Chapter 68: Before the Game
St. Joseph's School Library, in a quiet and dreary corner, two girls whispered.
"I heard that Kelly and Martin won't be able to play on Thursday? Is it true that you continue to be a spectator? ”
"That's true! That's how the varsity basketball team decides. ”
"Why? Is this crazy? It's such an important moment and we should keep the strongest squad and give it our all. ”
"Who knows! It is said that the two of them had a conflict, and that's it. ”
"Unforgivable! But I still feel that Mr. Martelley made a wrong decision. ”
"There's nothing to worry about, I believe Kyle, he's the best basketball player I've ever seen, he's amazing! I think he can lead the team to win, he can do it. ”
"This is a fact, the first game of his return, he proved that St. Joseph is still very strong, but does this have anything to do with Kelly and Martin playing?"
"You're always struggling with these boring questions, Kyle can solve the fight. How about we make a bet that Kyle can cut more than 30 points and the team can win more than 10 points? The stake is your signed Roberts album. ”
"Don't make a fuss! Everybody knows we can win, Kyle can do anything, and that's not exciting at all. ”
"So what do you think?"
"Asking Kyle for a hug and a photo, that's what I want."
"It can't be! We can't get into the training gym. ”
"Of course I know, come out for a morning run before six in the morning, and if you're lucky, I think you'll meet him, everybody says so."
"Alright! How many points do you think Kyle can hack? ”
"I say forty points, you say thirty points, whoever estimates a similar score wins."
"Alright! Then wait until Thursday and we'll see what happens. ”
"I'm looking forward to it."
These scenes are all over the campus, such as the cafeteria, the crowd, several people, mostly discussing the Yale team, discussing how much to win, how Kyle and the others are playing, Martin and Kelly are suspended, and they are enthusiastic enough to meet the crucial battle on Thursday.
"Hey! Yelena, what have you been up to lately? "A handsome white guy diligently helped a beautiful woman post a poster column.
"Thank you! I didn't do anything, just calm down and think about continuing to study! Or study while working! It's hard to choose right now. ”
"Is it really that hard to choose?"
"Yes!"
"Alright! How did you finish your final paper? ”
"It's still in the making."
"You're always in a state of depression, and a lot of things need to be relaxed, or stimulated, so that you can find inspiration. Thursday's basketball game is a good choice, I've already bought two tickets, how about it? ”
"I'm so sorry! I have a few other things and I have to go home. Yelena looked dazed, a little unnatural.
"Elena! I should say something! Your eyes are full of rejection and defensiveness, and everything is difficult to accept. ”
"Is there one?"
"Yes! You weren't like this before. You've been depressed lately, and that's worrying. ”
"I can't even believe that I'm really the way you say I am?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Alright! I accept your invitation. "See what that guy has become? The second half of the sentence was added by Yelena herself.
In the training hall, everyone was sweating and working hard to improve was their theme, and Kelly Martin was not too lazy, he was throwing off his arms and squandering his physical strength at the equipment.
Martelley and his teaching assistants occasionally wrote and drawn, occasionally whispered discussions, and looked attentive and composed.
The same thing is happening at another campus, the University of South Florida.
On Thursday, at St. Joseph's Arena, people entered the arena early to wait, there was no noise, no laughter, no frolic, they basically kept a solemn face, St. Joseph's students are not here to see it. As the owners of this arena, they need to shout for their heroes, who are now recuperating their energy, and then release all their energy during the game to spread it to the St. Joseph's players who are playing on the field, tell them! All of St. Joseph's will always be behind them, supportive.
A team forms a culture, and the foundation is that it needs a lot of diehards, what is diehards? It is to take a team as a belief or belief, a player as an idol, and the game as spiritual food, winning or losing is not the ultimate goal, the purpose is to vent their emotions, and everything is integrated into their own lives, then this person is the diehard loyalist of this team.
College basketball has a natural die-hard fan, in addition, it also has a deep precipitation, that is, historical honors, iconic figures, plus good records, and a sense of belonging to form an infection, then a little more publicity is needed, which means that there is its own basketball culture.
St. Joseph's has never had such conditions, not without the foundation of fans, on the contrary, everyone in St. Joseph's expectations for basketball far exceed other sports, and they have waited too long for this team to complete its transformation! Wait until they have all forgotten about the sport.
They weren't very demanding, the tournament would satisfy everyone, and this year their chance came! The tournament is close at hand, and as long as a historic breakthrough is created, Kyle will change qualitatively whether he enters the NBA or continues to study, and everything will be different! They'll have a distinguished alumnus in basketball! They'll create a basketball atmosphere, the team will be more competitive when they recruit new students next year, and most importantly, they'll be able to put their emotions on the Yale team, which will be remembered for glory in St. Joseph.
This means that today's game is a big deal, good luck, to finish in the top six, to finish in the top four before the end of the regular season, and the tournament is no longer a dream! There is a good chance that it will be realized. Because they have Kyle! Kyle Lowry! The best player in the Great East League.
The coach is making the final mobilization, mainly the coach of the University of South Florida, Hugo, who is repeatedly telling the elements of defending Kyle, as well as the execution problem, to reiterate the importance of this game.
Martelley didn't say anything, he had made it clear in the dressing room that their tactics were relatively simple, but they were difficult to crack. On the offensive end, Kyle controls the ball, Smith is the axis, and the other three all revolve around them, running without the ball, cutting without the ball, blocking people with people, and pulling space, this is the first set. The second set is Kyle and Herbert Smith playing the pick-and-roll, interspersed with others. The third set is for everyone to pull away, and Kyle goes head-to-head. There is another exception, which is the defensive counter-attack. It's all about running.
Defensively it's man-to-man, and it's a matter of individual ability and defensive skill. Assisting in defense and supplementing defense depends on tacit understanding and cooperation!
In this game, to be honest, all the members of the Yale team have absolute confidence, including Martelley, and the source of confidence is that Kyle is back!
(PS: There is no recommendation position, can you help determine and stabilize the member click list and send it to the recommendation list?) And if you don't have a collection, you can order a little. Thank you all for your support. )