Five minutes into the game, the score on the court was 2-13.
"It's very unfavorable. The game is very unfavorable to the University of Connecticut. They fell into the trap designed for them by their opponents on the offensive end." The commentator on the sidelines told the key to the problem.
Generally speaking, there are only two ways to deal with Giants players, either to go around and not let him catch the ball, or to double-team and force him to make a mistake.
Now NBA teams basically have these two tricks to deal with Yao Ming.
For Yao Ming, because of his good ball-playing ability, the effect of bypassing is obviously better than that of flanking (although the effect of flanking is actually good because of the poor ability of the Rockets role players).
However, the Devils chose to double attack tonight. The reason is very simple. Thabeet does not have the ball-playing ability of Yao Ming.
And so far in the game, Thabeet has not only proven that he has no ability in this area, but also demonstrated how rough his job is in a 360-degree manner.
But as soon as the commentator finished speaking, Thabeet finally showed his performance on the court. He turned Harden's hat over to the ground.
Although the offensive end is as rough as toilet paper, his shot-blocking awareness and ability are the strongest in this year's NCAA, no one.
But before he had time to celebrate, Xu Yong grabbed the blocked ball, jumped into the air before he turned around, and made a sideways pass!
"Bang!"
The huge impact pushed Thabeet directly over the bottom line, and the cheers on the scene exploded like thunder.
Are you a mountain of Huskies? !
After Xu Yong completed the dunk, he didn't even look at Thabeet. He turned around and pulled Harden down on the ground.
Revenge for a friend must be done on the spot.
The game lasted another minute, and Sandeck smiled and replaced Xu Yong and DeRozan.
The conference finals went much smoother than he expected.
In other words, Thabeet's performance was much more stretched than he expected.
When your stars are not performing well, can you still count on role players to come out and save the team?
Oh, by the way, UConn's outside line was originally a player with the ability to hold the ball and attack hard, Jerome Dyson, who is sitting on the bench in a suit and tie.
So the NCAA Organizing Committee is still professional!
As soon as Xu Yong came off the court and sat down, he saw that Thabeet didn't even put in the basket he put up close at hand.
And because the rebound was picked off by Ayers, he also paid a foul.
Xu Yong couldn't bear to see it. Let's not talk about how this guy was selected as the second place. Who gave him the courage to say "the top seed in the division belongs to them" at this level?
It was at this moment that Kahun seemed to have finally had enough of Thabeet's performance tonight and stood up from the bench.
At the short whistle on the sidelines, Kemba Walker and Gavin Edwards came on, replacing Ostry and Thabeet.
Xu Yong's eyes also shifted to Walker.
Walker's height is only 1.83 meters, or about 1.8 meters with bare feet, but he is an All-Star player in the NBA. In his peak season, he averaged 25.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, and was selected as an All-Star starter.
Although he is only a freshman now, he is the only one at UConn who has the potential to change the situation on the court.
Soon, Xu Yong's worries became reality.
Walker's breakthrough is neither as violent as Rose nor as fast as Thomas, but his rhythm is too good.
His center of gravity when dribbling is very low, which allows him to change direction very quickly. He can pass the defender with just one hip change.
Cooksix's center of gravity was too high and he couldn't get into position, and Glasser was even beaten.
Moreover, his mid-range of 8 to 16 feet is very stable, and his passing vision is also very good, which makes simple shooting or flanking also ineffective.
Even Walker is a leader-type player. The team's unfavorable situation not only did not panic him, but made him more motivated.
He scored 7 points in a row from inside and outside, directly shutting down the Devils.
During the pause, both Harden and DeRozan subconsciously looked at Xu Yong.
Yesterday they thought Xu Yong's worries were unnecessary, but today Walker slapped them in the face.
It seems that [Xu Yong's words are right], they have to take a small notebook to record this matter again.
"Coach, I'm going to guard him." At this moment, Xu Yong took the initiative to speak.
Sandek looked at Xu Yong.
Xu Yong's center of gravity is higher than Cooksix, so the effect against such a small defender will not be very good.
However, he nodded and signaled Xu Yong to come on and replace Cooksix.
Based on his understanding of Xu Yong, Xu Yong must have been confident before he said this.
Back from timeout, Devils have the ball.
Xu Yong held the ball in the frontcourt and signaled Glasser to pick and roll him, and then directly passed Walker.
When they played the University of Washington, they couldn't guard Thomas, but they won the attack.
The so-called confrontation is not a shooting contest between the two sides. It is a scene that only existed in the small ball era.
Nowadays, the attacks are all about exploiting each other's weaknesses. In that game, the three of them took turns naming Thomas.
The head coach of the University of Washington failed to "hide" Thomas well. As a result, they lost more points than they scored when Thomas was on the court, and the loss was understandable.
Now he came to try the waters of Cajon.
Well, the water in Cajon was not tested, but Walker's depth was discovered by him first.
Walker chose to steal directly, but the defense was out of position and Xu Yong easily broke through.
"Bang!"
Xu Yong's powerful two-handed slam dunk not only stopped the team's decline, but also rekindled the enthusiasm of the Arizona fans at the scene.
Harden and DeRozan also waved towels excitedly off the court.
At the critical moment, you have to give the ball to the captain!
After Xu Yong dunked, he also looked back at Walker, inexplicably remembering the novel he had read before called "Invincible Money in Basketball".
