章 17: Darker and Darker, This is the Charm of March Madness!
As soon as the game started, Wang Chong realized that playing against a team with two NBA lottery picks was indeed different. It was no wonder that the University of Kansas was able to defeat Marquette University, led by Wade, in the original semifinals and make it to the finals.
The cooperation between the two Kansas stars, Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison, was seamless. They executed the pick-and-roll tactics to perfection, making it very difficult to defend effectively.
Marquette University also employed the pick-and-roll tactic, especially after Wang Chong's mid-range shooting ability had been developed. His pick-and-roll cooperation with Wade had gradually increased. However, it had only been a little over a month since Wang Chong acquired the system. No matter how much they tried to build chemistry, it couldn't compare to the Kansas twins, who had been partners for two or three years.
However, if we compare the players' individual strengths, Hinrich, who is also a guard, is visibly much weaker than Wade.
As a combo guard, Hinrich's personal abilities were not outstanding during his time with the NBA Bulls, and his ability to organize an offense could only be described as mediocre compared to most point guards.
Due to his awkward positioning, his career averages were only 10.9 points and 4.8 assists. In his best seasons, his stats were around 16+6, and his shooting percentage was just over 40%.
In this game, the abilities of both players were most directly demonstrated.
When the two players faced each other, Wade could use his speed and explosiveness to easily get past Hinrich, who had average physical fitness, and attack the basket.
But after the transition from offense to defense, Hinrich was unable to break through Wade's defense and could only call on his teammate Collison to help him with pick-and-roll coverage before continuing his attack.
Relying on stronger overall strength and efficient offensive efficiency through pick-and-roll cooperation, the University of Kansas took complete control of the game at the start.
But the score difference between the two teams wasn't large; it always remained stable within single digits. Especially when Wang Chong began to gradually increase the frequency of mid-range shots, the University of Kansas' defense became a little chaotic.
As the biggest dark horse in the 2003 tournament, Marquette University eliminated the Kentucky Wildcats. Opponents would definitely watch their past games repeatedly, analyze their tactical characteristics, study them, and develop targeted defensive tactics.
The University of Kansas paid special attention to Wang Chong, the sudden emerging freshman dark horse, and assigned Nick Collison to defend him.
Collison, who participated in the 2003 draft with Hinrich, was selected with the 12th pick in the first round. He missed the entire season in his first year in the league due to a shoulder injury. He then played in the league for 14 seasons. As a blue-collar role player, he averaged 5.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his career.
At first glance, such stats are not impressive at all and can even be said to be negligible.
But there must be a reason why someone can play in a highly competitive league like the NBA for 14 years and play more than a thousand games in total.
Collison is a typical blue-collar center who is used to doing the dirty work in the interior.
Like many big white inside players, Collison had average jumping ability and slow footwork, but he had outstanding rebounding ability and was very fierce on the defensive end.
Even in the NCAA arena, after just a few rounds of competition, Wang Chong felt the malice of his opponent and the iron elbows that could swing toward him at any time.
In terms of physical confrontation, Wang Chong certainly did not have an advantage. After all, he chose Durant's growth template, not Antetokounmpo's. Compared with physical confrontation ability, his current advantage was still in spacing.
For several plays in a row, Wang Chong ran without the ball and immediately shot after receiving the ball in the mid-range.
Collison's defensive pace was a little slow, so he could only watch as Wang Chong hit the mid-range shot steadily. There were two times when he was even in position to defend and stretched out his hand to block most of Wang Chong's vision, but Wang Chong still made the shot successfully.
This is thanks to the only badge Wang Chong currently has, the CIC Master.
Unlike others, Wang Chong has the badge's blessing effect when shooting from mid-range, which not only improves his hit rate but also reduces the impact of defensive interference.
At 2.08 meters tall with a wingspan of 2.24 meters, Wang Chong is difficult to contest when shooting. With the effect of the badge, his hit rate is quite good.
If the first quarter was Wade's personal show, relying on his ability to break through with the ball and attack the basket to score points, then the protagonist of the second quarter became Wang Chong.
In the previous few games, he had conquered the team coach and other teammates with his performance, and it was only natural for him to become the second tactical core point of the team.
The University of Kansas took Wang Chong very seriously, but they had no good way to deal with his mid-range shooting that had almost no blind spots.
The score was once very close and difficult to call.
But in the third quarter, Marquette found a breakthrough.
It was the team's ace player Wade who changed the situation.
In one-on-one defense, Wade directly stole the ball from Hinrich, and during a fast-break layup, he drew a defensive foul, making it 2+1.
Immediately afterward, Marquette University relied on tenacious defense to block an attack from the University of Kansas. In the transition between offense and defense, Wade and Wang Chong executed a pick-and-roll, with Wade passing the ball to Wang Chong, who scored a mid-range shot.
Marquette University scored 5 points in a row and took the lead.
The NCAA college championship is different from the NBA professional league after all. Since the players are all students, they obviously lack competitive experience and the ability to handle pressure. Seeing that their previous lead was completely lost, the University of Kansas became obviously impatient.
When Collison was attacking with his back to the basket in the paint, he knocked Wang Chong down with an elbow and received his fifth foul of the game.
Hinrich then made another low-level mistake and passed the ball directly out of bounds.
The University of Kansas's momentum had completely collapsed, and the players' play became more and more chaotic. Even though the coach was loudly shouting from the sidelines and calling for timeouts repeatedly in an attempt to rebuild the team, it was already too late.
To regain momentum, the first task is to limit the opponent's offensive rhythm.
But neither Wade nor Wang Chong could be defended. Even if Kansas managed to score, it was only a temporary solution for a team that was already trailing behind.
As the game time ticked by, the anxiety on the faces of the University of Kansas players grew, while the stunned and surprised expressions on the faces of the media reporters and fans on the sidelines became more intense.
Marquette University is actually going to win?
How could such an unknown dark horse team make it to the NCAA finals by defeating the two top-seeded teams, the Kentucky Wildcats and the University of Kansas?
Isn't this the charm of March Madness?
End of this chapter
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Chugamc
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