Li Ao walked around the venue. It was a large venue. Although it was not as big as the Memorial Stadium, it was larger than the Energy Solutions Arena in Albuquerque. There was a very complete commercial area inside the venue, including video games, billiards, etc. They are available, as well as training grounds and small competition venues.
At 10 o'clock, the Trojans held a preparation meeting at the training facility.
Looking at the scouting report, Li Ao felt that the rise of tomorrow's opponent, the Gators, was somewhat similar to that of their Trojans, both teams were rising very quickly.
In the summer of 1998, the Gators picked up Mike Miller, who was ranked 13th among high school students in the country, Teddy Dupuy, who was ranked 20th, and Udonis Haslem, who was ranked 72nd. Entered the Sweet 16, but unfortunately fell outside the top 8 by 1 point.
More than 60 years before entering the NCAA Division I, the Gators only made it to March Madness five times in total. In the summer of 1998, this team won three of the top 100 high school students in the United States and used their talents to After showing off, he suddenly became the object of favor among gifted high school students.
Last summer, the Gators won the best high school student in the United States, Donnell Harvey. So far this season, he averaged 10 points, 7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, winning the Southeastern Conference Rookie of the Year. His playing style is mature and his golf IQ is also high. , has attracted the attention of NBA teams.
At the same time, they also won Brett Nelson, who was ranked 7th in the United States, and Matt Bonner, who was ranked 33rd.
It has to be said that in the summer of 1996, Lon Kruger, the director of basketball affairs at the University of Florida and now the head coach of Georgia Tech, boldly appointed Billy Donovan, who was only 31 years old at the time, as the head coach. Actively cooperating with Billy Donovan in recruiting players, in just a few years, the Gators quickly rose to become the dominant team in the Southeast Division and the favorite to win the championship.
Ratio - Donovan suddenly became the most famous young head coach in the NCAA, while Lon Kruger retired after recruiting three talented high school students in the summer of 1998. He left Florida State and was hired by Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Poached with high salary.
For the other seven teams in the Elite Eight, the Trojans coaching staff did their homework, including analysis of the opponent's tactical play, analysis of their own strengths and weaknesses, and tactical adjustments... The meeting went very smoothly.
Then came a day of training. Everyone on the team was very involved and took the time to train. At the end of the meeting, cameras had been set up in the training ground, and people from the TV station started filming. Normally, they would go and act cool in front of the camera. Yes, but not this time. On the one hand, I’m used to having a lot of shots recently, and on the other hand, I really don’t have that spare time.
The Gators have one less day to prepare than they do, and they don't want to waste this advantage.
At 6 o'clock in the evening, the day's preparation training ended.
Li Ao and Trepagnier, who love to try out new stores everywhere, were hanging out in the dining area of the venue.
"I checked out the delicious restaurants in this business district last night, but I couldn't go there." Li Ao sounded very regretful.
Trepagnir said with a smile: "Who caused this?"
"You are blaming me!"
"If you don't blame me, who do you blame? I also checked the small shops near this business district that have good taste and cheap prices, but now I can't go there."
"Even if I don't celebrate, there is still little Ranbir!"
"He doesn't look as hateful as you."
"..."
Li Ao was speechless, wondering whether he was praising him or hurting him.
The two came to a stop in front of a chain burger restaurant. Trepagnier said: "Let's eat burgers. Other restaurants are more expensive and may not be delicious...Eh? Leo, is that from the Gators? "
Li Ao looked in the direction Trepagoniel was looking, it was true!
Mike Miller and Haslem.
He heard that the Gators only arrived this afternoon and immediately came to the game venue to hang out. The Trojans were banned from leaving the apartment when they arrived yesterday, citing security issues.
It's good to be mediocre in appearance. You don't have to worry about anyone thinking about them when you go out.
The two also noticed Li Ao and Trepagnier, and took the initiative to come up. Mike Miller greeted: "Hi, Leo, I finally meet you. I am Mike Miller, and he is Udonis. I think you should also know about us, after all we are going to play against each other the day after tomorrow, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Haslem pointed at himself and said: "Udonis Haslem, tsk tsk, you are the super genius who led the team to the semi-finals after practicing basketball for half a year. I really can't tell."
