Chapter Thirty: Hard Bones
Angel's all-around performance in the first half made Kansas University start to worry about whether to continue to use double-teams against him. It can only be said that the cooperation between Taylor and Angel is too tacit, which is exactly the terrifying thing about such a team without stars.
"We don't want to double-team in the second half. We only use double-team tactics when he gets the ball at a low post." Kansas head coach Bill Self redesigned the strategy against Angel.
"Hey Cowan, please watch me in the second half." Darrell Arthur was the most breathing one in the team. He didn't have a good rest in the first half. He had already formulated strategies to play with the rotation lineup, but being taken up to fight with the Chinese boy in the middle was an extra task. The impact of the Chinese man was completely inversely proportional to his figure. If it weren't for Sasha, Cowan would have been exhausted.
"You are in front and I am in back, don't worry." Cowan couldn't forget his experience when he was confronting An Jie on the court, it was a nightmare.
Nowadays, centers are in relatively short positions. If there weren't really anyone who could show off, how could Anjie fall into the hands of him, the power forward? The University of Kansas bench depth is good, and everyone can take turns to rest without affecting the team's combat effectiveness. But today, the center position is obviously not included in it.
As for what the coach said next, Arthur had no energy to listen. He just wanted to seize the time to recover his physical strength. Fighting at the basket can be said to be the most consuming way for human body.
Why doesn't Angel in another locker room feel difficult? The offensive rhythm of the University of Kansas is already very fast, and everyone is adjusting their breathing, but no one's personal energy consumption is comparable to Angel.
While Ricard was talking about tactics, he also saw Anjie leaning against the cabinet silently. His huge and undulating chest showed Anjie's fatigue. At the last game of the regular season, the Tornado team encountered too much physical exhaustion. If they were replaced with a rotation lineup, the huge gap in strength would inevitably be seized by the opponent to widen the gap. The few minutes in the first half were a lesson. But Ricard could not rely on the Five Tigers to play the entire half. When to change and who should be replaced, this is the most troublesome question to Ricard now. Divac was right. Anjie's data can be much more beautiful than Arthur and Cowan, but this does not mean that the Tornado team can definitely win.
Time will not wait for anyone. An Jie and the others felt that their breathing had just calmed down and the second half of the game had arrived.
After stepping onto the court again and facing the noisy fans again, An Jie felt less fanatic and more tired.
And what about the University of Kansas? Except for Arthur, everyone else is full of energy. The Tornado players know in their hearts that tough battles are inevitable.
McTyler pressed against Chalmos tightly. After colliding with Chalmos, he suddenly staggered under his feet and then fell to the ground. It was not that Mike Taylor wanted to commit a foul, but that he was really powerless.
Chalmos neither dribbled the ball to hit the man, nor did Mike Taylor stop the foul. The referee did not say anything after seeing Taylor fall to the ground, and now is not the time to show his gentlemanly demeanor. Chalmos ignored Taylor who fell to the ground and made an open shot.
The fast-paced offense at the University of Kansas is still there, and the Jayhawks' revolving offenses have also made the Tornado too tired to deal with. It has been two minutes since the second half, and the Tornado has not continued the momentum of the first half.
All the tricks of Anjie and Taylor have been taken out, and they have been thoroughly studied by their opponents. It’s not that Anjie and Taylor are not strong enough, but that it is really difficult for them to get support from the other three people on the court.
Anjie broke through Arthur again, but after every breakthrough, there was always Cowan standing in front of him. Asakin was stuck behind Cowan, and Mike Taylor had not appeared in Anjie's vision. Anjie could not pass the ball, so he could only make a layup. Under the front and back of Cowan and Arthur, the ball did not make a goal, but got two free throws. Although Anjie made both free throws steadily, this was not the scoring method that Anjie and Ricard wanted to see.
Cruze's mobile turret hasn't fired for a long time. The other party knew that he would do this, so he didn't give him any room to take action. Due to Anjie, the inside line is always crowded, so Anthony Ben has no place to use his offense. As for Asajin, he is a blue-collar player, and playing singles with others at a low post is not his strength.
"Damn it!" Morris gritted his teeth when he looked at the passive Tornado on TV. If he were still on the court, Anjie and he would have already disrupted the opponent's inside line.
In order to save energy, An Jie has gone as far as three seconds to catch the ball. As long as he can have space to move, his physical strength will be much smaller. Light weight also has the benefits of light weight. Such weight makes An Jie consume much less physical strength when running to move than when fighting at the basket. If you ask Yao Ming or O'Neal to open up space to play like this, they will probably be exhausted for a long time.
Anjie received a pass from Mike Taylor in the three-point line. Although it was a little far from the basket, Anjie still took action. Darrell Arthur did not expect Anjie to float outside and shoot, so he did not interfere with it. Although this ball was entered, as a center, he could not end the attack in this way.
Even though Anjie began to avoid physical contact, Arthur would naturally take the initiative to find physical contact. He didn't want to score singles against Anjie yi, he just wanted to consume more Anjie's physical strength. NCAA's offensive time was as many as 35 seconds, which was enough for Arthur to slowly waste Anjie.
After bumping, Arthur was also fighting with Anjie for the final battle. He fell down and there was someone on the bench to win, but Anjie fell down and the Tornado team could not find a second person.
Anjie wanted to find a chance to fall, but Arthur's movements were really clean, so he could only silently bear the strong impact of the two.
Chalmos, Rush, Darnell Jackson, Collison and Giddens did not stop the pace of several outside scoring players. They bombed the Tornados in turn. This scoring main force, which only has two in other teams, has five. Each of these five people has not weak personal abilities, and the Tornados' defensive pressure can also be imagined.
The fans of the Tornado team who came from afar have been silent for a long time. They can only watch the score difference on the field widen step by step by step by step by opponent Yi.
