UCLA can reach the finals by relying on the outside pressing defense, and Li Ze, Holiday and Collison are the most important first barriers.

But after a series of high-intensity matches, the semifinals and the finals were only one day apart, and Collison's physical fitness could no longer keep up.

When UCLA attacked for the first time, Li Ze made a gesture to signal everyone to slow down, and at the same time instructed Holiday to catch the ball and try to free Collison as much as possible.

Holiday is physically fit, he's very physical, and playing point guard is what he does best.

UCLA's inside line is still all mentioned on the line, after Li Ze handed over the ball, he signaled his inner teammates to come over to block and dismantle the cover, and in the face of Hansbro's defense, Li Ze directly dribbled with his right hand to accelerate the breakthrough.

The rotation of North Carolina was very fast, and the assistant defense was in place immediately, but Li Ze leaned on Hansbrough's sudden retreat, a sharp stop, and after picking up the defender, he leaned up to shoot from the middle distance.

"Whew..."2 points scored and there was an additional penalty.

Standing on the free throw line, Li Ze took a deep breath and scored the ball steadily.

"Kayce has increased his aggressiveness, and North Carolina should have packed him earlier, and he's shooting at a very high percentage from mid-range jumpers at the moment."

Kenny Smith started giving ideas to NCC.

After the penalty was scored, Li Ze signaled Holiday to lead the defense of Lawson, so that Collison could slow down a little more on the court.

But North Carolina has a lot of offensive means, and after successive hand passes, Ellington suddenly made a direct outside shot in the face of defense.

"Whew..."hollow into the net, 3 points scored.

This is also a characteristic of North Carolina, they also have a lot of ball points, and Ellington can shoot and pass after blocking, which makes it difficult for UCLA defenders to limit him.

When attacking again, Li Ze was immediately pinched after taking the ball in the low post, and after passing the ball to Holiday on the outside, he continued to pass the ball, and Collison shot a three-pointer in the open position.

"Bang..." The power is a little less, and it hits the front of the basket, and the rebound is collected by Hansbrough.

Lawson received the ball and pointed directly to start the transition attack, but fortunately, Holiday kept covering him with his body and did not form a direct opportunity to attack the basket, but after blocking and finding Hansbrough.

In the face of UCLA's interior defense, Hansbrough received the ball and hit it twice, and then directly hit a small hook hand and hit it steadily.

"UCLA was a little bit of a problem after the opening game, and their defense couldn't press effectively, which allowed Hansbru to score easily on the inside."

Reggie Miller has already seen the physical fitness gap between the two sides, North Carolina can be crushed all the way to the promotion, and the main team is well rested, and the physical advantage is evident at this time.

Li Ze loudly motioned to his teammates, "No problem, don't rush, be patient, stay patient." ”

Holiday dribbled past halfcourt and signaled for a Spanish pick-and-roll, which drew the attention of most defenders as Li Ze covered the outside through an interior player, and then passed directly to his teammates under the basket.

"Boom..."Putting the basket well, that's the benefit of a tall guard.

"That's it, be patient, protect the rebound!" Li Ze shouted loudly while returning to the defense, signaling his teammates to hold steady.

North Carolina played very targeted, and after feeling that Collison was having fitness problems, they continued to wear him down on the offensive end, passing the ball very patiently, and this time it was Hanspur who found the open Danny Green.

After 3 minutes, the North Carolina fans began to cheer loudly.

Coach Ben called a timeout, knowing that Collison would not be able to survive the second half if he continued to play like this, and he would have to make rotation adjustments in advance.

'It's a good game, boys, be patient, there's still a long way to go, Collisson, you go down first, we need you to play in the second half.'

Collison gasped for air and signaled that he was fine, this was not the time to be reckless, his legs were heavy now, and he couldn't keep up with the other party.

"Kayce, go on offense, Holiday and don't run against them, we play success, slow down the tempo, stay aggressive defensively, we accept two points from the inside, don't help defend Hansbro."

Li Ze knew that Coach Ben was afraid that the opponent's 3-point shot would shoot them away in a direct wave, after all, North Carolina's outside line was very accurate.

......

