mountain top

Chapter 49: Harvest Time (Happy New Year, please collect the monthly ticket and recommendation ticket!)

After the Christmas holiday, whether Wake Forest, which has been ranked first in the United States for eleven consecutive weeks, can advance into March Madness with an undefeated record has become the most concerned topic among people nowadays.

Now, every time Wake Forest wins a game, their fans will shout: We are one step closer to making history.

In addition, Chris Paul has seemed like a different person recently since he threw that "cannon punch".

In the competition, he assisted Qin Yue wholeheartedly.

Behind every dunk by Qin Yue that fans will discuss, you can almost always see Paul.

And the most important thing is that whenever a team tries to double-team Qin Yue on the court, Paul will punish the opponent with his crisp shooting.

If we say that Paul before he swung the "cannon punch" was only forced to surrender due to Qin Yue's tyranny.

At this moment, he is the perfect second-in-command in the absolute sense, both on and off the court.

As the saying goes, the stronger the light, the darker the shadow.

With Paul's complete change of mentality, in ESPN's first draft pick prediction report of the new year, the complementary Wake Forest twins were both shortlisted in the top five of the first round.

It turns out that people will not ignore the progress made by Paul in the 04/05 season because of Qin Yue's brilliance.

Because when Paul is on the court, people will intuitively find that every time Qin Yue scores, it is as easy as eating and drinking.

"You know, in the latest draft predictions, I might even be selected in the top three of the first round."

In the basketball training hall of Wake Forest University, Paul said to Qin Yue excitedly, holding newspapers with major media predictions for the draft picks.

In fact, Qin Yue, who had already secured the top spot in the draft, could not empathize with Paul at all.

But in order to take care of Paul's emotions, Qin Yue smiled at Paul and said, "Congratulations, Chris."

Just congratulating Paul.
That day, behind Qin Yue's smile there was a hint of worry that Paul didn't notice.

Fast forward to late February, before the start of the ACC tournament, Wake Forest continued to rank first in the United States with a record of 28 wins and 0 losses.

then
Illinois quietly rose to second place in the United States.
Their recent performance proved that Qin Yue's previous worries were not groundless.

Luther Head, the best shooter in Illinois and the Big Ten Conference, has made 29 three-pointers for Illinois in the past five games.

04/05赛季至今，海德场均三分出手超过7次，且能以高达41%的三分命中率场均扔进3记三分。

In addition, Dee Brown, another member of Illinois' golden backcourt trio, has also recently regained his game form, averaging 14.5 points, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game for Illinois in February.

There is also Roger Powell, a short and strong forward who is 198 cm tall, and James Augustine, who has an accurate mid-range shot. (Note ①)

Previously, Paul's predicted draft pick reminded Qin Yue that in today's college basketball, the Illinois team led by Deron Williams, who in his memory beat Paul to become the third pick in the 2005 NBA draft, was a team whose style was incompatible with Wake Forest's.

This year, Deron, who is also a junior,
Even after Paul enters the NBA in the future, even if he is unlikely to reach his peak, Chris Paul cannot escape the fate of being beaten by him.

Moreover, this Illinois backcourt combination has been working together for three years.

In addition, during their college years, Hyde and Brown were able to help Deron reduce the pressure of organization and offense by holding the ball on the court.

Therefore, compared to the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are in the ACC and have already played against each other.
If Illinois makes it to the finals as Qin Yue remembers, then in a decisive March Madness game,
In Qin Yue's opinion, it is entirely possible for them to defeat Wake Forest with the explosiveness of their backcourt players.

……

Illinois has been labeled as a "serious threat" in Qin Yue's mind.

In March, after leading Wake Forest to victory, Wake Forest finally won this year's ACC championship with a record of 31 wins and 0 losses, and became the top seed of the ACC as expected, and the first team to advance to March Madness with a perfect record since 1979.

决赛里，面对杜克蓝魔，秦岳交出了34分、14个篮板、4次助攻、3记封盖、1次抢断的完美答卷，成功荣膺了04/05赛季ACC锦标赛的决赛MVP。

On the day of the final, in addition to a large number of American media coming to record history, many Chinese media also appeared on the scene.

