Chapter 61: The End of the Halfway
The game against Memphis was the first time Ye Feng had been counter-killed in so many years, and although he didn't say anything, he trained harder. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoIf the crazy index of his training before was 5, now it is at least 8, or even 9, and he doesn't want to try it a second time. However, Holland is very open, UCLA can be entangled with Memphis until the last minute, which is greatly beyond his expectations, of course, not that he doesn't want to win, but the defeat is the result he expected early on. And judging by the strength of both sides, the tournament stage is likely to meet again, and at that time, UCLA, which has added Westbrook and Collison, is still very likely to wrestle with the University of Memphis.
However, for the team, this defeat is still very beneficial, not only Ye Feng began to train frantically, but even the other players also asked for more training after the normal training time, you must know that this was completely unthinkable before. After back-to-back defeats to the University of Utah and the University of Colorado, UCLA finally welcomed back their starting point guard Westbrook, and the starting five UCLA were even more terrifying, sweeping the rest of the team in the division all the way to a perfect end to the team's halfway with a wave of consecutive wins.
After seeing UCLA's halfway record, the team's die-hard fans were ecstatic. With the exception of the University of Iowa and the University of Memphis, two other teams that have beaten UCLA, the Bruins are the undisputed dominance in their own division. And the troika led by Westbrook, Ye Feng and Loew showed strong offensive firepower, Westbrook averaged 17.8 points and 10.5 assists per game, Ye Feng averaged 20.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5 assists per game, and Loew averaged 15.7 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, which can be said to be the top level in the same position. Led by them, UCLA averaged 85.3 points per game, which is considered an offensive powerhouse in the NCAA, where the score hovers almost at sixty or seventy points per game. The status of the team's head coach Holland has also risen, and many media and insiders have praised his ability to coach the team, so this middle-aged man who often has a straight face has shown himself in many training sessions, making people wonder if he has eaten something super tonic stuff.
The local media in Los Angeles couldn't wait to hype up UCLA's magical performance this season, and some articles even made Ye Feng, a man who has always been as thick-skinned as a city wall, blush. However, compared to other teammates, he is the most normal one, and the maturity he shows beyond his years makes Holland a little surprised. In the face of the repeated praise in the newspaper, Ye Feng just smiled, he still couldn't forget the back of Rose who rushed to his teammates with his hands raised after 0.2 seconds of aerial kill, as if that moment had been frozen in his mind and became a thorn in his heart, and that pain was also an important reason why he automatically blocked external interference.
But in fact, if it was UCLA that won at that time, Ye Feng would also scoff at the media's praise. Although he is sometimes funny and sometimes wants to attract the attention of fans, he is willing to be a low-key and hard-working person, which is also the advice that Ye Ning gave him over the phone after he entered the school team. Ye Ning, who has been on the basketball court for many years, has not seen anything? He already knew what Ye Feng would encounter when he joined a famous basketball school like UCLA, let alone in a place like Los Angeles. Ye Feng always remembered his words:
"Modern sports and media are intimately linked, and being in the NCAA means being in the mainstream media. But the media reports cannot be fully trusted, because they have their interests. It is a very important question to write the review from which angle, the general media rarely write reports that meet the expectations of the team, they are looking for highlights, whether it is positive or negative, as long as it can make their sales or ratings increase, they can draw a larger framework to play on the basis of respecting the facts. ”
"Out of local protectionism, the media in Los Angeles shouldn't turn against you when you're doing well, but watch out for their hype at this time. They may not mean it, but what they do does make the team feel more impetuous and boost your self-confidence. A team that thinks too highly of itself will not do anything, and you have to remember that no matter how strong you are, there is a possibility that you will capsize in the gutter. So the best thing to do is to ignore them, whether they are positive or negative, just play your own ball, victory is not blown by others, especially the media. ”
The other guy on the team who didn't feel anything about the media coverage was Westbrook, who has always been known for being competitive and nervous. But the others didn't have such a good mentality, and they made more mistakes in one training session than in the previous five training sessions, so angry that Holland scolded them directly in training. In fact, this can't be blamed on them, after all, they are still teenagers and twenties-year-old boys, and they were suddenly blown by the media, and their hearts fluttered for sure. They performed as if the whole season had been played, and the diligence before the halfway point was completely at the extreme.
