The locker room in North Carolina was a gloomy fog, and even the players who usually liked to make a lot of noise were silent. Everybody knows North Carolina is in big trouble right now, and it doesn't look like head coach Smith has anything too good to do. After all, North Carolina has never been known for its strong defense, but unfortunately Villanova's firepower is stronger than theirs, and although the cooperation is still a little rusty, it is enough, and it is not a good advantage to attack North Carolina at all.

Smith pinched his brow hard, and after only half the game, he looked very tired, and even his eyes were bloodshot. He looked at the players who were silent and bowed their heads, and his voice was a little hoarse: "I must admit that Villanova is a strong team, although they have a lot of newcomers in their roster, but the overall strength is stronger than last season. ”

"It's me who underestimated them, I don't even know if we have a chance to win this game, but I hope you don't give up in the second half, we have our pride, even if we are destined to lose, we can't bow our heads. In the second half, we reverted to one-on-one marking, preventing Villanova's other players from receiving the ball and allowing Maddy or Brand to settle the game with their individual abilities. If they're playing with a high scoring efficiency, then I'll admit it, but if they don't feel good, our chance comes. ”

Smith's remarks made most of the North Carolina players excited, but Carter, Jamison and Shamond were gloomy. They are not the rookies who will be stirred up by a few words, they have already seen the team's dilemma, and the manager's arrangement is just to know the destiny of the people.

Despite this, as the core of the team, they must not show any negative emotions on the surface, but must constantly motivate their teammates to fight on the field. So the core is not so easy to do, although there is a lot of power, but you also have to take more responsibility, you enjoy cheering when you win, and of course you are responsible for losing.

The second half of the game started quickly, and seeing North Carolina switch back to one-on-one marking, Lappers smiled slightly, and felt a little more confident about winning this game. He's pretty sure of what Maddy, Brand and Battier are capable of, and they won't be afraid of any player on a one-on-one basis. Even if Carter and Jamison can defend against Maddie and Brand, Battier is not a vegetarian, although he has always been polite and willing to be the team's three-in-command, but in fact, he is good both offensively and defensively and can be the core of any NCAA team, and Villanova can be so luxurious.

However, it was clear that Battier did not need to take on the burden in the second half, and under the leadership of Brand and Maddy, the team constantly switched between the two sets of tactics of organizing forwards and organizing center according to the situation on the field. When Maddy has the ball, Brand will fall to the low post and single Jamison, and when Brand has the ball, Maddy will constantly use the cover to find the gap and easily score the ball before Carter touches the corner of his shirt.

The rest of the group was more idle, with Battier and Brown acting as three-point guns on the perimeter, ready to shoot three-pointers from inside-out passes, while Allen was busy covering everyone and competing with Okuraja for rebounds. It can be said that Brand and Maddie turned North Carolina's defense upside down.

Shamond, another key player in North Carolina, also tried to step up and help the team close the gap, but he was entangled by Battier. This surprised Shamond, who has always prided himself on his speed, but it was a little strange that Battier was able to keep up with his speed with ease when he was only a small forward.

If Chang Wei knew Shamond's inner thoughts, he would definitely smack him up. Although Shamond is the starting point guard in North Carolina and is on par with Carter and Jamison, Chang Wei, who has crossed over, knows very well that this guy did not play much in his previous life, but Battier has become the top 3D player in the NBA, and it is clear which is stronger and which is weak.

Shamond was stealed by Battier on a wide pass, and Battier interfered with on an outside shot, so he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of this seemingly harmless guy. Battier took advantage of the opponent's change of defense to hit two three-pointers in front of Shamond, who was completely unable to cause any interference due to his height.

With 3:12 left in the race, Villanova's lead was 22 points, and it didn't look like they were about to slow down. Now Maddy has scored 25 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, Brand has 18 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, Battier is slightly worse, but also has 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

But reality says it all, and it is North Carolina that is now behind and not Villanova, which means that Villanova has at least outperformed its opponents in this game. Even if they can't play the same performance this season, they will be respected by every opponent, because they have the capital to overturn the power.

Smith sighed helplessly and replaced Jamison, Carter, Shamond and Okuraja for the newcomers to go up and feel the atmosphere of the game, which also meant that North Carolina threw in the towel. Rappers also reciprocated by replacing the bench lineup and killing the remaining three minutes, which is also a tacit understanding between the two sides.

"Tick-" As the timer beeped, the game was over, and the final score was 92-77, and Villanova beat North Carolina by 15 points to get the season off to a flying start. The media naturally focuses on the Villanova Three, and Maddie and Brand are certainly beautiful stats, but as veterans of the basketball circle, they will not forget Battier's role in the team's tactical system, not to mention that Battier has shown coveted versatility.

When the Villanova Collegiate Wildcats left the game, Carter suddenly ran over and shoved his jersey into Maddy's hand, didn't say anything, and turned to leave. Maddie was about to catch up, but was stopped by Chang Wei. Looking at Maddie's puzzled eyes, Chang Wei said in a low voice, "What do you want to say to him when you catch up?" Whatever you say, it's embarrassing, right? It's better to act as if nothing happened, and we won anyway, didn't we? ”

Maddie nodded, watching Carter's back blend into the crowd, turning to follow the group.