The protagonist of that novel is Tang Tian, who played at UConn during the NCAA period. His technical characteristics are that of a top 3D player with a high golf quotient.
If UConn really has such a player now, even if Kahun doesn't hide Walker well, he can help Walker "wipe his butt" very well.
But it's a pity that reality is not fiction, and there is no "Tangtian" in the real Cornell University!
Xu Yong's goal is beautiful, but it is not the key. The key to determining the situation on the court now is whether Walker's offense can be restricted.
"Defend! Defend!"
The Arizona fans, whose enthusiasm was rekindled, began to cheer for the Devils in unison.
Walker held the ball, and after seeing that the person guarding him was Xu Yong, he stretched out his hand to signal for a singles.
Xu Yong immediately let Walker go.
He has not been able to train his defense specifically and his defensive skills are not very good, but he has awareness and experience.
The reason why he didn't ask Sandek to play right away was because he needed to observe Walker's playing style at this time.
After all, every player has different periods. For example, just two seasons in the NCAA are very different for him.
Then he discovered that Walker had not taken a single shot from beyond the three-point line. He was sure that Walker's outside shooting at this time was not accurate.
When faced with a three-point opportunity, Walker did not choose to take a shot. Instead, he narrowed the distance between him and Xu Yong, lowered his center of gravity when dribbling, and tried to change direction and pass Xu Yong.
Xu Yong did not swing his center of gravity easily, but gradually retreated, keeping himself facing Walker's front.
At this time, we have to talk about the difference between Walker and Rose, or Thomas.
Rose is violent and Thomas is fast. Xu Yong's defensive method will not work against them.
Because if people don’t tell you this or that, they are forcing their way in.
But Walker relies on rhythm and the experience of the defender.
No, this is a professional counterpart.
Seeing no chance to get back to the three-point line, Walker called the pick-and-roll.
However, Xu Yong has rich experience in picking and rolling, and Walker was finally forced to choose a long two-point shot.
"Dang!"
The basketball hit the hoop.
Sure enough, Xu Yong's judgment was correct. Walker's shooting ability at this time was limited to mid-range jumpers in the range of 8 to 16 feet.
The rebound was protected by Boateng, and the Huskies' counterattack momentum was finally suppressed.
Looking back, Xu Yong continued to look for Walker with the ball.
This time the Huskies chose not to switch to the pick-and-roll. Xu Yong's choice was very simple. Facing the shooting space formed by the pick-and-roll, he directly pulled up and threw it away.
"Uh-huh!"
Mai's posture is as beautiful as a painting.
After Xu Yong scored these 4 points in a row, the Devils' momentum on the field was stabilized.
The scouts in the lottery area were whispering to each other in the audience.
As the saying goes, flowers need green leaves to accompany them. Once things in this world are contrasted, good things will appear particularly dazzling.
Or why is it that your girlfriend who gets along well with your girlfriend is always average-looking?
Thabeet has Dora tonight, and Xu Yong is just as good as he is in the eyes of these scouts.
Especially in this period when he was ordered to do something in danger, they felt that compared to Thabit, perhaps Xu Yong was the one more worthy of their attention.
The game on the field continues.
Walker once again tried to force Xu Yong, and this time he did not call a pick-and-roll, trying to use rhythm and speed to beat him.
However, Xu Yong's defensive positioning was very good. Walker still had no good chance to make a shot even after he reached the basket.
He can only use his flexibility to stop and turn over for a jump shot.
But there is a price to pay for doing this kind of action in front of Xu Yong.
Especially when you can't even shake him off.
I saw Xu Yong seeing the right opportunity to strike back, soaring into the air like a goshawk and pounced on Walker, the little white rabbit.
Although Walker adjusted his posture in the air and raised the arc of his shot, Xu Yong's flying height and staying in the air were too good.
"Snapped!"
If there is no block, it will be confiscated directly!
The scene instantly erupted with excited cheers and whistles from Arizona fans.
Walker's performance after coming off the bench became a problem for Arizona State University.
But after Xu Yong reappeared: Trouble? What's the trouble? No hassle!
This made the scouts excited.
As professional scouts, they can naturally see that Xu Yong's defensive skills are not very good, but his defensive effect is still so good.
This is like singing, there is no technique, it is all emotional investment.
But if this can produce a good defensive effect, it shows that Xu Yong also has huge potential on the defensive end.
A ball-handling swingman who combines offense and defense?
When these words are combined together, it’s really amazing!
The footage of the scene was given to Xu Yong.
Xu Yong's expression at this time had returned to calmness.
Facts have proved that what he said to Harden and DeRozan yesterday was really not nonsense.
Walker has indeed become a problem for them, but the trouble is actually not that big.
Because in just the past two or three rounds, Walker has exposed many problems that freshmen will have, such as his tendency to gamble and steal when faced with mismatches on the defensive end, and his head immediately wanting to hit back after being hit, etc.
These very detailed things make him less of a threat.
If he were a third-year Walker, Xu Yong might not be able to defend him with his current defensive ability.
After all, if you sing with emotion, your girlfriend will praise you for how good you are when you are in love, but after you get married, your wife will cover her ears if you sing again.
Unfortunately, Xu Yong is now sure that he can restrain Walker.
Thabeet fell far short of his standard, and Walker's surprise effect was limited. For UConn, there are actually no cards they can play tonight.
The balance of victory has begun to tilt infinitely towards Arizona State University at this moment.
The dawn of the final four has also begun to emerge in front of the "home" Arizona fans.
