Chapter 14: Hesitation and defeat
After reaching the finals, the University of Kentucky has noticeably become more cautious.
After the opening, Antoine Walker received the ball frequently, not only in the low post, but also in the left and right elbows of the free throw line.
It's just that the high and low positions cooperate, and they can't penetrate Connecticut's inside line.
Big man Knight's height advantage was on full display, and Walter McCarty, although very flexible, missed several basket finishes.
This time, Walter McCarty made a basket and knocked out the basket again, but Antoine Walker beat Rudy, a big man in Connecticut, rushed to grab the rebound in the frontcourt, and then put the basket to the basket!
The University of Kentucky fans shouted with joy as the game went 5 minutes and 21 seconds before they finally took the lead.
At 8:12, Connecticut trailed by four points.
Coach Calhoun made a downward gesture and stood on the sidelines to loudly warn his players not to panic.
But then this round of big man Knight was caught in the low post and made a direct error, and after the opponent cut the ball successfully, Tony Deck, who received the ball, buried his head and rushed.
The little black guard seized the opportunity to switch offense and made a layup all over the court!
"Oh!!"
The margin widened to six points, and the arena was filled with cheers from University of Kentucky fans.
The opponent suddenly changed his defensive strategy, and the big man Knight struggled to get the ball out of the face of a ferocious bag.
Fortunately, at this time, Ray Allen forced the basket to cause the opponent's beater to foul before the offensive time ran out.
"I have to praise Antoine Walker for his rebounding and defensive awareness, which makes up for his lack of height!"
Commentator Jim Nantz immediately praised Antoine Walker when he saw how well he was on the field.
"The University of Kentucky was able to beat the opponent by a big margin, and it really couldn't have been without Antoine Walker's rebounding and defense."
"Connecticut's inside line is in trouble, oh! Coach Calhoun actually took Lee ahead of schedule! ”
Commentator Billy Parker let out a low sigh of surprise when he noticed that Lee had replaced starting point guard Marshall.
"Speed up the pace of the attack and let the opponent run after us!"
Coach Calhoun briefly told Li You that the current score difference is already a little dangerous!
Kentucky has won by at least seven points in every game, and the coaching staff has naturally made a plan, and Li You is their first choice to change the pace of the game.
Ray Allen hit both free throws to make the score 10-14.
After appearing on the court, Li You's expression was calm, and after comparing tactical gestures, he led the opponent's point guard Anthony Eps for the first time.
Coach Pitino stood by and shouted to his players to control the pace of the game and wait for their opponents to make a mistake every time they took the lead!
After handing over the ball in the middle of the half, followed by a quick outside pass, Antoine Walker no longer attacked in the low post at this time, but came to the free throw line more to receive the ball.
After two laps, noticing that Connecticut's defense was still tight, Antoine Walker, who received the ball again, forced a strong inside at the right elbow, causing Rudy's foul.
Smirking, Antoine Walker seemed to feel they had the tempo of the game, and as he walked to the free throw line, he raised his hands in the air and signaled for a louder cheer.
"Shhhhh
UConn fans booed wildly, and this kind of No. 3 or 4 swing, with delicate skills, made their hearts chill.
Perhaps it was the boos that played a role, the second free throw knocked to the basket, Antoine Walker cursed, and Knight grabbed the rebound and immediately made a pass to Lee You.
Immediately after receiving the ball, Li You put the ball with his right hand and went around the ball behind his back, dodged Anthony Epps's cut ball, and accelerated with the ball in his left hand, rushing across the halfway line.
Anthony Epps, who was out of position defensively, chased after him and chased Lee Woo again, and the two tangled to the three-point line on the left wing.
Li You did not slow down, hugged the opponent's defense and continued to break through, marched to the left blocking area, and suddenly dribbled under his crotch, and Anthony Epps immediately lost his body center of gravity under the emergency stop.
Without waiting for the opponent to react defensively, Li You immediately closed the ball and quickly jumped and shot!
"Huh!" Steady hit from mid-range!
At 12:15, less than 10 seconds, Li You had already completed the attack.
Antoine Walker had just stepped back into the paint zone and then served from the baseline...
"Hell! Defend him and don't lose your defensive position easily! ”
After the ineffective switchback run, Antoine Walker was in a bad mood and reminded his teammates loudly.
Anthony Epps couldn't say anything, so he could only raise his hand to indicate that it was his problem...
“Defense! Defense! Defense! ”
UConn's fans cheered and cheered, and the cheers of the defense overpowered the noise of the stadium.