At this time in 2005, influenced by Yao Ming and with the increasing attention the NBA received in China, Chinese fans were all hoping that there would be another Yao Ming in the NBA.

That night, Qin Yue's performance made all the Chinese reporters present feel proud.

The only flaw is that
During the award ceremony, Duke was determined to prove to the world that it would never give in to Wake Forest.
The Cameron lunatics who chose to stay and watch the award ceremony made all kinds of weird noises when Qin Yue received the award.

In response, Qin Yue immediately put his right hand to his ear and made a listening gesture to the Cameron lunatics in the stands that they would never forget.

Seeing this, Wake Forest fans at the scene responded one after another: "Shut up, Duke! Don't you see your president is telling you to shut up?"

Qin Yue's demonstration to Duke fans after the game puzzled many Chinese reporters.

After all, this period
Humility, kindness, low-key and pragmatism are the qualities that Chinese people should demonstrate in the eyes of the world.

On this night full of laughter and joy, Qin Yue did not explain to these Chinese reporters.

Because just like every era has its own aesthetics.
Qin Yue has witnessed the future with his own eyes, and he is very clear that in this era, some of his behaviors and actions will make people feel puzzled.

For example, in an interview after the game.
Especially when being interviewed by Chinese reporters, Qin Yue ended his acceptance speech in a unique way by thanking his family, fans, teammates and coaches.

"Do you think you can surpass Yao Ming in the NBA in the future?"

"If you mean height, I will never be able to surpass Yao Ming."

“Does playing in the NCAA test your English proficiency?”

What are these questions?
At this moment, even though Qin Yue had prepared himself mentally for the questions from reporters who had come from far away in China, he was still greatly shocked.

"After not getting a chance to play in your freshman year, how did you convince your coach in your sophomore year?"

Then, after encountering a slightly more normal question, Qin Yue smiled and said, “I usually like to laugh, and Coach Skip Prosser also likes my smile.

So, you can understand that I just smiled and successfully won the trust of the head coach. "

Through the interview with Qin Yue that night, these reporters who came from afar found that Qin Yue was different from the Qin Yue they usually knew.
"My American colleagues say that you have already secured the top spot in this year's draft. What do you think of this?"

“I think I deserve it.”

"Aren't you worried that something unexpected might happen at the draft?"

"Surprising? Many big shots have said that anyone who doesn't choose me with the No. 1 pick this year is an idiot. I don't think there are that many idiots in the NBA, right?"

On the sidelines, just when Qin Yue was about to collapse emotionally.
Fortunately, Ira Berko, who came specially tonight, rescued him.

When they heard that he was a famous journalist who had won the Pulitzer Prize, the domestic reporters who almost broke Qin Yue's defense immediately left the stage to Berko.

"You always gave me the impression of being as unshakable as a mountain in college basketball. This is the first time I've seen you so embarrassed." Berko teased, patting Qin Yue's strong back.

Then, after a pause, Berko said, "Did you know that Sports Illustrated has chosen you as the cover star for their March Madness coverage?"

Hearing this, Qin Yue shook his head.

Berko said: "This is inside information. Last year, Sports Illustrated put Jameer Nelson on the cover of their March Madness coverage, but it attracted a lot of ridicule.

So this year, they decided to pre-select an undisputed player to be their cover star.”

After saying this, Berko immediately hinted to Qin Yue with his eyes.

At this moment, Qin Yue knew very well that Berco was hinting at him that he had basically secured this year's NCAA Player of the Year, the Naismith Award, and the Wooden Award.

Because generally speaking, players who serve as the cover of Sports Illustrated during March Madness will win the three highest awards in American college basketball.

In the NCAA, this is tradition and practice.

However, after hinting at Qin Yue, Berko immediately reminded Qin Yue: "You have undoubtedly become the highest mountain in college basketball.
But you still have to stay focused because there will be a lot of players coming up to challenge you in March Madness who are eager to gain recognition by playing against you.”

