Champion, please stay!

Chapter 53. Nominated for three major awards!
After finishing up the post-match chores, Yi Shui returned to the hotel with the team and went to the gym alone. This hotel, named after the old name of Auburn Hills, was indeed excellent, not only in a good location but also with a 24-hour swimming pool, gym, laundry room, and so on.

Yi Shui experienced the benefits of playing for a team that could make money.

The Huskies are undoubtedly the most profitable team in the entire Big East League, and the team's 'owner' is not stingy in these aspects; not every owner is named Alexander.

The Wisconsin Wolverines, who stayed at the nearby Hilton Hotel, were in a similar situation; they earned a lot of money and had ample funding for their school team.

However, it seems that the two Wildcats have moved to a location closer to the suburbs...

Even if the Davidson Wildcats play well, they can only stay in a home stadium with only 3000 seats, earning meager ticket sales from a dozen or so home games a year. If they don't make it into the Madness 3, they won't even get a nationally televised game once a year.

The Villanova Wildcats are the same. As a lower-league team, they don't play at home in the qualifying rounds. Even if they have a good record in the third crazy season, they only earn money from about 10 home games in the regional stage. The revenue they get in the third crazy season is just the leftovers after the NCAA and the organizers take the lion's share. But they are better off than the Davidson Wildcats. They have more than 8000 seats at home, which is the minimum for a top-tier league team. Every team in the Big East Conference is guaranteed at least 1-2 nationally televised games a year, and their regional broadcast fees are also higher than those of minor league teams.

Otherwise, why would minor league teams prefer to be the tail of a phoenix rather than the head of a chicken?

The Memphis Tigers, despite being so far away, are scrambling to join the Big East Conference, rather than the Southeastern Conference or the PAC-10 Conference, because teams in those two leagues think they're too far apart. Only the Big East, aiming to become the 'American Conference,' doesn't care about distance.

Yi Shui opened the system to see the rewards he had earned that night.

"...Congratulations on receiving the basic rewards: 10 hours of long-range shooting training card and 10 hours of close-range shooting training card."

"...Congratulations on receiving the personal reward: 4 hours of shooting training card, 6 hours of rebounding training card, and 4 hours of interception training card."

Elite Teams:
You have led your team into the quarterfinals of Crazy Three. Congratulations on receiving the reward: Strength +2, your Strength has increased from 84 to 86.

"Two meters tall, 94 kilograms, 86 units of strength... He doesn't look like a college guard at all."

Despite his complaints, Yi Shui was very happy to have acquired these two points of power.

This was earned through bruises and welts all over my body!
Looking back, he felt like he almost died at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Of course, the other side wasn't much better off. In the final game-winning 2+1 play, his elbow almost hit the opposing center's throat.

However, that 'forward Duncan' was truly insidious, reaching out and pinching the inner thigh without any expression or emotion!
Inner thigh!
When Yi Shui was being choked, he instinctively turned sideways and swung his elbow to knock Cunningham down, earning a technical foul.

He was certain this wasn't the first time this guy had done something like this! When Cunningham was knocked down, the entire opposing team surrounded him, but it was clearly just for show for the referee; they shouted loudly, but no one initiated a conflict.

After the referee issued a technical foul but did not call a more severe penalty, the opposing player only complained a few times and then went back to honestly swinging his arms to defend, without engaging in any more aggressive behavior.

In short, I learned some unorthodox but still quite useful things.

Yi Shui counted his training cards and realized he had accumulated over 200 hours. It wasn't something he deliberately accumulated; since the start of 3rd season, the schedule had become much more relaxed, but he had almost no time for individual training. He was either flying or training with the team.

Although it seems like a lot, considering the 4-6 hours of basic skills training every day during the 'vacation', it wouldn't last even two months. Even with the 'intensive training' monthly pass, it would only last 3 months... No, that monthly pass can be used in conjunction with the training pass, so it's still less than two months' worth of 'stock'. We still need to keep working hard.

After shutting down the system, Yi Shui began his extra training for 'Day 7'!
...

The following afternoon, at Practice Court 3 of the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Huskies players who had played the previous night looked listless and dispirited. Playing against the Wildcats, a team that seemed to be from Europe, was always torture for them. Fortunately, they won this time, and their mood was relatively good… until they saw Yi Shui jumping around and slamming a dunk on the court…

"Brook! You did this on purpose! You absolutely did it on purpose!"

Yad leaned in and grabbed Yi Shui by the collar, questioning him menacingly.

Yi Shui lowered her head slightly, her eyes flickering, and replied, "What are you saying, Jeff? I don't understand..."

Some of his teammates were already numb. Just thinking about how this guy had lived a decadent life for a year and a half and looked like he had ruined his body, but could work hard for a summer and become the star of the East who amazed New York at the age of 18 again... He was exhausted last night, but he's full of energy today. Basic operation, basic operation.

However, the coaching staff couldn't stand it anymore. Calhoun instructed Clark to increase Yi Shui's training intensity, pushing him to the point where he kept saying "I can't do it anymore" before the training ended.

The old man wasn't worried about damaging Yi Shui's health. It was all basic training. Anyway, Yi Shui had a strong recovery ability, and the regional finals were on the 28th, so the next two days would be rest time.

Of course, Yi Shui wasn't really exhausted; he just felt that his physical strength was almost depleted. Even if he rested for a few hours, he might not be able to complete the '7th day' training that night, which would be a real disaster and affect his preparations for tomorrow's match.

In the evening, several Husky players and coaches returned to the Palace of Auburn Hills to watch the Davidson Wildcats play the Wisconsin Wolverines.

Yi Shui thought it would be an evenly matched game, but it turned out to be a clash of titans!

