Champion, please stay!

Chapter 42. Hope for the Seeded Team!
Yi Shui was already looking forward to playing against Rose, and seeing how well the Tigers were playing, he was even more excited.

As for whether he feels pressured given the Tigers' excellent performance... so many top-tier teams in the upper half of the table have lost to the Tigers, so what if they lost? But if they win, it'll feel amazing!

However, the next day, on the afternoon of the 26th, during the team meeting before training, the coaching staff put pressure on Yi Shui, stating that Calhoun's goal was to defeat the Tigers.

Yi Shui certainly wanted to win, but Calhoun's even stronger desire to win than when facing the Amazing Team puzzled him.

Yad, who hadn't done much serious work but knew a lot about miscellaneous matters, speculated: "I guess Jim wants to compete for a seeded team status!"

Yi Shui: "Aren't we second in the league? Can we compete for this?"

Although he wasn't very familiar with the competition format, he knew that in NCAA history, the second-place team in the league had never been a seeded team. The best they ever achieved was the second-place team in the Third Madness group. Seeding status was reserved for the league champions, and the top league champions were usually stronger than the minor league champions. Therefore, most of the time, the Third Madness seeded teams were the top league champions.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, only the Gonzaga Bulldogs produced a college monster like Adam Morrison in 06, who defeated all the top league opponents in the qualifying rounds and became the only minor league team among the 32 seeded teams in the past 8 years.

Yad: "Normally that's how it is, but we're in a very special situation right now! Georgetown and Texas both lost to Memphis, and they've lost their chance to compete for seeded positions!"

Yi Shui understood; he knew this.

The champions of the six major leagues directly qualify for the third-place finish in the NCAA Championship Game. The games between the end of the regular season and the start of the NCAA Championship Game can be considered 'warm-up games'. The opponents arranged by the NCAA are generally minor league teams, but this does not mean that these games are meaningless. On the contrary, they are very important because there are only four seeded teams. To advance, they must play better than the champions of the other five top leagues. Therefore, they often play harder than the champions in the regular season, crushing their opponents and rarely losing games during this stage. If they do lose a game, they naturally cannot compete with the champions who have not lost.

He replied, "Is Jim trying to steal Memphis's chance to win first place? But the chances are slim. Even if Georgetown and Texas lose, there are still four top-flight league titles. Memphis only has a theoretical chance."

Yad: "No, not four, it could be three! Brook, you might not know this if you don't follow these things, but after Memphis plays us, they have to go to FedExCenter to play the SCEA champions, Tennessee State. If they win that too, they could really take over."

Indeed, even if we beat Memphis, our chances of taking over are slim, but given Jim's personality, he'll fight for anything, even the slightest hope... uh..."

Before Yad could finish speaking, he noticed that his friend's eyes lit up!
He then remembered that his friend and the head coach shared a common trait—they would seize any opportunity to do something!

...

Yi Shui wasn't that concerned about winning or losing the game against the Tigers; he simply wanted to play against Rose and hadn't thought about the 'crazy seed team' issue... What serious player pays attention to these things every day? They don't even have enough time for training!

Now that I know there's even a tiny chance I can get the position, of course I'm going to go for it!
We just had a game yesterday, so the coaching staff arranged a light training session this afternoon, mainly focusing on basic shooting skills and zone defense positioning.

After training, the trainers gave the players DVDs of the Tigers' matches against five top teams in the upper half of the top league during the qualifying stage.

Looking at the three discs in his hand, labeled 'Full Match', 'Offense', 'Defense', and 'Tactics' respectively, Yi Shui said to Clark, "Jim, did you start preparing after Georgetown lost? Kevin (Oli) really worked hard."

Kevin Ollie, the head scout and second team coach, is also the team's top video editor, since a scout who can't edit video is unlikely to become a good NCAA head coach.

Clark: "Oh? Brooke, you guessed Jim's purpose?"

Yi Shui honestly replied, "I didn't guess at first; Jeff told me."

"If Jeff could spend his time training like you do, he would definitely be wanted by NBA teams."

"Wow, I never thought I'd be used as a role model one day."

"Huh? Haha! I didn't even notice until you mentioned it. Now, whenever our team mentions you, they're all talking about how hard you train and how fast you've improved. I've heard that coaches from other schools are also using you as a role model to encourage those talented people who aren't willing to work hard."

"..."

"We want to beat Memphis. Even if we don't get a seeded team, beating them will give us a higher ranking in the group, and we might be able to go further in the third season."

But you don't need to feel too much pressure; it's just that the opportunity has come, so you have to give it a try.

Yi Shui nodded to indicate that he understood.

If Rose eliminates the Tennessee Volunteers as well, the Tigers will most likely be in first place. Then, there will be three top-tier league champions competing with other teams for second place, and the Huskies will probably have to fall further down the list, facing higher-ranked opponents.

With the NCAA's format and rules, all sorts of unexpected situations can happen. Yi Shui is still confused, but that doesn't matter. His idea is simple: just beat Rose in the holy land of basketball on the 2nd!

With a clear direction, he also needed to prepare well. After returning to the Stanford campus, he didn't do extra training. Instead, he went to the Yad dormitory with Robinson to watch videos on a large color TV. Understanding the opponent was also a very important part of the game.

The Tigers' playing style in their first qualifying game against the Amazing Team looked very familiar...

