Durant nodded after listening to this. Lin Ying’s brain is really sharp.
After resting, they went out of the stadium and found something to eat. When the team bus arrived, they followed it into the stadium.
Barnes prepared a bowl of thick chicken soup for them before the game, and the players rushed to the court with great enthusiasm.
Allen Arena was already packed at this point.
Although the University of Texas has performed mediocrely since the start of the season, it is last year's Big12 Championship final team and an old rival of Kansas.
And Durant is also quite famous.
When the team was introduced before the game, the TV broadcast screen showed the season performances of Chalmers and Durant.
Chalmers averaged 14 points, 4 assists and 3 steals per game, and Durant averaged 21 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
The data seems to be very different, but it actually represents the characteristics of the two teams.
Kansas has a lot of players who can play, and the scoring is very evenly distributed.
As for the University of Texas, Durant basically relied on him alone to score points.
After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of the two teams came out one after another.
On the Kansas side, there are Russell Robinson, Chalmers, Darnell Jackson, Julian Wright, and Sasha Cowan.
On the University of Texas side, there are Randy Williams, AJ Abrams, Damian James, Durant, and Wendell.
"Longhorn!"
The University of Texas players folded their hands and shouted slogans before going on the court.
Whether there is a chance to make it to the Crazy Three or even go further, the answer will be revealed after this game!
Wright and Durant jump ball at midcourt.
Wright has excellent physical talents. He is 2.03 meters tall and has a wingspan of 2.16 meters. He is also an extremely good jumper.
However, facing Durant's 2.08-meter height and 2.28-meter wingspan, he felt like he was being crushed by his talent.
Durant jumped lightly and pushed the ball back to half court. Williams controlled the ball and the University of Texas got the chance to attack first.
The University of Texas' first attack was of course to find Durant.
Durant received the ball in the high post, and Wright's defense was very tight, so he had no chance to shoot. He just faked a move and broke through with the ball.
The choice of this ball was correct, but Kansas reacted very quickly and almost collectively shrank in an instant.
Durant was immediately surrounded.
Just like what was shown in the match between new and old students, Durant's ability to handle the ball when double-teamed is relatively poor.
He failed to pass the ball and chose to stop and shoot instead.
But he was surrounded heavily and there was a lot of confrontation below, so his attack point was too low.
"Snapped!"
As a result, he was hit directly in the face by Wright!
The Allen Arena was instantly boiling.
Although he didn't jump the jump ball, this block was much more exciting than the jump ball!
Lin Ying frowned at this time.
It would be difficult for Wright to block Durant one-on-one, but there are too many things Durant needs to consider when double-teaming, which gives Wright an opportunity.
But this was not the reason why he frowned. The real reason why he frowned was Kansas's tactical qualities.
What he saw of Kansas training before was just the tip of the iceberg. Compared with Kansas State and Missouri, which they had played against before, Kansas was much stronger.
The University of Texas retreated quickly and did not give Kansas a chance to make a fast break.
After falling into the position, Qianmos passed the ball directly to Wright in the low post.
Wright played Durant one-on-one, faced off, and then turned around and made a close-range hook shot.
Durant was not in the upper hand in the confrontation, and it was too late to block the shot after he lost his defensive position.
“Swish!”
The ball hit the edge of the basket and fell into the net.
Wright hit Kansas' first field goal of the night.
The Allen Center was boiling again, and some fans even stood up and raised their hands to cheer the moment the ball went in.
Wright's performance in his freshman season was somewhat different from their expectations. You know, fans expected him to be at the NCAA star level.
However, Wright made great progress in his sophomore year.
Especially in the past offense and defense, Wright completely suppressed Durant, and he finally realized the talent of the former McDonald's high school student.
This also boosted Wright's confidence. He returned to the defensive end and began to physically confront Durant, making it impossible for Durant to receive the ball.
Abrams finally came out to catch the ball. He was very fast and rushed to the basket from the Kansas double team.
But unfortunately, Kansas has a big center Cowan standing under the basket.
Cowan covered the sky with one hand, and Abrams' layup ultimately failed to go in.
And Kansas once again demonstrated their excellent tactical qualities.
