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Chapter 31 The Time of Decisive Victory (New book, please collect monthly tickets and recommend tickets!)

In the final stages of the game, the players of this Connecticut team showed strict discipline.

They patiently consume the offensive clock on the court and always find teammates in the best position before the clock reaches zero.

In the stands, as Connecticut's players held the ball on the court, Wake Forest supporters were doing their best.

They made all kinds of strange noises and boos, trying to disturb the Connecticut players on the field.

But these efforts were completely ineffective.

With two minutes left in the second half, Connecticut still led Wake Forest by six points.

Moreover, the next round was Connecticut's offensive round.

But just like the players on the field did not give up, the fans at the scene also did not choose to give up.

At the halftime of Wake Forest, fans at the scene began to count down repeatedly as they watched Gordon holding the ball in this round.

They tried to disrupt Gordon's offensive rhythm in this way.

However, Gordon still calmly controlled the basketball in his hands and took decisive action with about 7 seconds left in the offensive round.

Gray, who had been facing Gordon all night, stuck closely to Gordon on this ball, and with the referee's tacit approval, disrupted Gordon's rhythm before the finish with a tug that made Kahun so anxious on the sidelines jump up and down.

Did Gray commit a foul in this defense?
If Gray's defense was a foul
Then in the previous game, were the offense and defense of Villanueva, Armstrong and Okafor in the close combat with Qin Yue also fouls?
The referee clearly didn't want to be the protagonist tonight.

Therefore, at the end of the game, as long as it is not a flagrant foul or an excessive foul, there is no need for them to blow the whistle.

When——!
On the court, Gordon, whose rhythm was disrupted, failed to seal the victory for Connecticut through his singles.

At the same time, under the basket, in the battle for position with Okafor and Armstrong, Qin Yue, who had already been exhausted, also showed his amazing perseverance.

Looking at the basketball that bounced out of the basket, in the back-and-forth fight between Okafor and Armstrong, Qin Yue grabbed the moon with one arm and defended this key rebound for Wake Forest!
At this moment, the supporters of the Demon Deacons seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

But a few seconds later, Paul missed the three-pointer in a hurry to save time, and the fans in the stands began to wail.

Is this the end of the road for Wake Forest?
At the scene, Rachel Carlisle, who had been keeping her eyes on Qin Yue tonight, suddenly shouted, "Get ready to catch the ball, Ronnie!"

In fact, because the entire stadium was too noisy, Ronnie Evans couldn't hear what Rachel yelled at him at all.

But at the moment when Paul missed the three-pointer, he, who also had his eyes on Qin Yue, was already ready to receive the ball.

It’s Qin Yue again!

He instinctively pounced on the basketball, and in this offensive round, under the bewildered gaze of the Connecticut players on the court, he passed the basketball back to his teammate Evans!

Yes, it's all instinct.

Because he always claimed to be the emperor of Europe, at that moment he did not trigger the "I am Sakuragi Hanamichi" badge at all.

He was on the verge of collapse, but he relied on his instinct and intuition to save the offensive rebound for Wake Forest.

And the possibility of beating Connecticut.

Outside, Evans finally made that damn three-pointer!
91:88.

"As long as Wake Forest holds on in the next possession, they will have a chance to tie the score before the end of regular time." In the commentary booth, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a tissue, even a veteran commentator like Mike Breen could not ignore the suffocating feeling that was enveloping the entire arena.

In the stands, fans shouted "defense, defense".

As the decibel level in the stadium continued to rise, Gordon, who was under increasing pressure, was no longer as calm and composed as before.
Facing Gray's defense that seemed to want to stab him twice, Gordon almost made a low-level mistake by dribbling back to the court.

On the sidelines, Jim Calhoun was sweating profusely.

Seeing this, Tariq Brown, a senior, took the initiative to take the responsibility and asked for the basketball from Gordon.

This appears to be good news for Wake Forest.

Because in his four-year college career, Brown has never been good at offense.

