The day before the game against Stanford, the Devils flew to San Francisco.

San Francisco, also known as the "Bay Area," has two NCAA Division I colleges.

One is Stanford University, whom they are about to play against, and the other is the University of California, Berkeley, whom they have played against before.

This was the second time the players came here this season. They did not hang out like last time, but instead spontaneously practiced more.

Although they lost the last game, they lost "standing". Their morale was not affected at all. Instead, they were eager to prove themselves with a victory.

The next night, Stanford University's Maple Arena was packed.

The Stanford University basketball team is called the Cardinals, which has nothing to do with Auerbach... of course, it's just because their representative color is bright red.

As a century-old strong school, Auerbach was not even born when they founded the team, which is basically equivalent to the relationship between Yu Qian and Yu Qian.

You can see many people wearing bright red clothes at the scene, and some people are holding flags with bright red backgrounds. From a distance it looks like a sea of ​​red.

During the opening ceremony, the enthusiasm of the fans was as hot as the red flames.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.

Cardinals: 1.85m point guard No. 1 Mitch Johnson, 1.93m shooting guard No. 4 Anthony Gus, 2.03m small forward No. 15 Lawrence Hill, 2.13m power forward Brook Lopez, 2.13m center Robin Lopez.

The highlight of this lineup is their height. The average height is 2.01 meters, which is tall not only in the NCAA, but also in the NBA.

Height is recognized as the number one talent in basketball.

On the Devils side, Sandek still sent out the starting lineup of Glaser, Harden, Shipp, Xu Yong and Ayers.

Except for Harden, other positions are all at a disadvantage in height, especially in the inside. Xu Yong has to face one of the Lopez brothers, which is also a huge test for him.

The game started quickly, and Ayers jumped first, winning the Devils a chance to attack first.

The Reds started the game with a 2-3 zone defense.

2-3 zone defense is a type of zone defense, with the focus of defense being in the interior.

Harden got a three-point opportunity after the pick-and-roll at the top of the arc and decisively chose to shoot from the outside.

The easiest way to break the double team defense is the three-pointer, and it must be a frontal three-pointer.

"when!"

There was nothing wrong with Harden's choice, but unfortunately his three-pointer hit the rim and the rebound was protected by Robin Lopez.

At this time, the players of the Devil's team had not yet realized the seriousness of the matter.

When he turned around, Brook Lopez immediately scored the first two points by backing down on Ayers in the low post.

Then in the next round, Glaser's three-point attempt at the forty-five-degree angle on the right side also ended in failure.

The red-shirt coach had a clear idea of ​​setting up a 2-3 zone defense at the start of this season, which covered up the weakness of the twin towers and was also betting on the opponent's outside shooting feel.

Once the opponent's outside shooting is not good, then zone defense is the most effective way of defense. Even if the opponent has a good shooting touch, they can adjust back quickly.

Then tonight they made the right bet.

Although Harden had targeted training before the game, he didn't find his touch at the beginning.

This feeling was soon passed on to teammates, and the players of the Devil Team jointly composed a song "Milan's Little Blacksmith".

Looking back, Ayers didn't have much to do with Brook Lopez's low-post offense.

Lopez is not fast at all, but his offensive skills are very solid, and his wingspan is an amazing 2.27 meters. Coupled with his soft touch, it is difficult for Ayers to defend him.

In a nutshell, Lopez completely suppressed Ayers in terms of talent.

In fact, among the Lopez brothers, Brook's talent is obviously higher than Robin. His average of 20+10 per game is also the offensive core of the red head coach.

Then the Devils found themselves in a situation where they couldn't make three-pointers on offense and couldn't defend against the Cardinals' twin towers on defense.

Even if there were occasional defensive rounds, the red coach would choose to foul on the spot with his experience, not giving the Devils a chance to launch a defensive counterattack.

All these details explain why the red-shirted coach has not lost a single game since the start of the season. Like UCLA, they are already a very mature team.

13 minutes into the first half, the score was 12 to 24.

Sandek called a timeout.

Although the score difference is smaller than when playing against UCLA, the Devils are still facing huge difficulties.

If they can't make three-pointers on the offensive end, it will be difficult for them to narrow the gap, but touch is not something that can be obtained just by wanting it.

Especially when we are behind, the more we shoot, the less chances we make.

"Guys, nobody's going to score all the time. Even Michael and the Bulls had their shooting struggles, but we can still do the right things, rebounding and defending, like we did last time against UCLA, because again, nobody's going to not score all the time."

After Sandek arranged the tactics, Xu Yong encouraged his teammates.

He also said something similar when he played against UCLA last time, because the most important thing to win in basketball, and also what the players can control themselves, is rebounding and defense.

This is also what Kobe once regarded as the truth.

Moreover, the feeling the players had when they heard Xu Yong speak this time was different from the previous game.

Because in the last game, they narrowed the gap twice, relying on rebounds and defense.

Just like Xu Yong said, that's the right thing to do.

After the timeout, Sandek replaced all the main players in advance.

The head coach in red reacted quickly and replaced the main players in advance, and the two sides entered the decisive stage of the first half.

The Cardinals continued to defend the 2-3 zone.

The Devils adjusted their offensive strategy at this time. Instead of blindly shooting three-pointers, they used a 1-3-1 stance to break through.

Anyone who has had some exposure to basketball should know that the key to breaking the double team defense is to form a localized situation where more people play against fewer.

The 1-3-1 stance is one of the methods invented based on this idea.

The key to this position is the player at the free throw line inside the "3". As long as he can make a mid-range shot, he can still punish the opponent.

After the Devils' outside pass distracted the defense, Harden finally passed the ball to Ayers.

Because of the 2-3 zone defense, Ayers' position is like a nail embedded in the defense, and he is unguarded.

He chose to take a mid-range shot, and his shot also attracted the Lopez brothers' interference.

"when!"

His shot was finally blocked and went wide of the basket.

However, Xu Yong, as the "1" at the bottom line, quickly penetrated into the basket and jumped up after accurately judging the landing point of the basketball.

“Bang!”

The dunk was completed directly!

This is not just about getting the rebound, but also about scoring directly!

The Devils' bench was in an uproar. What convinced them most about Xu Yong was that he could always do whatever he said on the court.

It was like that in the last game, and it’s like that in this game too!

This tip-in also boosted the morale of the Devils team.

After Ayres returned to the defensive end, he really used all his strength.

Brook Lopez didn't get a good chance to shoot, so he chose a slow three-step hook that crushed Ayers.

At this time, Xu Yong abandoned Robin and attacked directly from both sides.

Lopez was interfered when he shot, and the ball hit the front of the basket and bounced out.

Xu Yong was quick and grabbed the defensive rebound.

At this time, the two Lopez brothers beside him had already committed two fouls and did not dare to commit a foul. He successfully passed the ball to Harden on the outside.

The Devils finally launched a defensive counterattack.

Harden was also very angry. After receiving the ball, he accelerated and passed two people. He rushed to the frontcourt like a rocket raccoon and jumped high.

“Bang!”

A tomahawk dunk smashed the ball into the basket!

After the dunk, Harden roared at the audience at the baseline, venting his emotions.

The Devil team narrowed the gap to 8 points!

The Cardinals immediately called a timeout.

The players of the Devil Team looked excited when they left the court, and they all subconsciously surrounded Xu Yong.

They are doing the right thing because Seo Young told them it is the right thing to do!