Chapter 107: This Is Just the Beginning
The Kentucky-Butler University game was also played the following night at Relander Stadium.
More than 70,000 stadiums, 40,000 Kentucky fans, 30,000 Butler fans, similar to last night.
Players from UConn watched from the sidelines.
Kentucky is led by Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones this year, and compared to last year's Super Five (Wall, Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Alton), the squad is significantly weaker, but they have a good schedule and are relatively easy to reach the Final Four.
Their opponent, Butler University, was last year's super dark horse, and this year they basically retained the lineup, and it is not surprising that they will reach the semifinals.
In fact, this year, several strong teams are divided into the west and southwest regions, and the competition between the east and southeast regions is naturally relatively less fierce.
Butler University School is small and doesn't have much of an advantage when it comes to recruiting students, so they play complete team basketball, both offensively and defensively, with very high execution.
Kentucky's style of play is somewhat similar to Duke's, with the freedom of the players on the court.
After the game started, Knight and Jones opened fire on the inside and outside, and soon helped Kentucky take the initiative on the court.
But it didn't take long for the Butler University team to cause problems for the Kentucky duo, who were physically drained with each of their scores, and by the end of the first half, they were only four points behind Kentucky at 32-36.
Tang Tian watched the half and quickly understood that this Butler University team can become a strong team, and the end is a point, consumption.
Through confrontation and physical contact, the physical strength of the opponent's core players is consumed, and the level is forcibly pulled.
So any team that plays against Butler University will have very low scores.
This seems very simple, every university can do it, but it is not the same when it really plays, because if you want to really play a role in consumption and limitation, you must have enough tacit understanding at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, otherwise, with the talent of ordinary players, it is easy to be beaten by the opponent.
That's what sets Butler University apart.
You can also see this from the composition of the team members, their core members are basically juniors and seniors.
The pace of the second half was almost identical to the first, with Kentucky quickly stretching the margin to double digits in the opening period, but in the second half, Knight and Jones were defended and Butler University took the opportunity to catch up.
In the stalemate, both Knight and Jones's mentality broke down a bit, and there were mistakes one after another.
Butler University seized the opportunity, and a wave of small climaxes directly reaped the game.
55-50, Butler University finally defeated Kentucky by a five-year margin and entered the NCAA Finals for the second consecutive year.
"It's going to be hard to play in the final, but we're going to win." It's completely different from when he watched North Carolina games before, and Walker is more confident than ever.
"Well, cherish it, it's our last game." Tang Tian said with a smile.
Butler University's style of play is to fight for physical strength and psychology, and if you can grit your teeth in the end, you will have a great chance of winning.
Knight and Jones finally collapsed mentally and Kentucky lost in the end, but Kangda will not, whether it is him or Walker, or even the whole team, after winning Duke, the mental attributes are full of MAX value.
After a day of rest, on April 4, the NCAA finals between UConn and Butler University kicked off at Relander Stadium.
This time, the number of fans on both sides was equal, and the celebrities of both teams were basically there, Ray Allen and Hamilton were on the Nexus side, and Butler University was a little shabby, but Gordon Hayward, the core of the team last year, also came to the scene.
As in the semi-finals, the two teams played anxiously after the start of the game.
At halftime, the score was 34-33, with Nata leading by just one point.
The stalemate didn't change until five minutes before the break.
Walker made consecutive strong baskets, or scored or caused kills to the free throw line, and directly opened the score in a wave.
The score on the court was finally fixed at 60-50, and UConn defeated Butler University by 10 points and successfully won the NCAA championship in the 2010~2011 season.
At the moment of the final whistle, although he was full of confidence and knew that he would win, when the streamers fell and the scene was boiling, Walker couldn't help crying, and he and Tang Tian hugged each other tightly.
It took three years for the 1.85m defender to finally get what he wanted.
The cheers of the "Connecticut Huskies" continued to reverberate through Reilant Stadium, and unlike the last game, this time there were tears of excitement from many fans.
Kangda's road to winning the championship in hell mode is really extremely difficult, and if it is written as a biography, it will be an absolute bestseller.
Cajon received the championship trophy from the president of the league, and the UConn players held the championship trophy in their hands and stood on the podium for more than ten minutes before coming down.
Their faces are more and more excited, this is the championship moment for each of them, and it is also the most colorful stroke of their lives.
Walker contributed 20 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists in the semifinals, and scored 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in this game, successfully elected as the final MOP player.
Walker's eyes were red, and he gave his acceptance speech.
He thanked a lot of people, even his high school coach, and you could tell from his words that he really held back for a long, long time for this moment.
"I have one person to thank at the end of the day, he's special to me, maybe he doesn't feel it himself, but he's helping me when I've been injured or when I'm not playing well in a game, maybe you think it's crazy, but I think he's a different mentor in my life."
Walker's words aroused a wave of curiosity from everyone on the sidelines.
It's a lot like a description for Cahon, but Cajon Walker has already given extra thanks to him before.
"Don, thank you, this is the best ending." Walker said from the bottom of his heart.
Walker's opening was a whistle on the scene.
Tang Tian is only 18 years old, 2 years younger than Walker, but Walker sees him as a life coach, which is really quite rare.
However, the performance of the Kangda players confirmed that what Walker said was true, they did not appear surprised, and even head coach Cajon applauded Tang Tian.
The outside world may not know, but everyone in this Kangda team is very aware of the changes and contributions that Tang Tian has brought to this team.
The reporter quickly gave the microphone to Tang Tian, which gave him an additional opportunity to make a speech.
The fans at the scene were also cheering, the defense and three points again and again in the game, no Kang University fans did not know Tang Tian, and even the two stunners against North Carolina and Duke made Tang Tian a very colorful figure in the history of Kang University.
"No, Kemba, it's not the end, it's just the beginning, and our NBA journey has just begun." Tang Tian only said one sentence.