Volume 1 Western Cowboy Chapter 033: Aim for the Alliance, the Next Dream
For most people, the Christmas holidays are very short.
But for Tony Allen, the vacation was hopelessly long.
During the three-week vacation, he had to play one-on-one with Wayne for six days almost every week, and he only had Sunday to rest.
Tony Allen felt that this vacation was more tiring than playing games.
And to top it off…I got a pizza for Christmas!
Of course, Wayne and Tony Allen didn't just play basketball. One Sunday, they went to Oklahoma City for a tour.
But the next day, even before he had time to return to Stillwater, Wayne fought Tony Allen for three hundred rounds on a basketball court in Oklahoma City.
So, when everyone returns from the holidays, some players are already a little out of shape.
Wayne and Tony, the "Ohio State Double", are in great shape as they have hardly interrupted their training.
When the Cowboys players heard that Wayne and Tony Allen had been training together throughout the holiday, they all looked at them with admiration.
As expected of the team's highest ranked players in the mock draft, and as expected of the team's two big bosses, Wayne and Tony Allen really work very hard!
Looking at the admiring eyes of their teammates, Wayne and Tony were very proud.
Of course, they would never tell others that they stayed in school purely because they were poor and it had nothing to do with how hard they worked.
During training, Wayne and Tony's condition also made old Sutton very happy.
While others are still doing recovery training, Wayne and Tony have already entered the competition mode.
In the 5-on-5 simulation game, you can clearly see that Wayne and Tony are not in the same league as the others.
They easily beat their teammates who had been away from the court for nearly a month.
This situation also continued into the official competition.
In their first game after Christmas, the Cowboys traveled far away to take on the University of Nebraska Huskers.
Speaking of the traditional underdogs in the Big 12 Conference, the Shuckers are undoubtedly the most famous one.
They are one of three teams that have never won the NCAA tournament.
The University of Nebraska has only participated in the March Madness tournament six times in its history, and was eliminated in the first round each time.
The last time they participated in March Madness was in 1998.
The University of Nebraska is most famous for its women's volleyball team. Those girls with legs from the neck down are the pride of the school.
As for the basketball team... well, just look at the dismal attendance and you'll know how low their popularity is.
Since the University of Nebraska itself is not very strong and the Christmas holiday just ended, the players have not yet recovered to their best condition.
So in this game, Wayne and Teacher Tony, who were in great form, were like playing against middle school students and had their way on the basketball court.
In the entire first half, Wayne and Tony Allen only allowed the opponent to score 15 points!
The University of Nebraska's basketball rim was almost smashed crooked by their players.
This is mainly because the defense of the "Ohio State Double" is too strong for the University of Nebraska players.
Tony's deathly coil made it difficult for the opponent to dribble the ball, and Wayne's excellent rim protection ability made the opponent dare not shoot in the three-second zone.
20 minutes and 15 points, at the end of the first half, the score became 44 to 15...
Old Sutton looked up and was surprised to see that there were only a few couples in the stands who were dating under the pretext of watching the game. It was like a game in an empty stadium.
Even the scouts were too lazy to watch the game, because Wayne and Tony playing against such weak opponents was completely worthless for reference.
In the second half, Wayne and Tony Allen were replaced after playing for only five minutes.
Because even Sutton felt a little embarrassed.
Although it is normal for NCAA teams to have a large gap in strength, today, the gap was too big.
When he left the court, Tony Allen had 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
Since he started getting assists on Wayne, Tony's stats have become more versatile.
Wayne scored 15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks.
Wayne blocked 5 shots in just 20 minutes. I wonder how much psychological trauma the University of Nebraska players have suffered.
No wonder Sutton was embarrassed to play.
Putting them both on the field is like bullying.
In the end, the University of Nebraska scored 31 points.
That's right, it wasn't just one player who scored 31 points, it was the entire team that scored 31 points.
This tied the record for the lowest scoring in a single game in NCAA history.
Huskers coach Danny Ray looked at the score on the big screen and wiped the sweat from his forehead in shock.
Fortunately, fortunately, I almost broke the lowest record. Today was a close call...
88 to 31, the Cowboys beat the opponent into a state of isolation on the road.
Wayne looked at the opposing coach who seemed quite satisfied with the result and couldn't help shaking his head.
If I had known the game would turn out like this, I would have gone to the stadium next door to watch the women's volleyball team.
Those long white legs... No, wouldn’t that high-level volleyball match be exciting?
This game was just a microcosm of the next half of the season. After Christmas until mid-February, the Cowboys went on a 19-game winning streak!
Broke the Big 12 Conference's longest winning streak.
After the regular season, their record of 34 wins and 1 loss is also the best record in the history of the Big 12 Conference.
Although in the history of NCAA, many teams have achieved undefeated regular season records.
