Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 26 Beyond Imagination
Texas Tech has reached the finals of the Big 12 Conference Championship, where they will face the University of Kansas again. Just like their first encounter, TTU is still the underdog.

Moreover, both ordinary fans and professional scouts believe that the University of Kansas is the stronger team.

Judging from the lineup, this is undisputed.

Bob Knight, who has been a basketball coach for 42 years, firmly believes that in a single-elimination format, there are no sure winners in college basketball.

To this end, he brought in an "outsider".

He hadn't seen Isaiah Thomas for several years. Thomas hadn't been doing well in those years, and recently he seemed to be possessed by a ghost, but none of that mattered.

In Knight's eyes, loyalty was paramount. Loyalty to friends.

Thomas's willingness to put aside his work and come to me to support me speaks volumes.

"Isaiah, you look the same as you did back then."

Knight remarked with emotion.

“Coach, I’ve lost at least two things,” Thomas said, holding up two fingers. “Speed ​​and jumping.”

At least he didn't talk about "pride" and "dignity," so Knight still had reason to be happy for him.

The TTU players were surprised by Thomas's appearance.

If Knight were still coaching Indiana, then any Mountain Man legend appearing today would be perfectly reasonable. The problem is, Knight has broken ties with Indiana, and Thomas's arrival isn't as a legendary player "bringing the school unparalleled glory!" but as a current NBA head coach who simply came because Knight called him.

This seems very sensitive.

Because the NBA explicitly prohibits insiders from having any close contact with college players before they register for the draft.

But Thomas still showed up in the locker room at Texas Tech University.

Faced with such a controversial NBA legend, everyone put aside their gossip.

Thomas said casually, "The coach sent me over to check on you guys. I've also heard you've been playing well this year. I've even heard that some of you call yourselves the Jordan of TTU?"

The players' eyes turned to Xu Ling.

Xu Ling wasn't particularly impressed with this suddenly appearing NBA All-Time Top 50 player. He simply shrugged, which was a way of saying, "Yes, that's me."

"Although Jordan wasn't that great in college, I think if it were Jordan, he could have led the team to win the Big 12 championship." Thomas, without any sportsmanship, started by using reverse psychology.

Xu Ling replied calmly, "That's exactly what I'm going to do."

Thomas laughed and said, "I'll be keeping an eye on you."

As the Knicks' general manager, Thomas's words undoubtedly conveyed the team's interest in Xu Ling.

But Xu Ling was very realistic. He was thinking: Does the Knicks have any draft picks?

Although he was unaware of Thomas's series of incredible moves with the Knicks, he had been following mock drafts from various media outlets and had never seen the Knicks in any of the first-round draft simulations.

This means that the Knicks have lost their first-round pick from 2007.

However, that's not something he should care about.

The players, led by their assistant coach, prepared to take the field.

Knight and Thomas watched them walk out of the locker room.

“He seems very brave,” Thomas said.

Knight said, "He's not just brave."

Facing the University of Kansas again, both teams were much more familiar with each other.

Mario Chalmers approached Xu Ling and said, "Hey, rookie, Brandon is furious that you can predict the lottery!"

"It's just the lottery section, there's nothing to be angry about," Xu Ling said.

"Just the Lotto?" Chalmers laughed. "Brandon has never been in the Lotto, and you're saying the Lotto is just that?"

It really is just "that".

Ever since Xu Ling played against Durant, he has completely lost his fascination with these potential NBA players.

On the sidelines, ESPN experts introduced the special circumstances of the evening – Isaiah Thomas appeared as a special guest in TTU’s “family area”.

He was sitting in the back row of the bench.

As an active NBA coach and general manager, he seems to be too close to TTU.

ESPN's Dan Shulman discussed the possible penalties Thomas might face.

However, considering that this nearly disgraced NBA legend recently reached an out-of-court settlement with the female employee who sued him for threats—which only required him to pay tens of millions of dollars in damages for emotional distress—it seems that he has nothing left to lose.

The two teams that participated took their starting lineups.

The University of Kansas appears to have a plethora of players with NBA potential.

When Xu Ling saw Brandon Rush again, he didn't say a word. Although Chalmers said that Rush was unhappy about him being in the lottery in ESPN's mock draft, he at least didn't show it.

In the opening jump ball, Darrell Arthur of the University of Kansas helped his team gain possession.

Chalmers quickly advanced the ball up the court and, without stopping, passed it to Julian Wright, who drove hard to the basket for a layup.

“Darry!” Knight was annoyed by Dora’s defense. “You need to be in the right position!”

The interior defense is one of the most prominent problems in TTU's many problems.

Senior center Daryl Dorra was considered to lack sufficient competitive drive; he was the kind of player who was inconsistent, sometimes brilliant and sometimes terrible.

If facing strong opponents, TTU doesn't have enough room for error to cover his terrible performance.

However, they can't not play Dora, because TTU is short-handed in the paint.

Therefore, Knight could only continue to apply pressure. Among the entire TTU team, if you were to ask who Knight scolded the most, it would definitely be Dora. Today was no exception; one defensive lapse and Knight couldn't sit still. This was by no means Knight being overly sensitive.

He knows Dora too well.