After hearing what these two people said, did Li Ao want to use words to divide their relationship within the team? Just by calling him by his name, it was obvious that he had sinister intentions.
Trey Pagannier responded: "Yes, Leo is the most talented player I have ever seen. After just a few months of training, he is better than the number one high school student in the United States who has been training for ten years. Do you think so too?" ?”
The proposition I sent was returned!
Mike Miller and Haslem didn't know how to answer for a while.
Donnell Harvey, their No. 1 high school student in the country, is certainly not bad in talent and is the best rookie in the Southeast Division, but compared with Li Ao... In their minds, Li Ao is on the same level as Mike Miller.
This guy with an honest face has such a vicious mouth! I don’t know where I learned it from.
Vaco!
They probably guessed who they learned it from!
The handsome guy who had a night with a Hollywood star after winning the 8-to-4 game is applauding next to him!
The little trick was seen through, and Mike Miller was embarrassed and put it aside.
He said to Li Ao: "You are so cool that you actually let basketball fans in a state treat you as an enemy. God, this is what I dream of."
Li Ao felt like a confidant and said: "I feel the same way. It's a pity that my teammates don't understand me and blame me for preventing them from going out to eat."
Trepagnier: (▼ヘ▼#)
Didn't your balls hurt just now and you couldn't go out?
Mike Miller laughed when he heard this: "Haha, let's have dinner together? It's such a pleasure to meet you. I'm treating you today."
Li Ao immediately responded: "Okay!"
Mike Miller: (￣┏Д┓￣°*)
Are you really being rude?
Even if he said this because he really meant to treat us, he should just show it off.
Why do you feel a little irritated?
…
After enjoying a hamburger, a pasta, and a Coke from the opponent's star player, Li Ao's depression of not being able to go out to eat was gone.
After briefly contacting two players from the Heat in the future Big Three era, he had a certain understanding of them.
Mike Miller has a warm personality, can talk freely, and should be very popular.
Haslem, on the other hand, talks very little, has a dull personality, and wants to irritate people as soon as he opens his mouth.
However, Li Ao learned from Mike Miller that Haslem is the hardest-working player he has ever seen. The scene of sweating on the court can always inspire his teammates and is the soul of their team.
That is, action leaders.
Li Ao and Trepagnier left the No. 11 Park Arena and walked back to their apartment. It was evening and there were already fewer people in the business district.
The venue has not yet officially started operations. There are no sports competitions, no concerts, and no commercial activities. Most of the shops in the business district have been closed. Those that are not closed are mostly restaurants, just like the commercial area in the venue.
And most of the people still wandering around the business district are tourists who came here today. Li Ao also met a Trojans supporter who was holding his poster and asking for an autograph.
Sometimes, I really can’t help but feel sad.
Trey Paganier diverted attention and said: "The people on the Gators are very different from their opponents in the previous rounds. They are very...confident?"
Li Ao responded: "I also have the same feeling. The people in the Steam Stove Workers Team give me the feeling that they seem to be carrying something. They don't seem to understand what the joy of the game is. If they didn't speak so meanly and be provocative, , we won’t quarrel with them at the airport that day;
Swift from the Tigers, his draft expectations were so high, and he even reached the Elite Eight, but he gave me the feeling that he was afraid of losing something, and he didn't get along well with his teammates;
The Academy Badgers are not bad, a good group of people, but they don't seem to have much confidence in themselves;
I didn't pay much attention to the Tigers, they were too weak...
Miller and Haslem give me a completely different feeling. They also have the desire for the championship, work hard, and like you said, they are very confident and energetic. I can imagine that the atmosphere in their team is also very good, no. As aggressive as some teams are.
Sure enough, there is a difference between a team that can reach the final four and other teams. Even if their basketball abilities are similar, the difference in morale will affect the outcome of the game. "
Trepagnier did some reading comprehension questions, understood, and asked: "You are not praising them, but you are praising us, right?"
