The invincible kryptonite of basketball

After that, Kansas, which has the Morris Brothers, Kentucky, which is not as strong as in previous years but still has many NBA talent-level players, and the University of Arizona, which has super scorer Derek Williams, etc., followed these two universities. .

The third tier belongs to the champions of various leagues and some teams with good strength. For example, UConn is in this tier. They are called very competitive teams in this tier. Super teams such as North Carolina, Kansas, and Arizona are grouped together, and the promotion situation is relatively severe.

However, the predictions of NBA players are more casual than the media, and they almost all support their home teams.

Richard Jefferson: Derek Williams will be the No. [-] pick this year, and the University of Arizona is the undisputed champion this year!

Luol Deng: Duke will definitely kill North Carolina to win the championship this year. Don’t ask me why, because there is a blue that North Carolina loses to Duke blue!

Vince Carter: Duke is overrated this year, and North Carolina is the king this year. I love the kid Barnes, and North Carolina will regain the championship this year!

John Wall: All of you underestimated Kentucky, Knight that guy is stronger than you think, Kentucky is the last king.

Ray Allen: I like Walker, I like Lamb, I like Don, and I like this UConn team very much. They may not necessarily win the championship, but they are already the strongest team in my mind.

……

Walker and Tang Tian watched the news with gusto.

For them, it's also a way to relax before the tournament.

They watched for a while, and their eyes were quickly attracted by a news article on FOX Sports titled "The Power Ranking of Major Positions in the NCAA Tournament".

In this news, FOX ranked the strength of players at each position of the tournament's 68 teams.

Among the point guards, Kyrie Irving tops the list. Although he has been sidelined for a while due to injury, Irving is 1 meters tall, has a slender body, and has unparalleled ball-handling skills. He is also one of the favorites for this year's No. 91 pick .

After Irving, Brigham Young University's Jimmer Fredette, Kentucky's Brandon Knight, Colorado University's Alec Burks, and Georgia Tech's Iman Shumpert ranked 2nd to 5th. .

"You are ranked sixth, haha, I remember Shumpert is the main shooting guard, right? You are behind him." Tang Tian couldn't help laughing after watching it.

It's a joke, but it's more of a joke, because it was a bit of a struggle because of the injury, and it's not so surprising that Walker is here.

In fact, compared to the beginning of the season, Walker's experience and strength have improved significantly, especially after returning from injury. After adjusting the way of exerting force, his shooting rate has increased significantly. In terms of hard power, he is at least one of the top three point guards. , the kind that ranks in the top fifteen overall.

"You're still laughing at me, look at yours." Walker said, pointing at the screen.

Tang Tian was ranked as a power forward.

Ranked first in this position is Derek Williams. As the core of the University of Arizona, he averaged 19.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in the regular season. His strong body and excellent scoring methods make him Irving's biggest competitor.

After Williams, Harris Barnes of North Carolina, Tristan Thompson of the University of Texas, Markieff Morris of Kansas, and Leonard of San Diego State University ranked 2nd to 5th.

Seeing his ranking, Tang Tian laughed even louder, because he was directly outside the 20th place on the list.

Chapter 64 Before the game

No. 28, which is about the same as Lavoy Allen's ranking. This is actually considered a face for FOX. After all, there are 68 teams in the championship, which means that they think Tang Tian is among the top 30 power forwards in these teams.

"Jeremy is worse than us." Walker also laughed.

Lamb's performance has improved steadily this season, but it seems that FOX Sports didn't buy it, and directly ranked him close to the 40th position of shooting guard.

The two laughed loudly.

But after laughing for a while, they all stopped at the same time.

This ranking shows that although Kangda is not favored by them!

The two didn't speak, and they both felt something in each other's eyes: motivation.

Many people see this kind of ranking and see that their ranking is low, and most of them will complain and complain, but they are different. UConn University was not favored at the beginning of the season, and it is completely normal to continue to be not favored now.

This lack of optimism is motivation for them. When you use your actions to prove that others have misunderstood you, that feeling is the best.

They experienced the first time in the conference championship game, and knowing that feeling, they naturally want a second time.

"Extra practice!" Walker said and jumped up.

Tang Tian also stood up.

Providence College's opponent is Santa Barbara University.

After the game started, Marshan Brooks quickly became the absolute focus on the court. No one at Santa Barbara University could stop this "little Kobe". He looked not only like Kobe on the court, but also Michael Jordan.

Brooks opened up, and Providence College's bombardment offense was also surging like a tide.

In the end, Brooks scored 41 points to help Providence College beat their opponents 91 to 63 and successfully advanced to the final 64.

"Fuck!" After watching the game, Walker couldn't help but swear.

"I just realized that this guy's scoring ability can be so explosive. No, I just realized that your defense is so good."

"Are you praising Brooks or me?" Tang Tian said with a smile.

"Both praise, but praise you more." Walker said seriously.

After the game, Brooks raised his hands and applauded the audience.

The crowd cheered Providence College throughout the game, which is almost a home game for them.

The final victory of Providence College is also good news for UConn. This shows that although only 5 teams in the Big East have advanced this year, which is less than in the past few years, the strength of the advanced teams is still among the best. .

In two days, the final round of 64 was determined, and the first round of March Madness was imminent.

In order to ensure the progress of the competition, each division will have eight competition cities. These cities have been decided as early as a year ago, and in order to ensure fairness, some neutral cities without colleges and universities are selected.

