Champion, please stay!

Chapter 34. Players in Big Games!
'As long as I pretend this is Big Yi... what do you mean by pretend? The fans are chanting this, nothing else!'

As Yi Shui ran back to the backcourt, he forced himself to think... He had just crossed the center line when the opposing team's timeout finally arrived.

The side with the upper hand has no time to pay attention to trivial matters. The Amazing Team, which suddenly fell into a huge disadvantage, was stunned. John Thompson Jr. was stunned for a few seconds. His teammates had already passed the ball out and started advancing before he realized what was happening and called a timeout.

After 2 minutes and 35 seconds, trailing by 7 points, the score was 4-11... John Thompson Jr. had imagined many unfavorable scenarios when playing against the Huskies, perhaps 24? But this kind of start was completely unexpected!
Their offense was a bit of a disaster, but it was just that Hibbert's 1-for-3 shooting at the start was really bad, which was within an acceptable range.

Did they make any mistakes on defense? It doesn't seem so. Their zone defense in half-court sets was solid and excellent, their transition defense was quick and orderly, and even when the center missed a shot, they still retreated in time. Their formation was also very good... But they were down by 7 points in the first two and a half minutes!

Because that prodigal son Brook hit three consecutive three-pointers at the start of the game!
TNT Sports' commentary team tonight consists of host Earl Johnson and guest commentator Reggie Miller.

Reggie Miller expressed the sentiments of many fans watching on TV: "My God, it's like seeing Tracy McGrady from 3 years ago!"

In December 2004, McGrady hit a perfect three-pointer in the final 35 seconds of a game against the Spurs, scoring 13 consecutive points and leading the Rockets to an 81-80 comeback victory against the Spurs.

At that time, McGrady had won the scoring title for the previous two seasons and had just transferred to the Rockets, where Yao Ming had been selected to the All-NBA Team in his second year. His teammates were even better. That 35-second, 13-point performance elevated his status in the league and his reputation among fans to the peak of his career. It was the first time that he was truly compared to Allen Iverson. McGrady was only 25 years old at that time.

Yi Shui's opening three-pointers reminded many fans of Tracy McGrady from that night.

On the sidelines, Dolan was already shouting excitedly, "Donnie, did you see that? That fast break three-pointer was gorgeous!"

Donnie Walsh certainly saw it, and he was shocked. He thought about even more – a rivalry battle, a high-profile matchup, a nationally televised game… and played even better than usual.

One word came to his mind—big-game player!

Actually, he wasn't that interested in Yi Shui at first. Yi Shui was indeed very attractive after his "prodigal son turned over a new leaf," but because of Yi Shui's previous dissolute behavior, he, being a steady person, was not optimistic about his future.

But after only two and a half minutes of the game, his mind changed.

But after glancing secretly at the familiar management and scouts of the various teams behind him, he felt that the Suns' first-round pick seemed, possibly, probably... impossible to select even if they wanted to!

'Use our own lottery?'

Donnie Walsh himself found the idea absurd after it came to him.

The Knicks are still coached and managed by Isaiah Thomas. They have played 18 games so far this season, with a record of 5 wins and 13 losses, heading towards the bottom five in the league.

Their lottery pick could potentially become the number one pick!

...

After the timeout, neither team made any substitutions and continued to battle it out with their starting lineups.

Although John Thompson Jr. was stunned by the attack, he remained calm and did not make any major adjustments. Instead, he emphasized the need to stay calm, focus on defense, and seize opportunities.

He hoped that the opposing team would become aggressive due to their large lead at the start, which would give their steady approach a chance. Their strength lay in wearing down the opponent's defense until they made a mistake, then launching a fatal attack.

Indeed, Calhoun hadn't expected such a phenomenal start.

His ideal scenario was to start fast, try to create a protracted battle, slowly wear down the opponent's mentality, induce the opposing coach to make mistakes, seize opportunities to gain an advantage, and finally rely on Yi Shui, who has stronger individual scoring ability, to withstand the pressure... He was genuinely confident that he could defeat the Amazing Team, but there was indeed a gap in overall strength, so he strategically underestimated his opponent and pursued a steady approach tactically.

Faced with an 11-4 lead after two and a half minutes, he was overjoyed, but instead of intensifying his attack to press the advantage, he suppressed his inner excitement and made adjustments step by step, even more conservative than before.

Keep running, you dogs! Keep tormenting that opposing center!
The two teams entered a phase of testing their patience, each waiting for the other to make the first mistake.

Normally, the Amazings, with the best overall defense in the nation, would be more adept at this aspect. But tonight's game was abnormal from the start. Calhoun knows exactly how to handle John Thompson's team, and Yi Shui was in phenomenal form tonight!
After a few minutes of patience, the Amazing Team gradually lost their composure.

Yi Shui's simple and direct outside ball-handling and one-on-one attacks, and Ya De's frantic attacks in a do-or-die mode when facing his nemesis, were unstoppable by the Amazing Team!
With the score in the lead, the Husky team's defense was also very solid. Of course, it wouldn't be said that their defense was particularly good. As long as Hibbert didn't mess up, the Amazing team could still achieve a shooting percentage close to 50%. However, the obvious weaknesses that the Amazing team was hoping for did not appear at all!

