Chapter 12: Take Control of the Field
The Mountains' locker room was lifeless and lifeless. Since D.J. White and Eric Gordon entered the NBA, Indiana University's grades have been worse every year.
Rewind the clock to two years ago, when if the Mountain Terres ran into Butler University, Butler University would have suffered. A coach with no rich resume and a group of players of mediocre strength is not worth mentioning in front of Indiana University.
But look at the current situation, Indiana University, which has won the NCAA championship five times, is 20 points behind the Bulldogs in the opening game! And their leading point guard, Haaland Gaudi. was also beaten by a little-known Asian defender and couldn't find the north!
This kind of humiliation is not something that everyone can bear. The Mountain Men players had no one to talk to, knowing they had played a terrible first half.
Tom. As soon as Kling pushed open the locker room door, he felt like everything around him was dead. Even his star Haaland Gaudi has his head down.
Trailing by 20 points at halftime is a huge blow for an NCAA team. But as the coach of the team, Tom . There's certainly no way Kling can give up. You can't let him throw in the towel in front of so many players.
"Luke! What, do you want to give up!? "Tom. Kling stood in the middle of everyone and shouted a loud reprimand.
"I ......" Harlan Gaudi, who had a fleshy face and looked fierce, was now even talking in a slurred manner. As soon as he remembered his provocation before the game, Halan Gaudi blushed for himself.
"If that's the case, you won't have to participate in the draft this year! When you get to the NBA, you're going to have a lot of more difficulties than you do now. You can lose, but you can't give up! Clin's roar made Harlan Gaudí gradually raise his head.
Last year, Haaland Gaudí signed up for a draft. But because the predicted pick didn't meet expectations, Haaland Gaudí gave up on participating in the draft and decided to hone one more year in college.
Now, Haaland Gaudi, who is already in his third year, is definitely an "older" rookie. If you can't get results this year, next year, the ranking will only be lower.
"I ...... I didn't give up! "Harlan Gaudi gritted his teeth, Tom. Kling was secretly happy. As long as this guy doesn't lose his fighting spirit, there is still hope for the mountain people!
"Alright, listen! To win away from home, we have to make some changes. Luke, I don't want you to hold the ball in the No. 1 position. In the second half, you put me in the number four position, Willy. Wesley is a brave and unscrupulous interior lineman, and your goal is to keep attacking and causing damage near the three-second zone! "Tom. Kling knew that Haaland Gaudí had the ability to play multiple positions. If it weren't for the fact that he is only 1.98 meters tall, in fact, Halan Gaudi's favorite position is still the inside line.
Perhaps in the NBA, this kind of rookie with an ambiguous position is not very popular. But in the NCAA, such a player is a big killer!
Kling decided to let Haaland Gaudi avoid Yiyang and score on the inside, where he is better. Through the matchup in the first half of the game, Link can also see that Yiyang is a defender who likes to break through and win over projection.
If Haaland Gaudí is on the inside, he can also be a hard barrier between Yiyang and the basket!
"The others are doing the same, putting pressure on the inside of the bulldog. In the first half, you wasted too many chances on the outside. In fact, interior defense is precisely the weakness of the pit bulls team! "Matt. Although Howard, a center with outstanding skills, has a soft style of play and average frame protection ability. Willie. Wesley's No. 4 is strong, but his defensive awareness needs to be improved. Tom. Kling believes his team will be able to chisel through the opposition's interior in its entirety.
No matter how good Hayward and the No. 1 rookie were, they were helpless against the inside attack.
Tom. Kling's set-up undoubtedly regained the confidence of the Shanters players and made their own wishful thinking, and Kling had already imagined that his team would complete a Jedi counterattack in the second half!
"If Haaland Gaudi is still playing on the outside in the second half, you can push him as hard as you want. If he's on the inside, I want you to use your passing ability to drive the team to the basket. Haaland Gaudí is only 1.98 meters tall, and his arm span, shoulder width and bounce are not outstanding! If you can get the ball in Matt or Wesley, trust me, they'll take care of everything! ”
After coming on the field, Yiyang kept thinking about the task given to him by the head coach at halftime.
In fact, throughout the halftime, Stevens spent the most time talking to Yiyang. If Hayward is the offensive core of the Bulldogs, then Yiyang is the tactical core of the entire situation!
Stevens only cares about the quality of a player, not his skin color and age. Yes, this is indeed Yiyang's first NCAA game. But since he could, why not let him take on a more important role?
At the start of the second half, the Mountain People took the lead in attacking. Haaland Gaudi did not continue to entangle with Yiyang on the outside this time, but went straight to the basket according to the arrangement, raising his hand to ask for the ball.
Face Willy. Wesley's defense, Haaland Gaudi was not in a hurry. He just shook his shoulder to the left, and he tricked Wesley into shaking his center of gravity.
Haaland Gaudi, who felt all this, turned to the right, turned over and made a jumper, and hit it easily.
Score, that's Tom. The reason why Kling asked Haaland Gaudi to play in the number four position. His projection ability and super high basketball IQ can make up for his short height on the inside.
The MTR team did not let their guard down after the goal, knowing that one or two successful blows would not be enough to move back to a 20-point deficit. A string of offensive climaxes is what the Mountain Men need right now.
Yiyang took the baseline ball and began to advance towards the frontcourt. In front of him at this moment, it was John, who was abused to death at the end of the first half of the game. Harding.