Continuing to run tactically, Tony Decker tried several times to get rid of Ray Allen's pursuit with the help of his teammates' off-ball screens, but failed.
With eight seconds left on the offensive clock, Tony Decker took advantage of Antoine Walker's hand-handed pass at the top of the arc to briefly escape the defense, face Rudy who came up from the switch, and went straight to the basket with his left hand.
Under the interference of the big man Knight, Tony Decker twisted his body and threw his right hand out of the frame.
The University of Kentucky didn't want to rebound in the front court, and hurriedly retreated, and Ray Allen at the top of the arc quickly dribbled across the half court after receiving the pass.
Anthony Eps chased down in time, and Ray Allen at the top of the arc slowed down and immediately gave the ball to Lee You, who was following up.
At the same time, the big man Knight also stopped outside the three-point line and made a high block for Li You.
The moment he received the horizontal pass, Li You, who put the ball with his right hand, dribbled twice in a row with extremely fast back, lowered his center of gravity, and then grabbed the ball with his right hand and jumped forward.
Tony Deck, who was chasing the defense, was delayed by big man Knight, and Walter McCarty, who was forced to switch defenses, stepped on the three-point line and spread his arms in an attempt to delay Lee.
It was just a blink of an eye, and Li You's rapid change of direction in front of his body during the march instantly passed the big man who delayed the defense.
Walter McCarty froze in place, without any reaction, and watched Lee Woo, who was fishing for the ball with his left hand, rush into the paint area.
Li You connected the two, and the audience all exclaimed, rushed to the inside line, and faced Antoine Walker, who came up to help the defense, Li You jumped with both feet and took the initiative to lean towards the opponent.
The two collided in the air, Li You grabbed the ball with one hand with his left hand, leaned forward to dodge the block, heard the referee's whistle, and threw the ball on the rebound!
"Bang... Swish! ”
Li You, who lost the center of gravity of his body, slipped and fell on the floor, saw the ball hit the high board into the frame, propped up his upper body, and roared and waved his fist in celebration!
"Oh!!"
The wonderful goal revived the UConn fans at the scene, and everyone jumped and shouted happily.
“OH——! What a show! ”
Commentator Jim Nantz was still immersed in Li You's wonderful pass, and he yelled a few times in a row and still felt that it was not enjoyable.
"Lee's appearance really changed the pace of the game on the court, and the University of Kentucky was in trouble."
Billy Parker saw Lee Yoo hit a free throw, and suddenly felt that the University of Kentucky was going to be cold...
At 15:15, the two sides returned to the same starting line.
Coach Pitino only felt that the pace of the game at UConn was getting faster and faster, and the opponent didn't seem to care about missing shots at all, and the offense was completely dominated by the outside.
Tony Deck, the small guard, has been doing well in the previous series, but hesitant on the offensive end.
Ray Allen continued to chase and defend, several times to break through to the basket missed, this time the offensive outside the three-point line Rudy did not change the defense in time, Tony Deck hesitated to shoot and was interfered with by the chasing Ray Allen.
"Bang...", one more iron!
The long rebound popped up, and it was just picked up by Li You on the right wing outside the three-point line, and the switch offense resumed.
Antoine Walker kept running back and forth for several rounds in a row, shouting out to his teammates to defend in frustration.
On the left wing outside the three-point line, Li You suddenly made a sharp stop, quickly wrapped the ball behind his left hand, and after switching to his right hand, he broke through to the paint area again with the defense.
Back to the University of Kentucky, everyone's attention was attracted, and as a result, Li You took advantage of the situation to go around the inside line, and then suddenly threw the ball vigorously.
Using his teammates to cover and running to the bottom corner on the right side, Ray Allen was empty in front of him after receiving the ball, and after a slight adjustment, he calmly made a jump shot!
"Huh!" Three-pointers hollow into the net.
The two sides missed a few rounds, and Connecticut broke the deadlock with a three-pointer.
The cheers rose again, and in the next few minutes, Li You continued to speed up the pace of the attack, taking advantage of the decline in the opponent's shooting rate, and directly hit a wave of 9:2 small climax.
At 24:17, Coach Pitino couldn't hold back and immediately called a timeout.
There may have been some nervousness in the first few minutes, but under the leadership of Li You, the teammates did not hesitate at all, and threw the ball when they had the opportunity.
"We've won! We're going to win the game! ”
Ray Allen, who rarely showed excitement, returned to his seat and kept shouting.
