Enjoying the cheers of the fans, Li Ao returned to the bench and immediately received new defensive arrangements.
Henry Bibby replaced Granville, White Mamba, and Shelby Jordan, and sent in Nate Hale, Trey Pagannier, Li Ao, Brusenthal, and Charles. Group.
After adjusting the lineup, he said to Li Ao: "The opponent will definitely send Michael Wright. You have to defend him."
Li Ao immediately quit: "The point guard I guarded just now is now guarding the power forward? Coach, isn't your arrangement too hasty?"
Henry Bibby tilted his neck and looked up at Li Ao: "Do you have any objections?"
"No."
"If you don't want to guard him, I'll switch to Sam."
"Can he guard against it?"
"At least it looks good enough to scare opponents."
"That makes sense..."
Henry Bibby did not continue to fight with Li Ao and continued to make tactical adjustments.
Sam Clancy next to him: You are choking each other, why do you want to stab me in the heart?
He wanted to find a corner to draw circles, but there was no empty corner, and his heart ached even more.
Being used as an engineer, Li Ao didn't think there was anything wrong with this arrangement.
He can now understand the feelings of players who are not stars. He is not dissatisfied or unwilling to do dirty work, but he is unwilling to accept his own lack of ability. When he steps on the court, what he cares about most is how to help the team win. Contest.
Shelby Jordan is the defensive backbone of the team. As a defensive substitute, it is his responsibility to help Shelby Jordan create rest opportunities.
Li Ao looked at the opposite side and took a deep breath to relieve the pressure. The five-person group of Gardner, Rick Anderson, Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright, and Robertas Jaftokas were surrounding him. Together.
Brusenthal said: "The opponent has been pressing Gardner and Wright before, not letting them play, which is completely opposite to our strategy."
Li Ao responded: "Yes, they want to catch up while our three stars are resting, we can't let them succeed!"
The four people on the side nodded in unison. If they wanted to win, they couldn't let anything slip at this stage.
If you win this game, you won't be able to live a glorious life, but at least you can have a happy New Year.
Back from the timeout, the Wildcats attack first.
Rick Anderson received the ball from the center line and launched an attack. Gardner, a 175cm small guard, opened up the space.
This is one of the more interesting features of the Wildcats this season. In this guard combination, the former is good at breaking through, while the latter is good at breaking through and fast, but he also shoots well. When the two are paired together, Gardner is responsible for running and receiving. Ball shot.
Rick Anderson broke through with the ball and was blocked by the Trojans' zone defense on the right side of the three-second zone. He split the ball with Richard Jefferson, who cut through the middle. Trey Pagnier made up for it in time and held it hard. The impact of Richard Jefferson.
Tonight, the Trojans' defensive enthusiasm and confrontation intensity have been very high. This was not too unexpected by the Wildcat players. Richard Jefferson did not come forward, protected the ball and retreated to the free throw line, hanging it. Michael Wright, who was posted by Li Ao.
Originally, Michael Wright wanted to run, but his speed was one level slower than Li Ao. Li Ao was very clingy defensively and made many small moves, so he couldn't get rid of him at all.
In this case, just face it!
Michael Wright showed a close-range approach that was not much worse than Brusenthal's. Li Ao defended very hard, but was still knocked out of the space.
Michael Wright took a quick step and threw the ball before Charles could catch up.
The ball hit the backboard and bounced into the frame!
Without Shelby Jordan, Li Ao felt how strong Michael Wright was!
This is the strongest personal inside offensive opponent he has ever played against. In terms of technique, Brusenthal is probably on par with Michael Wright.
In terms of strength, Brusenthal is indeed strong. At the center level, Michael Wright is much worse than him, and he is a little worse than Li.
But this guy is extremely explosive, and Brusenthal's quick step into the layup just now was something Brusenthal couldn't envy.
Even if Brusenthal integrated his strong body and outstanding static strength into his style of play, and advanced his skills, he still wouldn't be able to hit as sharp an attack as Michael Wright.
By comparing two people with similar skills, Li Ao more intuitively felt the importance of physical fitness.
When it came to the Trojans' offense, Trey Pagnier immediately started a one-and-done play, simple and rough.
He played more actively than before, and was more decisive when making technical moves. His performance was much improved compared to the opening stage. The defender changed from Arenas who accepted the opponent's goal to Rick Anderson who defended well. , still found a shooting opportunity, and hit a half-shot shot within one step of the free throw line!
