Harden's recovery is crucial to the Devils, especially with his military-training style of play. When the Cardinals were behind, they were forced to leave the Twin Towers and chose to shrink in when encountering a pick-and-roll center.
This approach prevented Lopez from being subject to military training again, but gave Harden more opportunities for outside shooting.
The second half is Harden's personal performance stage.
Of course, his performance did not make the game lose its suspense, because as the game continued, the physical fitness of the Devils players who invested too much on the defensive end began to decline, and the defensive quality naturally also declined.
The two sides fought back and forth until the decisive moment.
In the last minute, Xu Yong completed a fatal steal on Gus, and Harden passed Robin Lopez and scored the game-killing layup.
The score on the field was finally fixed at 66 to 61. The Devils completed the reversal and defeated the Cardinals on the road, breaking their opponent's undefeated streak and winning a crucial victory.
At the end of the game, the Devils players rushed onto the field and started celebrating wildly.
This victory is so meaningful to them!
Harden was surrounded by everyone in the center. He hit 4 three-pointers in the second half and scored 18 points. He scored 24 points in the game. He was the number one contributor to the team's victory.
Harden also enjoyed it to the fullest. Although he had difficulty breathing at the moment, this moment was too wonderful for him to describe in words.
…
After the game, the players returned to the hotel one after another.
Because of the long distance, they would not fly back to Tempe until the next morning.
We also stayed in standard rooms in the hotel, and Xu Yong and Harden still lived together.
"Xu, thank you." When he returned to the hotel, Harden thanked Xu Yong from the bottom of his heart.
If it hadn't been for Xu Yong, he might not have realized what his problem was until now.
If it weren't for Xu Yong, he might still give up habitually when he encounters difficulties tonight.
But because of Xu Yong, everything changed. He truly experienced the thrill of trying his best to win the game!
It is a feeling that you will never know unless you have experienced it. It is more intoxicating than the red wine brewed by Chateau Lafite.
"You have to thank yourself, James." Xu Yong replied with a smile.
What he said to Harden before was meaningful, but what was even more meaningful was that Harden experienced this feeling himself.
Because he has really experienced it, he is not forced to change, but enjoys the pleasure of change, which will prompt him to continue to take the initiative to change.
"No matter what, I'm glad to meet you here, Xu, my friend." Harden took the initiative to reach out and hug Xu Yong, and even the title changed.
"Me too." Xu Yong also hugged Harden.
Although Harden is quite different from him in terms of personality, he is still a good person in essence.
Apart from anything else, as long as he gets up so early every day, Harden has never gotten angry with him even if he is occasionally woken up. This kind of person can handle it.
…
Time flies, and January has passed in the blink of an eye. At this time, the NCAA season has entered its final stage.
After two months of invitational matches and one month of regular season competitions, the strengths of each college have been fully revealed.
This is evident in the latest poll.
The top-ranked team changed from the University of Kansas to the University of Memphis.
The most direct reason is that the University of Memphis has not lost a single game in March!
This includes invitational tournaments and regular seasons. You must know that their opponents in the invitational tournament include wealthy teams such as the University of Connecticut and Georgetown University.
The team's leading scorer, Chris Douglas Roberts, averaged 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, and his field goal percentage and three-point shooting percentage were as high as 57.7% and 41.3% respectively.
In addition to him, the University of Memphis perimeter player Derrick Rose, a freshman who is considered the top pick in the 2008 draft, also averaged 14.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
In addition, Antonio Anderson and Joey Dorsey are all players with NBA prospects.
And more importantly, 8 players on the team average more than 5 points per game. This is a team with outstanding core capabilities and top overall level.
Kansas dropped to second place due to two losses in the regular season, but they are still the strongest overall team this season.
There is only one reason. The talent they have accumulated over the past few seasons allows them to have Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, Daryl Arthur, Darnell Jackson, Sherron Collins, Sasha ·Cowan and Cole Aldridge are 7 NBA prospects in total!
This is equivalent to the World Series. Other teams only have a few strong points, but they are already a dream team.
Ranked third is North Carolina. North Carolina is in a similar situation to Kansas and has also lost two games, but it has powerful players such as Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, and Ty Lawson. They are still the favorite team to win the championship.
UCLA fell to fourth place. They lost to Washington State and the University of Southern California one after another. The team, especially Westbrook on the back line, has not been in good shape recently.
In this list, Arizona State University has jumped all the way to the 11th position!
After defeating Stanford University, their performance is getting better and better. Their record is second only to UCLA and Stanford, ranking third in the Pac10 League.
Although the team has many first-year players, everyone can feel that they are becoming an increasingly mature team.
As long as they perform normally in the following games, they will get a wild card spot and enter the championship.
Even as Xu Yong originally thought, their goal can be changed to playing further in the championship.
Of course, it is not the time to "think about the next round of opponents" yet. Playing well in the remaining games of the season is still their first goal.
The survey list is updated once a week, and they can go from being unknown on the list to 11th, or of course they may fall off the list again.
For a team like them with dark horse attributes, those on the organizing committee will instinctively have a harsh view.
The Devils' next opponent is UCLA, which they had lost to before.
And this time they have to go to Los Angeles to challenge their opponents.
This is a crucial battle for both sides.
The Devils' performance has improved overall, and they need revenge against UCLA to complete their final rectification.
UCLA has been in poor form recently, and they also need a game to regain their form and boost morale. The Devils, who have performed well, are obviously the most suitable target.
On the morning of the game, the players got on a plane to Los Angeles.
Harden seemed very active on the plane because his home is in Los Angeles.
Sandeck didn't want to put too much pressure on the players before the game, so he didn't arrange any training when they arrived in Los Angeles.
It was this arrangement that gave Harden time to go home.
But just before departure, Harden invited Xu Yong to his home.
Since the last victory over Stanford and calling Xu Yong a friend, the relationship between Harden and Xu Yong has been heating up rapidly, and now they have reached the stage of "meeting the parents."
However, in the United States, this kind of invitation to the home has gone away from the polite "brother" or "friend" of black people, and actually treats Xu Yong as his friend.