But just when Connecticut's offensive time was running out and fans had begun to imagine who would execute the next attack for Wake Forest, the young Reavi lost track of another dangerous player in Connecticut's lineup.

Rashad Anderson.

Anderson was in the right place at the right time.

then
With a flick of his hand, the three-pointer went into the net.

"This could very well be the ball that decides the outcome of the game. Rashard Anderson responded to Wake Forest with an Answer Ball with 54 seconds left in the game." In the commentary booth, Mike Breen, who felt that the Demon Deacons had little hope, explained with a look of regret on his face.

On the Wake Forest bench, after looking up at the scoreboard, Prosser decisively requested the final timeout and arranged a rushing tactic.

During the break, everyone was comforting Levi, who looked remorseful.

"Don't think about the mistakes yet, the game isn't over yet." Looking at the skinny bamboo pole, Qin Yue patted his shoulder and said.

After the timeout, Wake Forest attacked.

In order to prevent the Demon Deacons from grabbing three-pointers, Kahun only kept Okafor as the inside player on the court.

As it turned out, Kahun's decision had a positive effect.

Because after serving the ball from the sideline, the Demon Deacons' rushing attack tactics were successfully cracked by the Huskies.

"Wake Forest must pay attention to the game time!" Mike Breen reminded in the commentary booth.

On the court, seeing his teammates' offense come to a standstill
Qin Yue decisively gave up the idea of continuing to pass the ball to his teammates on the same side, and took the initiative to move to the outside line.

At the top of the arc, Paul, who was in charge of holding the ball, noticed Qin Yue's running.

On the other side, Gordon, knowing that his team only had one inside player at the moment, quickly pounced on Qin Yue from the bottom corner.

Rationally speaking, Gordon made a decision that he thought was the right one.

But the moment he pounced on Qin Yue, he also let go of Evans who had been lying in ambush there.

On the court, Qin Yue, who received the pass from Paul, did not make any adjustments and immediately threw the basketball to Evans.

Evans continued his hot hand from his last shot and hit that damn three-pointer for Wake Forest again with 35 seconds left in the game!

94:91.

As long as Wake Forest holds on to the next round, it still has a chance to tie the score before the end of the game.

At this time, looking at Qin Yue who looked tired, Jim Cohen made a very bold decision.

He didn’t want Qin Yue to rest by pausing again.

Even though the decision would have likely forced Connecticut into overtime, Kahun didn’t care.

Because, in terms of Wake Forest's personnel reserves, Kahun firmly believes that this Demon Deacon team is already a spent force.

At the America West Arena, Brown dribbled across half court amid boos from the audience.

As a veteran, Brown faithfully followed the instructions given to him by his coach on the sidelines:
It doesn't matter if the offensive round is used up, even if it is a 30-second violation. Wake Forest has no extra timeouts to arrange tactics.

So Kahun didn't mind giving them 5 seconds of offensive time.

This is the future legendary coach of Connecticut University.

Jim Calhoun, a head coach who can keep a clear head even at times like this.

Can.
What Kahun could not have expected was...
Brown, who has always been calm, was unexpectedly intercepted by Chris Paul while controlling the ball and wasting time!
On the court, accompanied by the cheers that suddenly resounded throughout the stadium, Chris Paul grabbed hope for Wake Forest and the only ray of light in the darkness!

Almost at the same time Paul stole the ball, Grayma ran across half court without stopping.

Behind him are the Connecticut players chasing back at full speed.

But no matter how fast the Connecticut players return to defense, how can they be as fast as Paul's passing speed?

Gray, who stopped outside the three-point line in the frontcourt, received a pass from Paul and shot after slightly adjusting his rhythm.

Will this three-pointer help Wake Forest tie the score?
Carrying the expectations of countless people, everyone held their breath as the basketball flew towards the hoop.

When——!
"Protect the rebound!"

On the sidelines, Kahn, whose heart almost stopped from being frightened, hurriedly shouted to the players on the court the moment Gray's three-pointer bounced out of the rim.

Upon hearing this, Okafor, who had already been running all the way back to the basket, immediately blocked the entire three-second zone.