But looking back, Gardner used Michael Wright to attract Nate Haier to attack, and he caught the ball in the right corner and hit a three-pointer.
Nate Hale tried to open up Gardner to play zone defense. The latter made the shot. The Trojans, like the Wildcats during the previous period, had a hard time defending.
To guard against Gardner's three-pointer, Rick Anderson's breakthrough, Richard Jefferson's cut, and guard against the 211-centimeter Jaft Tokas, the teammates could only let Li Ao face it alone. The destruction of Michael Wright.
Li Ao defended very hard, but Michael Wright was indeed not something he could defend one-on-one.
But the more this happened, the harder he defended himself.
On the one hand, he is dissatisfied with himself and unwilling to accept such defensive performance.
There is also a need to create rest time for Shelby Jordan, otherwise no one will be able to guard this inside killer until the last minute.
Fortunately, we have Trey Pagnier and Brusenthal on the offensive end!
The two used simple and rough singles to share the ball, helping the Trojans to withstand the Wildcats' counterattack led by two stars inside and outside.
Li Ao's offensive role in this lineup is marginalized. Without Granville to organize the offense, his support ability cannot be used. Tre Pagnier and Brusenthal are not that good in organizing offense.
But Li Ao didn't do anything extra. After the two teammates launched the attack, he honestly ran outside the free throw line, the area where he was most accurate in long-range shots. First, he chose to trust his teammates, and second, he saved energy for the defense.
However, despite the two working hard, the gap in strength is still there. Gardner and Michael Wright are both top-notch NCAA players. Only Granville and White Mamba are stronger on their side.
It's time for the Wildcats to attack again. The current score is 33-35, and the Wildcats are 2 points behind the Trojans.
If it weren't for Rick Anderson's breakthrough throw in the last round that spun around the rim and slipped out, the score would have been tied.
This time, the Wildcats gave the ball to Michael Wright, who had been rested for one possession, for a single.
Michael Wright caught the ball, turned around and stepped out with his left foot, walking onto the road. Li Ao immediately moved to follow him. Michael Wright withdrew his steps and strode to the bottom line with his right foot. Li Ao had already tried very hard to turn around and block him, but was still blocked by Michael. -Wright gets room to burst!
Michael Wright took two steps in a row, came to the right side of the basket, raised the ball and took off...he couldn't jump!
His steps were only twenty or thirty centimeters off the ground, but the ball had already been pushed out. The ball followed the poor inertia and flew to the basket. It touched the outer ring and fell. Li Ao turned around and collected the ball.
Michael Wright quickly turned around and yelled at the referee: "He pulled my jersey!"
The referee outside the baseline also felt that something was wrong with the ball, but he didn't see it!
From the angle between the two just now, he could only see the two of them touching each other on the right side of the basket.
Can't we make hypothetical calls?
The referee ignored him and ran to the opposite side. Only then did Michael Wright remember that the game was still in progress and hurriedly ran towards the frontcourt.
But he just delayed this moment and was taken advantage of by the other party!
Nate Hale pushed hard, but the Wildcats were unable to gain a firm foothold.
Michael Wright struggled to catch up, but as soon as he reached the free throw line, Li Ao had already cut in to catch the ball and hit the board for a layup!
With 4 of 4 shots, Li Ao's statistics came to 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
37 to 33, the Trojans temporarily stabilized the situation.
During the transition between offense and defense, Michael Wright came to the right side of the three-second zone with full anger and leaned on Li Ao to ask for the ball.
After receiving a pass from Rick Anderson, Michael Wright turned around and broke through from close range!
With skillful footsteps and outstanding athletic ability, Li Ao can only block the middle, but not the bottom line.
The two came to the same position again. Li Ao used the same defense as in the previous round, and the moment they got close, he grabbed it with his left hand...
But this time, the angry Michael Wright broke out. His take-off speed was one point faster than in the previous round, and his explosive power in the confrontation was also stronger. Li Ao was pushed away...
"Hiss"
With the sound of tearing, Michael Wright's shot was destroyed. He lost his balance and once again failed to control the ball and threw it without touching.
But his physical fitness is good. After landing, he stood firm and turned around to complain to the referee, but he heard the roar of laughter from the fans outside the baseline.
Suddenly, he saw something in Li Ao's hand, which looked familiar.
He woke up suddenly and looked down... "Ah..."
Li Ao looked at Donald Duck on Michael Wright's tight briefs, and then looked at the half pair of ball shorts in his hand... (｡ŏ_ŏ)