"Oh." The bearded man sighed. This game seemed to suddenly bring him back to last season, reminding him of the slaughtered Tornado team in the past.
Catherine only saw An Jie gritting his teeth and insisting on the court. He must have worked very hard. Why is he working so hard?
After seven minutes of the second half, the five Tigers of the Tornado team were almost overdrawn. They could deal with DeAndrew Jordan, exhaust Michael Beasley, and defeat D.J. Augustine, but they really couldn't withstand the impact of five top scorers in the league at one time. This is the strength of the Big 12th League, and this is the gap between the giants and the dark horses.
The five tigers are exhausted, and Ricard now has to replace the second team to play, which also means that the score difference will be further widened.
Asakin led the second team to grit his teeth and persevere on the court, just like he defended An Jie during training, and he would not retreat.
"We don't contribute much. We just hope to support those teammates sitting on the bench as much as possible. Hold on for a few more minutes and we can share more pressure. We are also part of the Tornado team, and we don't want to lose!" This is an inner portrayal of almost all substitutes.
Divac admires Ricard, a university rookie coach, more and more. The players he leads may not be the most talented, but they are definitely the group that understands basketball the most. Basketball is a team sport, and every player is crucial.
"Boss, I've had enough rest." An Jie sat down for a while, then he pulled off the towel covering his head. The difference in the field had been widened to 4 points, so he couldn't just sit there and wait for death.
"Me too, I can play anytime." After Mike Taylor finished speaking, he drank the remaining water in the cup.
Ricard looked at them with a frown. Now he really had no good idea. The only two cards in his hand that Yi could play were Anjie and Taylor.
"Suspend!" Ricard had to send them both, even though they had just had only two minutes of rest.
"Hey! It's a good job! Leave it to me in the penalty area next!" An Jie and Asajin, who was sweating profusely after the game, hugged him.
"Anger and Taylor are on the court again!" Bill Self looked at the yellow-skinned tall man and Mike Taylor in surprise.
"Are these two guys the ones who can't be beaten to death? Arthur, continue to consume An Jie for me!"
Arthur sat on the bench and had no strength to speak. He could only lightly nod his head at the coach.
"Damn it!" Even though five people took turns to attack, Chalmos and the others still felt their breathing gradually became a little heavy when facing the tough defense of the Tornado. Now, the appearance of that big center will only make their attack more difficult.
"Reduce the attack in the inside line, I will try my best to use breakthrough passes to create opportunities for you." Chalmos said to his teammates. Although the score difference has expanded to 4 points, he saw that the two guys came on the court, a sense of crisis flashed through Chalmos's heart.
An Jie asked for the ball in the inside, but before the opponent's outside players came over, he retreated directly and shot. Arthur jumped with all his strength to interfere, but unexpectedly hit An Jie's wrist.
Hit the board, enter the box, whistle, and foul.
Anjie walked to the free throw line again, and Jayhawks fans disturbed Anjie's emotions with boos. Anjie didn't want to do push-ups because he missed the free throw in this game, and he made a steadily free throw, and Anjie scored another three-pointer.
Chalmos broke through and passed the ball, but under Anjie's good position, his vision was greatly disturbed. The ball was intercepted by Anthony Ben in the middle. Ben, who was exhausted too much, could no longer complete the yi dragon dunk after the steal like before. He had to pass the ball to Mike Taylor who was running in the front.
Brandon Rush reacted quickly. After conceding the ball, he immediately turned around and ran to his three-second zone, waiting for Mike Taylor to come.
Taylor didn't have the energy to do those complicated technical movements now, so he jumped up and flew towards Rush.
The referee did not disappoint Taylor. He decisively blew his whistle and signaled Rush to make a defensive foul. Rush originally wanted to block Taylor's shot easily, but he didn't expect the opponent to take action at all. From beginning to end, Taylor just wanted this foul.
Taylor also continued his fiery touch, making two free throws. The difference in score became single digits again, and Chalmos was a little panicked.
Darnell Jackson successfully broke through with Cowan's pick-and-roll, but Anjie, who was standing in the inside, made him very afraid, so he did not go deeper, but chose to stop and jump shot.
Unexpectedly, An Jie pushed Arthur away, who was entangled with him, and then rushed towards Jackson like a hungry lion. Jackson had already jumped into the air at this time, so he had to bite the bullet and take action.
"Bang!" Anger's palm just reached the shot basketball and slapped it out. Cruze received the flying basketball and quickly advanced, and the Jayhawks players also quickly returned to defense. Mike Taylor was raising his hand to ask for the ball, and he was about to penetrate the penalty area. In this game, Anger and Taylor were really dazzling, but the performance of others was a little dim. In order to defend Taylor, the Jayhawks players all ran towards the penalty area, but directly ignored Cruze who was holding the ball at this moment.
After Cruze ran to the outside of the three-point line, he did not continue to push forward, nor did he pass the ball to Taylor who cut inside, but instead stopped at a slightly farther position. At this moment, the Jayhawks players realized the danger, but it was too late. Cruze seized this few performance opportunities and successfully threw the ball into the basket at the outside of the three-point line. Everyone on the Cyclone bench stood up and applauded Cruze, and the shooter did not disappoint his teammates at the critical moment.
6 points, the Tornado team narrowed the gap to only 6 points just two minutes after the timeout. Even the scouts were attracted by this wonderful game and completely forgot the unfinished player report in their hands.
"I knew you could do it! Damn this is my brother!" Morris felt like he was passionate even when he was just watching TV.
So what if you are overdrawn? So what if you have a deep bench? 4 points ahead of us? So what if you are a traditional giant in the NCAA league, if you want to win the Tornado team, you have to ask these young men whether they agree or not.
Chapter completed!