"No wonder the people of Georgetown hate Jim so much," Yad remarked.

Robinson: "Yeah, to deal with Georgetown, all we have to do is watch our live replays and learn from them."

Yi Shui: "It's not necessarily based on what we did this season. Look at the Tigers' head coach, Calipari, doesn't he look familiar?"

Yad: "Haha, I remember now, he's the head coach of the Massachusetts Workers team who upset Iverson and White 12 years ago! No wonder he was so good at dribbling Hibbert. Georgetown is so unlucky, they ran into Calipari again. Iverson didn't get the Wooden Award, and Hibbert is even worse off, he's fallen out of the lottery."

The three of them also watched the clips of the Tigers' other four games against strong teams in the top half of the league, and the more they watched, the more confident Yi Shui became! It wasn't that the Tigers weren't strong, but rather that Rose and Roberts' playing styles were very simple and direct: they would launch a fierce attack at the start to gain an advantage, and then overwhelm the opponent with their momentum.

If the opponent doesn't have good outside scorers, they will be swept away in one go, just like Griffin's Quick-footed team.
However, the Trojans with OJ Mayo and the Longhorns with DJ Augustin managed to catch up despite falling behind early on and facing a fierce attack from their opponents. It's just that Mayo and Augustin were unlucky. Mayo left Rose open, allowing Rose to make a three-pointer, and Roberts hit a mid-range jumper to win the game against Augustin.

In the Tigers' game against the Wildcats, where they didn't gain an early advantage, Jerry Bayless, Chase Budinger, and Jordan Hill put up a good fight against the Rose-Roberts duo. However, in the final crucial shot, Bayless and Budinger failed to score, and Rose and Roberts took the lead.

The Tigers are strong, but they're not as invincible as you might think based on their record...

...

The Husky team spent the last day of February, which was one day longer than usual, in training. On March 1st, the Husky army, who were traveling by bus to neighboring New York for training, welcomed another two-meter-tall giant.

"file……

Height: 200 cm, wingspan: 216 cm, weight: 93 kg.

Strength assessment (NCAA Division I, 0-99):
Overall physical fitness 91 (top): Speed ​​91, Strength 83, Jumping 91, Agility 92, Stamina 90.

投篮基本功81（一流）：远距离84（左侧底角81、左侧45度角86、顶弧83、右侧45度角88、右侧底角82），中距离68，近距离90。

Basic passing and ball control skills 85 (first-class): ball control 90, passing 82.

Skills: Iron Wall, High Tower Sniping, Sky Cover, Transfer Station.

Talents: Angled genius, rhythm-setter, and a guardian under the basket.

Special Card: Secondary Development (In Use).

Yi Shui sat in the back row, looking at the system files.

He had only grown 1 centimeter taller, but he felt that the seat was a little smaller.

Maybe it's because the power forward sitting next to him isn't even as tall as him.

After a month of qualifying, he has made significant progress again. His speed dropped by 1 point this morning... But after more than two months of pushing his physical limits since the 'winter break', his stamina has finally increased to 90.

Sure enough, this thing is like that... you can always squeeze some out.

Over the past month, I've gained 4 pounds, nearly 1 kilograms, and with the addition of anaerobic training every day for 'Day 7', my strength has increased from 81 to 83.

He has basically caught up with the rate at which he can increase his weight limit. He is still 4 kilograms away from the limit that does not affect his athletic ability, but it may affect his physical strength. Therefore, he is not in a hurry to gain weight. He will wait until the off-season when he has the opportunity to train his physical fitness.

The biggest improvement in shooting wasn't in three-pointers or the mid-range shot from the right 45-degree angle, which reached 75, but in close-range shooting. After working hard to hone the basics from scratch for several months, I've finally entered a period of rapid improvement. This month, through a combination of competition and training, I've gained two points, reaching 90.

After being stuck for 5 months, my ball control has finally improved to 90, and my passing has steadily improved as well.

He really wanted to know who was stronger between Rose and Westbrook, who was now being compared to Westbrook, Mayo, Beasley and other perimeter players in terms of talent!
Around noon, the Husky team arrived at Madison Square Garden.

It was Yi Shui's first time visiting the basketball mecca, and he was eager to take a look around. As soon as he came out of the parking lot and walked around to the main gate, he was surrounded by sharp-eyed reporters on the roadside.

In Manhattan, New York, where land is incredibly valuable, Madison Square Garden is located directly across the street from the main road, with the train station just across the street. The interior of this decades-old arena is poorly planned, with the parking lot not even having a direct internal access road to the entrance...

"Brook, you and Memphis are both seen as representatives of comeback teams. Who do you think is stronger, you or them?"

"Are you confident you can beat Memphis? Can you end the embarrassing situation of all the top league teams losing?"

"You and Roberts are considered the best junior players this year. Who do you think is better, you or him?"

"..."

"..."

Yi Shui listened to the reporters' incessant questions, knowing he couldn't escape even if he wanted to; he was just a simple tourist at the moment!

Fortunately, these reporters all seemed to be from New York, and their questions were not difficult for him to answer.

After the reporters finished asking questions in a chaotic and undisciplined rush, Yi Shui replied, "I really like roses, and I like to pick them myself and give them to girls as gifts."

　I'm asking for your monthly votes and recommendations!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)