Chapter 35: Gritting Teeth and Fighting to the Death
Looking at the pitiful reputation in the Miracle Mall, Chang Wei almost spurted out a mouthful of old blood, knowing that he would not exchange the strength potion for Thomas when he faced Wake Forest University. There are also potions for the whole team in the mall, and although they don't give each player much of a boost, they are a force to be reckoned with.
Now Chang Wei can only look at the props that the whole team has improved, and at this time he can't consider the plank theory, sometimes the strength of the team does not depend on how weak the weakest player is, but on how strong the strongest player is. The only good news is that Carter and Jamison are both outside players, while Thomas is an inside player, and the closer you are to the basket, the easier it is to score, and the overall shooting percentage increases as the distance to the basket decreases, which is an unbreakable truth.
There are still a few days left before the semi-finals of the division, and Chang Wei seized all the time available to give special training to several main players, especially Li and Kornge, who are the main forces to play against the two strong opponents.
As for Thomas, his special training is better than nothing, and Chang Wei believes he can crush the opposite Okulaga on the inside. When it comes to King Nuo's partner in the national team, anyone will think of the blonde-haired Kaman, who remembers this guy with an awkward name? It shows that this guy's strength may not be as strong as he imagined.
In the past few days, Lee and Korngai have been desperate, and every day Chang Wei will give them hellish training and constantly change their opposing players. In fact, in just a few days, the overall strength of these two guys will not improve much, but they must have the courage and confidence to break through the cauldron.
But a lot of things often don't go as smoothly as expected, and Jamison started the game with back-to-back points on Cohen's head, who has been working hard to defend, but his quality is just a piece of cake for Jamison. Lee is no better, the only thing to be thankful for is that now Carter is still behind Jamison, in other words, he doesn't have so many opportunities to attack with the ball, and Lee gritted his teeth and barely held on, unlike Korngai, who was directly blown up.
Watching them being crushed by their opponents on the field, Chang Wei sat on the sidelines and shook his head helplessly, meeting Jamison and Carter was a nightmare that he couldn't wake up, and any opposing player would be devastated physically and mentally. They are certainly not as dominant as Duncan, but they are better than Duncan in terms of scoring ability, and with the addition of a Shamond, this is the troika of North Carolina.
Rappers also frowned and lamented, what could he say? Is it strange that Villanova is the No. 4 seed and is in the top half of the North Carolina zone? Or do you blame Lee and Kornge for not being able to stop each other's twins?
He glanced at Chang Wei, his brows furrowed even tighter. Whether it was Thomas or Erwin before, when they were in trouble on the field, Chang Wei was always able to solve the problem lightly, and sometimes Rappers even wondered, if this kid knew something about tactics, would he take his place?
But this time, Rappers could clearly feel that Chang Wei was also helpless, watching Jamison and Carter wreak havoc on the court. The only thing that makes Lappers feel a little relieved is that Thomas's performance has not been affected, and if it weren't for his constant scoring, Villanova would have been blown up a long time ago.
Seeing that North Carolina had a tendency to widen the point difference, Rappers quickly called a timeout. At the end of the break, Lee looked tired, and Korngay was even more unbearable, and he looked like he was going to faint at any moment. Indeed, although Carter will be stronger than Jamison in the future, Jamison is still the number one star and team scoring champion in North Carolina, and it is difficult for a non-professional outside defender like Korngai to play against Jamison.
Seeing the tired appearance of the two big players, Rappers could only choose to let them rest a little longer off the field, otherwise it was still a question whether they could hold up in the second half. However, Tomasi refused the coach's request, and he also said eloquently: "To put it mildly, now the team's scoring focus is on the inside, we are tired, and the North Carolina players are also tired, but I think I can withstand it, while they are out of the game, I hope to narrow the difference or even tie the ......."
Before he could finish speaking, he was slapped on the back of the head by Rappers and yelled: "Stupid, don't you take the opportunity to rest for a while now, what should you do when the North Carolina side sends the main force to fight again?" I thought your legs were weak at that time, right? Now sit on the bench and regain your strength, don't act like a fool! ”
Thomas sat down with a flushed face, and Rappers did have a point. In any team, unless the interior players are talented, the average minutes played per game are not as good as the outside players, because their height and weight are both powerful and burdensome, and too much playing time can put a huge strain on their bodies and even shorten their careers.
As a famous basketball school, North Carolina not only has a very luxurious starting lineup, but also has a very thick bench, and it stands to reason that North Carolina should have an advantage if it is a substitute, but Villanova's side Selesstad has played a super-level performance. That is, Lappers wants to use defense to limit North Carolina, and if it is a big attack, it is a good choice to start Selesstad.
With Celestead's unreasonable shot, Villanova had narrowed the gap to single digits by the time the two sides redeployed their main players. In order to prevent North Carolina from pulling the gap away again, the Villanova players who have been rested have simply used all their strength, especially Kornge, who is completely defending with his own life.
Stalking is no longer enough to describe him, even if Jamison thunders a breakthrough dunk, he is not afraid to try to block, not caring at all whether he will get hurt or not. His actions inspired the rest of his teammates, and for a while, Villanova's defensive intensity increased dramatically, and Rao was miserable with North Carolina's strong offensive firepower.
At the end of the first half, Villanova narrowed the gap to six points thanks to a lucky three-pointer from Erwin from a long distance, trailing only 32-38. Being able to limit North Carolina to 38 points at half time is already a huge win for Villanova, who are averaging nearly 90 points per game this season, and 50 points at half time is a breeze for them.
But that wasn't enough for the Villanova team, who have proven that North Carolina are not invincible, but whether they can win this crucial game will depend on the remaining 20 minutes of the second half.