Some players are careless at the start of the game, but quickly cheer up after being reminded. Similarly, some players, regardless of their initial state, will maintain that state throughout the game.

Unfortunately, Dora is the latter.

Jarius Jackson responded with a three-pointer, and Kansas University also attempted a three-pointer, but missed.

However, Julian Wright on the wing drove to the basket and stole the offensive rebound from in front of Dora.

Wright then missed his second offensive possession, and Darrell Arthur grabbed Kansas' second offensive rebound, which he then used to score.

Knight watched this scene helplessly and said with a self-deprecating laugh, "I hope God will remember that I coached Daryl Dora for four years under these circumstances. I put up with him for four whole years!"

On the left side of the outside, Xu Ling made a back-run and received the ball.

As soon as Xu Ling got the ball, the cheers from the crowd rose several notches.

"Eli is undoubtedly one of the most popular college athletes in Texas!"

Meanwhile, the University of Kansas used Julian Wright to defend Xu Ling in a mismatch.

As a sophomore, Wright was the most promising player in Kansas's elite 2005 draft class. He had the physique of a forward, the speed of a guard, and all-around skills. However, he did not show star-level talent in his freshman season, which affected his draft prospects, so he stayed in school to play his sophomore season.

Judging from static talent alone, Wright has basically surrounded Xu Ling.

With a barefoot height of 201 cm and a wingspan of 216 cm, his static physique is simply outstanding.

However, if physical talent could represent everything, you wouldn't have seen Mizuki Akai remove the mosaic, nor would you have seen Muhammad Bamba wandering around.

Xu Ling first used his eyes to make a feint, making Wright mistakenly think that he was going to use his right hand. But at the moment of starting, he switched hands and changed direction, using his left hand to instantly create space and pierced into the basket like an arrow, scoring a layup.

Dora was stunned. Julian Wright was probably the most physically gifted player in the entire Big 12 league besides Durant, but Xu Ling beat him as easily as beating his son.

Meeting Xu Ling's gaze, Dora felt only awe for the powerful.

Xu Ling glanced at him and said calmly, "DD, cheer up."

Normally, when a freshman says this kind of thing to a senior in an educational tone, it's like he's just asking to be bullied. But Dora admires Xu Ling the most in the whole team.

Without Xu Ling, they wouldn't even be able to compete with the University of Kansas for the Big 12 championship, let alone qualify for the 3rd Madness tournament.

Now, inspired by Xu Lingyi, Dora shook off her initial slump and seemed like a completely different person, even managing to suppress Darrell Arthur in terms of positioning.

The inside game started to put pressure on them, while Xu Ling relentlessly attacked Brandon Rush from the outside like a tiger.

Then, Martin Zeno marked Russell Robinson, and Mario Chalmers, whose playmaking failed, had no choice but to go one-on-one.

When tactics are neutralized, one-on-one situations are the ultimate test of a player's skill.

Chalmers has excellent one-on-one skills in college basketball, but he's not in form yet.

"boom!"

Chalmers missed his jump shot.

Dora actively boxed out his man, while TTU's other big man, junior white power forward John Plevka, also boxed out his man.

Xu Ling leaped into the air and snatched the rebound.

"Trying a fast break?" Wright fouled, "No way!"

The referee whistle blows.

Xu Ling rubbed his hand that had been slapped and said to Wright, "It's pointless. We'll get more points in positional warfare."

Wright sneered, "Let's talk about it after we get it!"

After losing to the University of Kansas last time, Xu Ling reviewed the game on many nights. At the beginning, he always approached it from his own perspective, constantly deducing how he should perform to change the situation.

No matter how he analyzed it, he concluded that he alone could not make up for the gap in roster between the two teams.

To beat the University of Kansas and other teams with stronger rosters than TTU, he must fall into the cliché: "Great players can make the players around them equally great."

This is his answer.

Therefore, he needs to encourage Dora and cheer her up, while also motivating his teammates, which undoubtedly places even greater demands on him.

In the past, Knight's role for him was simple: to handle both offense and defense. Now, he has added another role to his resume.

Xu Ling received the ball on the outside, and Rush closed in on him.

Xu Ling backed down to protect the ball, then gestured for Dorra to step forward and set a screen. A few seconds later, Dorra was in position.

The moment Rush was caught by the screen, Darrell Arthur had no choice but to switch defense and force Xu Ling towards him, while Dora turned and rolled to the basket according to the tactic.

Xu Ling found the only passing route in the predicament, caught the ball with one hand and threw it out—"What a wonderful pass!"—Dan Shulman's praise floated in the air, Daryl Dorra caught the ball and drove to the basket, scoring despite Julian Wright's help defense.

"Beep!!!!!!"

The referee clearly signaled that the goal was valid and shouted, "And one!"

"！@#￥@%"

Dora excitedly turned back to Xu Ling to celebrate.

The scene shocked not only the scouts on site, but also Isaiah Thomas.

Before he came, he had heard that Xu Ling was a super freshman who could be compared with Durant and Oden, but he did not expect to see this.

"This Chinese man has completely exceeded my expectations," Thomas said in surprise. "He's even better than I imagined!"

(End of this chapter)