Durant looked happy, too.
Although they didn't get to see TJ Ford as they wished, Tucker's unexpected appearance was a huge spiritual encouragement to them!
Back to Tucker, he is on a road trip to Texas with the Raptors.
Hearing that the Texas Conference was going to play the University of Kansas tonight, he took the bus here after attending team training.
For a player like him who just graduated from college, his feelings for his alma mater are at their strongest.
Perhaps he felt that just waving was not enough, so he simply ran down from the stands to greet them.
As soon as they met, they gave Williams, Wendel and others a warm hug, and then laughed and chatted heartily.
You can feel their passion for each other even from a distance.
Lin Ying was touched.
They made it to the Elite Eight together last year, which must have been a very wonderful memory in their lives!
"Kevin, promise me to beat them."
Black Americans are very friendly to each other. Tucker smiled and hugged Durant as soon as he came up and also made a request.
"I will."
Durant smiled and nodded.
Although this is a request, it is actually a kind of optimism, which makes people feel comfortable when listening to it.
After all, if you don’t think you can win, you wouldn’t say such things.
"I know you, Lin. You will be better than me in the future."
Tucker then greeted Lin Ying and said something he had never expected!
He was surprised. Even if someone was very familiar with someone, it was not something that could be said casually!
He didn't come back to his senses until Tucker reached out to him and hugged him.
"Thanks."
He really wasn't very good at communicating, and he could only utter two words in the end.
Tucker didn't say anything. He smiled, hugged him, and then turned back to the audience.
"Lin, PJ is very optimistic about you."
After Tucker left, Williams came over and said with a smile.
Lin Ying was stunned for a moment.
Are you favored by your seniors?
If this happened to Durant, he wouldn't be surprised at all, but now it happened to him...
I always feel it's a bit weird.
The field entered the warm-up phase, and the live camera was turned to the front row of the audience.
That's where the commentary booth is, with Barkley and Kenny Smith already in place.
There was a burst of cheers at the scene.
It is rare to see two famous commentators appear in the NCAA arena.
"Charles, do you think Durant will participate in the draft this year?"
Normally, commentators would warm up the game, but the first thing Smith said was something completely unrelated to the game.
From the opening remarks, it can be heard that they are indeed coming for Durant this time.
"I don't know. This guy has a bit of an odd personality. It is said that he never accepts interviews from reporters."
Barkley looked at Durant on the court as he spoke.
As a commentator, he received all the information about players from the media. The media said Durant was "cold", and his impression of Durant was "cold".
"I think he has a high chance of being drafted. Right now, the trend here (in the NCAA) is to play for one year and leave. But I think there needs to be a prerequisite: the University of Texas performs well."
Smith asked and answered his own questions.
"Um?"
Barkley looked at Smith in confusion.
"In the past two years, many players have chosen to stay because their school performance did not meet their expectations, such as Hansbrough from North Carolina, Chalmers from Kansas, and Jeff Green from Georgetown. This seems to be becoming a new trend."
Smith began to explain that he had obviously done a lot of preparation for tonight's commentary.
“No, no, Kenny, the people you’re talking about were drafted low because of their poor academic performance.
Kevin Durant is better than all of them, and I said all of them!
Even if he doesn't make the 'crazy three' at the University of Texas, he will be either the first or second selected this year."
Barkley looked at Durant again when he said this.
You can hear from his words that he is optimistic about Durant.
Smith on the side smiled and nodded.
Just like Lin Ying had thought before, no one would find it strange to be optimistic about Durant.
Durant felt the gazes and looked up to see Barkley and Smith.
Although the distance was not too far, he couldn't hear what the two were saying because of the noisy environment.
However, he already had a plan in mind for what Barkley and Smith discussed.
But unlike what they said, he was not thinking about things but about someone.
That was one of the few thoughts he kept hidden in his heart.
The warm-up was almost done, and Barnes gathered the players together for the final pre-match mobilization.
“I know all of you have put in incredible effort, sweat, and even blood over the past two months to prepare for tonight’s game!
The team that beat us so hard is right across the street, now go show them what you have in store for them!"
Without too many words, just two short sentences, Barnes had completely mobilized the players' emotions.
It’s not about how thick his chicken soup is, but that he touched the hearts of the team members!
"Longhorn!"
The players put their hands together and shouted the team slogan.
“UT morale looks great.”
Barkley took notice of Texas's move.
"They've been in pretty good form lately, winning eight of their last nine games, and they're said to be using the triangle."