When Abrams rushed into the paint, the others knew Cowan could guard the basket and had already turned around to prepare for a fast break.
After Cowan defended and got the rebound, Chalmers had already crossed the center line.
With a long pass, Qianmos got the ball, avoided Williams' steal, rushed to the frontcourt and scored a layup in a fast break!
4 to 0!
The situation at the beginning was completely one-sided.
Whether in terms of player talent or tactical quality, Kansas is at least one level stronger than this University of Texas team.
After playing for more than four minutes, Durant hit a difficult three-pointer from outside the three-point line against Wright to score the first goal for the University of Texas.
But at this time, the University of Kansas had already scored 10 points.
This seems to be a bit like a dimensionality reduction attack.
But this is actually normal.
As Randy Williams said, most of this Kansas team's main players stayed after last year's game.
This means that in addition to talent and tactical qualities, the team's level of tacit understanding is also far ahead of the University of Texas.
The undisputed strongest team in the Big12 League.
And just like the previous two games, Texas' defense was terrible.
Durant's body is still too thin to play the power forward position, and Abrams is also a cash machine.
To use a half-hearted metaphor, the University of Texas is a dam that has burst in two places.
Even though Wendle and James' defensive abilities are not bad, they cannot fill in the gaps they left behind.
Almost 10 minutes into the first half, the score was 20 to 5.
This score is a bit exaggerated.
Barnes called Lin Ying and Pittman with a serious face.
The two came on to replace Durant and Wendel.
When Durant left the court, he high-fived Lin Ying as usual, but his face was expressionless.
Lin Ying didn't say anything. What he was thinking about now was how to turn the situation around a little.
It's a bit unrealistic to talk about winning now, but if we can turn the situation around a little, there is still a chance of a reversal.
Before he and Pittman came on, UT had gone through other rotations.
The current lineup on the court is Augustine, tool man A, James, Lin Ying and Pittman.
After the substitution, the University of Texas has the ball.
Augustine organized a wave, but just like before, Kansas's tactical literacy was too high and the University of Texas' tactics could not create any opportunities.
After seeing this, Augustine shook off the three-point line and shot.
At this time, Kansas' two main guards have already gone off the court to rest, and facing him on the court is the backup point guard Sherron Collins.
Collins is only 1.78 meters tall, shorter than Augustine.
But his reaction was not slow. When Augustine jumped, he also jumped up to interfere.
"when!"
Augustine's three-point shot missed.
And this ball was a long rebound, and Darrell Arthur got the rebound and passed it directly to Collins.
Collins was also well prepared. He rushed out in advance, received the ball, and rushed to the frontcourt to score a fast break layup.
22 to 5!
The score difference has reached 17 points.
The Allen Arena was in complete chaos.
They knew that the University of Texas had become weaker, but they didn't expect it to become so weak!
Barnes rubbed his forehead with his hand, looking extremely ugly.
In fact, let alone Barnes, most of the University of Texas players are confused when the game becomes like this.
The gap between ideal and reality is like a blow to the head.
Augustine took the ball to the frontcourt, not quite sure what tactics to use.
At this moment, Lin Ying took the initiative to move to the high position, made a gesture for him to break inside, and then went directly up to set a pick-and-roll.
Augustine was at a loss, and when a pick-and-roll came up, he took the ball and rushed in without thinking.
Kansas continued to shrink quickly, and Augustine was basically blocked as soon as he got one step into the free throw line.
Fortunately, his ability to handle the ball in a double-team is much better than Durant.
Before being double-teamed, he observed the movement of his teammates, and then noticed that Lin Ying bounced outwards after the pick-and-roll, and at this time he landed outside the three-point line.
After a summer of training, he certainly knew that Lin Ying could shoot three-pointers.
So when he realized he was being double-teamed, he immediately passed the ball back to Lin Ying at the top of the arc.
Lin Ying got a very good open three-point opportunity.
But Kansas' reaction was really fast, and Arthur pounced on Lin Ying almost immediately.
Kansas was indeed prepared!
Then, Lin Ying passed the ball!
If Lin Ying's three-pointer was something Kansas had expected, then this pass was definitely a surprise.