Ye Feng was also speechless about everyone's mentality, but who let others not have a father who is willing to teach by example like him? However, he still secretly found Holland after training, hoping that he could give everyone a psychological lesson. After listening to Ye Feng's intentions, Holland smiled slightly: "Ye, why don't you talk about it yourself?" I think you did a good job of grooming Loew last time, why did you come to me directly this time? Wouldn't it be over if you had a private meal with everyone? ”
Ye Feng said hesitantly: "Because...... You ...... in normal times Behave...... What's the matter...... Holland was stunned for a moment, and laughed: "You kid think I'm also carried away by those reports?" Ye Feng touched his head and nodded hesitantly. Holland restrained his smile and said seriously: "I'm happy only because the team has played quite well this season and gave me hope of competing for the championship, not because the media has blown me into a wise man with a strategy." I've been in this league for thirteen years, from Northern Arizona to Pittsburgh to UCLA, I've had peaks and lows, and the media is just a matter of looking. But I'm curious, as a freshman, how did you get out of this hype? ”
Ye Feng smiled awkwardly and did not answer. Holland waved his hand and said: "If you don't want to say it, forget it, you go and inform everyone that the meeting will be held at the old place at eight o'clock tonight, and everyone must be here, and they are not allowed to ask for leave, even if they come up with an impeccable reason!" Ye Feng nodded, turned around and left. Looking at his fading back, Holland smiled with relief and began to rummage through the pile of newspapers in front of him.
At 7:55 p.m., all the Bruins players arrived at the so-called old place — a large multimedia conference room specially allocated for the team, with a newspaper on the table in front of each seat. Although the headline is different, the report on UCLA has been deliberately marked out so that people can see at a glance the words that can be tired of death. Seeing that the coach hadn't come yet, everyone discussed the contents of the newspaper with each other.
"You see, the newspaper has high expectations for us, 'UCLA could win their 12th NCAA championship this season, and the last time they won the championship was in 1995, and these lads have a good chance of replicating what their predecessors did.'" ”
"Oh my god, I never thought I was such a good player in their eyes," and Luke Richard Bamot is probably the most trusted shield on the team, and although he is an outside player, his super defense is a big guarantee that UCLA is now at the top of the division.' ”
"'Bob Enrique, a freshman who has just entered the team, has not been able to occupy a starting spot yet, but we can still see his talent from the limited playing time, and when this group of starters enters the NBA, he should be the next head of UCLA', I, that kind of thing can be said...... But I love him to death and I'm willing to lead the team forward next year. ”
Until Holland walked into the conference room, almost everyone still had a blush of excitement on their faces, except for Ye Feng and Westbrook, even Loew was quite excited. Looking at the players who were pretending to be sitting upright, Holland smiled and asked, "Have you all seen the newspaper I put on the table?" As soon as he finished speaking, everyone scrambled to reply: "Yes, coach, it is really exciting to watch." "yes, I feel like we're already going to fight for the championship, haha!" "The reporters sitting on the sidelines are still a bit level, and I think they write very well."
The smile on Holland's face disappeared, and he slammed his stack of newspapers on the table with all his might, and said hatefully, "These are all praises for you, but if you feel complacent about this, then we will be the biggest joke of the NCAA this season!" He took a breath and continued: "I know we have a strong team and I can see how well we play, but are we really as invincible as they say? Wrong, at least we've lost and struggled on the brink of life and death. If anybody thinks we're okay with winning all of our games in this region, I have to say to him, you think too much, and people with that mentality don't end well. ”
"The final championship is won one by one, and now we are not qualified to be the champion, because in the tournament it is a brutal one-game elimination system. These newspapers or something, let them blow slowly, I have only one request for you, that is, to win the next game, people's eyes, do not always look at the unpredictable distance, but see the road under their feet. With the last note, the newspaper in front of Holland fluttered in the sky, revealing his stern and cold face in the gap.