This Forward is Not Serious

Before participating in the cover shoot, Lin Ying first became popular on American social media.

Just last night, he dunked Wright's pass like crazy.

Compared with those triple-doubles that can only stay at the text level, this kind of button full of visual impact is obviously more able to arouse the enthusiasm of fans!

Just like the 2014 NBA draft, the media publicized a lot of information about Wiggins, the top pick, but the result was not as good as Wiggins posting a photo of himself.

Pictures are always more intuitive than words, let alone videos.

And you have to know that Lin Ying's next button is Brandon Wright, who is a hot pick in this year's draft!

A player who was originally only a small league player like the Big 12, barely squeezed into the list by relying on his crazy three performances, but now he missed the predicted top three players!

This perfectly fits the fans' favorite "inspirational" and "counterattack" characters!

"This guy can play in the NBA" and even "this guy can enter the lottery" are starting to be shouted!

And it looks good.

Of course, Lin Ying became popular not only because of that dunk, but also because of... that man.

The University of Texas won, and Jordan's presence on the field made it hard for people not to care!

Moreover, the fans also gave Jordan many vivid new nicknames, such as "Reverse Human Victory Cigar", "The Opponent's Key to Victory" and so on.

This Bo Linying "contributed a lot".

Jordan wouldn't be here if it weren't for his second-half performance in the low post.

It's a pity that this is still 2007. If 2009 passes, Jordan's crying emoji will sweep social media.

The sense of smell of "NBAdraft" is also quite sensitive, or rather face-saving.

They updated the draft prediction list overnight.

Wright dropped from third to fourth.

And Lin Ying rose from the original 40th pick to the 33rd pick! Selected by the Sonics!

This change in the draft prediction list also made domestic fans climax.

You know, this is the second round!

According to the momentum of the University of Texas, it is a high probability event for Lin Ying to enter the first round. It is not impossible to enter the lottery!

They feel more and more that in this year's draft year, there will be a grand occasion where three players enter the NBA together.

And a certain wave soon announced that they bought the rights to broadcast the next game between the University of Texas and the University of Kansas.

And they also said that the server will be greatly improved, and they will also give compensation to one-day members!

...

On this day, the University of Texas team rushed to ESPN to participate in the magazine cover shoot.

A group of people formed a semi-arc in three layers, and looked up at the camera with their arms crossed at the same time.

Paired with the title "Dezhou Dark Horse Attack", the cover is like the Hokage Akatsuki organization, full of oppression.

...

After the first round of the NCAA, there are two surviving dark horses.

Both teams are from the Midwest Division, one is UNLV and the other is the University of Texas.

But UNLV doesn't have much star power, and the opponents it's playing against are one tier weaker than the University of Texas.

In contrast, the University of Texas will naturally be the focus of fans.

And I have to mention the history of Texas, which can be said to be the most special of all states in the United States.

With an area of ​​nearly 700,000 square kilometers, Texas is the second largest state in the United States after Alaska.

But this state originally belonged to Mexico.

It's just that the Americans played their best tricks in the last century: infiltration-independence-merger.

First, the population is continuously exported here, and then the people who have been exported are organized to fight for independence.

Because Texas was originally a colony of Spain, it is not very compatible with Mexico, so independence is in trouble.

When the Mexican government couldn't hold on, the United States made a promise: let it be independent, and we will never merge them.

Then the Republic of Texas came along.

Then, the republic became the 28th state of the United States.

Mexico: What about promised promises? Do you want to face? (You play me like a monkey?)

United States: what promise? Talk about evidence! (Yes, you are a monkey!)

This shameless way angered Mexico, and then fought with the United States.

As a result, Mexico was beaten violently, and the capital, Mexico City, was broken by the United States.

If you can't fight, you have no choice but to negotiate.

As a result of the negotiations, Mexico lost about 2.3 million square kilometers, nearly half of its territory, including the three states of Texas, California and New Mexico.

However, Americans in Texas are a minority after all, and they were forced to join the United States at that time, so they did not have a strong sense of identity with the United States.

So in Texas, many people still call themselves the Lone Star Republic, and their red, blue and white Lone Star flags hang high everywhere.