Coach Calhoun was so excited that he patted Li You on the shoulder, he was right!
After the game, the University of Kentucky gradually lost its offensive rhythm, and the players on the court were not unified in their thinking, some wanted to slow down, some wanted to run...
Antoine Walker couldn't even catch the ball for a few rounds and had to follow his teammates back and forth.
At 32:39 at halftime, Connecticut was in complete control of the game.
After the start of the second half, the University of Kentucky fans were still shouting, but Tony Decker couldn't find his touch and missed three consecutive shots.
The three-pointer knocked out of the frame, and Li You once again collected the long rebound, and Ron Mercer, who was rotated on the court, chased after the defense as soon as possible.
Using a frontline player to play against Lee Woo was a second-half adjustment made by the University of Kentucky.
Lee Woo, who was holding the ball in his right hand, kept accelerating, and Ron Mercer, who was on his side, slid quickly and did not cut the ball easily.
Approaching the right wing outside the three-point line, Li You immediately slowed down, stepped on the three-point line to complete the crotch dribble, and while raising his head, he feigned the ball with his right hand.
A simple feint to worship Buddha, but Ron Mercer reacted to stress and jumped subconsciously!
Pushing the ball and changing direction, Li You easily shook off the defense, dribbled forward two big steps after catching the ball with his right hand, and quickly jumped out of the middle distance without defense!
"Huh!" Two more points!
UConn fans were already going crazy, and everyone was cheering.
"Hell game!"
Coach Pitino next to him could no longer maintain his composure, and cursed twice, once again loudly reminding the players to pay attention to defense.
At 38:51, the University of Kentucky scored only free throws and piecemeal shots from the inside...
Antoine Walker yelled at his teammates to slow down, but Tony Decker felt that there was not enough time for the game and subconsciously followed.
Rarely hit a mid-range shot at the free throw line, Antoine Walker tried to retreat, but in less than ten seconds, Ray Allen, who received a cross pass from Lee You, blocked Tony Decker and made a strong shot on the right wing outside the three-point line!
The completely unreasonable attack made the atmosphere of the scene explode, and all the audience exclaimed.
Coach Pitino asked for a timeout with some annoyance, knowing that his players were panicking...
At 38:54, Connecticut, which had a 16-point lead, began to slow down.
The University of Kentucky did make a targeted defense against Li You, and even more so on the three-point shot.
But Li You not only made three-point shots, but also made several clean mid-range pull-up jump shots, which were equally impressive.
As the final time drew closer, the University of Kentucky's offense became more and more urgent.
Eager to complete the defense, in the face of the double defense, Li You easily assisted the big man Knight to complete the air relay!
Eager to finish the offense, Tony Decker made a strong three-pointer and converted the offense, and Ray Allen made two more free throws.
Coach Pitino called a final timeout, but the miracle did not happen.
At the last moment, Tony Decker finally found his touch and hit two three-pointers in a row, but the University of Kentucky fans at the scene looked at the 10-point difference and fell silent.
No one cared about their scores anymore, and everyone on the bench at UConn stood up, raised their hands and jumped up to celebrate the victory!
With 30 seconds left in the game, Lee stopped attacking after half-time, smiling and waiting for the game to end.
The moment the final buzz sounded, he casually threw the ball into the air, and Li You laughed and hugged his teammates who rushed to the center of the court.
Coach Calhoun and his coaching staff rushed to the center of the field, and the media rushed up with heavy cameras to record the historic moment.
The young people of the University of Connecticut in the audience also hugged each other and shouted happily together.
On the other side of the pitch, Antoine Walker crossed his hands on his hips with a look of loss.
The game didn't stop for a minute, and a lot of switchback and running almost paralyzed him...
At 57:68, the University of Connecticut, which didn't have a high shooting percentage, finally won the finals!
"Congratulations to UConn for making history and winning the first championship in team history, and this year they have fully fulfilled their talent!"
Commentator Jim Nantz had some difficulty describing the game, which was very different from what he had in his past impressions of the NCAA.
Ray Allen was 7-of-19, 4-of-10 from beyond the three-point line and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line for 24 points, three rebounds, one assist and one turnover.
Lee Woo was 6-of-15, 1-of-3 from beyond the three-point line, 3-of-3 from the free-throw line, and finished with 16 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 turnovers.
Looking at the technical statistics, the commentator Billy Parker shook his head with a smile and sighed:
"A win-or-lose game, hesitation will lose, hit percentage doesn't matter, congratulations to the Connecticut boys!"