2.06-meter-06 big forward of the Golden Eagles, in addition to having a more accurate three-point shot, his presence on the defensive end was equal to zero. Using one's strongest point to attack the opponent's weakness is what this old Polish man is best at.

After the timeout is over, the game resumes. When the Blue Devils player wearing the No. 8 jersey went straight into his own penalty area, the head coach of the Golden Eagles, Tommy Brown. Colin had a hint of foreboding, and glanced at the target he was chasing in his coaching career, and the other party showed that calm and relaxed temperament, which really made him sigh to himself.

Sure enough, Sun Yi, who is active in the 10-15 yards area, repeatedly used his excellent personal skills to play with the opponent after facing Fitzgerald, who is known as the successor of Novak, the 'defensive transparent man'. Moreover, captain McRoberts's excellent mid-range shooting ability and basket skills can often form an effective support for him.

The two Blue Devils players, who are working together more and more tacitly, have messed up the already weak interior line of the Golden Eagles. At the end of the first half, the Blue Devils, who had been effectively adjusted by Coach K, led the opponent by 12 points at 42-30.

Sun Yi scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-4 three-pointers. Because of the change of position, he immediately doubled up to 8 rebounds in the half. And he is good at brushing assists with fast breaks, but due to the effective restrictions of opponents, he has only 2 so far.

After the halftime adjustment, Coach Klin, who was not slow to react, immediately used the 1.98m Lazar. Hayward replaces Fitzgerald, who was not defending well.

When Sun Yi found that the opponent in front of him was replaced by a 'black and hard', he immediately changed his attack strategy after several temptations. Due to his weight and inferior strength to his opponents, he found that back-to-back attacks were no longer a good option.

Sun Yi decisively pulled to the outside, using his more flexible and fast pace to impact the opponent's basket with a breakthrough. This wise choice made the old Coach K, who had been observing him on the sidelines, cry out in his heart, and his son could be taught!! A smart player who doesn't need a coach to tell you how to play.

Looking at the score that kept being pulled away, Tom. Coach Colin tried a lot of tricks, but he couldn't limit the opponent's No. 8 from scoring like crazy. If Matthews hadn't suddenly found his groove under Henderson's defense and hit three magical three-pointers in a row, I am afraid that Marquette University would have suffered its first heavy defeat of the new season at the Kansas Municipal Hall Arena.

In the end, the Duke Blues defeated a strong Marquette University 85-70. Among them, Sun Yi, who got unlimited firing rights in this game, scored a new personal high of 38 points in his college career, and also picked up a team-high 12 rebounds. Although he only had four assists, the Chinese player once again proved how wise the team chose himself in the first place with his outstanding performance.

The defeated Golden Eagles also had a player who played very conspicuously. Wesley, who scored a team-high 28 points. Matthews, after the game, took the initiative to walk up to the No. 8 player of the Blue Devils who had depressed him for half the court, and said convincingly: "Dude, you are indeed strong!" ”

Meanwhile, Belk Arena, home of Davidson College, has just concluded a Wildcats' big win over Colby College. The opponent's fragile strength did not let Stephen, who had just scored 34 points. Curry smiled even a little. In the heart of this clear-eyed young man, it was all the game four days later.

Because, he wants to make those who once looked down on him on the opponent's home field realize how stupid their choice was.