Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 31 Coach Knight sends his greetings
In the first round of March Madness, Texas Tech University defeated Niagara University 84-52 at the United Center, advancing to the second round.

Red Raiders head coach Bob Knight gave Xu Ling extremely high praise when discussing his performance tonight.

This was icing on the cake for Xu Ling, who finished his third season debut with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Bulls general manager John Paxson, who was in attendance at the game, said frankly, "Eli is undoubtedly a player of another level. His game reminds me of the days when I played with Michael. You know, he's just that good."

As the best player of the game, Xu Ling had to get used to having a group of people with microphones and cameras waiting for him wherever he went.

This was the attention he had always dreamed of, but once he had secured his place in the lottery, these endless external distractions began to annoy him.

However, this is a hurdle that must be overcome if one wants to become a professional player.

Xu Ling discovered that, in addition to American journalists, there were also many journalists from China.

Now that things have come to this, the Chinese basketball community can no longer ignore his existence.

Xu Ling is highly likely to enter the NBA this year as a lottery pick, just like Yi Jianlian of Guangdong Hongyuan, which will be a major event in Chinese sports.

The only problem is that Xu Ling's ancestral home is Hong Kong, China. Theoretically, even if he were to represent an association, he should represent the Special Administrative Region. However, given the level of the Special Administrative Region team, they would probably be considered mediocre even in the National Games.

What's the point of putting an NBA lottery pick into a team like that?
Will Xu Ling lead the Hong Kong team to fail to advance from the group stage of the Asian Championships in the future?
If Xu Ling were merely a top Asian player, domestic fans would only feel it would be a pity for him to represent the Hong Kong team. However, given the current situation and the backdrop of the home Olympics, the national basketball team should strengthen its roster with every possible addition. Apart from naturalizing foreign players, any reinforcements that could help the men's basketball team make history should be considered.

Therefore, there have been a lot of Chinese media outlets interviewing Xu Ling recently.

They first probed Xu Ling's willingness, then deliberately communicated in Mandarin. They discovered that Xu Ling not only spoke fluent Mandarin but also had a slight southern accent. Moreover, when the reporter asked him if he was willing to represent the mainland, he smiled and said, "Why not? Representing the national team is my dream."

On the same day, Duke, which shares a conference with Texas Tech, battled Villanueva University to the last second, with Duke winning by a last-second shot and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament against TTU.

This incident touched a nerve with the media.

Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski had a clear teacher-student relationship. Coach K was also the best of all Knight's students, even better than him.

But how can an extremely proud person accept being surpassed by a student? Especially someone who is sensitive and not easily forgiven; any slightest clue could trigger an outburst from him.

The media had already noticed that Coach Knight and Coach K had not publicly engaged in any close interactions for quite some time.

In the 80s, whenever they met in a game, they would praise each other. Coach K even said, "My games with the coach would eventually turn into 40 ways to say I love you."

Such intimate interactions have not occurred for a long time.

At some point, Knight stopped talking about the disciple he was so proud of, and Old K also spoke cautiously about his relationship with Knight.

When asked how he felt about meeting Knight again at March Madness after so many years, Coach K simply said, "I hope we can have a great game, that's all I can hope for."

Knight's reaction to the matter was somewhat lukewarm.

“Nothing will be different,” Knight countered the reporter. “What do you expect between two men whose combined age is over a hundred?”

Everyone agrees that something must have happened between them.

Within the team, assistant coaches also reminded the players to approach the game against Duke the day after tomorrow with the same determination they would show in the finals.

"Duke is the only team the coach doesn't want to lose to!"

That's what Chris Beard said.

"Why?" Martin Zeno asked. "Isn't Coach K's mentor? Aren't they friends?"

Beard joined the coaching staff after Knight came to TTU, so he didn't know what had happened in the past. He just said, "Because they are friends, the coach doesn't want to lose this game."

Apart from Xu Ling, no one else thought much of it.

But in Xu Ling's view, if they were really friends, or even good friends based on their resumes, then shouldn't Duke be the only team Knight could accept defeating them in the third crazy game?
Two days later,

The United Center looks even more exciting tonight than it did in the first round, because two of the favorites are facing off.

