After Thanksgiving break, the Devil's Deacon Team, with a nine-game winning streak since the start of the season, climbed to the top of the nation.
"Our strategy is to give the ball to Chris Paul, and he usually gives us a wonderful ending after two hours of play."
This is how Prose evaluated his beloved disciple Paul's performance in the new season.
This past summer, when the team first gathered, what was once a loose collection of players has now become a cohesive unit under Paul's cohesion.
Outside, Evans and Monk are responsible for providing space.
Inside, Ellis and the newly emergent Qin Yue form a twin tower barrier.
For a time, this Devil's Deacon Team, which had balanced offense and defense on the court, was truly in the spotlight.
In the first nine official games of his college career, Paul averaged 17.3 points, 6.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.9 steals per game.
His overall shooting percentage not only exceeded 50%, but his three-point shooting percentage also reached an astounding 48%.
As a devout Chris Paul fan, Qin Yue remembers that Paul has always been synonymous with efficiency during his college days.
Of course, the fact that Paul can deliver such an outstanding report card this lifetime is inseparable from the continuous improvement Qin Yue has shown since summer.
Thanks to the Devil's Deacon Team's excellent performance since the start of the season, Qin Yue, who currently averages 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game, has successfully caught the attention of NBA scouts.
Seeing this, some might say, with Qin Yue's "mediocre" report card, there are plenty of players with better stats in the NCAA, so why should he catch the eyes of NBA scouts?
Is it that Chinese players have some inexplicable advantage when playing in the United States?
In fact, to truly understand the value of a college player's individual stats, you must first understand the structure of American college basketball.
In the NCAA tier one league, there are indeed many players with better personal stats than Qin Yue.
But here's the question, does their conference have the same high level as the ACC conference?
As a top conference in the NCAA tier one league, the ACC, compared to some other conferences with lesser strength, is as different as the NBA is from the G League.
Especially this season, the ACC is recognized as the strongest conference in terms of overall strength and competitiveness among the five traditional top conferences in the NCAA.
Therefore, playing in the nation's strongest conference, Qin Yue naturally gains more attention, and his report card on the court naturally carries more weight.
"The next Chinese player to enter the NBA is actually him? The Eastern Duncan from Wake Forest has conquered NBA scouts!"
On this day, as the Devil's Deacon Team reached the top of the nation, many domestic media outlets reprinted the American media's evaluations of the Devil's Deacon Team and Qin Yue.
Of course, while reprinting, these domestic media, with their profound journalistic expertise, did not forget to conveniently modify the original titles and content of the reports.
In 2003, although the internet had already emerged, compared to the future, traditional media was still the mainstream in news dissemination.
Moreover, given that domestic netizens' ability to discern the truth was limited at this time, after being brainwashed by these altered news, the general perception of Qin Yue among domestic basketball enthusiasts was roughly as follows:
"Eastern Duncan? Just asking, who's stronger, Qin Yue or Yi Jianlian?"
"How come I've never heard of Qin Yue before? Has he been playing in the United States all the time?"
"Wow, are we about to have another number one draft pick again?"
"But looking at the stats, he's just averaging a bit over 10 points per game, aren't these media exaggerating? Is he really as good as Duncan?"
"Can you stop guessing? A certain authoritative journalist already said he's the new Duncan, what, do you guys not watch the NBA and know how strong Duncan is?"
To be honest, it's just that Qin Yue didn't have time to go over the wall and see how domestic media were reporting on him, otherwise he would definitely marvel at what is called...
Fake news.
In fact, in Sports Illustrated's original report on the Devil's Deacon Team, it primarily praised Qin Yue's story of turning over a new leaf and his recent visible progress.
As for Qin Yue's real draft prospect?
Among players in the same position, Qin Yue is currently ranked thirteenth by ESPN.
Qin Yue has indeed entered the radar of NBA scouts, but this does not mean he can soar to great heights based on just 9 games.
In the minds of most American journalists and scouts, his potential still needs more games for evaluation, and only time can tell whether he is truly qualified to grab that ticket to the NBA.
Just like the Devil's Deacon Team, which was number one in the nation yesterday, might fall from grace the next day.
