Sandeck called a timeout, and the players sat down and huffed and puffed.
Looking at the team members in front of him, Sandek's eyes were quite helpless. The strength gap between the two sides was all-round.
He was holding a tactical board and didn't even know what adjustments to make.
The Devils' bench was exceptionally quiet at this moment.
"Guys!" Seeing this, Xu Yong stood up from the bench and pointed at the opposite half. "They, like us, don't have an extra pair of hands or legs. There are still more than thirty minutes in the game. We There is still a chance, if we defend and rebound well, we can do it!”
His words were sonorous and powerful, but this time, the Devils players did not respond to him.
Although the game only lasted for more than 9 minutes, the Bruins hit them in all directions.
On the offensive end, they couldn't score at all, Harden's breakthrough couldn't cause damage, Harden and Xu Yong's pick-and-roll didn't work, and Ayers was suppressed by Love; on the defensive end, they couldn't do anything in positional battles or fast breaks. Can't guard against it.
The difference in quality between them and the Bruins was so great that they felt it was impossible to win.
It has nothing to do with confidence or morale, it just simply cannot be beat, just like the king on the poker table is bigger than the face cards.
Xu Yong looked at Harden, knowing that Harden needed to stand up and echo at this time.
Harden and Xu Yong looked at each other and lowered their heads.
He tried hard, just like he tried hard to train with Xu Yong, but he knew it couldn't be done.
Seeing this, Xu Yong also knew that it would be useless even if he invited Doc Rivers.
No matter how thick the chicken soup is, it can't make a person who has fallen down stand up again.
"Coach, I can stay on the court all the time. My physical fitness is fine." He turned to Sandek and said, since it doesn't work, then choose to do it.
Harden raised his head and glanced at Xu Yong when he heard this, but didn't say anything.
Sandek saw the determination in Xu Yong's eyes and nodded.
UCLA is actually not without weaknesses. They have four elite-level players, but their substitutes are relatively weak. This is the reason why they ranked second to Kansas in the survey.
If the score can be brought closer during the transition period between substitutes, there may still be a chance.
Return from the timeout and the game continues.
Before going on the field, Xu Yong called together the five people who were going to play.
"Don't have any psychological pressure. The worst result is to lose the game, and the loss is not because of you, but because we didn't play well in the starting lineup, so relax, focus on the game, and do the best you can. .”
At this time, those who played with Xu Yong, except for Shipp who came up after going down to rest, the rest like Eric Boateng, Ty Albert, and Cooksix were all substitutes. Playing when the team is 16 points behind, the psychological pressure can be imagined.
But Xu Yong's words relieved their psychological burden.
Just like Xu Yong said, the worst thing is to lose, not to mention that they are not a wealthy team in the first place and have nothing to lose. In that case, there is nothing to be afraid of!
For the Bruins, Collison is the only starter on the field at this time, and the remaining four are substitute players.
This is not because they underestimate the enemy, but their game strategy is like this. During the main stage, they can open up the score, come on the bench to support for a period of time, and then the main force comes back to harvest the game.
And with a 16-point lead now, they have absolutely no need to make changes.
Just like they can still take advantage without studying the Devils too much, not making changes is the best game strategy when facing opponents who are obviously weaker than themselves.
"Steve, it seems that the game we chose is not very good." In the stands, Marion looked at the score and turned around and said.
Nash smiled bitterly and nodded. Although what he said before was not unreasonable, the strength gap between the two sides was indeed too large.
Speaking of which, although the Devils have won three consecutive games, only the University of Arizona is among the top 25 teams in the polls.
"Why do I feel like they haven't given up yet?" Stoudemire said at this time. He saw the five players on the Devils team gathered together.
Nash also noticed that Xu Yong continued to stay on the court, and then subconsciously looked up at the score.
A 16-point difference in the NCAA is basically equal to more than 25 points in an NBA game. It is still very difficult to reverse.
But the NBA has had the largest comeback of 36 points, and the Devils are not completely without a chance.
After all, “anything is possible before the final buzzer,” and there’s still a lot of time left for the Devils.
On the field, the game continues.
Up comes the Devils ball.
Xu Yong played a pick-and-roll for Albert, and then passed down the ball.
His current ability to hold the ball has not yet been fully developed, so using his pick-and-roll quality to create opportunities is a better option.
The Bruins substitute was slow to react. This ball was an opportunity, but Albert did not pass the ball in, but directly chose to shoot.
"Dang!"
The basketball hit the frame, but his shot failed to hit.
But at this moment, a figure rose into the air, pointed directly at the pop-up basketball, and put the ball into the basket.
It’s Xu Yong!
He went down very close to the basket.
Moreover, what he and Sandek said was that he was not trying to show off his physical fitness. Under high-intensity training, his physical fitness had also improved invisibly.
"My problem." During the retreat, Albert apologized to Xu Yong. Passing the ball just now was a better choice, but his style of play made him prefer scoring.
"Do what you are good at." Xu Yong did not blame him, but encouraged him.
Albert nodded vigorously.
After the Bruins advanced to the frontcourt, they still cut UCLA, but they were completely different from the threats of the starters.
Collison's final layup was blocked by Cooksix, and the rebound was also picked off by Boateng.
The Devils finally prevented a position battle!
However, although the Bruins' substitutes had average offense, they retreated quickly and did not give the Devils a chance to counterattack defensively.
This is what Bruins coach Ben Howland wants them to do. He does not expect this group of substitutes to continue to open up the score. If they can hold on to the point difference, it will be considered a success.
This time it was Boateng who screened Albert. After the screen, Albert continued to take shots from the mid-range, but unfortunately there was still no shot.
Anyone who has played a game should know that when a team is behind by a big score, the basket is like a cover for the lagging side.
The ball popped up onto a long backboard, and then a figure flew over to grab the backboard.
It’s Xu Yong again!
Rebounding and defense are things he mentioned to his teammates on the bench before.
Moreover, after Xu Yong saw that he got the rebound and was blocked, he gave the ball to Albert.
After receiving the ball, Albert chose to attack the basket and faced the defense with a difficult pull-bar wiper.
The ball was too difficult and his core strength was insufficient. After the confrontation, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
"beep!"
The referee's whistle sounded, signaling a foul on the Bruins' defense.
Albert did the damage.
"boom!"
And after the referee's whistle blew, the basketball hit the backboard, rebounded... and fell into the net bag!
This is still a 2+1!
Before Xu Yong could pull him over, Albert jumped up from the ground and punched the air excitedly.
After a long drought comes rain! So cool!
Xu Yong came up and bumped chests with him to celebrate. He directly stretched out his arms to hug Xu Yong, and then slapped Xu Yong hard on the back.
If it weren't for Xu Yong's trust and passing, his performance after coming on the field would have stopped at 0-for-2!
At this time, some members of the Devils bench also stood up to celebrate.
Even the fans cheered again at the scene.
Under the leadership of Xu Yong, the Devils used actual performance in this period to regain the confidence of the team and fans!
