During the first timeout, although Pastner was dissatisfied with the players' performance, he was still relatively calm.
He drew a big circle on the tactical board, almost covering the entire half, "Boys, Hayward on the opposite side has a very good touch tonight. Don't retreat when defending, put pressure on him and get into this range." Then go put up defense, remember?”
The Memphis players nodded.
Stevens, on the other side, chose to switch to the substitute lineup and began to conserve energy for the starting players.
At present, it is almost impossible for Butler to defeat Memphis in one wave, so winning ultimately depends on whether he has enough physical strength.
After the timeout, Memphis continued to use a half-starter and half-substitute lineup, while Butler University replaced four substitutes. The only starter still on the court was Hayward.
It seems that Stevens saw the former's hot touch and asked him to lead the team and then play for a while.
The effect of the timeout was not reflected on the offensive end, and Butler University's bench defense was not a vegetarian.
After Williams cut in from the right baseline, he faced substitute center Gordon Ford's defense and made a throw.
Gordon Ford is a short black center who is just over two meters tall. He moves quickly, has good physical fitness, and has excellent running and jumping abilities.
Although Williams' shot was not blocked by Ford, it was also affected by the defense and bounced above the basket.
Ford's defense left a large area of space under the basket. Li Kaiming saw the opportunity and dived into the basket. He got in position under the backboard before the basketball fell.
Butler University, without a center, faced Li Kaiming, who was 2.1cm tall, and almost no one could stop the latter from getting this rebound.
When Li Kaiming got the rebound, all three of Butler's players defended him.
He first feinted with the ball, pretending to go for a layup.
When a center makes a layup under the basket, Butler's short guys naturally won't stand and watch.
Hayward, who was at the front, jumped up immediately and at the same time slapped the ball in Li Kaiming's hand with both hands!
Just when Hayward thought he was going to give the big man a blood cap, the guy under him suddenly put away the ball.
Seeing this scene, Hayward's heart suddenly went cold!
Oops!
But he is not a bird. He has wings and can adjust his position in the air.
Although he had tried hard to avoid Li Kaiming's cylinder, he still failed to escape in the end.
After Li Kaiming swayed, he took a small step forward and made a small hook for a reverse basket.
At the same time, his body also came into contact with Hayward in the air!
beep!
The referee immediately blew the whistle, signaling Hayward's foul!
Hayward knew he was in the wrong and raised his hand obediently.
After the basketball collided with the backboard, it also fell into the basket.
2+1!
At the same time, the system's holographic screen appeared in front of Li Kaiming's eyes.
[System]: Congratulations to the host, for completing the B-level basic task and gaining 15 attribute points and 140 points!
Double happiness, no, triple happiness!
The ball scored 2+1, caused a foul on the opponent's No. 1 star, and the task was completed!
Li Kaiming, who was standing on the free throw line, laughed stupidly with joy.
Until Williams on the side loudly reminded him to take a free throw quickly, otherwise it would be timeout!
He woke up from his excitement and took a free throw in a hurry.
Basketball doesn't lie. Comrade Li Kaiming was so happy that he was so sad that he missed the extra penalty!
This made Pastner, who was watching the game on the bench, furious!
What the hell is this guy doing?
Butler's counterattack came quickly. After being replaced as a substitute, Hayward became the absolute core.
The first time he arrived in the frontcourt, the substitute point guard gave the ball to Hayward and asked him to organize the offense.
Hayward faced Sally's defense. This time he did not choose to call a cover. In his opinion, playing Sally on the outside may be a wiser choice than challenging Li Kaiming in the penalty area.
And this is indeed the case. Sally's defense is almost no different from the early morning road against a star player like Shanghai Ward who is proficient in sudden passing and shooting.
After getting rid of Sally's defense, Hayward shot from the mid-range again!
This time, Li Kaiming kept an eye out and took a few steps outside the penalty area before Hayward took action.
It was the gap of these few steps that allowed the defense to interfere with Hayward.
This mid-range shot missed the basket.
Under the basket, there were two beast-like figures. After a fierce physical confrontation, Coleman finally won and won the rebound.
Coleman is not good at shooting, but he does this kind of dirty work very well.
…
Taking advantage of the absence of the opposite center, Li Kaiming was making waves in the paint, like a dragon, doing all kinds of defense, rebounding and offense.
Finally, before halftime, he scored 18 points with a tip-in.
There are less than five minutes left before the end of the first half.
[System]: Congratulations to the host, for completing the B-level advanced mission and obtaining three badge upgrades!
The moment he saw the system prompt, Li Kaiming breathed a sigh of relief.
…
A few minutes later, the midfield whistle sounded, and the scores of both sides were displayed on the big screen at Lucas Stadium.
Memphis trailed Butler by 1 point 35:36.
The first half of the game was evenly matched, which made the fans watching the game extremely enjoyable.
Although their home team did not have an advantage in the first half, it was a worthwhile trip to enjoy a wonderful game.
Besides, Butler University still has a great chance of winning this game.
In the commentary box, Koslov looked at the statistics table in his hand and said to the audience, "At the end of the first half, the score between the two sides was very close. There are outstanding players in both teams. Butler's side is very close." Ward played 15 minutes in the half and scored 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while the opponent Li Kaiming performed equally well, playing 16 minutes in the half, scoring 18 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks!"
At the same time, the heads of Li Kaiming and Hayward were also displayed on the big screen, and their data were listed below.
Koslov looked at the two Sharps next to him, "Both of you, who do you think will win this game now?"
Matt Bullard and Sharp obviously lost their determination at the beginning of the game. After hesitating for a while, they slowly said, "This game may be like Memphis playing Tennessee, it will be played until the last second, so who can do it now?" Even if we win, we can’t tell.”
After hearing this expected answer, Koslov lowered his head and glanced at the statistics table again before saying to Sharp and the others, "I have a different opinion!"
Sharp and Brad curled their lips in disdain, what else can you say? Apart from mindlessly belittling Li Kaiming, is there anything else you can say that is convincing?
But Koslov's words immediately caused the two people to fall silent, "Today's Memphis still has physical problems. Although it is not as serious as the last game, their dual-core playing time reached 15 minutes in the half. But on the other side, Butler, even as a substitute in the second half of the quarter, was able to go back and forth with Li Kaiming and the others. Isn't that the problem?"
It was rare that Koslov said a human word.
Even Sharp and his wife couldn't find the problem with Koslov's view for a while.
In other words, this is the fact and cannot be refuted!
[Second update today, thank you all for your support, please vote~]