In December, in the team's new month journey, the Devil's Deacon Team faced a group of warriors from Illinois right from the start.
In the game, referred to as "Waterloo" in the Wake Forest School Paper the next day, the Illinois Warriors led by Deron Williams and Luther Head completed a comprehensive execution of the Devil's Deacon Team's backcourt.
Chief executioner Deron scored a total of 28 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds for the Warriors.
And the North Carolina basketball master Paul, who was personally sent to the "guillotine" by him in the game, only scored 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Another executioner from the Warriors, Hyde, was relatively lenient during the game, hitting just 7 three-pointers, only one more than the entire Devil's Deacon Team combined.
In this game, the issues that the Devil's Deacon Team had not exposed during their winning streak were gradually revealed.
First, compared to other strong teams, although Monk and Evans are good shooters, in higher-level games, both of them clearly couldn't keep up.
Secondly, when Paul cannot effectively orchestrate the team, the entire team's offense immediately stalls.
In short, after a miserable 74 to 95 loss to the Warriors on the road, the media, which was praising the Devil's Deacon Team yesterday, immediately saw the essence of this team's "pseudo-strong team" nature.
However, you may not believe it...
Even though the team just suffered a crushing defeat, Qin Yue's draft prospects have actually improved significantly because of it.
Because in this game against the Warriors, Qin Yue became the team's only saving grace.
In the game, under the circumstance where Paul was already dazed by Deron, Qin Yue took the initiative to shoulder the offensive responsibility, hitting 9 out of 14 shots, including 1 of 3 three-pointers, and making all 4 of his free throws, not only scoring a personal NCAA career-high of 23 points but also grabbing 9 rebounds in the game.
The Warriors are a team typically centered on the perimeter, and even someone like Sean Mei could dominate their interior in the future.
On the court, Qin Yue fully utilized his advantage of height and arm length.
When opponents focused mainly on his outside teammates, he repeatedly scored through active offensive rebounds and second-chance points.
Moreover, when it was time to shoot from the outside, Qin Yue didn't hesitate at all, perfectly demonstrating his desire to be Michael Jordan.
Qin Yue has seen what the NBA would be like in twenty years, and he is very clear about the development trajectory of the NBA in the next twenty years, so he never intended to be a traditional inside player.
Just after the miserable road loss to Illinois...
Even though he benefited from his outstanding performance in the game, Qin Yue's mood could only be described as utterly terrible.
Qin Yue deeply resents the fact that he is not strong enough yet to help the team turn the tide in adversity.
At the same time, he also hates that he doesn't have the stamina like Jordan to hit the town after playing a full game.
After losing, his extreme discomfort could only be alleviated through continuous training and practice to improve himself.
And all of this was noticed by the old man Prose.
"This kid's competitiveness will certainly help him achieve great success in the future." That day, Prose commented on Qin Yue.
Hearing this, assistant coach Victor looked worried and said, "But he doesn't need to blame himself so much, because he has already done everything he could in that game."
Prose nodded and said, "That's why I plan to start him in the next game."
After pausing for a moment, Prose continued, "It's time to let him vent a little through the game."
As someone who has been through it, Prose knows very well that the negative emotions of players after a defeat can often only be washed away through one victory after another.
But at this moment, Prose clearly didn't fully tell the truth to Victor.
Because the reason he plans to start Qin Yue in the next game...
Another reason is that the opponent in the next game for the Devil's Deacon Team is Duke.
As everyone knows, Duke's team name is the Blue Demon.
In 1923, after a major victory over Duke in a game, Wake Forest has since referred to itself as the Devil's Deacon.
Yes.
The team name of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons comes from Duke.
These two universities, which became rivals due to religious reasons from their founding, have always been a model of enmity in American colleges.
Prose knows that the upcoming big game between Wake Forest and Duke will not only attract the attention of the entire North Carolina but also a large number of NBA scouts and media reporters.
So in Prose's eyes, this is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for Qin Yue to shine.
Moreover, this year's Duke does not have an interior player who can restrain Qin Yue.
"His future is definitely in the NBA, but to get to the NBA, a sufficiently heavyweight stepping stone is necessary."
At the training ground, watching Qin Yue practicing diligently, Prose thought.
...
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