Chapter 30 Oklahoma State University
Liu Han has been in a trance after experiencing a trip to the beach in Venice with Safina, and every time he meets Safina, he feels a little embarrassed, and some inadvertent small actions to relieve his inner shyness cause Safina to laugh frequently.
Just before April Fool's Day in 1995, the UCLA Bruins arrived in Seattle, where this year's NCAA Finals will be held, and the Seattle Dome Coliseum can accommodate more than 38,000 people.
The Bruins' final opponent before reaching the NCAA Tournament finals is the Oklahoma State University Cowboys, a traditional powerhouse with a tradition of center, and the team's number one star Bryan Docs is two meters and three meters tall, weighs 125 kilograms, and has masterful basket skills and a positive defensive attitude.
The Bruins' pre-game strategy was to try to avoid going head-to-head with the Oklahoma State University Cowboys, and with Liu Han's very stable three-point point, the Bruins could take advantage of the opponent's center's slower movement speed to speed up the game as much as possible. Bruins head coach George Krent put the main center George Zidike on the bench this time, starting with Thomson, a backup center with good mid-range shooting ability and a weight that can compete with the opponent's Bryant Rivers.
Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton has a wealth of coaching experience, having led the University of Arkansas and the University of Kentucky, both of which have a good winning percentage. Coach Eddy Sutton thinks he knows the Bruins well, he has played against the Bruins many times since he coached the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 1990, and the two teams have played hard each time, Eddie Sutton knows the former coach of the Bruins, Jim Harrick, but now the head coach of the Bruins, George Crent, is a real newcomer. Eddie Sutton noticed the Bruins' eastern shooter Liu Han, but he didn't think it was the most important point, the most important point for the Bruins was the excellent physical fitness and the experienced Edio Bonno, and he felt that as long as he strangled Edio Bonno, the Bruins would not have much chance.
At the beginning of the game, Liu Han was still in the position of scoring guard, and the task given to him by the coach in this game was to keep running and shoot all the shots. The Cowboys' center won the inexperienced Thomson in the pick, the Cowboys attacked, the point guard dribbled the ball across the half court and came to a 45-degree angle, hoisted the ball to Bryan Rivers who was about to get to the position, Rivers dribbled back to Thomson, and then half-turned around and shot with a hook hand with his right hand, the ball popped up in front of the basket and was obtained by Edio Bonno of the Bruins, and Bryan Rivers didn't feel warm up after the opening.
The Bruins attacked, Edio Bonno got the rebound and handed the ball to point guard Teus, who observed that Liu Han had played a fast break and passed the ball to Liu Han, who had run to the opponent's three-point line. The players of the Cowboys didn't expect the Bruins to play so fast at the beginning, and there was only one player who returned to the defense, he thought that Liu Han would catch the ball and break through himself, so he stood relatively backward, but what he didn't expect was that Liu Han didn't make any adjustments after receiving the ball, and jumped directly to shoot, at this time he was about one meter away from the three-point line.
Liu Han's basketball plunged into the basket along the same trajectory as always, 3-0.
Bruins supporters cheered from the sidelines, and Safina and LaBeouf came to Seattle to cheer on Liu, who was unable to make the trip because they had to take care of their two children.
The head coach of the Cowboys noticed George Clent's intentions, but he still stuck to his tactics, which he believes are very flawed and that no one can say for sure.
The Cowboys still use center Bryant Rivers as the first main point of attack in the offense, and I have to admit that Rivers' strong body did cause a lot of trouble for the Bruins, and the Bruins' backup center Thomson was still a little tender, and was beaten into two and one by Rivers twice in a row.
The head coach of the Bruins did not replace Thomson immediately, he observed that Thomson was a little nervous at first, and replacing him at this time would undoubtedly cause damage to his pride, so he shouted loudly off the court: "Thomson, don't be nervous, just like you usually train." George's words of encouragement calmed down a somewhat nervous Thomson.
Five minutes into the game, the Bruins relied on the excellent performance of Liu Han and Adio Bonno to lead the Cowboys by four points at 12-8. Bruins center Thomson also gradually adapted to the pace of the game, contributing a mid-range shot and a block.
Liu Han shot twice in the first five minutes, both times hit, the Cowboys' defense of Liu Han is still very tight, and did not give Liu Han too many opportunities, now Liu Han's defect is that he relies too much on the cover of his teammates, he himself does not have the ability to break through with the ball, so the opponent can choose to be close, which makes Liu Han's space to receive the ball smaller, and there are fewer opportunities to shoot.
Edio Bonno was heavily defended in this game, and although he scored four points with two fouls on the breakaway, he missed three shots in the field because of interference.
