One Guard

On this day in early March, many Chinese fans were watching the NBA news helplessly. Yao Ming's comeback is still in the foreseeable future, and the Nets have secured their position as vice squad leader. And Yi Jianlian, who only played for seven minutes in yesterday's game, fell down again.

Since 2008, Chinese basketball seems to have been going badly. Although Yao Ming led the team to make a historic break through the first round of the playoffs last season, his injuries cast a shadow over this big Eastern country.

Although Yi Jianlian has played more and more wonderful performances, his on-and-off state has also made his position in the Nets precarious.

However, on the major NBA news websites, fans also found some different news.

"Chinese teenagers shine on the NCAA field and beat American star guards!"

"The 18-year-old Chinese boy is raging at the NCAA and has signed up for the NBA draft!"

"ESPN: Yiyang's draft pick will not drop out of the 20th place in the first round."

"China's most promising outside star is born!"

These titles undoubtedly greatly stimulated the nerves of Chinese fans. Now that Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian are not going well, Chinese fans urgently need a new hero. And Yiyang, who was still playing in college, took on this important task without knowing it.

Fans clicked on these headlines one after another to view highlights of Yiyang's NCAA games. Seeing familiar oriental faces among a group of foreigners, the Chinese fans are not to mention how happy they are.

They searched for Yiyang's information on the Internet one after another, but in the end they were surprised to find that they found nothing.

There is very little information about Yiyang in China, and Yiyang's father was not a particularly famous player back then, so it is normal that no one remembers it.

Yiyang seemed to appear out of thin air, and was placed in front of the Chinese fans. This sense of mystery, on the contrary, made Yiyang quickly become famous in China!

Now not only the fans, even CCTV5 has begun to pay attention to Yiyang's information.

"Why have I never heard of this person before?" CCTV5 executives looked at Yiyang's game highlights, as if they saw a bunch of undiscovered treasures.

"I checked. Yiyang's father used to be a professional player and played in the CBA for a while. After retiring, the whole family moved to the United States. At that time, Yiyang was still young and his father was not famous, so few people knew him. Yiyang. I think it is necessary for us to send a team to follow up and shoot his news, because this Yiyang is said to be very likely to be selected by an NBA team in the first round! This kid is no ordinary person!" CCTV5 basketball special Reporter Liu Qing can't wait to solve the mystery for Chinese fans.

However, the leader waved his hand. "No, don't worry. China has a lot of players playing in the NCAA, but not many are really famous. I don't want us to spend a lot of money on publicity, and the kid ends up being mediocre. He just passed the round Is it? If he can make it out of the second round, I will send you to follow up and report."

Obviously, CCTV executives are unwilling to waste time for a Chinese player outside the system. Unless, Yiyang can continue to prove his ability.

Liu Qing was a little disappointed, but could only reluctantly accept it. Now he can only pray, pray that Yiyang, who is playing on the other side of the ocean, can continue to pass the test.

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Yiyang has become more and more popular in China, but Yiyang himself is completely unaware of this.

The boy who grew up in the Woodlands is currently practicing his ball-handling skills according to Stevens' training plan.

Although as far as the NCAA is concerned, Yiyang's ball-handling ability is completely sufficient. But both Stevens and Yiyang knew that their destination was not March Madness, but the NBA!

Of course, before that, Stevens and Yiyang also hope to win this year's NCAA championship first.

Everyone is preparing for their second game.

After defeating the University of Texas, the Bulldogs did not relax, but continued to prepare. Only a well-prepared team can cope with any unexpected situation.

Compared to the University of Texas, the Bulldogs' opponents in the second round seem to be less tough,

Murray State University, the name of this school rarely appears in March Madness. And this year, they have a lot of players that even Stevens doesn't recognize.

Through the game video, Stevens can find that Murray State University can get to where it is today, relying on their teamwork. In terms of the personal abilities of the players, there are really not many players in the Murray State team who can make Stevens look up to.