Since Jeff Green left, the Amazings have lacked players with explosive scoring ability. This season, whether they are closing the gap when they are behind or extending their lead when they are ahead, they have relied on exploiting weaknesses to achieve their goals.

In this situation, no matter how patiently or well they play, they can only manage to keep the score close, and... they can't keep it close!
With 9 minutes and 52 seconds left in the game, Price and Yad initiated an attack with a pick-and-roll. Yi Shui, on the wing, used Robinson's screen to get around to the high post and received a pass from Yad inside. He then hit a long two-pointer from the front of the basket... 28-17, the Husky's lead extended to 11 points!
With less than half the first half played, the point difference had widened to double digits. Freeman, a freshman, the 14th ranked forward in the nation in 07, and considered the 'next Jeff Green', the Amazings' leading outside scorer, couldn't sit still any longer and called for the ball to go one-on-one!

Team defense is very demanding on players.

Robinson's defensive skills and awareness are still not great, but after a few weeks, he has a very clear understanding of what he should do in one-on-one defense.

He absolutely won't jump from the outside! He relies on his height and wingspan advantage of 206cm + 213cm to disrupt the outside shots of opposing small forwards who are always shorter than him, forcing them to drive and allowing the team to play zone defense.

Impulsive Freeman encountered tight defense, his shooting space was blocked, and he did not hesitate to drive... and got caught in the Husky's zone defense.

As one of the candidates for Rookie of the Year in the Big East Conference, Freeman does indeed possess some of the talent of players like Jeff Green, Rudy Gay, Yi Shui, and Wilson Chandler in their prime. With his crossover dribble and step-back, he repeatedly evaded Price and Thabeet's attempts to block him, and then jumped to the left side of the basket for a floater...

Two sounds rang out in quick succession: "Crack!" and "Bang!"
The Husky team's last line of defense – Yi Shui – rushed in and slapped the ball that Freeman had thrown onto the backboard.

A spiked hat!

Smash and grab!

The Husky team launched a counter-attack! Yi Shui passed the ball to Price for a mid-range pass during their advance.

Price remained incredibly steady, seizing the opportunity created by his teammates drawing attention on the wings, driving straight to the basket and scoring with a layup reminiscent of a minor player.

The Huskies' lead has widened to 13 points, 30 to 17!
After this round, the Amazings players, who were down by as many as 13 points, could no longer keep their composure. Led by the genius small forward Freeman, they began to go head-to-head with the Huskies on offense!

Surprisingly, after the Amazing Team stopped restraining their offensive desires and went all out, they not only didn't collapse quickly, but also gained the upper hand over the Husky Team in terms of momentum.

Looking only at the lineup structure and tactical coordination, the Amazing Team's team offense is actually very outstanding; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to capitalize on any weaknesses in the opponent's defense.

But this also hastened the Exclamation Team's defeat tonight.

惊叹队打出一波13比7的攻势，将比分追至30比37、分差缩小到7分后，接着就惨遭哈士奇队迎头痛击！
Yi Shui and substitute Dyson launched a one-on-one attack, while inside players Yad and substitute Omocaro made a crazy offensive, creating a 12-2 run in the last few minutes of the first half!
The reason for the Exclamation Team's collapse is simple—the Huskies successfully outmaneuvered Hibbert, and Hibbert couldn't even keep up with the retreat!
At halftime, the score was 49-32, with the Huskies leading the Amazings by 17 points!
With a long whistle, John Thompson Jr. plopped down in his chair, unable to react in the last few rounds!

He's filled with regret now, regretting that he didn't call a timeout when his teammates lost their composure and sped up with the opponent.

Because at that time he saw his teammates go against the tide and suppress the opponent, narrowing the score difference back to single digits in a few rounds. His expectation of turning the tide suppressed his idea of ​​sticking to a steady style... and in the end he fell to the 'running puppy' tactic once again.

Normally, he would never have such expectations; he would absolutely insist on relentless defense and demand that his players maintain absolute patience, knowing that that is their strongest style of play.

But tonight's opponent is Calhoun! Calhoun, who has dominated the Big East for over a decade, surpassing both his father and himself! Calhoun, who has achieved the dream his father struggled with for over a decade in the 70s and 80s to make the Big East a national league!
John Thompson Jr. slumped in his chair, staring at the score on the big screen, unwilling to accept the reality. Unlike Calhoun, who hadn't considered losing, he had initially thought he might lose, but he hadn't expected to be hammered like this... Then he saw Yi Shui's halftime stats on the team scoreboard.

上半场20分钟打满，12投8中，其中三分球5中4，加上2中2的罚球，拿到22分5板2助攻1抢断3盖帽……

开局前两分半钟激进猛攻3投3中拿到9分，后面17分半钟又能克制住进攻欲望，稳扎稳打，9投5中拿到13分。

John Thompson Jr. reviewed Yi Shui's overall performance in the first half and had the same thought as Calhoun's other opponents—how could a seemingly useless genius become so good with just a little effort? What kind of outrageous talent is this? How come this old man is so lucky?
The NBA team management and scouts on the sidelines shared the same thought as Donnie Walsh at this moment—can we really draft this player with the pick we've prepared?
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(End of this chapter)