This is why Trump used Texas as his base in history.

So when this issue of the magazine came out, the Texas fans were all excited.

In their eyes, the University of Texas is a symbol of the Lone Star Republic, fighting bloody battles with those guys in the United States.

...

After the second day of magazine shooting, the UT team flew to Denver.

Their 16-for-8 game against Kansas will be played at Invesco Mile High in Denver.

Invesco Mile High Stadium is the home of the NFL giants Denver Broncos.

The Broncos have two Super Bowl champions in team history, and their status is equivalent to the Houston Rockets in the NBA.

It has more than 76,000 seats and is one size bigger than the previous two arenas.

The remaining three games in the Midwest will be played here.

When they got off from the Denver airport, both Lin Ying and Durant felt a little tight and uncomfortable.

Although Denver is not as exaggerated as those from Tibet in China, it has altitude sickness as soon as it goes up, but its altitude has reached 1603 meters.

It is the highest altitude among the four major American sports leagues.

The Denver Center, home of the Nuggets, is known as the "Devil's Home" because of the altitude.

Slight altitude sickness is also altitude sickness, and people need to adapt.

The players of the Nuggets live and train here all the year round, and they don't feel much about playing in this environment.

But the visiting team couldn't do it, especially at the beginning of the game, it felt like something was pressing on their chests.

"Damn it, I don't know who arranged it."

Durant took a deep breath and complained.

Lin Ying smiled and nodded, but didn't complain.

Although this home court is a bit special, it is the same for the remaining four teams in the Midwest.

And this is not necessarily a bad thing, it should be regarded as an early adaptation to the plateau venue.

You must know that if you enter the NBA, you cannot escape to play on the plateau.

In addition to Denver, there is Utah, both of which are high-altitude home games.

...

In order to let the players relax, after training in the afternoon, Barnes took the players to visit the Pepsi Center.

The Pepsi Center is the home court of the Nuggets. There is no game today, and the University of Texas happened to be in touch.

A group of students who have not really touched the NBA, on the way to the NBA game venue on the bus, the emotion is nothing but excitement.

"Are you saying we're going to meet Anthony or Iverson?"

Durant couldn't hide his excitement, and turned to ask Lin Ying.

Although the Nuggets are not a giant team like the Lakers, the team is full of stars.

"Melo" Anthony and "AI" Iverson, the existence of these two people is enough to make the Pepsi Center full.

But today is not a game day, so it's hard to say whether we can meet them.

"That depends on whether they have trained today."

Lin Ying took the conversation.

There will be training without a game. If they happen to catch up with the Nuggets training when they arrive, they may have the opportunity to see Anthony and Iverson.

After more than 20 minutes' drive, they soon arrived at the Pepsi Center.

When they got off the bus, they saw a conspicuous building at the door.

It is a rockery surrounded by four cone-shaped towers more than ten meters high. In the center of the rockery is a huge red, white and blue "Pepsi" icon inlaid.

Walking through this iconic building and going forward, you can see many fans walking around the entrance of the arena.

The NBA arena is different from the NCAA. It is generally equipped with corresponding souvenir shops, snack bars, and even restaurants and bars.

These are basically open all the time.

So on non-match days, you can also use this place as a business center.

In terms of appearance, the Pepsi Center is a circular building, and it is built directly on the ground.

After entering the arena, you can see more "Pepsi" icons, there are many on the wall and even on the ground.

But in addition to those, you can also see a lot of other things.

Like a poster.

After entering the arena, there is a huge poster hanging on the biggest wall.

Inside the poster, Anthony and Iverson are standing half sideways.

Both of them wear white headbands, both have trench haircuts, and even have smiling expressions.

The only difference is that Anthony puts his hands around his chest, while Iverson puts his hands down and grabs the ball with one hand.

"It's not like that!"

Looking at the poster, Durant turned his head and sighed with Lin Ying.

He was talking about Anthony.

Their impression of Anthony can be traced back to the time when Lin Ying was on TNT. Anthony's combat power in the Madison fight was five stars.

The smile on this poster is warm and innocent, like two different people.

Lin Ying didn't think it was very strange.

When he was doing basketball data analysis, he also studied David Stern by the way.

