November 15, Davidson College Basketball Arena.
Tonight the Wildcats will take on the second seed in the Southern Conference, the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams.
If this game is won, the Wildcats will have no rivals in the Southern Conference and have a good chance of achieving an undefeated record in the regular season.
Since the gap between strong and weak teams is so large in the minor leagues, it is not uncommon to have a winning record in the regular season.
Before the game started, in the Wildcats locker room, head coach McClop was making final arrangements.
"Larry Sanders, the core player of the Rams, is 211 centimeters tall and plays the role of center. He averaged 11.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game this season."
After McClop introduced the basic information about Sanders, he continued:
"Sanders is an athletic big with a great wingspan."
"Weaknesses: mediocre finishing ability at the basket, no shooting ability, no free throws, no support ability."
"Strengths: Very good at blocking shots and grabbing rebounds. He dominates the defensive end with his strong physical fitness and movement speed."
“You could say he’s the No. 1 center in the Southern Conference right now.”
After hearing this, Sun Yi found that Sanders's playing style was very consistent with his memory.
This guy does have some strength, and his experience is quite strange.
As a first-round pick in 2010, after making a name for himself in the NBA, he resolutely gave up his high salary to pursue the "true meaning of life" for his artistic dream and became a "poet".
"Hassan, this guy is the same type of player as you, so you can't be compared to him." Sun Yi joked with a smile.
"Sun, watch out, I will beat that guy in the game and prove to the outside world that I am the number one center in the Southern Conference!" Whiteside said confidently.
"Okay, I will help you when the time comes." Sun Yi promised.
"The discussion is over, be quiet!"
Seeing that the players were quiet, McClop continued: "I will assign you tasks now."
"Hassan, you have a difficult task, and Sanders will leave it to you."
"Coach, I will take care of him." Whiteside patted his chest and replied confidently.
"Sun, help defend when appropriate and double-team Sanders with Hassan."
"Okay, coach." Sun Yi made an "OK" gesture to McClop.
Subsequently, McClop assigned corresponding tasks to Curry and others.
After Sun Yi and others received the task, they quickly changed their jerseys and shorts and made preparations.
…
"Director Zhang, do you think that young man named Sun Yi is really that powerful? I think the news media must be exaggerating. How could there be such exaggerated data?"
"We will know the answer later after watching the game."
"That's right. The purpose of our visit this time is to verify the authenticity of the news reports and bring first-hand reports back to the country."
An old man and a young man squeezed through the crowd, found their seats and sat down.
These two people are Zhang Weiping, a well-known domestic basketball expert commentator, and Su Qun, the editor-in-chief of "Basketball Pioneer Newspaper".
Because the procedures were not completed, they were unable to go to the media reporter area for interviews. They could only watch the game in the auditorium and wait for an opportunity to interview Sun Yi after the game.
Not long after, the Wildcats players entered the court from the tunnel amid the cheers and shouts of the fans.
When Sun Yi appeared on the stage, the cheers and shouts were even louder.
"It seems that Xiao Sun's popularity is very high!" Director Zhang exclaimed.
From this point, we can see that the report should be true and Sun Yi's strength is very good.
Without strong strength, it would never be possible to have such a high popularity.
After all, strength on the basketball court is the hard indicator.
After the appearance ceremony, players from both sides came to their respective half for warm-up activities.
During the warm-up activities, Director Zhang used the camera to take a few photos of Sun Yi during the warm-up.
"Tsk tsk, your figure is so good!" Director Zhang exclaimed.
"He is indeed handsome." Su Qun agreed.
"I asked you, what are you thinking in your mind? Is this what you should focus on? What I mean is that Xiao Sun's physical fitness is very good, and he is indeed a promising player in basketball."
Director Zhang smiled and scolded and patted the back of Su Qun's head, and then took a few photos of Sun Yi again.
After taking the photo, he looked at the photos and was very satisfied.
Not to mention, Sun Yi is indeed handsome and has the potential to be a model.
Not long after, the warm-up time was over, and the starting players from both sides came to the center circle and took their positions, ready to kick off at any time.
As the fans cheered, the referee blew the whistle and threw the basketball into the air.
Dabaibian jumped up hard, overpowered Sanders, touched the basketball first, and dialed it back, giving the Wildcats the first opportunity to attack.
Curry dribbled the ball quickly and came to the three-point line. After dribbling continuously, he made a crossover, shook off the defensive player, and broke into the three-point line.
The Rams players didn't expect the Wildcats' first drive to play like this.
What about your pick-and-roll coordination? What about air cutting tactics?
Why don't you follow the routine?
Before the Rams defenders arrived, Curry made a throw and scored the first goal of the game.
0:2!
The ball is in transition and the Rams attack.
Sanders ran inside and actively blocked the ball.
Whiteside worked hard and used his body to defend.
Sanders's inside skills are too rough. After receiving the pass, he can only use his body to hit the ball hard.
When he came to the penalty area, he turned awkwardly towards the penalty area and shot against the defense on the white side.
Bang!
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
Dabaibian grabbed the rebound and found Curry and passed it to him immediately.
After Curry caught the ball, he took a step, observed the movements of his teammates, and quickly passed the ball out.
Sun Yi, who was on a fast break, received the pass, came to the penalty area, jumped into the air, and dunked the ball into the basket with both hands.
0:4!
The audience suddenly burst into applause, and cheers and shouts resounded throughout the arena.
"Good shot! From this fast break, we can see that Xiao Sun is very fast and has strong physical fitness." Director Zhang praised without hesitation.
Su Qun on the side nodded in agreement.
This is the first time he has seen a Chinese player with as good physical fitness as the United Arab Emirates.
Looking back, the Rams cooperated through the pick-and-roll, and guard Harris hit a jumper to achieve a zero breakthrough.
The Wildcats immediately retaliated. After cooperating with the pick-and-roll, Curry hit the ground and assisted the inward-cut Whiteside to complete a two-handed dunk.
Not to be outdone, Sanders fired a dunk.
In this way, the two sides played inextricably, and the score was not opened.
The game lasted about 5 minutes, and the Wildcats started to exert their strength.
Curry hit two consecutive three-pointers from the outside, gradually widening the point difference.
The Rams were undeterred and remained motivated.
The Wildcats are now a hot commodity in the Southern Conference, and everyone wants a bite.
If successful, it will receive significant exposure from the news media.
No team can resist such a temptation.
The Rams were not about to pass up this opportunity, and they united as one and began to fight back.
Through strong defense, the Wildcats' offense was limited, and through tacit cooperation, they scored consecutively on the offensive end.
Seeing the score getting closer, Sun Yi stepped forward and successfully completed two steals through pressing, curbing the Rams' momentum of chasing points.
"The timing of steals is very good. No wonder he was able to average about 5 steals per game before. Xiao Sun's wingspan and big hands are simply a natural defender!" Director Zhang praised.
On the sidelines, the head coach of the Rams saw that the situation on the field was not good, and immediately requested a timeout and called the players back to the bench to adjust.