"Am I that narcissistic?"
"Yes! Very yes!"
"You're right, I'm so handsome, so I should be narcissistic."
"...Let's go back quickly. The TV station will come to film what we have to do before going to bed at 8 o'clock." Trepagnier changed the subject. This guy only practices the indestructible magic power of the face!
"Taking pictures of what we did before going to bed? Do they think I want to take the girl back at night?"
"Uh...it's really possible."
"They are so boring. Could it be that they bring girls here to play games for me?"
"Isn't it true? Didn't you take me to the away game two days ago?"
"No, we happened to meet each other on the day of the competition, and we hit it off immediately."
"Fake..."
Trey Pagannier wants to hit someone again!
…
On the second day, Li Ao continued to prepare for the game with the team.
I arrived at the venue at 8:30 this morning and started training at 9:00.
The amount of training is not as large as yesterday, but the training content is more complex and is an advanced version of training, such as tactical coordination under specific situations, which is key ball tactics.
There are not many application scenarios for NCAA key ball tactics, there are too few timeouts, and there are very few chances to win. Generally, the winner is almost decided by the last minute of the game.
In the 35-second attack time, if foul tactics are implemented, free throws will be awarded only after 7 fouls are committed. If there is only 1 minute left in the game and the point difference reaches 7 points, there is basically no way to catch up.
But the opponent was the final four, and Henry Bibby felt that he still had to practice.
We talked about this during the training break yesterday. He didn't think it was necessary at first. The time was tight and there were really key balls to play. It would just depend on the situation.
But he heard Li Ao say that sometimes there is a timeout that is not called after halftime and cannot be used in the second half, which is very wasteful, so he decided to add two sets of key ball tactics training.
At 11 noon, the two-hour preparation training in the morning ended.
The training was very easy and the physical exertion was not great. Li Ao decided to practice for an extra half hour to practice mid-range shots and hooks. Anyway, there was not much time and amount of training in the afternoon.
Yesterday, CIC has improved to 84. After hard training, the improvement brought by actual combat is huge. Practice more when you have time.
The hook skill has also reached 69, which is only a thin line away from a good level.
What's a bit annoying is the basic hook skill, which is only 67.
Li Ao devoted himself to additional training, but before the two 15-minute additional training was completed, Henry Bibby interrupted him with someone.
"Leo, stop training, we have work to do."
Li Ao looked at the person next to Henry Bibby. Judging from his appearance, he should be a flower grower, and he looked familiar...
As he was looking at it, the other person seemed to be very excited and said proactively: "Hello Leo, I am Su Qun, a reporter from China Sports News. I want to interview you, but it has delayed your training."
Su Qun!
Li Ao remembered, an unlucky guy.
When A Lian played in the Mavericks in the future, his teammates did not trust him and would not pass the ball to him in the open space after he came on the field. Su Qun complained about Carlisle during the live broadcast. Since he did not communicate well with the players and did not give the ball to the open space, it would be impossible for A Lian to play. If it's five, just don't send Ah Lian, it's not good for both sides.
As a result, this remark was taken out of context by the domestic media, and only the sentence "UA Lian plays 4-on-5, don't replace Arab Lian" triggered Internet violence, and even the owner of the Hongyuan team cursed Su Qun on Weibo.
Li Ao responded in Mandarin: "Of course, but I can speak Mandarin, just call me Li Ao..."
Li Ao stretched out his hand to shake hands, but as soon as he stretched it out, he found that his hand was sweaty and wiped it on the jersey... (_)
There was more sweat on the jersey and it became even wetter.
Su Qun saw Li Ao's embarrassment, held Li Ao's hand with both hands and said, "Let's sit down and talk. You must be tired from training for so long."
With this action, Li Ao's favorable impression of this reporter improved a lot.
Henry Bibby said from the side: "I heard from the school that after we reached the top 16, Su wanted to interview you, but we were afraid that it would affect your preparations, so we didn't agree. He will interview Steve every day these days. I called him. Seeing how sincere he was, I agreed. You guys can have a good chat, but you can’t delay the afternoon training.”
