novelODS Chapter 27 Suppressing Kentucky!!
Chapter 27 Suppressing Kentucky!!
After the timeout, UCLA changed their game strategy.
Zeng Zhen had the ball at the top of the arc, and Meeks was defending him. Zeng Zhen changed direction repeatedly, making Meeks stumble. Zeng Zhen dribbled and made a fake move to break through to the right. Meeks turned around and tried to chase him. Zeng Zhen suddenly dribbled between his legs to the left and accelerated past Meeks.
This breakthrough was too fast; Patterson, who was responsible for help defense, couldn't react in time. His foot speed couldn't keep up, and Zeng Zhen seized the opportunity to rush past Patterson again and take off again under the basket.
Patterson tried to block, but his hand missed nothing, and Zeng Zhen made a beautiful reverse layup.
Kentucky tried to continue with half-court offense, but UCLA gradually adapted to Kentucky's rhythm, with their center Jared Carter missing a hook shot under Love's defense.
Westbrook grabbed the rebound, and UCLA quickly launched a counterattack, with Westbrook passing the ball to Zeng Zhen.
After receiving the pass, Zeng Zhen turned and accelerated, observing his teammates' defense as he accelerated.
Zeng Zhen's passing ability comes from Nash, who loves fast breaks and counterattacks. After Zeng Zhen crossed the halfway line, he saw Luc Mbah a Moute following up on the other side.
A long, bounced pass from a distance bypassed the defense and reached Luc Mbah a Moute.
Mbah a Moute received the ball comfortably, without even needing to dribble, and then slammed it down with both hands.
As Zeng Zhen passed by, Ben Holland patted Zeng Zhen on the butt and shouted, "Yeah, play like that, pick up the pace, Zeng, you can crush them."
Encouraged by Ben Holland, Zeng Zhen's confidence continued to rise.
In the next possession, Zeng Zhen set a screen for Love. Facing Jared Carter's defense, he dribbled and changed direction before driving in from the right side. Jared Carter was too slow, and Patterson helped defend. Zeng Zhen then passed the ball to Love, who was following up, and Love easily made a layup.
As UCLA regained their form, fans at the stadium could see that the two teams had distinctly different styles.
UCLA leans towards small-ball, while Kentucky is a traditional positional team.
UCLA is somewhat restraining the University of Kentucky.
UCLA has an extremely fast transition speed. Every player on their team is incredibly talented, and they are all versatile on the defensive end. Whenever they get a steal or a long rebound, they can launch a fast break.
Westbrook and Zeng Zhen's perimeter defense put immense pressure on Joe Crawford and Meeks, leaving them feeling overwhelmed.
All four players are ranked on the talent show website, but there are still obvious differences in their actual strength.
On offense, Zeng Zhen continued to find opportunities to dominate the Kentucky interior, calling out their players!
Zeng Zhen faced Patterson on the perimeter. Patterson's speed wasn't bad for a big man, but it was far inferior to Zeng Zhen's.
Patterson could only gamble that Zeng Zhen wasn't shooting well today, so he positioned himself a little further back to defend him. Instead of focusing on three-pointers, Zeng Zhen used the space to step to the right, shake off Patterson's defense, and then pulled up for a mid-range jumper at the free-throw line.
"Whoosh!"
Keep going!
This goal completely ignited UCLA's offensive momentum.
Led by Zeng Zhen, other UCLA players stepped up to score.
Westbrook's zombie jump shot, Love's one-on-one play under the basket, Collison's three-pointers from the outside—Zeng Zhen also regained his outside shooting touch amidst this wave of counterattacks.
He made a long-range three-pointer from one meter beyond the left three-point line.
Kentucky isn't incapable of scoring; Patterson and Joe Crawford can break in and create scoring opportunities. However, their scoring speed is too slow, and they are constantly suppressed by UCLA.
The gap between the two teams gradually widened.
"The Kentucky Wildcats' struggles are doomed to failure," an ESPN columnist commented while watching the game. "UCLA is like a total football super team; their perimeter game can completely shut down opponents. UCLA currently has the best roster on paper in the NCAA. I don't know who can stop them? Chalmers' Kansas? Or Derrick Rose's Memphis?"
In the first half, the University of Kentucky came up with a variety of tactics, but Ben Holland countered them all. UCLA's advantage lies in their roster depth, and apart from the start, they never fell into an offensive slump.
At the end of the first half, UCLA led 48-40 into the locker room. Zeng Zhen demonstrated considerable playmaking ability tonight.
Zeng Zhen scored 13 points in the first half, along with 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals. This performance not only surpassed his teammates Westbrook and Collison, but also outperformed Derrick Rose from the University of Memphis in the previous game.
The scouts and general managers at the stadium continued to raise their opinion of Zeng Zhen.
Before facing Kentucky, they thought Zeng Zhen was a scorer with some explosiveness, but such scoring ability would be difficult to carry into the NBA, and his draft position might be in the middle of the second round. He had not yet shown the consistency required of a first-round player.
However, tonight, Zeng Zhen demonstrated his versatility; even when his individual offense faltered, he still possessed some passing ability to help the team.
Spurs general manager RC Buford, who was watching the game, even explicitly told the executives next to him that as long as Zeng Zhen was in the final round of the first round, he would not hesitate to draft Zeng Zhen even if Zeng Zhen did not come to the Spurs for a tryout.
The Spurs wanted to draft a tall guard. They were previously interested in George Hill of Indiana University and Purdue University Indianapolis, but if they had to choose between George Hill and Zeng Zhen, they would undoubtedly choose Zeng Zhen.
According to Buford, Zeng Zhen has similar physical attributes to George Hill, but he has a stronger scoring ability and performs well in various high-stakes matchups.
Of course, this was just RC Buford's impulse. The Spurs have a complete system for evaluating college players, and they almost never choose rookies who don't come to the Spurs for tryouts.
After the start of the second half, Kentucky realized that Westbrook was an open player on the perimeter, so their small forward and Joe Crawford double-teamed him whenever he had the ball.
Faced with this situation, Zeng Zhen remained calm and composed, always able to accurately find teammates in open positions.
The University of Kentucky has great faith in team energy, which is the foundation of their success here. Head coach Gilliam, who took over last year, wants these five-star high school players to know how to play when facing opponents with better talent. Every player on the team runs hard, and they believe that as long as they work hard enough, they can limit UCLA's offense.
However, Westbrook, who was left open, didn't sit idly by. Instead, he set a screen for Collison, creating an opening for him, and the ball arrived just as quickly!
Zeng Zhen's pass flew over quickly, and Collison's three-pointer went in.
Collison's physical gifts weren't top-tier for the team, but he still managed to rank in the top 60 on draft websites, which is related to his offensive capabilities.
Kentucky University quickly sensed something was wrong, and their double-teaming of Zeng Zhen led to UCLA unleashing their full offensive power.