After researching, he found that this person was really awesome.

Don't talk about anything else, let's just talk about star-making, and get rid of the successor Xiao Hua by a few blocks.

Take Kobe for example.

He didn't just tell you that this person's name is Kobe, and his name is Peter Pan or Black Mamba.

He will also tell you that this person's character is paranoid, and he will continue to use short stories to strengthen your impression.

Then when you think of paranoia, the first player that comes to mind is Kobe.

Similarly, Iverson's unruly, Garnett's iron blood, James' self-discipline and so on.

But how can such a complex creature as man have only one personality?

The paranoid Kobe is very friendly to the fans;

The iron-blooded wolf king knows how to fight and retreat;

The self-disciplined James' favorite food is high-calorie Taco;

The rebellious Iverson is as withdrawn as Lin Ying. (Excerpted from the Iverson 76ers draft trial training psychological report)

Likewise, Anthony of "Society," who is "Melon" when he smiles.

Oh, by the way, didn't the head coach of Syracuse University still say that Anthony is a famous "three good students"?

Going up the steps, there are many jerseys and sneakers around.

Once they got to the second floor, they went through some passages and then they arrived at the playing field.

The stadium is usually closed on non-match days, but this time it was specially opened for them.

When they arrived at the venue, they took some pictures one after another.

After visiting the arena, they visited the weight room and training hall one after another.

It is a pity that the Nuggets did not arrange training in the afternoon.

This wave was missed.

Regrets are inevitable, but just as they were about to go back, they saw a familiar person walking in the aisle.

Anthony!

Anthony wore headphones and a hood, staring straight ahead, as if he didn't notice their existence.

"Go up and say hello?"

Durant bumped Lin Ying with his shoulder.

He was excited and nervous at the moment.

The excitement is that he really met Anthony, and the tension is that this is the first NBA superstar he has seen up close.

Lin Ying's situation is not much worse than Durant's.

He nodded, and then walked over with Durant.

The two walked up to Anthony and stopped him.

Anthony frowned slightly when he saw someone blocking the way, but his eyes widened when he saw Durant and Lin Ying.

That expression seemed to say: Is it you?

Anthony knew them?

Durant and Lin Ying were very surprised when they read this information.

Don't think that Durant is this year's hot rookie, NBA stars will pay attention to him.

There are drafts every year, and there are not a few rookies who lose every year.

Unless you become a star, there will not be so many people who know you.

"Melo, I am..."

Because Carmelo and melon have similar pronunciations, plus his sweet smile, Nuggets fans will replace Carmelo with melon.

Durant's name is close to this one.

"Kevin Durant."

But what Durant didn't expect was that Anthony, who took off his hood and earphones, smiled sweetly and said his name directly.

"Forest."

Then, he turned his head and said Lin Ying's name.

Not to mention how surprised the two of them were at this moment.

It's okay to know Durant, but what's it like to know Lin Ying?

Has his handsomeness spread throughout Denver like the fragrance of flowers?

"I bought Georgetown University, and then you guys killed it in the first round."

Anthony then said slightly annoyed.

Just like a group of people on the Rockets bought "Crazy Three", the Nuggets also bought some.

Anthony is a graduate of Syracuse University.

Because Syracuse University didn't make it into the "Crazy Three" this year, he bought his old rival Georgetown University.

As a result, no one expected that Georgetown, which is recognized as capable of competing for the championship, was upset by the University of Texas in the first round, and it was still a disastrous defeat.

Driven by curiosity, he took a look at the game, and then remembered Durant and Lin Ying, who had a triple-double.

"Why are you here?"

It was after saying this that Anthony realized something was wrong.

Durant opened his mouth to explain again, and then Anthony reacted.

"Although they are difficult to deal with, I am optimistic about you."

What Anthony said next was interesting.

He was optimistic about Georgetown at first, but now Georgetown has been given to the University of Texas by a large margin, so he is optimistic about the University of Texas.

There's nothing wrong with this logic!

And speaking of which, when he led Syracuse University to win the championship, his opponent in the final was also the University of Kansas.

After chatting for a while, Durant offered to take a photo with Anthony.