Su Qun immediately said: "Thank you so much, I will definitely not delay Leo for too long!"
Li Ao and Su Qun came to sit on the bench by the window of the training ground. He looked left and right, then looked at the door of the training ground...
Su Qun asked: "What are you looking at?"
"Where's the camera? Aren't you going to do an interview?"
"Um...I...I'm a literary reporter."
Li Ao: (ˇˇ)
He was about to complain, but saw the other party's embarrassed look and held it back.
"Then if you didn't tell me earlier, I would have pretended to be so serious in vain. Sitting upright would be very tiring."
As he spoke, Li Ao hunched his back, put one hand on the bench, and crossed his legs.
Su Qun is in his 30s, and his job is not to sit in an office, but to interview outside all year round. How could he not see that Li Ao was trying to avoid embarrassment for him?
I have been in the industry for more than ten years, and I am still a text reporter who works in the field, doing beautiful work with soft girl coins.
His affection for Li Ao continued to grow.
According to legend, Li Ao was a second-generation rich man with a bad temper, contempt for others, lust and violence... In just a few minutes of contact, he knew that most of those rumors were at least false, or at least exaggerated.
He thought about the worst-case scenario beforehand.
He had previously interviewed some domestic businessmen who sponsored the Takajia family's sports teams, but they kept talking about Misora's remarks.
This is not bad. Some people who have really achieved some achievements in Takajia's family will directly humiliate him in a weird way.
Not only did Li Ao completely fail to see the inexplicable superiority of those Muyang dogs, but he also cared about his feelings.
Since his expectations were very low at the beginning, his favorability increase is now much higher than normal!
After Su Qun sighed with emotion, he began to officially enter work mode.
When we first met, the questions he asked were very routine.
Li Ao's answers were also very official. Occasionally, he didn't respond to questions he didn't like.
It is not easy to study or work abroad. If you are from the same country, as long as the other person is not annoying and there is no interest involved, if you chat for a day, he will treat the other person as one of his own.
You can be arrogant in front of outsiders, but you can be arrogant in front of others. What's the point of being arrogant in the inner circle?
Not only in this regard, but also in terms of the team.
At the beginning, when he was not fully integrated into the team, he also had a strong sense of self-defense.
But after he integrated, his bad temper was only directed at people outside the team. Within the team, he would only bully Sam Clancy. It was very interesting and he really couldn't give up.
…
The interview went smoothly. Su Qun left in a hurry after finishing the interview. He was not yet old enough to have an assistant, so he had to go back and write the article by himself. He also bluntly said that he didn't know if it would be published in the newspaper.
After Li Ao heard that it was a written reporter, he no longer had high expectations for this, and he didn't care very much. He didn't return to China to play in the CBA. The domestic sports world is not easy to deal with these days. Domestic athletes in this period, even for the national team, or even Even those who have won Olympic gold medals, most of them are suffering from injuries after retirement but cannot afford to pay for it, and their lives are extremely miserable.
After taking a shower and changing into clean training clothes, he went to have lunch. At 1 p.m., he continued to practice mid-range shots and hook shots, and trained with the team at 2:30...
Two days of preparation time passed by in a flash, and on March 31st, the final four game day of the NCAA Basketball Championship arrived.
In the morning, Trojans players headed to the arena in commercial vehicles.
Not only them, but also the four teams competing today.
Personnel from various police stations in Polis were deployed to maintain order, and the NCAA even hired a private security company to barely control the situation.
The fans are so crazy today!
The enthusiasm of the fans was ridiculously high. In terms of the number of fans crowded around the competition venue, it set a new record for the NCAA Crazy Three Finals!
Even if there are local teams in the host cities or states that reach the finals, it is difficult to be so exaggerated. The championship games in many years cannot match the current popularity.
Because, in addition to supporters of the four participating teams, fans of the Steam Oven Workers, the strongest local college basketball team, also came to join in the fun!
(End of chapter)
