Champion, please stay!

Chapter 28. Something's not right with this guy!

Yi Shui's grudges with the Golden Eagles were not as direct or intense as those of Yad and Ostri; he simply recalled the memories when he saw the three of them.

However, he still actively participated in the pre-match verbal sparring with his two teammates.

You can't let your teammates act like Nick Young; that would be too hurtful to them.

The key point is that, in his memory, the initial cause of the conflict was that after being elbowed, he retaliated by striking the other person with a spike...

On the bright side, at least he fought back; otherwise, the more you think about it, the angrier you get.

Besides the conflict, Yi Shui is also very interested in playing against Matthews, an inspirational role model who went from an undrafted player to a top-paid player.

The verbal sparring didn't last long before the referee stopped and warned them, and the coaches of both teams took their players back to the bench... Actually, the referee didn't want to get involved, but there was a player number 13 who wished to remain anonymous, and his verbal sparring was so bad that he completely dominated the other three players!

The various unimaginable profanities stunned his two teammates. It was a waste of his talent not to be a rapper. The other side seemed ready to attack him.

Yi Shui regretfully followed Calhoun back to the bench. But to be honest, after losing two games in a row last week and holding it in for a week, he finally had a big argument and even felt better.

At 7 p.m., Thabeet defeated Osman Barrow, a 208-centimeter senior Argentine center, and the game between the Huskies and the Golden Eagles began.

There was no need for probing; the tension was palpable even before the two teams entered the arena, with the Golden Eagles immediately engaging in a physical battle.

Price faced a tight half-court press from Dominique James, nicknamed "Little Iverson," and drove forward with his back sticking out. His style was a bit sneaky, but the shadow of being dispossessed six times in a single game last year was too deep, so he chose the safest way to protect the ball.

Yad usually has a strength advantage in matchups, but tonight he couldn't gain the upper hand against Golden Eagles' big man Dan Fitzgerald, a 23-year-old with a mature physique of 206 cm and 110 kg, making the contest almost equal to Yad's.

Robinson and Thabeet do have physical advantages, but the opposing small forward Jerry McNeil and center Barrow are both skilled defenders. However, one is a pure shooter and the other is a pure role player, so their physical advantages are useless.

The Golden Eagles are one of the few college teams that don't play zone defense, but their one-on-one defense is excellent. This season, all of their starters are juniors or seniors, and their one-on-one defense is almost at its peak during their student days. Their point guard is fast, quick-handed, and powerful. Their starting two and three, and four and five are all good at physical battles and skills, and their heights are similar, so they can switch roles according to defensive needs. So far this season, apart from being dominated by Harlan and Gaodi in one game with 33 points, they have defended very well in the other three games.

Tonight, most of the Golden Eagles players played an ideal role in defense from the start, but!
They failed to gain the upper hand in their matchups against their most advantageous point over the past two years! Yi Shui tightly held Matthews behind him at the right 45-degree angle, steadily received Price's pass, and then turned left to face the basket on the right sideline.

When the opponent pressed forward, Yi Shui seized the rhythm difference, changed direction to the left, brushed past the opponent, accelerated, drove straight to the inside, jumped at close range, and slammed home a one-handed dunk to score two points!
Barrow, who came to cover, simply stretched out his hand; he couldn't defend against the ball.

As Yi Shui retreated to defend, he noticed that Matthews' expression was unusually sour, which puzzled him.

Even when Harald Gaudi hammered him like that in the video, this guy didn't look this upset.

Matthews was angry not because he hadn't been able to defend himself, nor because he had lost his strength advantage, but because he suddenly realized that his opponent seemed to be taller than him!

Being in the same class and position, during his first encounter with Yi Shui, he was obsessed with comparing himself to Yi Shui—a very superficial comparison. He felt that in terms of appearance, he was much uglier than Yi Shui… but he was taller! He considered himself to be on par with Yi Shui in terms of looks, but damn it, now his height advantage was gone! Still growing at this age? It's outrageous!

In the transition between offense and defense, Golden Eagles point guard Dominic James initiated an attack by directly one-on-one against Price.

Price has always been the most reliable one-on-one defender on the Huskies' perimeter, with a positive attitude and solid fundamentals, but tonight he got blown out. Dominique James is known as "Little Iverson" because of his speed! Price, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have any highlights, precisely because he lacks athleticism.

Fortunately, his teammates immediately set up a zone defense, and 'Little Iverson' did not get a good shooting opportunity after driving in.

Calhoun's defensive skills are undeniable. Although he overcorrected before, at least that shows he has enough control over the team. He also adjusts very quickly when correcting mistakes. Now the Huskies' wing help defense, rim protection, and perimeter expansion defense are all very balanced... but none of them are particularly strong.

'Little Iverson' seized the opportunity, passed the ball from the middle to the top of the arc, Matthews received the ball and launched a three-pointer before Robinson could come to his aid... and it went in!
This is a response to Yi Shui's previous one-on-one match!