Smith took over, and he was indeed well prepared.
"Triangle tactics?"
Barkley was stunned when he heard this.
After Smith nodded affirmatively, he laughed unconsciously.
It wasn't a happy smile, but rather... a sudden disdain.
Many people feel that the triangle offense was devalued after Phil Jackson faded out of the league, but this is not the case.
This tactic has been controversial since its inception.
Even though Phil Jackson achieved success in Chicago and Los Angeles, many people still felt that he relied on Jordan and Kobe rather than this tactic.
This “many people” includes Barkley.
"I can now understand why Durant has good stats now. That tactic is to give all the balls to one person!"
In his heart, he believed that he lost to Jordan, not to the Bulls, and certainly not to the crappy triangle tactics.
“From the results point of view, they did a good job.”
Smith's statement was more objective.
Although he is not very fond of the triangle tactics, judging from the results, the University of Texas' record is the most direct evidence.
"Kenny, you know the gap between college teams is much bigger than that between NBA teams. They may be useful when playing against other teams, but not tonight."
Buckley countered .
Originally, he was quite optimistic about the University of Texas because of Durant.
But as soon as the "triangle tactics" came out, his attitude took a 180-degree turn.
As they were talking, the scene entered the opening ceremony and the two turned the topic to the players.
Durant is still the focus, and then we also pay attention to Chalmers and Julian Wright from Kansas.
Rather than the outcome of the game, they are more concerned about who will enter the NBA this year.
After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.
Kansas: Russell Robinson, Chalmers, Darnell Jackson, Wright, Cowan.
On the University of Texas side: Augustine, James, Durant, Lin Ying, and Wendell.
Brandon Rush remains on the sidelines.
Wendell and Cowan jump ball in the center circle.
Lin Ying looked towards Kansas.
His most immediate feeling after his first observation was that the expressions of the Kansas players were very serious.
This is expected.
Although Kansas won the last time they met, the substitutes from the University of Texas gave them a cold sweat in the end.
In addition, the performance of the University of Texas has been significantly improving in the past two months, so it would be abnormal for Kansas to underestimate the opponent.
"beep!"
A whistle sounded on the sidelines and the game officially started!
Cowan used his long arms to push the ball back to half court, giving Kansas the chance to attack first!
The moment the game started, the fans burst into cheers, which was a full decibel louder than usual!
At this moment, the players on the field should understand why "Crazy Three" is called "Crazy Three".
It's really crazy!
Kansas University's first attack of the game!
Robinson held the ball from the outside, and Qianmos took advantage of Cowan's screen to get out first, then ran back and received the ball for a layup.
Facing Wendel's assist defense, he made an aerial pull-up shot, and the ball hit the backboard and fell smoothly into the net!
Excellent personal ability!
The scene immediately erupted in cheers from the University of Kansas fans.
A great start!
Lin Ying's mind was working rapidly.
What caught his attention more than Chalmers' personal ability was Kansas's opening offensive approach.
Unlike the last time they met, Kansas did not start from the inside tonight, but instead attacked Qian Moss, its strongest point, right from the start.
This is obviously an attempt to suppress them from the very beginning and not give them any chance!
The University of Texas has the ball, and Augustine advances to the frontcourt with the ball.
After he reached the frontcourt, he passed the ball to Lin Ying outside the 45-degree three-point line on the right, and then he quickly moved to the right corner with the help of a pick-and-roll.
At the same time, Durant had moved to the basket.
Augustine - Lin Ying - Durant, the standard "low post singles" position in the triangle offense is formed!
As long as Lin Ying throws the ball under the basket, Durant can get a one-on-one low-post scoring opportunity.
However, Kansas reacted quickly, and Cowan immediately snatched the ball from Wendell to assist in defending Durant.
Kansas not only did not underestimate the opponent, but also made adequate preparations for tonight's game!
This reaction was beyond the expectations of the University of Texas. Before the game, the coaching staff prepared according to the last match against Kansas.
However, Lin Ying, who was holding the ball, did not panic.
Compared with tactical arrangements, he is better at his old profession: analysis.
After seeing Kansas' defense, he has come to the conclusion that "the success rate of continuing to play low-post offense will not be very high."
He turned to Augustine and made a new tactical gesture.
"Low post singles" turns into "corner pick and roll".
When Augustine saw Lin Ying's gesture, he moved directly back to Lin Ying's position.
