Champion, please stay!

Chapter 30. Conflict and Great Victory!
A close match is a good thing for the players; who doesn't like an evenly matched opponent? Even if you're being suppressed, you can still withstand the pressure. Even if you're getting crushed, it's just a loss, and you can come back next time.

But when they were behind, felt they had the ability to turn the tide, and were really about to turn the tide, they were hit hard and the gap widened again... The Golden Eagles players were on the verge of collapse in the last two minutes of the first half, missing all three of their shots.

The Huskies seized the opportunity and scored 4 more points, extending their lead to double digits at halftime with a score of 48-37!
After halftime, the Golden Eagles players, energized by head coach Klin, rallied and tried to catch up again, but found themselves outmatched once more! Their all-out attack only managed to keep the score close, and narrowing the gap to within 10 points proved difficult!
What made the Golden Eagles players uneasy was that the opponent's defense underwent such a significant change, all because of one player – Yi Shui!
It's true that Thabeet is the defensive anchor of the Huskies. Without Thabeet, all the efforts on the perimeter are in vain. But everyone can see that Yi Shui is the core of the Huskies' true zone defense!

The one who was most affected was Matthews, who had confidently told his teammates before the match that Yi Shui was his responsibility.

But as a result, he couldn't even lock down Yi Shui like he did last season, let alone limit their physical strength like he did in freshman year! They were completely crushed from the start!
Midway through the second half, Yi Shui set a screen for substitute Johnson Bird, who cut in and made a layup, making it 68-52. The Huskies had outscored their opponents 20-15 in the second half, extending their lead to 16 points!
When the Golden Eagles attacked, Matthews received the ball but failed to shake off Yi Shui and was tightly marked.

He shook it twice, but the other person didn't eat it!

In previous years, he had a height advantage, and if he couldn't get past or shake off his opponents, he could rely on a direct shot. Now he's not as tall as his opponents, and his wingspan is shorter.

In a fit of anger, Matthews swung his elbow at Yi Shui's chest, shoving him aside. He tried to throw Yi Shui, but missed. Yi Shui then retaliated by slapping Matthews' arm with a shovel...

The referee had already blown his whistle three times when Matthews swung his elbow, and was about to make a punching motion, which is a charging gesture, when he quickly followed up with another whistle.

Before the two men, who were wildly flailing their arms and fists, could even get into a physical altercation, the referee intervened and stopped them in the middle.

The fans at the scene were stunned for a moment, then started cursing, screaming, and jeering.

The scene at this moment is just like the first encounter between the two teams in the 7th round of the regional stage two years ago.

The conflict still involved Yi Shui and Matthews; the Golden Eagles were already doomed, and Matthews, seeing his classmate Yi Shui score at the rim, tried to retaliate but couldn't break through in one-on-one, and in frustration, raised his elbow, only to be countered...

However, the referee reacted much faster than before, blocking the two players immediately. Coincidentally, the referee was the same one from two years ago, Mark Ford.

However, unlike the conflict two years ago, this time the conflict did not escalate. There was not much pushing or shoving. The three Golden Eagles players who surrounded each other transformed into Garnett, and finally ran back to their own bench to verbally abuse the opposing team from a distance.

It wasn't that the referee's intervention had much effect, but rather that the three players from the Golden Eagles team born in 2005 chickened out.

When Yad surrounded the Husky players, Johnson Bird, Spencer, and Thabeet also joined in, while the Golden Eagles only had McNeil and Donniemick James go up to help, with the other two players on the court just watching from the sidelines.

The conflict between the two players two years ago escalated into a team conflict because the senior leaders of both teams were present. Now, Yishui, Yade, and Jinying are all senior leaders of their respective teams.

Yad showed his leadership ability in the paint last season, and this season he has become a leader among junior and senior players. Yi Shui has also won the support of some teammates in the past dozen or so games.

The three players on the Golden Eagles lack this ability: Matthews is arrogant and unsociable, McNeil lacks leadership qualities, and "Little Iverson" is arrogant and foul-mouthed, often offending his teammates... They're okay for leading a team to play basketball, but when it comes to leading a team to fight, they're all just like Nick Young.

...

After stopping the conflict, the referee first confirmed the charge of Matthews charging, and then, to appease both sides, gave Yi Shui and Matthews a technical foul each.

This brief clash escalated the intensity of the competition.

The other Golden Eagles players did not step in to help during the conflict, but afterwards they felt embarrassed because their teammates had been "bullied" in the conflict, so they increased their physical contact on the defensive end after the game restarted.

The Husky team naturally had to retaliate!
It's different from the year before last. After that conflict, the two teams didn't fight until their second encounter. This time, they went straight into battle!
This completely extinguished any remaining hope the Golden Eagles had of a comeback – the hope of catching up and turning the tide in the final stretch of rotation time. They were all on edge; seizing opportunities? Impossible.

At 8:53 p.m., the referee blew the whistle to end the game. Then, three referees stood discreetly between the two teams' players who were most excited at the end of the game, just in case.

However, Calhoun and Klin immediately went onto the field to gather their players together, and the two teams did not start a new round of conflict after the game.

The referee, Ford, breathed a sigh of relief and confirmed the end of the match to the technical table.

The Huskies defeated the Golden Eagles 77-63 at home, ending their two-game losing streak!

With three minutes remaining in the game, Yi Shui committed his fifth foul and was ejected.

全场打了29分钟，15投7中，其中三分球5中3，加上4中4的罚球，拿到20分9板6助攻3抢断5盖帽……5失误5犯规。

I should have been more accurate with my shooting and made fewer mistakes. Two of my missed shots and turnovers occurred after my elbows flew around wildly.