Holiday patiently organized the team's offense and began to break through the ball, but Hansbrough's defensive selection was very good and he never had a good shot.

With 10 seconds left on the offensive time, Li Ze successfully received the ball in the low post and turned over directly in the face of Danny Green's defense and threw a back-to-back jumper.

"Hmmm..."A crisp goal, this amplitude of leaning and Li Ze's excellent arm span, Danny Green couldn't do anything.

The [Gap Hunter] achievement badge can help Li Ze better create space to shoot.

After the rotation, UCLA is a dual-core team, although there are fewer offensive points, the defensive completion rate has improved, and the rotation on the outside has returned to pressing.

But when North Carolina fed the ball to the inside, Hansbro seized the opportunity and relied on a small hook after playing, which was just unstoppable.

Li Ze began to reduce his ball handling and attack more in the low post, while speeding up the pace of his own handling of the ball, and the passing button has now been deducted.

Facing Danny Green's defense again, a simple triple threat followed by a straight dry jumper.

"Hmph..."It's useless to seal it on the face, 2 points are scored.

From receiving the ball to shooting, the whole process is very fast, and Li Ze has already made a shot halfway through the assistant defender, and Danny Green will be a little depressed.

How can this be prevented? He did his best...

After 15 minutes of the first half, the two sides were 24-20 and UCLA was behind, and North Carolina called a timeout to rearrange their defense.

"Don't let Lee easily catch the ball in the low post, try to push him out, once he catches the ball outside the 3-point line, directly wrap him up and let him play, forcing other players to attack."

The North Carolina coaching staff constantly emphasized defensive strategies to their players, and they wanted more of a lead to end the first half.

The timeout really worked, and after North Carolina scored again by Hansbrough on the offensive end, the defensive round strengthened the defense of Li Ze to receive the ball, and the continuous covers failed to make Li Ze better to get the ball in the low post.

In the end, he had no choice but to receive the ball outside the three-point line, but it was immediately delayed by the double, Li Ze passed to Holiday who responded, who passed to the empty teammate again and shot a 3-point shot.

"Bang...", Li Ze immediately shouted: "Good ball, defense, protect the rebound!" ”

Basketball is always 5 people, what is needed at this time is to stick to the game plan, believe that teammates can throw the ball in, and if you can't throw it, everyone will unify their thoughts, immediately return to defense, and don't give a chance to convert.

Ellington held the ball and launched a block, and from outside the three-point line, he once again jumped directly to the defense.

"Huh..."3 points were scored, and Ellington thumped his chest and roared.

"Ellington is hot today, and he has scored such difficult three-pointers in a row, UCLA needs to limit him!" Reggie Miller saw such a goal and shouted loudly.

UCLA attacked again, Li Ze quickly bounced the ball outside, and at the moment when the opponent's defense was pinched, he directly and dexterously passed through it, entered the inside line, and directly distributed the ball to his teammates in the bottom corner in the face of the defenders who came to make up the defense.

"Huh..."This time the empty 3-point score, Li Ze immediately signaled the ball and beckoned everyone to return to defense.

The North Carolina coaching staff was very dissatisfied with the ball and began to shout at the players to strengthen their physical confrontation, and the UCLA side also exerted its full strength.

In the last two minutes of the first half, the double fouls were counted and they began to walk to the free throw line, and just like that, UCLA ended the half with UCLA trailing by six points at halftime, 31-25 at halftime.

"I liked the last two minutes, it was a clash of muscles, and North Carolina didn't take a chance to pull away, which is good for UCLA." Kenny Smith doesn't think it's a big deal to see the excitement.

"There was a lot of consumption on both sides in the first half, the shooting percentage has started to drop, UCLA will use Collison again in the second half, and he gets plenty of rest."

Reggie Miller breathed a sigh of relief that if the margin was too big, the rotation would be meaningless.

Li Ze didn't consume much in the first half, and the newly upgraded silver achievement badge [Hot Zone Hunter] played a role, and the offensive end reduced some physical consumption.

"I have to work hard in the second half, hehe, North Carolina's physical fitness has also dropped a lot, and the show has just begun!" Li Ze walked in the player's tunnel, secretly ruthless in his heart.