Lin Ying returned the ball and quickly moved to the right three-point line to set up a pick-and-roll.
In addition to theory, what is more important about tactics is execution.
From reading to analyzing, and then to responding, Lin Ying's reaction was quick enough, and the University of Texas' tactics were also fast enough.
Kansas was a little overwhelmed.
After all, the triangle tactics haven’t appeared in the NCAA for a long time!
The University of Texas didn't know this the last time they played.
Augustine got a good shot from the outside after being separated.
Before Wright pounced on him, he took a decisive shot from outside the three-point line!
He also has a noticeable follow-through after the shot.
And his eyes were always on the ball, his gaze was firm.
It's not just Lin Ying and Durant who gave their all for tonight's game, but him too!
The ball spun and drew a high parabola.
“Swish!”
A crisp sound of entering the net was heard.
Augustine made his first three-point shot at the beginning of the game!
The moment he saw the ball go in, Augustine stretched out his hand, made a three-point gesture, and then swung it in front of him with force.
He looks so excited!
Of course, the fans at the University of Texas were even more excited.
The cheer was one decibel louder than the previous one from the Kansas fans!
The players on the field are competing, and the fans on both sides are also competing!
The University of Kansas advanced to the frontcourt, and this time Chalmers switched directly from playing without the ball to playing with the ball.
Taking the ball from Robinson, he signaled to play one-on-one against Augustine.
It seemed that Augustine's celebration had irritated him a little.
Change direction, start, break through.
Augustine tried very hard to follow Qianmos, but Qianmos had more confrontation and experience than him .
He quickly slowed down and changed direction to squeeze past Augustine and get to the basket.
However, Lin Ying had already retreated to the basket by this time and went straight to defend.
He was able to analyze that it would be difficult for Augustine to defend Qian Moss one-on-one, and he also knew that if he provided assisting defense, he would have a high probability of defending the ball.
However, when he went over to defend, Qianmos did not make a layup, but passed the ball directly to the weak side!
He wasn't going for the frame!
The ball was passed to Wright, who had no dribbling skills and scored from close range with a rebound!
Kansas played this tactic beautifully!
Lin Ying was stunned for a moment before coming back to his senses.
He is still young!
The University of Kansas is one of the top traditional powerhouses in the NCAA. This kind of university may not necessarily have the best players in the NCAA , but their discipline is definitely the strongest.
It might seem possible that Chalmers would be enraged and seek revenge, but in reality it would not happen.
Experience +1.
In the University of Texas' offense, Augustine controlled the ball to the frontcourt, and it was another standard triangle position, still the triangle formation of Augustine, Lin Ying, and Durant.
Although they failed in two consecutive rounds of defense, it did not dampen their morale.
They never thought they could hold Kansas scoreless.
Rather than that, what they can do is keep their offense going.
On the court, Kansas University's defensive focus is still on Durant.
Lin Ying continued to read, analyze, and then organize the attack with gestures.
At his signal, this time people on both the strong side and the weak side started moving.
Durant took the initiative to move to the right corner, and Augustine also moved towards Durant at the same time.
It was a two-way move, followed by a pick-and-roll, with Augustin setting an off-ball screen for Durant.
After the break, Durant bounced towards the bottom corner.
However, Kansas reacted quickly, with two players going directly to follow Durant. At the same time, the player on the weak side came to defend Augustine who was cutting into the basket.
Excellent defensive rotation!
At this time, no matter whether Lin Ying passed the ball to Durant or Augustine, Kansas was confident enough to defend the ball.
but!
Lin Ying passed the ball to the weak side!
As mentioned earlier, both the strong and weak sides of the University of Texas were moving. When Augustine was blocking for Durant, James on the off-ball side also took advantage of Wendel's pick-and-roll to get into the basket.
You thought it was still a "corner pick-and-roll", but in fact it has become a "weak side horn"!
Kansas used a large number of players to defend Durant, and James saw a wide open space in front of him after cutting in and receiving the ball.
He didn’t hesitate and showed off his athletic ability right away.
“Bang!”
With a loud thump, James slammed the ball into the basket with a one-handed slam dunk.
A pleasing offensive round, even better than Kansas' previous one!
The moment the ball went in, the University of Texas fans at the scene jumped up and cheered and screamed.
Although they failed to stop Kansas' offense in the first two rounds, Kansas didn't stop them either!
This is completely different from the last time they fought each other where they were pinned to the ground and rubbed at the start!
They have become stronger!!