Sakuragi's road to NBA superstardom

Chapter 109
On Duke's side, Coach K also sent the strongest lineup to play. In addition to the NCAA big devil Grant Hill, Duke University also has two well-known figures in the lineup of Sakuragi.

The power forward of the Blue Devils, Cherokee Parkes with 211 cm, this inside player has spent ten years in the NBA.

Although he has moved to many teams, Cherokee Parks can always rely on his solid inside skills to keep his job.

For the current Tim Duncan, Cherokee Parkes, who was three and a half years older than him, was a formidable opponent.

Another figure that Sakuragi is familiar with is the swingman of Duke University, Antonio Lang.

Antonio Long was the second pick in the second round in 1994 and was selected by the Phoenix Suns. Although his career was somewhat ordinary, he started his coaching career after retiring in 2006.

After four years as an assistant coach, he took over as head coach of the Philadelphia 2010ers in 76.

When Sakuragi was still a small commentator, he once did an episode of Antonio Lang's program.

ESPN also dispatched a luxurious commentary team today. The three on-duty commentators are Dr. J. Julius Owen, Rick Barry, and recently retired Kevin McHale.

Sakuragi enjoyed the fanatical atmosphere of the NCAA arena very much, and it would be even better if he could become the protagonist of this game.

At the beginning of the game, Duke University took the absolute initiative from the first minute. Grant Hill, known as the fastest first step, was unmatched by anyone.

Whether it's Anthony Tucker or JR Green, their defense is like a stationary stake in front of Grant Hill's breakthrough.

Grant Hill scored 10 points on [-] of [-] shots in the first [-] minutes of the game!
But in addition to being unable to limit Grant Hill's breakthrough, Duncan made the inside defense to the fullest.

Although Duncan only harvested one block, he interfered with all opponents who wanted to attack in front of him.

Sakuragi, who is off the court, can see clearly that every subtle movement of Duncan is very efficient and concise, never sloppy.

This kind of effective defense with little action is actually the most practical tactic on the basketball court. Duncan's ingenuity reminded Sakuragi of a counterexample, that is JaVale McGee, a frequent visitor of O'Neal's five big embarrassments.

JaVale McGee is one of the few players who can make a grab shot a highlight, but since he entered the NBA in the 2008-2009 season, he has ranked first in the NBA in the number of field goals per [-] possessions.

In terms of big data, McGee has 215 interference balls in his career, and one of them has an astonishing 55 times in one season!
In contrast, Duncan, in his 19-year NBA career, has a total of 15 interference ball experiences, with an average of less than one per year.

Moreover, Duncan is the fifth existence in the history of the block list, with 3020 times, and the goaltending rate is less than 0.5%.

A layman watches the excitement, an insider watches the doorway, Duncan never barks his teeth and claws to defend the inside line, which makes Sakuragi feel pleasing to the eye!
Although the current Duncan is not yet perfect, and in the next one to two years, he will make a huge leap forward on the offensive end, but from the defensive end alone, he can definitely be regarded as a model of debut and peak.

With Duncan on the inside, it stands to reason that the Devil Deacon team should not be too ugly, but their offensive performance was so bad that the Duke University Blue Devils led by 10 points just 12 minutes into the game.

Randolph Childrins, who had just returned from injury and was in the draft year, did not fulfill his responsibilities as a point guard.

Eager to prove himself on the national live broadcast, he has become a black hole of the ball, ignoring Duncan's inside request for the ball, and throwing the ball by himself is not the most excessive.

The most excessive thing is that Childrins often dribbles for 30 seconds before dumping the ball to Duncan.

Duncan's opponent is Cherokee Parks, a seasoned senior player. The same 211cm teammates make it impossible for Duncan to score the ball in a hurry.

Except for the pot attack, the rest of Duncan's shots were to attack the basket after the second rebound.

However, Coach K of Duke University issued a death order to his inside players. He must not allow Duncan to easily shoot inside. Even if he loses a foul, he must prevent Duncan from finding the touch.

The fierce hand-to-hand combat at the basket made Duncan, who is currently not good at free throws, miss two free throws at the free throw line many times.

In short, in the first 10 minutes of the game, the Wake Forest University Devil Deacon team played very passively.

Coach Odom had to make a passive adjustment. He replaced Randolph Childrins with white guard Alan Miller.

But Alan Miller came on the court and did not reverse the situation on the court. He lost his main position and his mentality was a little unbalanced. He made many mistakes in the process of passing the ball to Duncan.

At the end of the first half, the Wake Forest University Devil Deacon team trailed the Duke University Blue Devils team by 27 points 47-20!
The Devil Deacon team, which has the advantage of the home court, was defeated by the opponent in half the game, which made Coach Odom very annoyed.

But in the halftime lounge, coach Odom still patiently explained the offensive and defensive tactics to the players, because he knew that it would be useless to get angry in such a situation.

In the second half, they changed sides and fought again, and finally the good-tempered coach Odom broke out unbearably!
Randolph Childrins, who re-entered the field, still killed and did not pass the ball, and JR Green and Anthony Tucker were also tricked by Grant Hill.

Only 2 minutes into the second half, the point difference went straight to [-] points!

Coach Odom directly called a timeout and asked Allen Miller to replace Randolph Childrins. He would rather watch Duncan miss the ball than watch Childrins play brainless singles there!

Odom: "Sakuragi!"

Coach Odom's sudden call made everyone turn their attention to Sakuragi on the outermost side of the crowd.

Even Sakuragi himself didn't expect that coach Odom would call his name at this time.

But Sakuragi is always ready to play.

Sakuragi: "I'm here! Coach!"

Sakuragi roared angrily.

Odom: "You replace JR Green and guard Grant Hill.

Tucker, you go to defend the opponent's shooting guard! "

Coach Odom's substitution shocked everyone!
A freshman, to defend the big devil player that no one can be, is coach Odom crazy?
But after everyone thought about it, this matter had nothing to do with the situation of the battle. Anyway, no one could guard against Grant Hill, and it would not be worse for Sakuragi to go up.

(End of this chapter)