The game was won, and the training card with the basic reward of 10 hours of game was obtained. The data was also good, with 2 hours of shooting, 1 hour of rebounding, 2 hours of passing, 2 hours of interception... a total of 7 hours of training card were obtained. After the game, a mission was also triggered, but Yi Shui looked worried when he returned to the locker room.

After bragging to his teammates, Yad noticed his buddy's unusual behavior and went up to ask, "Brook, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Yi Shui did experience some soreness in his body as the intensity of the physical contact subsided, but that wasn't the reason. He explained, "After the brawl between New York and Denver last year, the NCAA has become stricter with penalties for conflicts. I'm worried that if we get punished, Jim will be angry."

Yad waved his hand and said, "Impossible. He wouldn't get angry over that. He'd only jump up and kick us in the butt if we didn't help you after you got elbowed by the other guy."

"Huh?" "You don't know? It was 14 years ago, right? Back then, our team's best star, Marshall, was fouled. Jim led the fight against the other team and ended up being suspended for six months. He was only allowed to play and direct the game in the third season, and the remaining suspension was carried over to the new season."

"Hiss... Holy crap, cough cough, is Jim really this wild?"

"That's because you were tough and fought back immediately after being elbowed, so you didn't suffer any loss. Otherwise, he would have been the first to rush over and argue with the opposing coach, and he might have been the only one to be ejected from the game."

"..."

Yi Shui was at a loss for words when the locker room door opened, revealing the crickets that were behind them.

Calhoun: "Brook, let's go to the press conference... Don't be afraid of those guys with microphones, say whatever you want, like you did tonight when you were yelling at the other team... No, that's too dirty, just don't be afraid! We can't let other teams think we're easy to bully!"

"Uh...I know."

Yi Shui is confirmed; what my best friend said was true, not an exaggeration.

...

The next day, Saturday morning, Yi Shui woke up just after 7 a.m.

The pain from the elbows and slaps after last night's match has completely subsided, but he suspects that his opponents who were punched and elbowed by him are still in pain.

After returning to Stamford last night, he sneaked into the unlocked gym and did four sets of his 'Day 7' workout in the gym... He almost failed to complete the 'Day 7' workout requirement of 'more than halfway'.

He only played for 29 minutes last night, but he was more tired than when he usually plays for 34 or 35 minutes!

It wasn't due to the conflict or hand-to-hand combat; in fact, he wasn't that tired during that time.

The main focus is on the initial 'integrated offense and defense' phase.

They need to be responsible for one-on-one play, passing and rebounding, and on the defensive end, they also need to connect the inside and outside lines, help with double teams, and collapse the defense to make the zone defense flow smoothly...

He originally thought his stamina of 89 was enough, as long as he didn't encounter a war of attrition like the one against Curry. He never expected that one day he would become the defensive core.

But he still has to attack, and he still has to defend and rebound. He has the ability to lead the team to change the situation where the team's defense is constantly being breached, so how could he give up?

In the afternoon, you can go to the Institute of Education and talk to Clark about this issue. See if you need to train your physical strength or communicate with the head coach about the allocation of physical strength during the game. You don't need to rack your brains to find a solution on your own. The coaching staff will attach no less importance to this than he does.

Ideally, Kuku will come with a few missions, and Kuku will gain a few points of stamina.

I had a task last night, but unfortunately I have to wait until next year.

"The smaller fry at your level are always trying to challenge you. You find it annoying, but you also feel that you should let them know who the boss is... Mission: Kill the chicken to scare the monkey will be triggered the next time you face the Golden Eagles."

Yi Shui got up, took a quick shower, then picked up his toothbrush and went to the small table at the foot of the bed. He opened the laptop he had borrowed from Yad when he went back to school last night. He had originally wanted to check the post-match news last night, but decided to go to the gym to lift weights. He was so tired when he got back that he fell asleep immediately.

He checked the websites of several media outlets that frequently reported on their team, and sure enough, he was criticized.

This is related to an incident at a press conference where a reporter from Milwaukee said, "He only elbowed you, how could you hit back for that?" which triggered his outburst.

It might have been the argument he had with the three guys from the Golden Eagles team before and during the game last night that triggered his swearing tendencies. Although he doesn't regret it, he feels that this is wrong. He wants to be a basketball superstar in the future, and as Carter said, he's setting a bad example for kids. He needs to be more careful in the future.

However, perhaps because last night's conflict attracted most of the attention, or perhaps because their defensive improvement hadn't yet reached an astonishing level, apart from a few posts on the school's intranet discussing their defensive changes, I didn't see anyone else discussing it. Yi Shui felt this was good, giving them time to continue adjusting...

In the afternoon, Yi Shui and his two best friends arrived at the Kangda Gymnasium to prepare for the game.

Yesterday's physical battle took a toll on the Husky players. Even Yad, a stamina monster, felt soreness in many muscles after taking a nap. Seeing this, the coaching staff only held a meeting to discuss defensive details and arranged very light basic training.

Aside from a certain player who wished to remain anonymous, number 13...

After seeing Yi Shui throw hundreds of shots, and then go to practice basic defensive footwork and double-teaming with the trainers, his teammates were completely exasperated.

When everyone is elbowing each other, why is it that the guy who throws the most punches and gets the most elbows and slaps gets nothing at all?
The teammates collectively transformed into Robinson: Geniuses really should die!

However, this conflict, and the subsequent elbow fight, made many of Yi Shui's sophomore teammates, who were not on good terms with him before, admire this "prodigal son who turned back"...

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(End of this chapter)