The Wolverines are a top-tier team in terms of offense and defense, with five players averaging double figures and a combined team average of 81.6 points per game. However, they lack any players with outstanding individual abilities.

Brian Fonte, a first-year graduate student and the 7th ranked high school player in the nation in 2003, is averaging 12.8 points per game and is already the Wolverines' leading scorer. The other four players who scored in double figures were all scoring just over 10 points.

They ran right into the Wildcats' line of fire, a team known for its excellent defensive coordination. The Wildcats' team defense has improved considerably compared to six months ago, though it's not exactly exceptionally strong, but it's enough to impact the Wolverines' team offense.

Conversely, the Wolverines' well-rounded defense, lacking a strong individual defensive player, couldn't handle Curry!

With 11 of 21 field goals, including 6 of 11 three-pointers, and 5 of 5 free throws, Curry scored a whopping 33 points in 29 minutes, leading the Wildcats to an 87-71 victory over the Wolverines and advancing to the Elite Eight! After the game, Yi Shui looked at Curry's stats on the big screen and exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing! It feels like he just casually put up those numbers."

Yad: "Yeah, that guy already got 10 assists? That's way too easy!"

Yi Shui: "Huh? Who are you talking about?"

Yad: "Of course it's that point guard named Richards!"

Price, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "Is there anything special about that point guard?"

Yad: "Isn't that amazing? Richards didn't seem to do anything, he just passed the ball to that Curry guy, and he got an assist. It was way too easy for him!"

Price: "Isn't that how point guards are? I just throw the ball to you or Brook, and the assist comes without me having to do anything."

Yad: "..."

He saw the assist leaderboard on the big screen. Since the qualifying rounds, Price has averaged 7.5 assists per game in 16 games, ranking first among the 64 teams in the third season. Second is Rose with 7.3 assists per game, and third is Richards on the court with 7.2 assists per game.

If he hadn't been there and hadn't personally experienced how satisfying it is to receive a pass from Price and immediately attack the basket, he might have actually believed it!

Even Yi Shui, who has recently started to pay more attention to passing and whose passing comfort has greatly improved in the last two months, is still not as good as Price most of the time.

Oh well, he'd just take it as a compliment from this older junior.

On the Yi River, watching as everyone could tease Yad, he thought to himself that this guy was really something. No wonder he could get along with everyone. If it weren't for him, Yad and Dyson probably wouldn't have had such a bad relationship. Anyone could make a joke out of this guy.

Back at the hotel, Yi Shui checked the news before going to the gym. Curry's 40-point game was still the only 40+ point game of the season, but it didn't make much of a splash in the media. He always felt it was a pity. Tonight, he was crushing the champions of a top league, so he should be able to make a name for himself... but it didn't.

In the Southern Conference, the second-place Memphis Tigers narrowly defeated the third-place Stanford Cardinals 91-86. Derrick Rose scored a near quadruple-double with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, and 8 steals, shooting 9-for-16 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line!

Yi Shui felt a little sorry for the elementary school student. No wonder he played so well in his sophomore year of college and didn't dare to participate in the draft. He only participated after being selected for the All-American First Team in his junior year. He was really unlucky!

However, while watching the game just now, he saw a white-haired mad scientist, and his neighbor, CEO Walsh, was also there.

While elementary school students may not get much media coverage, NBA teams have certainly taken notice of this talented shooter.

However, due to a lack of transparency, primary school students have little idea that he has received so much attention. As a school athlete, he can only judge his chances in the draft based on news reports.

In Yishui, Dolan said he wanted to draft him last time, and Stern fined him 50 yuan. This is the maximum penalty for unauthorized contact with college athletes, and it's part of the balance of interests between the NBA and the NCAA.

Few management teams are as unscrupulous with money as Dolan. Even Cuban and Paul Allen wouldn't easily break the rules in this regard. At most, NBA management teams would skirt the rules like Alexander and Bird, saying that Yi Shui had the ability to play in the NBA, and they would act as if they had to answer when pressed by reporters.

The third round of competition has concluded after two days, and the list of the top eight elite teams has been finalized.

Eastern Conference: North Carolina Tar Heels, Louisville Cardinals.

Western Conference: UCLA Bruins, West Virginia Mountaineering Team.

Southern Division: Kansas City Hawks, Memphis Tigers.

Central Division: Connecticut Huskies, Davidson Wildcats.

The following day, March 26, the NCAA officially announced the final nominees for the Wooden Award.

Yi Shui saw his name on it.

他在疯三前3轮场均19.6分10.6板4.6助攻2.3抢断5盖帽，每一项数据都是顶级，晋级八强，入围毫无悬念。

The other candidates are Tyler Hansbrough (Tar Heel), Kevin Love (Browns), Derrick Rose (Tigers), Joe Alexander (Mountains), Mario Chalmers (Pine Eagles), Terrence Williams (Cardinals), and Luke Harangaudy (Warriors).

Apart from 'Little Bird' Harlangodie, the other seven candidates are all members of elite eight teams.

Being nominated for the Wooden Award basically means being shortlisted for the Naismith Award and the All-American Player of the Year Award, which is what the media and fans call the 'three major awards candidate'.

Media reviews – The Big East Conference emerged as the biggest winner of this year's 3 Madness tournament, with three Big East teams making it to the Elite Eight; the Big East Conference also had three players on the Wooden Award shortlist.

This time, Hilbert wasn't so lucky; both the Exclamation Team and he were dragged out and ridiculed.

The Amazing Team didn't have any strong teams from their own region on their path to the finals. The Big East League was expected to occupy half of the top eight spots, and the Wooden Award nominee should have had one more place, but the top team suddenly dropped the ball!
Hibbert was initially expected to be a mid-first-round pick, but he plummeted to the very end of the first round...

(End of this chapter)