The person Lin Ying passed the ball to was Pittman under the basket.
He caught the ball, turned around and put it into the basket.
After completing the score, he pointed at Lin Ying with a smile on his chubby face.
Lin Ying was usually a man of few words, but since the three of them had trained together for the entire summer, this kind of cooperation no longer required communication.
The reason why Lin Ying didn't shoot the three-pointer was not only because Arthur was quick, but also because of other considerations.
When Pittman is on the court, his movement speed is a huge disadvantage.
It would be fine if the three-pointer was made, but if it wasn't, there would be a high probability that you would be counterattacked like just now.
Even if the first wave of fast breaks is defended, the University of Texas will be trapped in a 4-on-5 situation in a short period of time, and the defense will still be very difficult.
Unless he is really confident of making a shot in a wide-open position, he will not take the shot rashly.
A simple tactic, but with a lot of data analysis, this is how Lin Ying plays now.
22 to 7.
The score difference is still 15 points.
But after breaking the scoring drought, it can be clearly felt that the morale of the University of Texas players has improved a bit.
The change brought about by the improved morale is that the University of Texas' defensive enthusiasm on the field has also returned.
However, they still failed to prevent Collins' breakthrough.
Collins and Augustine have a lot in common. Both are freshmen and both are undersized.
But what makes him better than Augustine is his ability to break through, and his footsteps are very much like those of an ankle terminator.
Augustine was passed by him almost in an instant.
However, he did not choose to shoot, but rushed to the basket, took the initiative to confront Lin Ying and then shot.
So far, this has been expected by Kansas fans in attendance.
This is also the way Collins plays that they are familiar with.
Although he is just a substitute, Collins relies on excellent ball control and outstanding confrontation ability.
So far this season, he is averaging 11.5 points per game and is the sixth man for this Kansas team.
"boom!"
But the next second, the fans at the scene were stunned.
Instead of scoring the ball calmly after the confrontation as expected, Collins' ball was blocked!
"How... incredible!"
This goal even surprised the home commentator.
Because Lin Ying didn't jump very high, but he took on Collins's confrontation, then took the opportunity to block the ball.
Even without mentioning the situation, this sentence sounds very calm.
In fact, this is true. Lin Ying knows Collins perhaps better than the coaching staff at the University of Texas.
After all, Collins is also a player who has played in the NBA in history.
And as mentioned earlier, Collins is Kansas' sixth man. It is not difficult for him to get some Kansas game videos through Durant and find out the opponent's playing style in advance.
After all, the definition of data is very broad, it is not just numbers.
Photos, videos, and recordings are actually all within the scope of data.
Collins is good at ball control and confrontation, but poor at shooting, so he likes to break through to the basket and use physical confrontation to create shooting space.
This is what Lin Ying analyzed.
Of course, to block the ball just now, you must have some basics, the most basic of which is confrontation.
When Collins rushed forward to fight, it was like a motorcycle sprinting at full speed, which was difficult for ordinary college players to withstand.
Then comes the decision of when to strike.
Thanks to Collins' unfamiliarity with Lin Ying, he was blocked without being prepared.
At this time, James rushed over and grabbed the blocked ball, and then dribbled all the way to the frontcourt.
His fast break speed is very fast.
“Bang!”
After continuously passing the defense of Kansas players, he rushed to the frontcourt, took a step into the air, and shot directly into the basket!
Someone named James may not be LeBron, but he must have good physical talent!
This dunk ignited the Texas University bench.
The team members stood up and shouted, completely different from the dejected look in the previous team!
At this time, Barnes turned his head and looked at Springman, and then they both looked at Lin Ying on the court.
Although they only played a few rounds, they could clearly feel the changes in the situation on the field.
Or to put it another way, Lin Ying has the ability to influence the game.
This was already reflected in the previous match against the University of Missouri.
Now facing the stronger Kansas, the more unfavorable situation makes Lin Ying's ability more obvious.
This is rare for a college player!
Barnes turned his head and looked at Durant, who was shouting the loudest on the sidelines.
Lin Ying and Durant were teammates in high school. I wonder what will happen if they are put on the court together?