Chapter 44: Southeast Division
The UCLA Bruins have stunned the nation with an astonishing all-win record in the Pacific-10 Collegiate Conference, one of the few times in NCAA history to advance from all of their games, and if the Bruins can successfully defend their title this year, then they will make history.
The Bruins were assigned to the Southeast Division after advancing to the round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament in '95-96, and last season's eventual Final Four opponents, the Duke Blue Devils, were also assigned to the Division, where the two traditional powerhouses had to meet early for a spot in the Final Four. Other strong opponents in the Southeast Division include the Mississippi State University Bulldogs, Indiana University Mountain Terreans, and Ray Allen's UConn Eskimo Dogs, who played well in the regular season this year. The Bruins face no small challenge in this region.
In March 1996, the annual "March Madness" began, and the Bruins would face their first opponent, the Colgate University Commandos, in Los Angeles on March 2.
The game began with the cheers of 18,000 Bruins supporters, the Bruins entered the state as soon as they started, the Bruins who won the victory with a jump ball in the middle circle tore apart the opponent's defense with only three passes, Liu Han broke through the defense of the opponent's point guard with the ball and distributed the ball to Paul Pierce on the outside, Pierce faked the real pass and handed the ball to the captain Thomson who ran out of position on the inside, Thomson relied on his sharp mid-range shot to score two points. The Raiders' center couldn't keep up with Thomson, the Bruins' slowest moving center.
The Raiders attacked, Liu Han relied on his height advantage to put the opponent's point guard two steps away, with Liu Han's current physical condition, he can almost interfere with the opponent's point guard who is just over 1.8 meters tall when he shoots, so Liu Han only needs to prevent the opponent's point guard from breaking through. The Bruins' overall defense rotated very quickly, and the players in each position were better than the opposing Raiders, and the Raiders' offense ended in a helpless throw.
The game entered the rhythm of the Bruins at the beginning, Liu Han relied on his height advantage to repeatedly hit three points on the head of the opponent's point guard, and when the opponent began to wrap Liu Han, Paul Pierce could also give the opponent a lethal threat, and the Bruins had established a more than 20 point advantage at the end of the first half.
Entering the second half, head coach George replaced Liu Han off the field, and Paul Pierce led the bench players to continue the battle with the Raiders.
In the twelfth minute of the second half, the game went into garbage time, and the Bruins led by 30 points, and the Bruins won the game without blood. Liu Han played 22 minutes and scored 17 points and 9 assists. Paul Pierce played 25 minutes and had 23 points and six rebounds, and the Bruins outscored their opponents by 28 points, 103-75.
The Bruins' second opponent was the University of Connecticut Huskies, who defeated the UNC (University of North Carolina) Greensboro College Spartans to advance to the round of 32, and Liu Han met Ray Allen the following year.
Ray Allen regretted meeting his best friend Liu Han and Paul Pierce's team early, knowing that his team was inferior to the Bruins, but Ray Allen told Liu Han and Paul Pierce before the game that he would fight to the end.
At the beginning of the game, Liu Han was entangled by Ray Allen, and the coach of Kangda watched the last game of the Bruins, and he didn't dare to let his point guard, who was less than 1.8 meters tall, defend Liu Han, and would be killed by Liu Han's three-point shot. Lei Allen's projection ability is very good, but in fact, his defense is also very good, and the physical condition of Lei Allen, who can play a wonderful dunk, is actually very good, coupled with the focused spirit of the game and a strong desire to win, Lei Allen successfully froze Liu Han in the first half of the game.
Although the Bruins lacked Liu Han's play, Paul Pierce stepped up, his height and weight advantages are obvious, and Pierce is not a particularly lone player, Pierce, who attracted the bag in the offense, can smoothly hand over the ball to his open teammates on the court. At the end of the first half, the Bruins had a 12-point lead.
After the game entered the second half, Lei Allen found that he had invested too much energy in Liu Han's defense, he barely made a few shots in the first half of the game, basically staring at Liu Han all over the court, Lei Allen never dared to let go of Liu Han after thinking of Liu Han's desperate three-point shooting rate last season. In the second half, Lei Allen saw that the team was never able to catch up with the score, so he began to let go and shoot with all his might, but because he consumed too much physical strength on Liu Han, his shooting rate was not high, and Liu Han, who felt that the defensive intensity had decreased, finally began to exert his power, and he scored 12 points in five minutes to book the final result of the game in advance.
In the end, the game ended with another loss of strength from Ray Allen, who played the whole game and scored 24 points, but Liu Han and Paul Pierce collectively lost the game 87-99.
