Chapter 45: Advance to the Final Four
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The UCLA Bruins advanced to the quarterfinals after their game against the Mississippi State University Bulldogs, and if they win their next match, the Duke University Blues, they can advance to the final four again and defend their title.
Paul Pierce was ejected for punching someone in the match that has already ended, and was also suspended for one game, which made Paul Pierce feel sorry because he will not be able to play in the next Final Four match.
Liu Han's performance of 55 points in the last game made him the focus of attention of the media and fans, and also made him the focus of attention of all NCAA coaches, because they must now face up to this Oriental kid with a super high three-point shooting rate, and no team can ignore such a big threat.
In Durham, North Carolira, USA, Duke University is also a traditional powerhouse in the NCAA, and they have been doing well in the NCAA for three consecutive years under the leadership of head coach Mike Ashzewski, who is not yet 50 years old.
"Mike, the point guard of the Bruins is really not easy to defend, he is 1.95 meters tall, his speed and explosiveness are good, and the most important thing is that his three points are really accurate, and his defense is also outstanding, and we will not be able to play in the next game." Duke University's assistant coach said to Mike Ashzewski.
"yes, it's a very good player, but what I value more is the team spirit he showed in previous games, why haven't I heard of this player before? Is he from Huaguo? Nicknamed "Old K" Coach McShaszewski has always been a coach who attaches great importance to teamwork.
"Yes, he's only a sophomore this year, and he won the championship with his teammates last year, but at that time he was just a good shooter, and he was only responsible for shooting on the court, but now it seems that their head coach is doing a good job, and it's not easy to train a good shooter to be a good point guard."
"Will their main small forward miss out on the game between us?" Coach K Sr. has not yet received news that Pierce will be suspended.
"yes, we just got the news that he's going to be suspended for one game, which is good news for us, and maybe we can try to wrap up their point guard."
"No, if it was last season I would have wrapped him, but not now, he's not the kind of player who can't pass the ball, so the bag won't work, since their tactics are based on the outside line, then we will focus on their outside line, we also play small ball tactics, this game we fight to defend and drag the rhythm of the game into the quagmire, we will have a better chance of winning than them."
On March 24, 1996, the UCLA Bruins and Duke University Blues played at the Great Western Forum Arena in Los Angeles.
The Bruins' opening lineup caught the Blue Devils' old K coach by surprise, the head coach of the Bruins did not start the game according to the previous lineup in this game, he moved the position of captain Thomson to the No. 4 position to play power forward, and let the center Kevin Horford, who was originally a substitute, start, and the Bruins' lineup is obviously not to play a fast offensive tactic.
At the beginning of the game, Kevin Horford, who won the jump ball, dialed the ball to Liu Han, Liu Han received the ball and came to the front court steadily, and the center who had been behind Liu Han was just in place to cover Liu Han, and the Blue Devils' defense was in place, and the change of defense players followed Liu Han who moved to the right side of the court at 45 degrees, but at this time the power forward Thomson also mentioned that the line gave Liu Han another cover, Liu Han suddenly threw a high throw after taking the ball around Thomson, and Kevin Horford, who was out of position defense because of two screens, had arrived near the basket at this time, and the player who defended him was Chris Collins, the point guard of the Blue Devils, who was 1.91 meters tall and weighed less than 180 pounds, was obviously no match for Kevin, who was 2.10 meters, and the center of the Bruins jumped high and completed the attack with a wonderful aerial relay, 2-0.
Seeing that the head coach of Duke University arranged by the Bruins on the court was very decisive and immediately asked the team's main center to prepare to play, Coach K did not expect that his tactics were completely seen through by the opponent.
Duke's offense, Duke, who has not yet had a chance to complete the substitution, has to continue to play small-ball tactics according to the head coach's arrangement, facing the shrinking defense of the Bruins, the Blue Devils who lack outside firepower really don't have a good way, to be honest, the current NCAA no matter which team except the Bruins are, there are not too many outside firepower points. In an era when joint defense is not allowed, strong interior players are always the most valued. Duke's offense ended with a throw-and-roll in which the time was running out.
Thomson, who became the captain, grabbed the rebound, and he did his duty after being assigned by the head coach to be the captain of the team, although he didn't move fast, but he could still get stuck well with his wide body.
Liu Han received Thomson's pass and dribbled the ball steadily across the half, he did not lift the speed as quickly as before, the team's tactics in this game are mainly inside, so the pace of the game cannot be too fast, otherwise the inside players in the team will not be able to keep up.
Liu Han, who came to the front court, waited for the center to be in place at the top of the arc, Kevin brought it up to cover Liu Han, Liu Han made an illusion of moving to the right side this time, and the opponent's Chris tried to bypass Kevin's cover to chase Liu Han, but Liu Han changed direction in front of the body and changed the direction of the breakthrough. Liu Han, who broke through the defense of the Blue Devils, met the opponent's defender, and he did not break through again, but threw the ball at Thomson, who had reached the top of the arc, and Thomson received the ball and hit a big two-point with a three-point line. Thomson was able to shoot almost as far as the three-point line after training with Liu Han for a while, which was not quite accurate, but it was enough for an interior player. The Bruins opened the game with a 4-0 lead.
After the dead ball, Duke replaced the team's main center, and the team returned to traditional tactics. With a strong center to play with, the Duke Blues showed their team strength, and the team's offensive tactics were executed resolutely, and each player's position on the court was to run for the attack of his teammates, and in the end, the center in the position hit a small hook shot, 4 to 2.
The Bruins' offense is still tepid, Liu Han did not enter a state of soaring points at the beginning of this pizza, and the head coach said to Liu Han before the start of the game, let him lead the rhythm of his teammates in this game, and wait until the opponent's defense against him begins to relax before starting to shoot with all his strength.
The Bruins' offense played very smoothly, although Paul Pierce was missing, but relying on Liu Han's drive, all the players showed great focus. The game entered a stalemate between the two sides.
In the audience on the sidelines, the LaBeouf family came to the scene of the game, Li Rui and Nasha were holding a child alone, I don't know if it was genetic, the two children did not cry because of the noisy atmosphere of the stadium.
"Three-point, Liu, should shoot three-pointers, don't pass the ball to those unreliable teammates, he should play with momentum like the last game. This kid seems to need me to give him a good explanation on how to be more aggressive. "LaBeouf has always made it his goal to worship the lone hero.
Safina was also unhappy with Liu's performance in the first few minutes of the game, preferring to see the handsome performance of the silly big man after shooting three points.
About eight minutes into the game, the Bruins led their opponent Duke by three points, 16-13, Liu Han only relied on free throws to score two points in the first eight minutes of the game, but he got four assists, and the Bruins' offense was almost all completed under Liu Han's organization.
The two sides gradually replaced the substitutes on the court, but Liu Han was still on the court, and the head coach of the Bruins, George, did not plan to let Liu Han rest in this game, and the Bruins, who lacked Paul Pierce's offensive point, must rely on Liu Han to organize the offense.
"Liu, bring the rhythm up, bring the rhythm up, let's play the second plan." The head coach on the sidelines, George, shouted loudly to Liu Han on the field.
Liu Han, who received instructions from the head coach, began to speed up the pace of the game after coming on as a substitute, and Duke's bench players were actually not inferior, but in the face of the Bruins who had Liu Han's organization, they began to show signs of defeat.
Over the next five minutes, Liu Han first relied on two three-pointers from the outside to widen the gap to nine points, and then he stole the opponent's pass and made a layup to widen the gap to double digits. Duke's bench was limited by the Bruins both offensively and defensively.
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