Augustin's starting position seems to come naturally. Although he is not as talented as Durant, he is still a five-star high school student, and he was also selected for the McDonald's High School All-Star Game.

He was playing as a substitute earlier, and out of caution, Barnes allowed him to go through a step-by-step process.

But Lin Ying's high school rating was only three stars, the same as UCLA's Westbrook.

This is also the reason why Augustin didn't take kindly to Lin Ying's attitude when he first joined the team.

Although the basketball system in the United States is very complete, it is just like the imperial examination in ancient China. If you want to advance to the next step, you must be the best among your peers.

A three-star high school student obviously does not have this qualification.

But at this stage, this is not a bad thing for Lin Ying.

Because at least he won't be targeted tonight!

After the player introductions, the head coaches of both teams followed.

Lin Ying didn't recognize Iowa State University's head coach, but he found a familiar face on the assistant coach's side.

Fred Hoiberg.

Lin Ying also had a lot of information related to Hoiberg popping up in his mind.

Retired from the NBA in 2006, became the head coach of Iowa State University in 2010, became the head coach of the NBA Bulls in 2015 and briefly coached Derrick Rose, and was fired in 2018.

The timeline just happened to match up.

After the opening ceremony, the head coaches of both sides made their final tactical arrangements, and the starters all came on stage one after another.

Lin Ying took a deep breath before going on stage.

Durant bumped his shoulder after seeing it.

Their eyes met and Lin Ying nodded.

A jump ball between Wendell and the opposing center in the opening game.

Accompanied by the cheers of the home fans, Wendell jumped high and moved the ball back to half court. Augustin controlled the ball and the University of Texas got the first opportunity to attack!

Lin Ying was positioned at the top of the arc, and Augustin handed the ball to him after advancing to the frontcourt.

After Barnes adopted Springman's suggestion to let Lin Ying start, he made it clear that he was the core of the tactics.

The games over the past month or so have proven that Lin Ying is more of a threat with the ball.

So now I think back to what Abrams said back then. Although Barnes has a bad temper, he is indeed a good coach who knows people well and makes good use of them.

Lin Ying holds the ball at the top of the arc and observes the movements of his teammates on the field.

There is a big difference between playing as a starter and as a substitute.

When playing as a substitute, he is more of an initiator of pick-and-roll tactics and a tool to open up space.

But if he starts, he will be more responsible for connecting and organizing the team.

Because it was his first time playing as a starter, Lin Ying's training time with this group of starting players was not very long, so now it depends more on his personal performance.

His "cpu" started burning again.

The movement of teammates and the defense of opponents on the field have become a series of data invisibly.

Soon, he came to a conclusion and set his sights on Augustine.

Iowa State started the game man-to-man, and the focus of defense was on Durant.

At this time, Augustin had already used James's screen to bounce to the bottom corner for a three-pointer.

Iowa State's defensive rotation is much worse than Kansas, and the players who switch defenses are obviously slower.

Lin Ying passed the ball immediately.

That position, that kind of opportunity, Augustin's grasp is at least 50%!

The ball passed to Augustin like a cannonball.

Like three-pointers, passing can also be trained. Thousands of passing exercises can continuously improve the accuracy of passing.

Lin Ying's current passing ability is still B in his own rating, not excellent, but he is more than enough to pass this kind of ball.

Augustin reacted quickly. After catching the ball, he raised his hand and shot, without giving his opponent a chance to defend.

"Dang!"

It was a pity that the ball hit the edge of the basket and bounced out.

He failed to hit a three-pointer.

As soon as I started playing, my hands were still a little cold.

Iowa State protected the defensive rebound and immediately launched a defensive counterattack.

After receiving the ball, Taylor accelerated past James' defense and quickly broke into the frontcourt for a flying layup...

"boom!"

He was directly chased by James!

The University of Texas counterattacked with a fast break, but Iowa State's defense retreated in time and the fast break failed to move into position.

Augustin and Wendell played a pick-and-roll and then scored.

Augustin passed the ball a little low, and Wendell failed to catch the ball and threw it out of bounds.

Then, Iowa State's wave of positions still failed to score the ball...

The two teams played for more than a minute at the beginning, but there was no score yet!

The University of Texas' new lineup is getting used to it, while Iowa State's strength is limited, and the two sides feel a bit like noobs pecking each other!

Iowa State was not in a hurry, but the University of Texas, which was playing at home, was starting to get a little anxious.

The fans on the sidelines were agitated. Obviously, the team's opening performance was far from what they expected!

Barnes moved unconsciously at this time.

After drastically adjusting the starting lineup, he also faced tremendous pressure as the head coach.

On the court, Augustin made a sudden score and knew it was difficult to hit, so he gave the ball to Lin Ying again.

Lin Ying continued to hold the ball at the top of the arc.

At this time, the Iowa State fans behind the basket began to boo.

Although this era is not without big men who play from the outside, the more famous one this season is Ryan Anderson of the University of California, Berkeley.

With an outside shooting rate of nearly 40%, Anderson has averaged 17+ points per game in the past month and is the star of Berkeley.

However, stars who play this way are not liked by fans of this era, and generally those who play this way will be labeled "soft".

Dirk Nowitzki in the NBA is the most typical example.

Not to mention Lin Ying's skin color problem.

Lin Ying, this time he shot directly from beyond the three-point line!

Lonely people generally tend to have low self-esteem and are very concerned about other people's opinions.

The reaction of Iowa State University fans gave him a strong urge to prove himself.

Of course, there is no problem with this choice on the court.

As mentioned before, Iowa State University didn't know much about Lin Ying, and the person guarding him was at least two meters away from him at this moment.

This is basically a big empty space.

After the ball was released, Lin Ying's heart accelerated uncontrollably, and a "bang bang" sound seemed to explode in his ears.

Although this is not the first time he has made a three-pointer in an official game, it is not that he has never made a three-pointer before.

But this ball is still very important to him!

When he decided to train three-pointers and passing in high school, he had already defined himself as a space inside player.

If he can't hit a three-pointer, then his "space" is out of the question.

On a smaller scale, this is just a ball.

But speaking more broadly, this determines the way the University of Texas plays in the opening game!

The crazy training showed its significance at this time. Lin Ying's shot was almost perfect in both strength and angle.

After the ball was released, it drew a beautiful parabola with backspin in the air.

This ball can be scored just by looking at it!

"Whoosh!"

There was a crisp sound.

Lin Ying scored his first sports goal tonight!

And, it’s a three-pointer!!

The cheers of the Iowa State University fans were instantly overshadowed by the even louder cheers of the University of Texas fans.
To be continued...