After the match, Ray Allen found Liu Han.
"Liu, I don't think I'll ever win the championship if I stay in college, so I decided to participate in the draft this year, do you have any ideas? I think you should go to the draft too, you shouldn't be on the court of a college game right now, it's too weak for you. ”
"Well, I don't know, but right now I do feel like I'm not interested in the game. Maybe I'll be in it, if we win this year. Safina will reward me when I win the championship. Liu Han's words made Lei Allen burst into laughter, he didn't expect that this simple guy wanted to win the championship because of his girlfriend's reward.
The Bruins' winning streak is 31 games, and their sharp offense and three-point shooting have attracted a lot of attention, and the emergence of such an alternative team with small ball and fast offensive tactics in an all-slow-paced team is a novelty for fans, and they have barely seen a team that can shoot threes from all positions.
The Bruins' strong performance has caught the attention of many NCAA teams aiming to win the championship, and they have begun to study the Bruins' tactics.
The Bruins struggled in Game 3 after heading into March Madness, where they collectively malfunctioned against their third rival, the Mississippi State University Bulldogs, with the team's players collectively incarnated as blacksmiths except for Liu Han, and the basket seemed to be covered with a lid.
During the game, the Bulldogs played with great ferocity, and they stopped the Bruins from attacking with vicious fouls, and the Bruins players who fell into anger began to malfunction in the game, trying to use their muscles to fight their opponents hard-to-head.
Coach George, who saw something wrong on the sidelines, immediately called a timeout and said to his players: "Hey, lads, what era is this?" How do I feel like ancient Greece, you all seem to be gladiators. Now, don't be influenced by the other person's behavior, you shouldn't do the same thing as the other person, protect yourself, and at the same time, don't be afraid of the other person, and use your hard-working basketball skills to beat the opponent. ”
Liu Han has been very stable in the game, although he was also "taken care of" by the other party, but Liu Han was not angry because of these "little surprises" of the other party, he began to shoot as long as there was space, and the scores of the two sides were tightly bitten.
Paul Pierce was repeatedly surrounded by opponents in the game, and the opposing defenders have been attacking him with discriminatory language in Pierce's ears, at first Pierce remembered the words of head coach George, but when the opposing defenders began to greet Paul's relatives with insulting language, he finally broke out, Paul knocked the opponent to the ground with a handsome hook, and also sent himself off the court, the players on both sides fell into a conflict, and the game fell into chaos.
Paul Pierce was sent off the court after the players were pulled away by security guards and court staff, and both sides received technical fouls on each other.
Liu Han went all out after the game restarted, and his talent made his hand almost unaffected by some other factors, as long as Liu Han can ensure the normal stability of his muscles, he is fearless at the three-point line.
Liu Han, who shot with all his might, stunned the audience on the sidelines and made the opposing players feel desperate, when their defensive players could still hit two steps outside the three-point line against the defense, all the players would feel desperate.
The Bruins won the game, Liu Han scored 55 points on 16-of-20 shooting from beyond the three-point line, and the Bruins also defeated their opponent 79-71. Liu Han's score almost caught up with the opponent's total.
Paul Pierce apologized to his teammates after the game, but he also said why he did it, and head coach George did not criticize Paul's behavior, but he still told Paul that he hoped he could think more about it in future games.
Liu Han's performance in this game attracted the attention of major media and NBA teams, and his super high three-point shooting rate made the media exclaim that Liu Han was possessed by Reggie Miller in this game.
Liu Han, who returned to Los Angeles after the match, was praised by Safina and LaBeouf.
"I mean, boy, you're a bit of a star now, but if I had been on the field, I'd have shut up the little pit bulldog bastards, they wouldn't have a chance to swear at me."
"Then you guess you'll be sent off in the first five minutes, dear Dad, it's a basketball game, and some people will wear braces but definitely not boxing gloves. Well done, Liu, you are acting like an upright knight, you should use this kind of fair and honest means to make the opponent helpless. ”
"Well, actually, I really want to do it, but I think I'm going to lose the game if I get out of the game, so I won't be able to win the championship, and Safina won't give me a reward if I don't win the championship, which is not good, I think." Liu Han said seriously.
"Hey, boy, don't soak your daughter in front of me, be careful that I can't open your mouth even if I don't open your mouth." LaBeouf raised his fist at Liu Han.
Safina didn't expect that Liu Han cared most about the reward she gave him, which made Safina feel very happy, and she felt that Liu Han should be given a bigger reward for the final championship.