Anthony agreed directly. With his left and right hands on the shoulders of the two, Springman took a photo.

And maybe he thought it wasn't enough, so he took another picture with the two of them alone.

After the filming was over, he greeted the two with a smile and left.

"Ying, I think if you don't join the same team as me, it would be nice to play for the Nuggets."

Looking at Anthony's back, Durant couldn't help but speak.

Just like what he said when he first entered the door and saw the poster, Anthony is so different from what he imagined!

Lin Ying nodded.

After a brief contact, Anthony is still very casual.

It's just that he doesn't think he'll come to the Nuggets if he enters the draft this year.

Because...the Nuggets don't have a draft pick this year...

Before leaving the Pepsi Center, Lin Ying stopped by to measure her height.

2 meters 03.

As expected, he is 2 centimeters taller than when he first entered the University of Texas.

Although he had a premonition in advance, he was very excited when he saw the result.

Although the results of the bone age test showed that he could grow to 2.04 meters, no one knows when he will grow.

If he can grow to 2.03 meters in his freshman year, it will undoubtedly be a booster for him.

It can even be foreseen that if he goes to participate in the joint trial training, the new height will also improve his draft market.

...

Back at the hotel, Barnes and Springman discussed how to play the University of Kansas in a few days.

Old opponents, they are familiar with their opponents, and their opponents are equally familiar with them.

Just like what Lin Ying thought, they didn't think that the growth of just two crazy three games would give them any advantage in the competition against Kansas.

Take the University of North Carolina as an example. The reason why Lin Ying's low-post offense can play such a big role is largely because he was caught off guard.

If it happens again, Lin Ying's role in the low position will definitely not be so great.

And Kansas will definitely study the video of their game against North Carolina before making targeted defenses.

"Rick, I suggest we start small."

Springman suggested again.

Why say again, because from the moment he entered Crazy Three, he began to propose the use of a small lineup.

Playing Kansas would be their third round, and the third time he suggested it.

In the previous two times, Barnes took the conservative route, using the regular starting lineup.

This time, he agreed.

In fact, his employment is not purely conservative, but he wants to see how well Lin Ying plays the fifth position.

It was an accident that Hibbert's mentality exploded so quickly against Georgetown, but against North Carolina, Lin Ying carried Hansbrough first and then fought Wright.

This has fully explained the problem.

"We're picking up speed."

Springman continued to suggest.

Before the Big 12 lost to Kansas, the University of Texas did not have an advantage in positional warfare even if it had a triangle offense.

Since they are all starting with a small lineup, then simply play fast and try to avoid positional warfare.

The past two games also showed that with Lin Ying and Augustin, they have an advantage when defending and counterattacking.

Barnes didn't object either.

A good basketball head coach does not necessarily have to be a master tactician, but he must be sure to employ people without doubting them.

This is true for both players and members of the coaching staff.

...

The second round of "Crazy Three" is about to start, and the media attention and publicity are also continuing to increase.

16 to 8, it looks like there are a lot of teams, but in fact this is already the semi-finals of the major regions.

If they can make it to the next round, they will be in the division finals.

For fans in all regions, this has reached the stage of killing red eyes.

The city of Denver also had an influx of fans before the start of the second period.

Basketball has become the main theme of the city at this stage.

More precisely, the NCAA, because even TNT threw the Nuggets game aside.

There have been news reports that the attention of the NBA Finals is not as good as a game of the NCAA Crazy Three.

There may be some exaggerated elements in this, but this statement is enough to show the high degree of attention of Crazy Three.

Especially after entering the second stage, this statement is close to being true.

On game day evening, Denver was empty.

Although there are only three games in the second stage, all three games are played on different days.

The first day in Denver is the game between UNLV and UCLA.

The winner between these two teams will be the first to advance to the finals of the Midwest Division.

Barnes directly rented the hotel's conference room to watch the live broadcast.

In this way, after watching the game, you can directly analyze the details, killing two birds with one stone.

"Do you think UNLV can still win?"

The advertisement was still playing in the live broadcast, and Durant and Lin Ying chatted.

"Hard to say."

Lin Ying did not give a definite answer.

UCLA is a talented and experienced team.