Haaland Gaudí on Willy. Wesley adopted a strategy of defending around the front, so that he could not only prevent Wesley from receiving the ball, but also complete the defense of Yiyang more quickly.
"Inside, inside, inside......" Yiyang silently recited Stevens' request in his heart, and began to change hands rhythmically to dribble.
But this time, Yiyang did not choose to break through. Instead, he made a light pass and gave the ball to Shervin. Mark's hands.
Almost as soon as the ball was out of his hand, Yiyang began to get rid of his running position.
The ball can be passed, but the person must not stop! As the organizational core of the team, Yiyang doesn't want to be a defender who stands still and passively waits for the ball.
Every running position, every intersperse, is leading the team to complete the attack!
After Mark got the ball, he didn't hesitate and just dribbled to break through. Haaland Gaudi was a little embarrassed, he didn't know whether he should make up for the basket now, or should he continue to watch out for Yiyang.
Seeing that Mark was getting closer and closer to the basket, Haaland Gaudi suddenly shook off Wesley's arm, and he was going to make up for it!
Although Mark is the team's second-leading scorer, he is not greedy for credit. Seeing that Haaland Gaudi blocked the basket to death, Mark suddenly turned the ball out during the process! In the bottom left corner, Yiyang is just in place!
Faced with an empty position to shoot a three-point shot, Yiyang did not rush to shoot, but held the ball and went inside.
Halan Gaudí immediately turned around and opened his arms. He's just waiting for Yiyang to come in. The opportunity for revenge is within reach!
"What kind of spark will there be between Yi and Luke?" The commentator stood up, did Harlan Gaudí give Yiyang a hot pot, or did Yiyang hit the basket in a wonderful way? There's so much room for reverie.
Yiyang's breakthrough attracted the defense of three of the Mountain Guys, including Haaland Gaudi who was guarding under the basket.
The encirclement is gradually shrinking, and Yiyang seems to be cornered! At this critical moment, Yiyang suddenly threw the basketball to the basket at random. Throw!?
Haaland Gaudi jumped hard, but he was not outstanding in height and jump, and he did not have a chance to touch a basketball at all. If this ball is a throw, it is too big. The basketball didn't just go over Haaland Gaudi, it didn't even touch the basket.
The orange-red basketball crossed the basket and was thrown by Yiyang to "cross the bridge".
"Are you too nervous to face the pressure!?" Seeing Yiyang throw a "levelless" ball, countless commentators shook their heads. Newcomers, after all, are still newcomers.
The basketball flew to the other side of the basket just when everyone thought it was an unqualified throw. A wide palm, but a firm grip on the basketball. After that, the palm of the hand and the arm slammed into the basket with a sharp force, and the ball in mid-air was dunked into the basket.
Suddenly, everyone was dumbfounded. It's not a throw at all, it's a wonderful aerial relay dunk!
“alley-oop! Perfect air fit! Yi's passing is so deceptive! Until Willy. Before Wesley flew to dunk, everyone thought it was a throw! In fact, it was precisely the success of attracting the defense and creating great scoring opportunities for the team! ”
Willie after a successful dunk. Wesley bounced back into his own half, looking excited. What about Yiyang? The guy was still expressionless, even though the big screen was now replaying the image of his wonderful pass.
Yiyang didn't score, but he became the biggest contributor to this attack.
In the ensuing game, Haaland Gaudí did turn over the river near the three-second zone. As a star player, his performance in the second half of the game finally showed his strength.
But no matter how Haaland Gaudi scored, the Monters were never able to close the gap. Because under Yiyang's elusive passing, the defense of the Mountain People is simply useless!
If Yiyang is a defender who likes to break through his own scores, then Tom. Kling probably didn't have to be so distressed. As long as the protection of the basket is strengthened, the body will definitely be dumb against Yiyang, who has suffered a loss.
Now the problem is that Yiyang has a strong ability to break through, but he likes to pass the ball after a breakthrough. In this way, even if Link sent heavy troops to take the basket by hand, it would not help. Yiyang, can always see the gap on the basketball court.
Yiyang, who used to study game videos with his father, is very sensitive to opportunities on the basketball court. Some people only have baskets in their eyes, but Yiyang's vision is a whole half.
"Yi's breakthrough, he plans to go straight to the basket! No, he also changed his position in the air, he withdrew the basketball, and made a pass from his back to Matt. Matt makes a close-range jumper and scores easily! ”
"It's fast! Hayward chases down three points! Again! This year, Hayward's progress is not small. I think this guy will hopefully be able to get picked in the lotto section! ”
"I also hit the ball under the crotch, and Mark was empty in front of him! BOOM! One-handed flying buckle! ”
"Also! Well, this time he was substituted because the game had gone into garbage time. In the second half of the game, he didn't score a point, but there is no doubt that it was he who directly led to the current result! The on-site commentator picked up Yiyang's statistics for this game, with 9 points and 15 assists, but only 2 turnovers. Very offbeat, but also very revealing.
"Get ready Enzo, our phone may be blown up in the next few days!" Stevens laughed and joked at his assistant coach.
If the scouts of that NBA team weren't stupid or blind, they should have seen how terrifying Yiyang's ability to control the game was!
Yiyang didn't smile like the others after he got off the field, he just said a word to Stevens plainly. "You told me to blow him up, and I beat him."
Stevens just smiled lightly at Yiyang and patted Yiyang on the shoulder.
This kid, hold your breath.