Capítulo 24: Coach, We Won!
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Liam walked over and whispered in his ear, "Do you remember the tactics I asked you to practice a few days ago?"
"I remember, Coach!" Ben Slaton nodded.
"Very good. We'll play according to those tactics, and you'll be the ball handler." Liam patted his shoulder and pushed him onto the court.
AJ Graves returned to the bench, panting, with a towel covering his face. Liam walked over with a smile and asked, "What's wrong? You don't want to be substituted?"
"No... I'm sorry, Coach. I couldn't defend Moore," Graves said, taking off the towel, looking frustrated.
"I'm not substituting you because of your defense. The team needs you for offense. Don't overthink it, just rest up. We'll need you to perform later," Liam said sternly.
Graves nodded emphatically, quickly putting on his training gear to prevent excessive heat loss.
After Ben Slaton got on the court, he conveyed Liam's instructions to his teammates, received the baseline pass from Mike Green, and dribbled up to the frontcourt.
Moore stayed close to Curry, continuing his small, pesky moves. But Curry was without the ball this time. With Drew and Campbell's screens, Curry first cut inside, then ran back to shake off Moore.
Ben Slaton immediately passed the ball. Curry caught it and took a shot. The three-pointer went through the net!
38:45, the Bulldogs were up by 7 points.
On the return play, Kerr hit an open three-pointer after running without the ball, returning the favor.
41:45, Indiana University was narrowing the score gap.
The Bulldogs were back on offense, with Ben Slaton still handling the ball and Curry moving without it. He seemed to regain his high school rhythm, moving with agility, leaving Moore dizzy. Mike Green wasn't idle either, running off the ball on the other side.
Ben Slaton used this opportunity to break through, charging into Indiana University's interior, but Townell and Wozniacki guarded the basket strictly. Finding no gap, he maneuvered around.
Indiana University's defensive formation was disrupted, and their attention was focused on Ben Slaton, completely changing the initial matchups. This left Curry matched against Wozniacki.
Curry received the pass from Ben Slaton, pulled the ball to the left under his crotch, then dribbled behind his back, transferring the ball to his right hand. He completely shook off Wozniacki, drove into the paint, hung in the air to avoid Townell's block, and made a layup!
41:47.
This was Liam's tactic: put two point guards on the court, let Curry play off-ball, and have Ben Slaton handle the ball, unleashing Curry's off-ball offensive abilities. When the opponent's defense focused on the ball handler, Curry would attack from the weak side, completely breaking down their defense!
This tactic was unique to the Bulldogs. Although Curry was still quite young, his extraordinary off-ball movement showed early signs of brilliance, comparable to top off-ball shooters like JJ Redick. After a season of training, his ball-handling offense had reached an elite NCAA level. Looking across the NCAA, there was no other player who combined off-ball and on-ball play so perfectly like Curry.
Soon, Indiana University's defense was torn apart by Curry. He switched seamlessly between holding the ball and playing off it. Moore couldn't keep up with him, and Curry scored again and again.
Meanwhile, Kerr's shooting touch cooled off, missing several three-pointers in a row. Facing the Bulldogs' double-team defense, Indiana University had to rely on individual talent to score, but their success rate was low, allowing the score gap to widen.
With 5 minutes left in the game, Campbell's dunk gave the Bulldogs a 12-point lead over Indiana State, 61:49.
Unlike the NBA, an NCAA game isn't 48 minutes long and doesn't have four quarters. Instead, it's divided into two halves, each lasting 20 minutes, with a 35-second shot clock.
This results in a slower pace than NBA games, leading to generally lower scores. A 12-point lead is already a substantial gap.
Fans at the arena thought the game was secure and began chatting and laughing more relaxedly.
Liam and Stevens were smiling too. Although a 12-point lead wasn't as high as expected, it was still a big advantage given the current situation.
But the charm of competitive sports lies in their unpredictability. No one knows what will happen next.
Suddenly, Moore erupted, scoring inside and outside, including a difficult three-pointer, for 7 points. This fired up Indiana University, and they tightened their defense, catching the Bulldogs off guard.
Seeing the game slipping away, Liam quickly called a timeout to carefully adjust his tactics.
But momentum is crucial in basketball, and it was clearly on Indiana's side.
Though Liam responded quickly, Moore was unstoppable. After the timeout, he hit two three-pointers in a row, scoring 13 consecutive points. The Bulldogs' offense fell apart, unable to execute Liam's tactics. Only Drew managed to score 2 points on a second-chance opportunity. Indiana University narrowed the score to 62:64, just a 2-point difference!