Afflalo, Darren Collison, Mbah a Moute... none of these guys were freshmen.

In fact, in history, UCLA beat the University of Kansas to reach the Final Four by a big score this year.

Although UNLV continues to bring surprises to people, it is necessary to beat such a team.

To use a vivid analogy: that is twice as difficult as the University of Texas defeating the University of North Carolina.

Of course, nothing unexpected happened to Crazy Three.

Otherwise, they and UNLV would not be able to get to this point.

"I think UCLA is sure to win!"

Durant is quite straightforward.

During the conversation, the advertisement was almost in progress, and the players on both sides had already been introduced in the live broadcast.

At UNLV, apart from Joel Anthony, Lin Ying had never heard of anyone before.

And even Joel Anthony is just a blue-collar player.

On the screen, he played his season data, 2.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks.

Except for blocked shots, the other two statistics are considered poor in the NCAA.

This is also determined by his physical condition.

He is 2.06 meters tall and plays a center forward with average wingspan.

This kind of player can finally enter the NBA to play, really has inhuman qualities.

Joel Anthony's quality is defensive ability.

Very strong, and that kind of strength is not reflected in the data!

It can be said that he can do all the dirty work you can think of on the field, and he can do it very beautifully.

Such as card position, top man, screen, off-ball confrontation and so on.

Many players are reluctant to do these things because the data cannot reflect them, but he is very enthusiastic and does a good job.

He is probably also the spokesperson for "data does not tell everything".

This is also one of the reasons why Lin Ying did not say that UCLA is sure to win like Durant did.

Because the only shortcoming of this UCLA team is probably that they don't have a good inside player.

The game started quickly, and UNLV defended a 2-3 zone defense at the beginning.

At this time, it is not the small ball era. There are indeed many players who can shoot accurately from the outside, but not many have reached the high production level.

UCLA's choice is also very correct. The ball is transferred from the outside to form more local hits, and then the three-pointer is shot from the outside.

This UCLA team is weak on the inside but strong on the outside. As the core of the team, Afflalo averaged 16+ per game, and his three-point shooting percentage exceeded 40%.

UNLV's approach can be said to be exactly what it wants.

If there is no accident, UNLV will be beaten too much to use zone defense within a few rounds, and even forced to switch to 3-2 zone defense.

However, tomorrow and the unexpected you don't know which one will come!

How did UCLA shoot three-pointers tonight, and Afflalo was on the outside three-pointer.

The frame looked crooked!

UNLV's individual players are not strong, but they are very skilled in coordination, especially in fast breaks.

Moreover, there is a point that is easy to be backlashed by the three-pointer used for offense and defense, that is, rebounds are basically long rebounds.

Long rebounds are very easy for opponents to form defensive counterattacks.

As a result, UCLA was at a disadvantage at the beginning.

After stubbornly shooting two more three-pointers and still not scoring, UCLA finally had no choice but to accept the fact that they missed the outside line tonight.

Well, if the three-pointer is not accurate, hit it in.

Anyway, everyone on my side can be punished.

Then came Joel Anthony's acting moment.

Originally, the 2-3 zone defense was to defend under the main basket. Although UCLA can break through the outside line, it has already shed a layer of skin to reach the penalty area.

Joel Anthony restricted various harvests.

Or you can't make a good shot if you are directly stuck in the position, or you can force you to make mistakes directly, or you can see the right time to cover your head and face.

This scene is simply a replica of the tiebreaker between the Rockets and the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals in 2018!

At the end of the final game, UNLV defeated UCLA 56-52, upset for the third consecutive round, and broke into this year's Elite Eight!

UCLA made 2 of 21 shots from beyond the three-point line, but they couldn't find the feeling after playing the whole game.

At the end of the game, Lin Ying looked at Durant with a sad face.

Who did Durant say was sure to win?

No, Durant also said before that the University of Texas is firmly in the quarterfinals?

ps: In the transitional chapters, everything that can be deleted has been deleted, and it is directly combined into one, so that it will be more comfortable to follow up!

Thanks to Chuci Y, Meteor*Longya, Xiaoluyun who loves to eat quack for their rewards~Thank you for your support~