While he was talking, the game on the field had already begun.
Amid the cheers of the home fans, Ayers beat Love and gave the home team the opportunity to take the lead.
After Glasser advanced to the frontcourt, the Devils first tried a wave of off-ball screening tactics, and Harden used the screen to catch the ball.
However, he didn't get a chance to take action because Westbrook, who was guarding him, got up right away.
Xu Yong quickly put up the pick-and-roll, opened it and then shot outside.
The Bruins directly chose to switch defense, with Mbah a Moute guarding Harden and Westbrook switching to guard Xu Yong.
Harden hit Mbah a Moute in a misplaced position, and his shot after breaking into the penalty area was interfered with and missed.
Mbah a Moute has both confrontation and speed. Harden is not necessarily easier to beat him than Westbrook.
Love stuck Ayers under the basket and then picked off the defensive rebound, and then he made a long quarterback-style pass.
Westbrook has "teleported" past midfield.
The ball was leading the way, and the Devils couldn't catch up with Westbrook's fast break after receiving the ball.
In the eyes of the fans, they saw Westbrook rising into the air, his body arched like a full moon scimitar.
"Bang!"
Then, there is the iconic violent abuse frame.
A huge muffled sound came through the loudspeaker, and the crowd was filled with exclamations.
His dunks were so violent that even his opponents couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
After landing, Westbrook also roared at the away fans, just like Harden said before.
The Bruins gave the Devils a disastrous start!
And more important than this powerful move is the situation on the court.
The Bruins did, as Xu Yong said, not study the Devils too much.
But that doesn't affect their play, because other teams have at most one defensive team, but the Bruins have two, and they are both excellent.
This allows them to switch defenses without having to double-team when facing Xu Yong and Harden's pick-and-roll.
Xu Yong will not get the open opportunities he did when he played against the University of Arizona, and it will be difficult for Harden to produce that kind of destructive power against Mbah a Moute.
Sandek made a gesture on the sidelines. After the Devils advanced to the frontcourt, Xu Yong and Glasser cooperated without the ball on the weak side.
At this time, Mbah a Moute showed excellent defensive sense. His attention was always on Xu Yong, and he seized the opportunity to directly steal Harden's pass.
The Bruins launched another defensive counterattack. This time the Devils had retreated early, but Collison cut through the defense like a knife and scored two more points with a flying layup.
Fast, too fast.
Not only is Collison fast, but the Bruins' defensive counterattack is too fast.
"I like those two guards at UCLA." In the stands, Nash's attention has been attracted by Collison and Westbrook.
Stoudemire and Marion nodded one after another. This kind of defender who can push and switch quickly is also very professional for the Suns.
"Dang!"
Harden tried to attack Westbrook in the frontcourt, but the latter was familiar with him and successfully interfered with his shot.
The Devils' offense still couldn't score.
Love protected the defensive rebound, and the Bruins had another defensive counterattack.
This time, after passing the ball several times, Love hit a chasing three-pointer from the top of the arc.
7 to 0!
The Devils got off to a rough start.
There was constant agitation at the scene, and Sandek shouted to the players on the court: "Be patient, play more patiently!"
After shouting, he looked up at the time.
At this time, it was less than three minutes before the game started. It was too early to call a timeout, and it would not have much effect.
He then looked at the players on the field.
He has already vaccinated the players before the game, and now he can only watch the players make their own adjustments.
At the critical moment, Xu Yong stood up. He cut through to receive Harden's pass and faced Love's hard layup, causing the latter's defensive foul and two free throw opportunities.
Xu Yong stretched out his hand and was pulled up by Harden and Ayers, moving his shoulders.
He and Love had a head-on collision just now. Love was like a mountain of meat and couldn't hit him at all.
It seems that his previous feeling was not entirely wrong. At least Love, like Jokic, looks fat, but his footing is very stable.
He even remembered watching a video of Love fighting against a sumo wrestler before. Love could directly knock away a 158-kg sumo wrestler.
Xu Yong went to the free throw line, but his shoulder did not fully recover from the first free throw and he failed to score. However, he made the second free throw after adjustments, finally helping the Devils break their scoring drought.
It was this free throw that finally allowed the Devils to no longer have to fight defensively and could compete with the Bruins in a positional battle.
Westbrook advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, and the UCLA system officially started.
John Wooden invented this tactic in the 1960s and 1970s, but it was this tactic that allowed UCLA to win seven championships ten years ago. Even Jerry Sloan's pick-and-roll tactics were inspired by the UCLA system. .
Xu Yong is no stranger to this tactic. Before his rebirth, the UCLA tactic was no longer an advanced tactic, but it still has a place in basketball tactics because it is really classic and full of variability.
After Collison reached the top of the arc, Love moved to the high position on the left, and Collison and Mbah a Moute moved to the right side of the half court to form the weak side.
On the left side of the half, Westbrook, Josh Shipp, and Love formed a strong side.
Westbrook handed the ball to Shipp at a 45-degree angle from the left three-point line, and then used Love's pick-and-roll screen to quickly insert into the basket.
This is the most basic starting position for UCLA's pass and cut.
Sandek was targeted before the game, Glaser retracted early, and the Bruins' first cut attempt was unsuccessful.
But the Bruins' offense did not stall, and Shipp returned the ball to Love.
At this time, Mbah a Moute, who was on the weak side, quickly cut to the basket.
This was the second cut of the UCLA system, but Xu Yong successfully predicted this and blocked Love's pass in advance.
It was at this time that the unpreventable cut-in came.
Shipp cut to the basket and provided a pick-and-roll screen for Westbrook. Westbrook cut out and received Love's pass and got a shot.
But at the moment Ayers made a save, Westbrook gave the ball to Shipp, who cut in after the demolition.
Josh Shipp scored an easy two-point layup and the Bruins scored two more points!
Sandek watched helplessly from the sidelines.
The Devils' defense was not bad at all in this round, but UCLA's pass was really hard to guard against.
Especially for this group of Bruins players, Love has stable outside ability, so Ayers can only defend out, and Westbrook's ability to attack the basket makes them have to shrink and switch defenses.
Coupled with the NCAA's 35-second offensive time in one round, the defensive pressure you need to face in one round is unprecedentedly huge.
The greatness of John Wooden can be seen in the fact that the John Wooden Award is the most valuable award for college students in the United States.
The game lasted for more than 9 minutes, and the score on the field was already 20 to 4!
The Devils faced their most difficult game since the start of the season.
Sandeck's words before the start of the regular season made the Devils players realize that the Pac10 league they were in was "hell."
But the three consecutive wins after the start of the game made that feeling stay in the imagination stage.
But tonight, facing the Bruins, these "devils" really felt the existence of the Pac10 league's break-up level!