However, the young coach of the Bulldogs knew the truth of sailing for thousands of years. Although the opponent in the second round was not as strong as the University of Texas, Stevens still urged the players to train hard. After all, in a place like the March Madness Championship, where the outcome is determined by one game, it happens from time to time for the weak to defeat the strong.

After several days of training, the impatient Yiyang and the Bulldogs finally met their second opponent, Murray State University.

The game is still held in a neutral stadium, but today, the vast majority of fans at the scene have become supporters of the Bulldogs. Especially Yiyang, many fans in the stands held up a sign with the word "1", and his name was shouted by countless people.

Yiyang's popularity is even higher than that of Hayward in the same period last year!

At the beginning of the game, Yiyang assisted Matt Howard to score with a hook at the basket. For someone who is used to Brad's high-intensity defense, Murray State's point guard didn't put any pressure on Yiyang at all.

On the second ball, Hayward made an emergency stop jump shot in singles, and the basketball hit again. People don't see admiration, Hayward's shooting may become one of his signatures in the NBA in the future.

In the end, Yiyang used a wide open three-pointer to completely open up the Bulldogs' offense. And this three-pointer is also Yiyang's first three-pointer in this March Madness tournament!

Only three rounds into the game, Murray State was stopped by this 7-0 offensive climax. For a team without a star, it simply doesn't know how to play against an opponent with such potential as the Bulldogs.

Murray State has come all the way to the present, relying on their teamwork. They all attack and cooperate, and they are as precise and beautiful as textbooks.

But basketball is a sport that requires close integration of teams and individuals. It is impossible to achieve success alone or only in a team.

Murray State's offense was deadlocked, but no one could stand up. As for the defensive end, they are far behind the Bulldogs in terms of talent.

Even Willie Wesley, a defensive blue-collar power forward who is usually not very active on the offensive end, scored 12 points today under Yiyang's go-between.

When the second half started, only two-thirds of the fans were still in their seats. The remaining third, already drowsy from this unsuspecting game, went home early.

In the end, Yiyang scored 18 points and 11 assists to help Butler University beat Murray State University 88-65 and successfully advanced.

There is nothing to say about this victory. The huge gap in strength between the two sides is obvious to all.

With this, the first stage of the March Madness Championship is all over. After two rounds of fighting, the 2010 NCAA "Sweet 16" list was officially released. The Butler University Bulldogs are on the list!

After the game, the Bulldogs players did not celebrate too much. Firstly, it was because it was too easy to win this game, and secondly, the start of the second stage of the March Madness competition also meant that even greater challenges were truly waiting ahead! The current Bulldogs should be on the mend, not celebrate.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, another host city for the March Madness tournament, Syracuse just crushed their opponents.

A tall, thin man wearing Syracuse University's No. 4 jersey rushed into the locker room immediately, turned on the TV, and watched the news related to March Madness.

Through the report on the TV, the tall and thin man learned that Butler University had also been successfully promoted. And the process of eliminating Murray State was even easier than the first round!

Xuecheng No. 4 couldn't help but licked his dry lips. It seemed that the next round of the match was destined to be very fierce.

"What are you doing, Wesley! The reporters are waiting outside!?" At this moment, a gray-haired old man rushed into the locker room and dragged the tall and thin No. 4 out.

"I got it sir! I just rushed back to watch the news, and I will be interviewed by reporters later!" No. 4 Xuecheng walked out of the locker room with a face of reluctance, only the TV was still on. On the TV screen, everyone from the Bulldogs has already walked into the player tunnel. When they make their debut next time, the opponent standing in front of them will be the tall and thin No. 4 in Syracuse just now.

That's right, the Bulldogs' opponent in the round of 16 will be the powerful Syracuse University.

Wearing the No. 4 jersey, Wesley Johnson, who had a big breakout at Syracuse University this season and made it into the top five draft predictions, is already staring at the Bulldogs...