"Defend! Defend!"
Forty thousand Arizona fans cheered for the Devils in unison, and the sound reached the sky.
Xu Yong's dunk pushed their emotions to the peak.
And they had a numerical disadvantage against Michigan State in the semifinals, but not in the finals.
The Tar Heels continued to pass the ball from the outside, and Lawson didn't dare to shoot when he had the chance again. He chose to take a step into the penalty area and turn around and shoot.
This ball really reflected his personal ability, but the 2-3 zone defense shrank too quickly, and his shot was interfered and hit the front of the basket and bounced out, and the rebound was steadily caught by Ayers.
The Tar Heels have yet to score after coming back in the second half!
Now Roy Williams finally couldn't sit still anymore.
He stood up and walked to the sidelines, yelling at his players.
This coach, who once assisted NCAA legendary coach Dean Smith, is a notoriously hot-tempered coach.
His roar was like a whip to the Tar Heels players, and the team's defensive enthusiasm immediately increased.
Even Thompson began to fight Xu Yong without the ball, no longer giving him the easy chance to catch the ball as before.
Moreover, when Xu Yong was moving, there were even two people looking after him, and a third person was there to provide backup defense depending on the situation.
At this moment, Harden suddenly rushed to the basket with the ball, squeezed through Green's defense and made a layup to score two points, and also caused Green to commit a pulling foul!
The Devils team narrowed the gap to 3 points!
Roy Williams reached out and called a timeout.
Harden excitedly found Xu Yong and high-fived him, with a bright smile on his face, as happy as a 200-pound baby.
The Arizona fans at the scene could no longer sit still. A large number of them stood up and twisted their waists, as if this was no longer a cold industrial city, but a hot Phoenix.
"Look, this is the role of Xu Yong! Xu Yong tied down 2 to 3 opposing defenders on the outside, allowing James Harden to get an easy chance to break through." In the commentary booth of CCTV-5, Zhang Weiping has completely entered the state.
You see, there is no difference between commentating on the NCAA and commentating on the NBA. Just replace "Yao Ming" with "Xu Yong". Both of their names are still two characters.
What is seamless switching?
"North Carolina's defense was completely disrupted by that Michael fan!" Coach Zhang still understands basketball, and Kenny Smith echoed his commentary from a distance.
Johnson and the other two commentators on the side didn't dare to respond at this time. What are you talking about?
Smith originally wanted to brag about Jordan's influence, but with Jordan present tonight, it seemed inappropriate to say that.
But there is no way to remedy this, and it is true that the Devil Team's scoring basically depends on Xu Yong.
Or in other words: I thought Xu Yong's performance in the first half was good enough, but who could have thought that his performance in the second half would be even better!
What is more important now is to see how North Carolina will respond.
If the score is really tied and Arizona State is able to gain momentum, the balance of victory will be tipped.
After the break, the noisy stadium with 80,000 seats was unusually quiet, and one could almost feel the tension in the air.
For fans of Arizona State University, if they win the championship, it will truly be making history, and it is no longer a dream for the school to become a top team.
In comparison, the University of Arizona next door has only one championship in its history.
But for North Carolina fans, this is a final they cannot afford to lose.
Tyler Hansbrough is already a senior, and he will have to leave school regardless of whether he wins or loses. If he, the backbone of the team, leaves, Lawson and others will inevitably leave as well. So if we don’t win the championship this year, it will be unknown when the next championship window will come.
Harden took the first free throw. After adjusting his breathing, he accepted the point with a smile.
48 to 46, a difference of one goal.
Green passed the ball from the backcourt, Lawson carried the ball to the frontcourt, and the Tar Heels adopted a 1-3-1 formation in the frontcourt.
Although Williams is not as good as Dean Smith, he is also a famous coach and handled the situation very well.
Hansbrough received the ball at the free throw line and directly chose a mid-range shot.
“Swish!”
The basketball is shot into the pocket.
Just as Xu Yong knew, although Hansbrough was a strong man who would make CBA commentators sigh in the future that "it is easy to shake a mountain, but difficult to shake Hansbrough", he was not without a basket.
Just seeing this iron-blooded jump shot, Garnett would have to give a thumbs up.
And after making the shot, Hansbrough also roared like Garnett.
This goal broke the team's scoring drought in the second half and was very crucial.
The cheers of North Carolina fans were also heard at the scene. At the critical moment, it still depends on the longest river and the scoring champion.
"Defend! Defend!"
North Carolina fans began to cheer in unison under the leadership of their own DJ.
"Come on! Devil Team!"
On the other side, Arizona State fans were also cheering.
The players competed on the field, and the fans also started competing from a distance.
Driven by this atmosphere, players on both sides of the field also showed great enthusiasm.
Harden had no chance to pass the ball to DeRozan after his breakthrough. DeRozan received the ball, dribbled one step, and was stopped by the help defense. He then shook his hand and passed the ball to Xu Yong.
There was not much time left for the attack, so Xu Yong held the ball and observed the defense again.
The Tar Heels probably feared his passing and still didn't double-team him, but judging from the positions of the nearby players, they were ready to assist in the double-team at any time.
He started with a drop step, and after a fake move to the frame, he fooled Thompson again and passed the opponent once again.
But at this moment, Hansbrough under the basket quickly pounced on him, and Green was also moving towards the basket.
This is not simply assisting defense, but an assisting defense rotation based on the tacit understanding among the players, which is a bit similar to the unlimited rotation of the Warriors in the future.
Xu Yong did not choose to pass the ball because there was not much time left for offense, and a pass that could not lead to a direct score would directly ruin this round.
His choice was to pass the ball, jump, stop suddenly, and pull up when Hansbrough was still one meter away from him!
The whole movement is done in one go, smooth and silky.
Neither Thompson, who was chasing and defending, nor Hansbrough, who was helping, had time to interfere at this moment and could only look up.
“Swish!”
With a crisp sound of the ball entering the net, Xu Yong scored his third goal in the second half, which was also his seventh point!
50 to 48.
The score difference was once again narrowed to one goal.
The momentum of North Carolina fans suddenly disappeared, replaced by the thunderous cheers of Arizona State fans.
Because of Xu Yong, the Devil Team's momentum of chasing points continues!
"Defend! Defend!"
This time, Arizona State's fans completely overwhelmed North Carolina's fans, and the defensive shouts resounded throughout the stadium.
The Tar Heels still set up 1-3-1, and Hansbrough continued to receive the ball at the free throw line.
However, this time the Devil's team retreated quickly and did not give him a chance to shoot directly.
Just as he turned around with the ball in his hand and looked for his teammates.
“Bang!”
Suddenly a man jumped up from beside him and snatched the ball from his hands!
This isn't a steal, this is a robbery!
When Hansbrough felt the ball slip out of his hands, he lunged forward to try to control the ball, but he failed to catch it. Instead, he lost his balance and fell forward.
In order to prevent his face from coming into close contact with the floor, he could only bend his knees and then support himself with his hands, performing a scene of [kneeling on the ground].
But when he looked up and saw the jersey number 23, all that was left in his eyes was despair.
Xu Yong had already quickly passed the midfield, and although the other members of the Tar Heels tried their best to chase him, it was too late.
After a fast break to the front court, Xu Yong leaped up and did a gliding windmill...
“Bang!”
Slam the ball into the basket!
The shouts of Arizona fans instantly turned into cheers, reaching the sky!
50 square meters.
Six minutes into the second half, the Devils went on a 12-2 run to erase a 10-point deficit.
In this wave of offense, Xu Yong scored 9 points alone.
Really killing madly!