TTU, with Xu Ling, and Duke, boasting several players with NBA potential, were both present. Furthermore, the number of NBA executives attending the games was far greater than the day before.

John Paxson returned to the scene.

Then there's Billy Knight of the Hawks.

Also included are SuperSonics general manager Sam Presti and Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale.

The main characteristic of these teams is that they will all be present at the lottery draw a few months later.

They could all choose Xu Ling in the draft.

It can be said that Xu Ling's every move on the court could stir the hearts of NBA executives.

Bob Knight, standing on the sidelines, looked grim, his gaze fixed like a hawk on the Duke bench in the distance—where his "disciples" stood. The floodgates of memory burst open, and long-forgotten events surged forth like a tidal wave.

It was spring of 1992, and Indiana University and Duke University were about to face off in the national semifinals at the Minneapolis Arena. By then, Krzyzewski had led his team to the Final Four for five consecutive years, and was making his sixth appearance on that stage in seven years.

The last person to stop Old K's progress in the tournament was his West Point mentor, Knight.

In the Sweet Sixteen in 1987, Knight personally eliminated his protégé's team. At that time, the mentor-student relationship was still relatively pure—during the Final Four in 1986, Knight proudly wore a "Go Duke" badge and cheered for his protégé's team in Dallas.

By April 1992, Duke University had surpassed Indiana University to become the premier powerhouse in college basketball, and Krzyzewski had played more games in the Final Four than Knight. Coach K was widely regarded as a role model in college sports, while Knight was increasingly seen as a negative example.

Just before the Final Four between Indiana and Duke began, Knight saw a preview article for Sports Illustrated by Corey Kirkpatrick, which included the following passage: "In 1987, Indiana defeated Duke in the Midwest Regional Finals, a game described by a friend of Krzyzewski as a 'divorce' between the two coaches, because Krzyzewski was eager to dispel the notion that he couldn't live without Knight's protection. Since then, Coach K has seized every opportunity to emphasize their many differences while still striving to maintain a harmonious relationship with Knight—a task undoubtedly more difficult than teaching dozens of trophy makers how to spell his name."

Knight's rabbit eyes widened, and boundless anger led him to a decision. He cut up the text, along with a note he had written himself, and gave it to a mutual friend of his and Old K's, instructing him to deliver it to the friend after the game.

Ultimately, Duke defeated Indiana University to advance to the national finals, but this time, Knight offered no congratulations, no hugs, and even refused to make eye contact with his protégé. Krzyzewski received only a newspaper clipping and a message that seemed to pierce through the paper: "It's easy to sever ties with me, but don't forget who put you in this position."

This marked the end of Knight's relationship with Szushevsky.

Since then, Krzyzewski has won two more national championships, while everything Knight had built in the past has crumbled. He was expelled from Indiana University and performed poorly at TTU, while his protégé is widely regarded as the greatest coach in modern NCAA history, and he was just a moldy old man in a mediocre institution.

Now, they meet again on the stage of March Madness.

Texas Tech is the favored team.

Players like Xu Ling, who are highly predicted to be drafted in the NBA, are usually recruited by universities like Duke, but now he is a member of the Red Raiders.

Before the match started, Knight patted Xu Ling on the back.

"Tonight, we're going to slaughter them all, leave no one alive!"

Xu Ling asked, "Does that include Coach K?"

"If he leaves the field"

Xu Ling couldn't help but laugh. What kind of relationship was this? No matter how you looked at it, there was no love between the two of them at all.

Mentor? Disciple?
"Snapped!"

With a whistle from the referee, the ball was thrown into the air, and Duke University's white center Josh McRoberts gained possession.

Duke's starting guard Greg Paulus received the ball and was about to advance when Xu Ling's face flashed in front of him. Before he could react, the ball in his hand was already lobbed away.

Xu Ling rushed forward, caught the ball, dribbled it to the frontcourt alone, changed direction several times to shake off the defender, and then jumped up under the basket for a powerful one-handed dunk.

BOOM!!!!

Amid the cheers of the crowd, Xu Ling turned to face Duke's bench. Just when people thought he was finally going to give in to the fans and respond to their enthusiasm, he said to Coach K, "Your mentor, Coach Knight, asked me to give you his regards."

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(End of this chapter)