Chapter 40: NCAA Finals (1)

After the game against the Spartans at Michigan State University, news of Duke's entry to the NCAA Finals dominated sports newspapers across the country, and March Madness was at its craziest.

On April 6, none of the Duke Blues made it to the bar, and they all gave up their day's rest and came to the arena early to practice to stay fit.

They all know what the Grand Final means!

There are still a few championship rings in the NBA, but maybe you only have one chance in a lifetime to win the NCAA championship!

The coaching staff led by Lao K spent two days studying the opponent's information overnight, and although they were already proficient in these materials, they still read it again and again, making the most detailed pre-match preparations.

The media across the United States have also begun to analyze the upcoming finals, Duke University has won 38 consecutive games this season without a defeat, and is the top seed in the South Division of this tournament, and the University of Wisconsin is the top seed in the West Division of the tournament with 36 wins and 3 losses.

Although more than half of media pundits agree that the Duke Blue Devils are the most likely to cut the Nets after the game.

But the University of Wisconsin won the semifinals against Duke University, which holds a 37-game winning streak and has the top pick Carl Anthony Downs, and lottery candidates Willie Cauley Stein, Trey Lyles and Devin Booker at the University of Kentucky.

No one dares to despise this old spicy and powerful hero.

April 7th! The annual NCAA College Basketball Finals are held live at the Lucas Oil Arena in Indianapolis.

It was an ordinary day for most people, but it was a big day for fans of Duke and the University of Wisconsin, as well as basketball fans across the United States.

On this day, there were no games scheduled in the NBA, and they all gave way to the NCAA — because they knew that even if they did, no one would go to see them, and almost all Americans cared about that day was the NCAA Finals.

On this day, nearly 30 million viewers tuned in to watch the live broadcast of the game, and 120 million people around the world will tune in to watch the live broadcast.

On this day, the average price of tickets to the finals reached $1,352.51, and the most expensive seats were sold for nearly $37,000. With such a high price, it is still difficult to stop more than 70,000 fans from pouring into the Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the game live.

On this day, Carey. Owen, Grant Hill, Battier, Boozer, Brand, Reddick, Dunleavy Jr., Zingler, Jabari. Parker showed up to cheer on his alma mater, Duke University.

On this day, Michael Finley, Devin Harris and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers were also on hand to support the University of Wisconsin players.

On this day, the inside of the arena is blue and white. On one side, it's red and white. The game hadn't even started, and the stadium was already filled with a frenetic atmosphere.

In the locker room of Duke University, Zhang Zifeng is being massaged by a physiotherapist to play in the best condition.

Okafor was listening to Hip-hop with headphones, but his restless sitting posture showed that they were now anxious.

Not just Okafor, Winslow and they all looked a little nervous as the game time approached.

Lao K also felt the nervousness of the players, and he also tried to calm the nervousness of his players, but the effect was not obvious.

Lao K knows that now he can only relax himself by letting the players get used to the atmosphere of the finals after they get on the court.

Not only the whole United States is paying attention to this game, but there are also a large number of fans in distant China who are paying attention to this game.

This is the first time that a Chinese person has appeared in the NCAA Finals.

Moreover, the core players of Duke University, a traditional NCAA powerhouse, are still Chinese, and they have won widespread support from Chinese fans.

The game was not only broadcast live by ESPN in the United States, but also bought for live broadcast by Huaxia Sports Channel 5 and the Penguin platform.

Many Chinese fans watched the game on TV or on their mobile phones.

"Zhang Zifeng is here!"

When Zhang Zifeng was the last to step out of the players' tunnel and run onto the court, there was an overwhelming cheer at the scene.

Tens of thousands of fans held up cards with Zhang Zifeng's name written on them and shouted Zhang Zifeng's name.

Fans who watched the live TV network saw Zhang Zifeng's popular scene and looked at Zhang Zifeng in surprise.

There is an indescribable sense of pride in the hearts of Chinese fans.

Look!

Duke University's leading ball is us Chinese, and he has made Americans worship him with his own efforts.

Accompanied by various voices from the audience, Zhang Zifeng and his teammates high-fived and encouraged one by one.

Players from both sides came out and warm-ups were done on both sides.

Wang Meng, commentator of the Penguin Platform, made a pre-match analysis and commentary, "Welcome everyone to watch the live broadcast of the NCAA Finals brought by the Penguin Platform, which is the first time in the history of NCAA that a Chinese figure has appeared. And this Chinese name is Zhang Zifeng, Zhang Zifeng has performed very well this season, averaging 22.7 points per game, in addition to contributing 2.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals. He was voted Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference First Team. In the last semi-finals, Zhang Zifeng scored a game-high score of 26 points, and if Duke University wins this game, Zhang Zifeng will have a good chance to win the honor of 'Final Four Most Outstanding Player (MOP)'! ”

Ke Fan also said, "Earlier, Zhang Zifeng personally admitted that he would participate in this year's NBA Draft after this season. With his outstanding performance this season, many institutions also predict that Zhang Zifeng will definitely be in the lotto area, but the specific number of picks, American experts have different views. John F. Kennedy, editor-in-chief of a well-known American basketball website, predicted that Zhang Zifeng would be selected in the top three in the first round. USA Today, however, believes that Zhang Zifeng is more likely to be selected in the first round at 5-10. Both the New York Post and the Washington News felt that Zhang Zifeng could fall to the 12-18 pick in the first round. The specific pick in which pick Zhang Zifeng will be selected will be revealed in June, let's wait and see! ”

Today, ESPN also sent three ace commentators to commentate, Bryn, Van Gundy and one is Mark. Jackson.

Brin looked at the players on the court and warmed up and said, "Compared to the University of Wisconsin, several important players at Duke are just freshmen. In this big game, it can be seen that they are all nervous. Such a mindset is likely to affect their form! ”

Jackson smiled and said, "Mike, you have to know that today is the finals, and it's normal to have such emotions. Hopefully they'll be able to adjust when they play! ”

Van Gundy also said, "Although Okafor and the others are a little nervous, we should see that their core player Jack is calm, don't forget that he has a beating heart and will always stand up at critical moments to lead Duke forward!" ”

Brin concluded, "It seems that in this game, the key to Duke University is to see the performance of Chinese Jack, and I hope he will perform well today!" ”