But the Cowboys' record of 34 wins and 1 loss is also quite exaggerated.
The Cowboys successfully won the regular season championship, and the Big 12 Conference Championship also followed.
Like March Madness, the Big 12 tournament is a single-elimination format.
Therefore, incidents of insubordination often occur.
Experts also believe that although the Cowboys are very dominant in the regular season, they are not necessarily guaranteed to win the championship.
As a result, the Cowboys won the quarterfinals and semifinals by 18 and 22 points respectively.
The experts were right, Wayne and Tony Allen really couldn't laugh because the game was too boring.
If possible, the two brothers really want to fast forward time and jump directly to March Madness.
Finally, at the end of February 2004, the Cowboys faced their final opponent, the University of Texas.
As many people predicted before the start of the season, the University of Texas really met the Cowboys in the finals.
However, when interviewed before the game, the Longhorns players' mentality was somewhat different from what people imagined.
"The most important thing in this game is to play our best. Of course, it would be even better if we can win the championship." Tucker didn't even dare to breathe when facing the camera.
He still remembers clearly the experience of being shot down twice when facing Wayne during the regular season.
On the other hand, Roy Ivey no longer dared to say anything big like he would defeat Tony Allen.
He just said weakly: "I will fight Tony to the end."
It's so humble that it's really sad.
Last season, the Longhorns, who were among the top four teams in the country, could never have imagined that they would become so humble just one year later.
This year, the Big 12 Conference Finals will be held at the Dallas Mavericks' home court, the American Airlines Center.
The Mavericks' young owner Mark Cuban was also present today and said some nice words of encouragement to the youngsters before the game.
When Wayne learned that this year's finals would be held at the American Airlines Center, he was still wondering if he could find Dirk to compete with him and gain some growth points.
To Wayne's great disappointment, he did not see any Mavericks players in attendance today.
During this period, the NBA regular season entered its final stages and the players were exhausted.
If it weren't for the kind of business activities that really couldn't be postponed, everyone would definitely want to have a good rest at home.
Only Cuban, a lazy guy, likes to show off his presence everywhere all day long.
There is no way. Since Wayne can’t find the Silver Horn King, he can only put all his energy on his opponent.
As a result, P.J. Tucker and Roy Ivey were once again beaten to death by the "Ohio State Double".
In the end, the final score was fixed at 75 to 49.
This was the first 25-point win in the Big 12 Conference final since Paul Pierce and Kansas defeated Missouri 87-60 in 1997.
The entire American Airlines Center turned into a sea of orange. Although the Cowboys don't have much of a fan base in Dallas, most of the fans who came to watch the game today were from Ohio!
Since the tragic plane crash in 2001, Wayne and Tony have brought a new and powerful force to the state.
"After 9 years, the Cowboys are at the top of the Big 12 again! Believe me, this year's team is likely to be more exciting than the one in 1995!"
Gotley's eyes were red with excitement, while old Sutton opened his arms and enjoyed this perfect season.
Ever since he decided to promote Wayne to the starting lineup, this season of the Cowboys was destined to be extraordinary.
In the end, Wayne, who averaged 19.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.7 blocks per game in the regular season, was selected as the Big 12 Conference regular season MVP.
Tony, who averaged 26.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 3.3 steals per game in the tournament, won the tournament MVP.
The two young players from Ohio State each won an award, which was probably a special arrangement by the organizing committee.
At the final awards ceremony, Sutton was among everyone, holding up the Big 12 Conference championship trophy.
This means that the Cowboys will advance directly to the NCAA March Madness tournament as the conference champions!
During the subsequent acceptance speech session, Wayne, as one of the backbones of the team, naturally had to say a few words.
"I have to thank Coach Sutton, my teammates, especially Tony, and my parents..."
Like most people, Wayne started by thanking everyone.
"I am very happy to win the Big 12 Championship with my teammates, but this is just the beginning. Next, we will continue to move forward in the more difficult March Madness tournament!"
Wayne knew that in the NCAA, the conference championship meant nothing.
Because after a season, there will be 32 league champions.
Only the NCAA March Madness Tournament Champion is unique!
That is the true highest honor!
After that, Wayne took a deep breath.
He had decided long ago that he would announce something important today.
Now, the time has come.
Wayne slowly picked up the microphone, looked at the fans and teammates who were cheering for him, and looked at Coach Sutton who was looking at him with approving eyes.
To be honest, after playing for half a year, Wayne and the Cowboys have developed a deep bond.
If possible, he really hopes to continue playing happily in this team.
But happiness is never everything about basketball.
People, after all, have to move forward.
It's time to make that goal public.
"Also, I want to announce one thing on this championship night...I will pursue my next dream and participate in the 2004 NBA draft."
Professional basketball.
This dreamy word is getting closer and closer to Wayne.