Qin Yue knew what Berko's reminder meant.

After all, it's like everyone wanted to play against Jordan back then.
At this moment, as the tallest mountain in American college basketball, Qin Yue is the idol of many people and the opponent they are eager to defeat.

Simply put it is.
In the following March Madness, almost all of Qin Yue's opponents had their own BUFF.

……

The ACC Championship has come to an end.

Before waiting for the selection committee to announce the match schedule for this year's March Madness through live television, Qin Yue also won many titles:
In the 04/05 season, he led the ACC in scoring and rebounding.

ACC Player of the Year in the 04/05 season.

ACC League Best Defensive Player in the 04/05 season.

Member of the ACC All-NBA Team and All-Defensive Team in the 04/05 season.

Of course, compared to these titles, Qin Yue couldn't get excited at all.
At the moment when the ACC Championship came to a successful conclusion, what excited Qin Yue the most was the reward from the [Mountain Top] system.

04/05赛季，场均能为维克森林砍下28.1分、13.7个篮板、5.1次助攻、3.3记封盖、1.1次抢断的秦岳，在顺利完成【那刻骨铭心的爱】任务后
Not only did he successfully light up the [Flying Man] badge, but he also obtained two legendary random potential gift packs.

Although at this moment, Qin Yue really wanted to run to the basketball court to experience what kind of air-staying ability the [Flying Man] badge could give him.
But after suppressing the joy and excitement in his heart, Qin Yue was the first to open the two legendary random potential gift packs.

"Congratulations to the host for increasing his speed and agility potential by two each."

"Congratulations to the host for increasing his dribbling and shooting potential by three respectively."

接着，因为秦岳在04/05赛季的整体投篮命中率、三分命中率以及罚球命中率分别为58.5%、39.8%和78.4%
Therefore, after completing condition one of the hidden mission [Betting on Qin Yue], Qin Yue also received a legendary random technology potential gift package.

However, before opening the gift package, Qin Yue always felt that he was a little sorry for Barkley.

Because after indirectly helping Jordan win the bet between him and Barkley, Barkley will not be allowed to say that he is Jordan's successor in front of him for the rest of his long life.

but
In Qin Yue's opinion, Barkley's loss of the bet could not be entirely blamed on him.

Because who made Barkley look down on himself so much that he set a bet that Jordan would win as long as the sum of his three main shooting percentages exceeded 165?
With sympathy for Barkley, Qin Yue silently opened this legendary random technical potential gift package in the next second.

"Congratulations to the host for increasing his dribbling and three-point potential by two points respectively."

Did he find his dribbling potential again?
"Boys who love to laugh are so lucky."

Opening the visualization data of the [Mountain Top] system, at this moment, Qin Yue couldn't help but sigh.

After two bonuses today, Qin Yue's dribbling potential value has now reached 81.

I want to continue to play the role of a ball-handling core after entering the NBA.
Qin Yue knew very well that he still needed to hone his dribbling skills.

So in Qin Yue's eyes, the higher his dribbling potential is, the better.

After all, I have no dribbling talent
He can't just stand at the top of the arc and stick his butt out after entering the NBA.

Qin Yue doesn't want to be called the "Supreme Version of Draymond Green" in the future.

this day
Qin Yue, who had reaped a lot of rewards, suddenly felt that a bright future was beckoning towards him.

On March 3 of this year.
Through live television broadcast, the NCAA selection committee also officially announced the participating teams, seed rankings and final matchup schedule for the 04/05 March Madness season.

……

Note ①: Dee Brown was selected by the Jazz with the 2006th pick in the second round of the 16 draft. He played two seasons in the NBA and formed the famous Illinois backcourt trio with Hyde and Deron in college.

James Augustin was selected by the Magic with the 2006th overall pick in the second round in 11. When he played for Illinois in college, he was 208 cm tall and was known for his accurate mid-range shots. His college career had a shooting percentage of 61.7%.

PS: Happy New Year! Dear readers! Please add my new book to your collection, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets!

(End of this chapter)