Liam swiftly called another timeout. This was his last one, and the Bulldogs' situation looked bleak.
On the bench, Liam looked around at his exhausted players, his face dark with anger. He scolded, "Look at what you're doing! Only Stephen is running the plays. The rest of you are panicking like scared mice, running around without thinking. You're not playing like NCAA players!"
The team members hung their heads in shame. After a pause, Liam continued:
"Julian will replace Campbell, AJ will replace Ben. Switch to man-to-man defense, and everyone focus on protecting the rebounds. On offense, set screens for Stephen. Stephen, if you get a shot, take it. If not, go one-on-one. If they double-team, pass to an open teammate. Got it?"
Curry was momentarily stunned. The coach had given him unlimited shooting rights!
"No problem, Coach!" he responded after a brief pause.
Curry was never one to back down. When faced with a challenge, he always tackled it head-on.
Soon, the timeout ended, and the game resumed. The fans were no longer relaxed; they cheered loudly for their team.
"Isn't it too risky to leave only Drew inside? He can't defend alone," Stevens said, confused by Liam's choice.
"I believe more in the team's offense than its defense," Liam replied calmly. "And I don't think Indiana will focus on the inside game. With Moore in this form, McKenna won't let anyone else touch the ball."
As they spoke, the referee blew the whistle, signaling the game to continue. It was the Bulldogs' turn on offense.
On the other side of the technical table, McKenna looked at the Bulldogs' lineup, feeling a bit absurd.
That young Colombian coach actually took out the power forward and put in a backup small forward? Wasn't he worried about their interior defense collapsing?
McKenna found it hard to believe. He'd seen many lineups with one big and four small players, but that required a very strong center who could support both offense and defense. Only then would a team dare to go with four smaller players, giving the interior giant enough space to dominate the paint.
But the Bulldogs' center was just a blue-collar worker. How dare that young man make such a bold move? Was he giving up?
No, they were still leading by 2 points...
Ignoring McKenna's doubts, Moore, who was guarding Curry, didn't care about the lineup change. In his current form, he felt unstoppable. The basket seemed as wide as the ocean; it didn't matter who defended him.
Curry didn't challenge Moore directly. Instead, he signaled for a screen, and Drew came up to set it.
Unexpectedly, Drew couldn't block Moore. Despite his broad build, Moore shoved him aside.
But after breaking through Drew's screen, Moore found Campbell standing in front of him. Curry had called for a double screen!
This was part of the Bulldogs' daily training routine. If Moore got through Campbell's screen, Mike Green would be waiting at the left 45-degree angle.
Stevens had named this tactic "Curry and His Screeners" the first time he saw it in practice. It was designed to create space for Curry to shoot. Except for Drew, all other Bulldogs were stationed beyond the three-point line, almost abandoning any fight for offensive rebounds.
After Curry shed Moore, he found himself facing power forward Wozniacki.
Against the 2-meter Wozniacki, the 1.85-meter Curry lowered his center of gravity and began dribbling. Wozniacki watched him closely, feeling like he was up against a dangerous opponent.
After this game, Indiana University players had learned just how deadly Curry could be if left unguarded.
Curry dribbled the ball between his legs twice, then crossed over quickly. He suddenly lifted the ball for a shot, but Wozniacki didn't bite. He raised his hand and continued to stare at Curry.
Curry's fake shot turned into a crossover, dribbling the ball behind his back, breaking through Wozniacki's left side. After passing him, he pulled up for a jump shot in front of Townell, who was rushing over to block.
In one smooth motion, Curry released the ball, and it flew towards the hoop, touching nothing but net!
72:66.
With only 27 seconds left in the game, the Bulldogs were back in control with a 6-point lead.
Indiana called their final timeout, but it was too late. The gap was too wide to close in such a short time. When the final whistle blew, the scoreboard showed 74:68. The Bulldogs had won!
Liam raised his arms and high-fived his assistant coach. The players rushed onto the court, hugging and celebrating the hard-fought victory.
"Coach, we won!" Curry yelled, grinning from ear to ear as he ran towards Liam.
Liam smiled, giving Curry a pat on the back. "Yes, we did, Stephen. And you were incredible out there."
The celebration continued, and the Bulldogs basked in their well-earned win, ready to face the challenges ahead with confidence.
End of this chapter
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