Every year, the NCAA has a poll list voted on by the coaching staff, which is also an important basis for the NCAA organizing committee in selecting wild card teams.
Before the season started, Sandek analyzed the list with his players.
UCLA is ranked second on this list.
They have won all four regular season games so far, and their average margin of victory over their opponents is as high as 20 points per game!
Whether it is the evaluation of the outside world or their own performance, they are absolutely worthy of the title.
UCLA has two core players this season, Russell Westbrook on the outside and Kevin Love on the inside.
Westbrook was still serving as a substitute for Darren Collison during the regular season last season. He did the same thing that Xu Yong suggested to Cooksix, the team's defensive spearhead.
But since the game entered the playoffs and the subsequent championship, his playing time has been increasing and he has become an indispensable role for the team.
Westbrook has naturally become the team's starter this season. In addition to maintaining elite defense, he has also demonstrated terrifying impact and is already considered a top ten player in this year's draft.
Love is a freshman, the second best high school student in the United States in the 2007 class after OJ Mayo. He averaged 20+10+2 per game in the invitational tournament, showing dominance under the basket and a three-point shooting rate of nearly 40%. He is considered to be in the top five of this year's draft.
In addition, UCLA has two players with NBA prospects, one is Darren Collison, a third-year student who once kept Westbrook on the bench, and the "Prince of Cameroon" Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who is known for his defense on the front line.
In fact, in the original list, in addition to UCLA, the Pac10 Conference also had Stanford University (10th), Washington State University (12th), University of Arizona (17th), University of Oregon (18th), and University of Southern California (23rd) on the list.
Because the list only includes the top 25, Arizona State University did not appear on that list.
Of course, things are different now. In the latest survey, thanks to its outstanding performance in the invitational tournament and the opening of the regular season, Arizona State University has jumped to...the 25th position.
Even though it was the 25th against the 2nd, it still didn't look like there was much of a chance.
Facing strong opponents, the players' mentality is different from before.
Before training that day, the players played table tennis in the locker room, which is also a way to relieve stress.
However, Xu Yong discovered that Harden did not go up to play.
"Why don't you go up and try?" Xu Yong sat down next to him and turned to ask.
Harden looked at the ping-pong table in front of him and shook his head: "I gave up. It's too difficult for me."
This answer made Xu Yong stunned. In ancient times, the emperor had to go to a disco before he started his business. Today, Harden gave up after less than a week of practice.
However, Xu Yong did not ask any further questions. After all, this was just a form of entertainment.
"Compared to this, the next game will be more difficult for us," Harden said, taking his eyes off the ping-pong table.
Xu Yong nodded. Even though he was confident, he knew it would be difficult for them to compete with UCLA with their strength.
"It's not like we don't have any chance at all." But Xu Yong is Xu Yong, and he added after nodding.
Harden looked at Xu Yong in confusion.
"James, what do you think is UCLA's goal this season?" Xu Yong asked.
"Championship." Harden answered simply.
UCLA has been in the Elite Four for two consecutive seasons and this season they recruited Love. They have no weaknesses from the outside to the front line to the inside, and the championship is their only goal.
"Then they will spend time studying schools like North Carolina, Kansas, and Memphis. They will indeed pay attention to us, but that is more of a routine, not like the University of California, Berkeley," Xu Yong said after nodding.
The three schools he mentioned are the powerful schools that, along with UCLA, have long dominated the top four this season.
Harden understood immediately after hearing this: "You mean we can seize the opening?"
"Yes, the game is played at our home court. Once we gain control of the momentum, you know what will happen." Xu Yong nodded. It was easy to talk to an intelligent person.
After saying that, he gave Harden a "you know" expression.
Harden certainly understands that in the NCAA, because there are few mature superstars and the game time is long, it is very difficult to turn the game around once you lose the upper hand.
He nodded and said nothing more. Instead, he looked at the ping-pong table again, his eyes full of anticipation.
If nothing unexpected happens, the game against UCLA will attract scouts. If they can really win, it will be a big help to his draft stock.
The saying "get mature in the NCAA before entering the NBA" is pure nonsense. As long as you can ensure being selected with a high draft pick, the earlier you enter the NBA the better, because age represents potential. As for other things, the NBA trains players much more professionally than universities.
Of course, studying in college for a year is still beneficial, because college also provides cultural education. Many high school players lack this link, which leads to a lack of cultural quality.
League Commissioner David Stern is also well aware of this, so in 2006 he implemented a draft age rule that prohibits players under the age of 19 from participating.
So the most popular phrase now is “one＆done”, which translates to “play for one year and leave”, meaning running for election after finishing the freshman year.
But the prerequisite for doing so is to fully demonstrate one's talent and attract the attention of NBA scouts.
Otherwise, if your ranking is low, only a fool would play one & done.
As a person who is gentle and introverted but actually very smart, Harden knows the importance of this game even more.
…
A few days later, the city of Tempe was unusually lively.
Although the straight-line distance from Los Angeles to Phoenix is more than 600 kilometers, many UCLA fans still fly to support the Bruins.
On the morning of the game day, Xu Yong and Harden sat in the aisle on the second floor with their backs against the benches in the audience.
After a while, a group of people entered the stadium amid a noise.
Arizona State University did not do anything tricky in the stadium like the University of Arizona did in the past. According to the normal process, the visiting team warmed up in the morning and the home team warmed up in the afternoon.
The visiting team’s warm-up is usually closed, which is why the two of them are sitting here.
They had never played against UCLA before, so this was their only chance to observe their opponent in advance.
Harden turned around and looked outside, then sat back down and did a prayer: "A moment of silence for Jeff."
Xu Yong looked puzzled, then turned around and looked outside.
Then he quickly understood why Harden did that because he saw Kevin Love.
His impression of Love basically remains on his time with the Cavaliers, when he debuted as a male model and was extremely handsome.
But the huge size of LeSwain in front of him made him think of Jokic instead of Love himself.
This guy is too big!
You have to know that in terms of height, Love is only 2.03 meters tall like him.
But soon, this impression of his disappeared, because Love, who was like a mountain of meat, did a two-handed dunk during the warm-up.
Xu Yong sat back and imitated Harden in praying for Ayers.
The giants who can be chosen by James to be teammates must have absolute strength.
And if Love could grow 6 or 7 centimeters taller, he would be on the same level as Nowitzki and Garnett in the NBA.
Of course, this assumption is not necessary in the NCAA, because with his size and athletic ability, he is enough to dominate the inside in the NCAA.
As a high school student of the class of 2007, Xu Yong had certainly heard of some of Love's deeds before, such as the one who dunked the ball and broke the basket with a single leap.gif.
But what I just saw proved the saying: seeing is believing.