However, Gray's three-pointer turned into a long rebound after it bounced off the rim.

Seeing this, Okafor quickly turned around and prayed in his heart that his teammates were near the place where the long rebound bounced out.

But, at the moment when Okafor turned around, he couldn't believe it.
Qin Yue appeared in that damn place again!
It's still instinct and intuition.

Qin Yue, who was unlucky tonight, failed to trigger his ability to predict the future while grabbing the two most crucial frontcourt rebounds.

But, time and time again, he regained the possibility for Wake Forest to defeat Connecticut in the game!
Throughout the second half, he stood like a pillar in the Demon Deacons' penalty area.

On the court, Qin Yue, who grabbed the key rebound for Wake Forest again, noticed Ronnie Evans in the open position with just a glance.

The guy who was ready for a three-point shot and hit two damn three-pointers in a row.

At this moment, Qin Yue had no time to hesitate.

At the 45-degree angle on the right side of the court, Evans was waiting for Qin Yue to pass the ball, and countless images flashed through his mind like a kaleidoscope.

Evans has had an indescribable love for basketball since he was a child.

Although many people around him always say that he has no ambition.

But in Evans' eyes, those people have no idea what they are pursuing.

Maybe, throughout my life, I will never be able to make it to the NBA like those geniuses.

But isn’t basketball a sport that you can play as long as you like it?

Unlike many of his peers, Evans never liked Michael Jordan since he was a child.

Because in his opinion, the so-called God of Basketball is too far away from him.

Evans' favorite player has always been Kenny Smith.

That little guy who played the key role many times in the Houston Rockets' story of "Never underestimate the heart of a champion".

Now, gently support the basketball with your left hand.

Evans, the little guy at Wake Forest.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he made a three-pointer that could very well change history.

Unfortunately.
When——!
The next second, with the sound of the basketball bouncing off the hoop, Evans fell back into reality from his dream in an instant.

However, Qin Yue once again dragged his exhausted body to grab the frontcourt rebound for Wake Forest.

However, the Wake Forest fans who began to cry in the stands had already deeply felt the cruelty of God towards them.

in spite of
There are not so many "thoughs" in reality.

At the America West Arena, Evans's tying three-pointer went wide of the frame, the final timer reached zero, and the Connecticut Huskies advanced to the next round as they wished.

At the same time, Wake Forest's March Madness journey this year came to an abrupt end.

The fairy tale did not happen this night.

But for those big shots who witnessed the game with their own eyes, they began to get restless.

For a long time, these big names who have always stayed behind the scenes, after this March Madness, how can they suppress their desire for more geniuses to emerge?

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Ira Berkow wrote in his article to be published the next day: "This is the night Connecticut conquered Wake Forest.

But Qin conquered the world with his defense and rebounds in the second half. "

Through this year's March Madness, Ira Berko has confirmed a fact:
A rising star who shares the same nationality as Yao Ming is currently rising in American college basketball at an unimaginable speed.

Some say he resembles Andrei Kirilenko.

Some say he's like Larry Bird.

Some say he resembles Charles Barkley.

Others say he is a descendant of Tim Duncan.

But in Ira Berko's opinion, Qin Yue is like no one else. "He is the most special player in American college basketball in recent years."

Lynn-Merritt, a Nike executive who was responsible for recruiting LeBron James, keenly saw the unlimited business opportunities in Qin Yue.

At this time in 2004, Nike, which had successfully reached a cooperation with Yao Ming a year before he entered the NBA, could only watch Yao Ming switch to Reebok because it misjudged the Chinese market behind Yao Ming.

For Nike's top management, this wrong decision has become a thorn in their hearts.

"Now, we have a great opportunity to remove this thorn." Merritt thought, clenching his fists.

The world is never short of geniuses.

What is lacking is the vision to discover genius and the wisdom to package and market it before presenting it to the world.

Perhaps, this sentence sounds cruel.

But in the NBA, it’s a fact.

……

PS: I am begging for collection, monthly tickets and recommendation tickets for my new book.

(End of this chapter)