Cowboys center Brian Rivers began to play his part in the next game, first blocking a layup from the Bruins Adio Bonno on defense, and then repeatedly shaking off Thomson's shots on offense, and by about 10 minutes into the game, the Cowboys had caught up and led by four points, 23-27.
George, the head coach of the Bruins, called a timeout after seeing the change in the situation on the court, and he first reprimanded Edio Bonno, who played a bit alone in the game.
"Add, I know you really want to win this game, we all want to win, but you have to give up your personal heroism now, and stop rushing inside."
"Liu, I need you to stay on the bench in the next game and try to get the score back before half-time."
At the end of the timeout, George Crent replaced Edio Bonno, and Thomson also went off the court, and he was entangled with the opposing center, Bryant, on the inside, and consumed a lot of physical energy.
The Cowboys also replaced Bryant, the main center with a lot of physical exertion, after the timeout, and the Bruins had Tejus and Liu Han on the court, and the main center George Zidike also appeared, which made the Bruins far stronger than the Cowboys' bench lineup. Liu Han seized the opportunity, first relying on George Zidik's cover to receive Teus's pass in the bottom corner and hit a three-pointer, and then grabbed a three-point shot on the counterattack, and the Bruins took the lead in less than two minutes, 29-27.
The head coach of the Cowboys saw the situation on the court and had to replace Bryan Rivers, who had only been resting for three minutes, to the court, and if he couldn't maintain his success rate in the offense, the Bruins would keep fighting back, and Bryan Rivers is now the most guaranteed point for the Cowboys.
Liu Han has been responsible for defending the opponent's outside player since he entered the Bruins game from the beginning, in fact, he is also constantly observing the situation on the court, and he finds that the Cowboys bench player he is defending now is not too threatening, so Liu Han feels that he can give George Zidike, a center who is under pressure, some help.
The Cowboys' offense, Bryan Rivers received the ball from the guard near the baseline, and the Bruins' center George Zidike, although he had a certain advantage in height, was not as strong and heavy as Rivers. Rivers chose to turn around and jump after dribbling to George Zidik, and the non-stop confrontation inside took a lot of his stamina, so he wanted to finish the offense with technique.
Liu Han has been observing Rivers' movements with his peripheral vision, and he ran to the opponent as soon as he saw Rivers dribble. Bruins center George Zidike quickly taped Rivers on as he turned, and although he couldn't get up and block because his feet weren't adjusted properly, he raised his hand high in an attempt to interfere with the opposition's shot.
Brian Rivers didn't notice that Liu Han had pounced on him, and the center of the Bruins in front of him made it impossible for him to shoot very comfortably, so he jumped back slightly. Liu Han jumped up immediately after getting close to Rivers, and grabbed the basketball that Rivers hadn't fully shot directly into his hands.
The audience on the sidelines exclaimed when they saw Liu Han's wonderful hat grabbing, and the most exciting action on the basketball court was the cap in addition to the violent buckle.
The Cowboys' Brian Rivers is starting to get a little excited because of Liu Han's slightly humiliating hat grab, and he always gives the hat to others.
The morale of the Bruins players was boosted because of Liu Han's cap, point guard Tejus caught the opponent's inattentive three-point shot in the offense, came back to defend, and center George also successfully blocked the Cowboys' shot again, and the Bruins played a wave of 10-0 climax in four minutes.
The head coach of the Cowboys called another timeout, and he is now finally starting to waver a little from his sticking to this set of tactics.
The Cowboys didn't get up after the timeout, but Edio Bonno, who was back on the court after the Bruins restarted, scored six points on a burst shot, and the score was 52-37 at halftime, and the Bruins led by 15 points.
At the start of the second half, the Bruins began to change their tactics, and the backup center Thomson moved to the No. 4 position to play power forward, and Thomson, who has the ability to shoot from the mid-range, can open up some space for other players in the attack. The main center, George Zidike, was responsible for defending the Cowboys' Rivers, and the Bruins began to slow down the pace of the game, pursuing the success rate of each offense, and Liu Han, who played the entire first half, rested off the court.
Cowboy center Rivers started to feel a little tired after playing almost all of the first half, and he began to lose himself in the middle of the two big men of the Bruins, while the recovering Edio Bonno played a dominant performance at the start of the second half, scoring 16 points and adding eight rebounds in less than ten minutes.
With 12 minutes into the second half, the Bruins led by 22 points, 74-52, and the Cowboys were gone.
In the end, the UCLA Bruins relied on the excellent performance of the whole team to win the game 90-72, and Liu Han played 20 minutes and scored 15 points.
The Bruins will host the winner between the University of North Carolina and the University of Arkansas in two days' time, and the two teams will decide this year's NCAA champion at Seattle Dome.