The game between UConn and San Diego State University was arranged at the Riverside Stadium in Newark, New Jersey.

This was originally the home of the Newark Bears of the American Professional Baseball League, and the scene can accommodate up to 4 people watching the game at the same time.

Before the start of the game, the tickets for the game had already been snapped up by fans of both sides.

When it comes to the championship stage, fans of both sides will never miss a match that determines the outcome.

The day before the game, players from both teams came to the port city one after another.

UConn is the No. 4 seed, and San Diego State University is No. 13. Theoretically speaking, UConn is the absolute dominant side, but there is no such thing as absolute in the single-elimination competition. It is a game that determines the outcome. If you perform well, you will be stronger His strength is also useless.

It is precisely because of this that the University of Kangda team members, who are mainly first-year students, feel a little nervous in their hearts.

In order to decompress the players, Calhoun's approach is to train as usual without deliberately adjusting the team's rules.

It was also in the training session on this day that Calhoun made a decision. He appointed Tang Tian as the captain of the team to compete in this tournament.

Under normal circumstances, the captain is the most powerful player on the team, but it is not absolute. Some teams will also choose a spiritual leader to take on this role, and Tang Tian plays this role.

None, including Walker, had any opinion on Cajon's decision.

Tang Tian's performance on and off the field in the past has won the trust of the coaching staff and teammates. If he becomes the captain, he can also help Walker share the pressure of the game.

After training, the team members returned to the hotel one after another.

Tang Tian lay down on the bed after taking a shower and didn't feel sleepy.

Counting it, it has been more than half a year since he traveled, and this half year has changed a lot for him.

With the clear goal of winning the championship, he grew up with Walker and Lamb, and experienced ups and downs with them. Up to now, there have been big victories, disastrous losses, and reversals. After so many games, he deeply loves basketball. Little by little, his love was rekindled.

Because he was a coach in his previous life, he always stood at a high point and didn't realize the feeling of being a player. Now that he has experienced it once, he can feel that besides love, there is also a lot of things called passion in his heart.

Tomorrow is the tournament, and with Cajon having just named him captain, he's tossing and turning.

"Tang, are you asleep?" Walker was lying on the bed next to Tang Tian, ​​and suddenly said.

"Not yet, why didn't you sleep, didn't you snore just now?" Tang Tian asked.

"I wanted to sleep by myself, and I didn't want you to find out that I couldn't sleep." Walker said.

"That's a coincidence, I didn't want you to find out, so I didn't move." Tang Tian continued.

After finishing speaking, both of them couldn't help laughing.

"Are you confident that you can guard Leonard?" Walker asked after laughing.

"Then are you confident that you can break through Leonard's defense?" Tang Tian also asked.

"To be honest, no, but I believe you and Jeremy, we are different from them, we score more points." Walker replied.

Tang Tian couldn't help smiling after hearing this. Although Walker really wanted to win, he didn't lose his way because of wanting to win. He still knew very well what the advantages of UConn University were.

"I will guard Leonard and Franklin well, and I will leave the offense to you and Jeremy." Tang Tian followed up.

"Well, so there's no reason for us to lose."

"Yes."

"Then go to sleep."

"Ah."

……

"Don, are you asleep?"

"not yet."

"Go to sleep."

"Ah."

……

"Don, are you asleep?"

"Not yet, if you really can't sleep, go find Jeremy, that guy must not be asleep either."

"No, let's sleep."

……

The two of them just talked from time to time, and they didn't know when they really fell asleep.

At dawn the next day, they all woke up early.

The time of sleeping is not too long, but he is still full of energy. At this time, the amount of sleep is not so important.

They took the bus to the training hall and did some simple warm-up training in the morning.

On the bus, they also received news that in the game last night, North Carolina easily won the opponent by 20 points and advanced to the top 32. The state is hot.

"We have to work hard." Walker turned to Tang Tian when he heard the news.

"Yes, it's our turn." Tang Tian nodded.

Chapter 65 Onslaught

At 7:[-] p.m. on the same day, after a rest, the Kangda team members took a car from the hotel to the competition venue.

In an hour, their game against San Diego State University will be played at Riverside Stadium.

On the way there, they heard the news that in a game that just ended in New York, Georgetown University was defeated by the 14th seed Moorhead University 62 to 61, breaking the first upset of this year's NCAA tournament.

Monroe played poorly in this game and only contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Play, is really important in this kind of single elimination game.

Georgetown University is out, so there are only 4 teams left in the Big East, and the pressure on Kangda's shoulders has increased by one point.

In the Riverside Stadium, the stadium that can accommodate 4 people is already full of seats.

On one side are UConn fans and on the other side are San Diego State University fans, forming a large oval around the entire stadium.

There is a gap in the history and status of the two schools, but the number of fans in this game is evenly matched.

When Tang Tian and Walker walked into the stadium, they could feel the enthusiasm from the fans on both sides, which was much warmer than in the regular season or even the championship game.

This is a real battle of life and death.

Unlike the previous games, because there is no home and away game, the players of the two teams were introduced successively.

The opening ceremony at this time has become much more interesting than before.

The players from UConn were the first to be introduced. Almost all of them were booed when Smith, Auriachi, Tang Tian, ​​and Lamb played. They were all fans from San Diego State University. Only when Walker was introduced , the cheers of the UConn fans overwhelmed the boos from the opposite side.

When the San Diego State University players came out, the situation was completely reversed. Leonard's appearance was evenly matched with cheers and boos.