Yi Shui punched his left palm with his right fist. His defensive effort was a little off, but he didn't blame anyone. When the coaching staff decided to make the defense more balanced, he knew that the defense would definitely not be enough against strong teams. This play at least increased the difficulty of the opponent's attack and prevented them from scoring easily. Defense doesn't mean you have to defend every ball, and the game isn't just about defense.

The offense and defense switched, and Yi Shui continued to play one-on-one, once again using the rhythm difference to get past Matthews!
Fitzgerald was positioned early on the left side of the three-second zone; they couldn't just watch that guy drive straight in for a dunk, but the rim was still destroyed. Their center, Barrow, fared even worse...

Yi Shui made an alley-oop pass, and Yad rushed into the basket, bursting up and pressing the ball into the hoop over Barrow!

Matthews was a little embarrassed after being beaten again, but he really couldn't stop it.

The Golden Eagles are known for their ability to seamlessly switch between the point guard and shooting guard positions, their well-rounded defensive skills, and their speed, comparable to that of a "mini-Iverson" in college, making them capable of guarding any type of perimeter player. However, in other words, they lack height at point guard, skill at shooting guard, and physicality at small forward.

But when Matthews saw the way Yi Shui was staring at him, he shuddered... Delight? Elation? Excitement? Something's wrong with this guy!
Yi Shui was indeed excited, and at that moment the thought of playing against Matthews every day popped into his head.

His rhythmic offense is still in the process of self-learning, and he rarely used it in the first two weeks of the game, only occasionally when attacking the rim to shake off the opponent's jumpy guy. But tonight, he used it in the first two attacks!

He's tall enough, athletic, and plays aggressive defense, but lacks skill and is a bit mindless... He's practically a leveling-up machine for beginners in rhythm-based offense!

When the Golden Eagles went on offense, the Huskies tried their best to defend... but they still couldn't stop them.

With his quick movement, Yad extended his reach to cover Matthews who received the ball, but Matthews sent a long pass to the right sideline of the three-second zone, where Fitzgerald, cutting in, scored with a close-range high-arcing layup before Thabeet could block it.

The Golden Eagles have the potential of a "crazy third team," with their offense relying entirely on their three 05-level talents on the perimeter. The three are indeed formidable, and their playing styles complement each other perfectly. Not only do they each have their strengths on defense, but they also excel on offense. Dominique James is fast and adept at driving and dishing, McNeil, although lacking in athleticism, is skilled at driving, shooting, and passing, while Matthews excels at long-range shooting and wide-ranging ball movement on the perimeter.

However, even the Golden Eagles couldn't stop the Husky team!
Yi Shui drew McNeil's help defense with a one-on-one play and then passed the ball to Robinson on the wing, who hit a three-pointer!
7-5, the Huskies continue to lead!
Goals are always exciting, and back in their own half, the Huskies players threw themselves into their zone defense with even greater enthusiasm.

Moreover, because the opponent's defense was simple, consisting of one-on-one defense and basic help defense, the Husky team's offense was also very simple. Apart from Yi Shui who broke through and Ya De who rushed to intercept, the other players did not expend much energy on offense and put all their effort into defense, switching and helping on defense very diligently.

Although they couldn't stop the Golden Eagles' three-man outside shooting, they at least created necessary obstacles for the opposing team, increasing the difficulty for them to pass, receive the ball, and shoot.

This time, the Huskies' efforts paid off. Matthews circled around to the right sideline to receive the ball and quickly released it before Robinson could close in...

For three consecutive rounds, he defended against the opponent's main one-on-one attack, and on the offensive end, he also had to move around a lot to create space for receiving passes... Matthews' shot lacked power! It was too short!

Yi Shui and Thabeet held off Fitzgerald and Barrow's aggressive rebounding, while Yad secured the defensive rebound.

Turning around, Price saw Yi Shui with his hands on his hips on the left sideline and immediately understood what he meant. He waved to Yad, used a screen to break through, and hit a pull-up jumper from the right side of the free-throw line!

The score came to 9 to 5!

The steady Price has once again proven himself to be a trustworthy partner—not powerful enough, but steady enough!

When the Golden Eagles went on offense, with the score difference reaching 4 points, McNeil immediately moved to the high post to call for the ball and go one-on-one.

As the Golden Eagles' leading scorer, McNeil may not have exceptional athleticism, but his technique is superb. Robinson once again became the backdrop. McNeil backed down, spun, and drove into the paint, avoiding Yad's blockade and going straight to the basket. He grabbed the ball, took a step to the side, and stood in front of the rim, even faking out Thabeet. He jumped and launched a floater from behind Thabeet on his right...

It was a beautiful one-on-three situation, but when he took the shot, the fans near the baseline didn't panic at all; instead, they cheered and screamed!

McNeil, who had just jumped up, was momentarily confused, but the answer was immediately given...

"Snapped"

Yi Shui, who rushed in from the left, slapped the ball that had just left McNeil's fingertips!
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(End of this chapter)