Although he had heard rumors about Duke's home court long ago, on December 5th, when Qin Yue and his teammates arrived at Cameron Arena, he was deeply shocked by the scene in front of him.
Outside the stadium, there were row upon row of tents on the grass.
"To get a ticket, the Duke madmen can live in those tents for days and nights," Evans explained to the curious Qin Yue, who was looking at the tents outside the stadium.
"Days in a row, just for a ticket?" Qin Yue asked.
"Just for a ticket," Evans said, looking up at Qin Yue.
After a pause, Evans continued, "Of course, because Duke's opponent tonight is us...
so I think those madmen will only be crazier for tonight's ticket."
Before entering the stadium, Qin Yue saw the group of madmen Evans mentioned.
Compared to other parts of the United States, December in North Carolina is not considered cold.
But even so...
When Qin Yue noticed the Duke fans outside the stadium, shirtless and rubbing blue paint on their bodies, he couldn't help but take a cold breath.
"The Blue Demon is the faith of these madmen," Evans said, patting Qin Yue's back.
Duke Blue Demon.
The NCAA powerhouse known for having the most terrifying home court in the nation.
Another iconic team in the ACC league apart from North Carolina.
Their followers are generally known on the street as:
——"Cameron Madman."
After entering the arena, Qin Yue noticed that his teammates all wore serious expressions, more so than when they faced North Carolina before.
Even though there would be multiple TV stations broadcasting tonight's game as a focal battle, Qin Yue believed...
This was definitely not the reason why his teammates were so serious at the moment.
Obviously, the century-old feud between Wake Forest and Duke has already quietly given this upcoming match a completely different significance.
On the court, as Qin Yue was preparing to warm up, he almost immediately heard the piercing boos and insults coming from all directions, which almost pierced his eardrums instantly.
"Don't be nervous, these madmen are just trying to intimidate you in their own way," Evans said, looking at Qin Yue.
Upon hearing this, Qin Yue smiled and said, "I'm not nervous, Ronnie, I'm just thinking about how to quiet this lively home court later."
Upon seeing this, Evans frowned and said, "Qin, although the United States is a country of the rule of law, I must remind you...
don't do anything foolish, and don't try to provoke these madmen."
At Cameron Arena, the short warm-up time ended.
Tonight, as Qin Yue, who would be starting for the Devil's Deacon Team, received a "friendly" greeting from the entire crowd during the pre-game ceremony.
If Wake Forest's star player Paul is the number one enemy in the eyes of Duke fans,
then as the second-in-command of the Devil's Deacon Team, the treatment Qin Yue received is naturally second only to Paul's.
In the stadium, as the game was about to start, countless pairs of eyes in the stands converged towards the center of the court.
At this time, standing at the center circle preparing to jump for the team, Qin Yue noticed his opponent tonight, Sheldon Williams, along with Chris Duhon standing behind him, and JJ Redick, whom he really wanted to punch at that moment. (Note ①)
"I have to say, you've now become a qualified player of the Devil's Deacon Team, Qin." Beside him, seeing Qin Yue glare at Redick, Evans laughed.
"It's our fine tradition to unreasonably dislike every Duke player, and even if he wasn't a Duke player, JJ is definitely an arrogant jerk.
Look at his face, as if everyone owes him money.
And his mouth, which never accumulates virtue, always mocking opponents smugly after the game.
Do you know, Qin, our senior Terence once gave him a very classic evaluation."
"What evaluation?"
"Terence said JJ is just a lackey relying on authority."
After saying this, Evans took a deep breath and said, "Leave him to me tonight, Qin, you have more important things to do."
At this moment, looking at the eager Evans, Qin Yue smiled slightly and nodded.
On the court, after the jump ball, the game officially began.
Amidst all the booing, Paul dribbled the ball past the half-court for the Devil's Deacon Team.
At the top, Qin Yue moved up to receive the ball.
At this moment, Sheldon left a safety zone to help Du Hong delay, thinking Qin Yue would screen for Paul again.
But in the next second, Qin Yue's actions surprised everyone.
He accelerated down the right side of the court, first using a between-the-legs dribble to fake out Sheldon's balance, then changed direction and took a jump shot.
Qin Yue's combination move caught Sheldon completely off guard.
He was like Robert Cole, who was KO'd by a set of small moves from Mike Tyson in 1985, eyes filled with confusion and shock.
The scene of an inside player facing the basket for a solo play in a basketball game is not new.
In fact, face-up solo plays are a specialty for many tough power forwards.
But the way Qin Yue played that last play was more like a guard.
Though his movements weren't smooth, they were impactful enough to stir the hearts of this era's people.
Swish—!
"Booooo—!"
On the court, as the ball swished through the net, the Duke fans at Cameron Arena immediately responded with a chorus of boos toward Qin Yue.
However, unfazed, Qin Yue simply smiled and made a gesture that stunned everyone—he opened his left hand wide and cupped it behind his ear.
This was a gesture of "listening."
The subtext of Qin Yue's message was clear:
As the top devil's home court in the United States, is this the best you can do with your boos?
For Duke fans, this was a provocation they had never seen before.
In extreme anger, every Duke fan in the arena hurried to hurl insults at Qin Yue.
On the Devil's Deacon Team's bench, assistant coach Victor watched this scene with a worried expression, saying, "Skip, is this really okay?"
Turning to look at Victor, Prose said with righteousness, "What's wrong with it?"
As a knowledgeable head coach, in Prose's view, if a young man isn't a bit fiery, can you still call him young?
From the pre-game warm-up until now, since Duke fans could greet Qin Yue countless times, why can't Qin Yue retaliate after making a brilliant play?
Now, it's the Blue Demon's turn to attack.
Clearly, Qin Yue's "listening" gesture angered not only the fans present.
On the left low post, Sheldon could be seen actively opening up to receive the ball from his teammates, determined to teach this rampant Eastern kid a lesson for the Blue Devil's supporters.
However, the intensity of Qin Yue's subsequent defense exceeded Sheldon's expectations.
Since entering December, Qin Yue successfully reduced his weight to 129.5 kilograms.
Although he was slimmer and lighter, after replacing his previous fat with a body full of muscles, Qin Yue's strength and confrontation capabilities were instead stronger.
In the future, the main reason why Sheldon couldn't showcase his low-post offensive skills in the NBA was that his abilities and talents couldn't sustain him at higher levels of confrontation.
Basketball has never been a sport where one can reach the mountain peak solely through effort.
As the competition level increases, your talent becomes increasingly important as you climb higher.
Even those skills that people believe can be improved through hard practice will show talent gaps as the competition level increases.
To give a simple example, if everyone could become Stephen Curry through training, why is there only one Curry in the NBA?
"Looks like tonight the 'Landlord' will be paying rent to Qin instead," laughed Prose, watching Sheldon fail to move Qin Yue even an inch.
Compared to the short and stocky players who can dominate in the NBA in the future, Sheldon's other major shortcoming is his overly obvious offensive intention, giving an impression that it's either him or you after three tries.
In college basketball, with a 224-centimeter wingspan and overwhelming force for his position, Sheldon's "three heavy strikes" tactics were often successful.
But tonight, facing Qin Yue, who was taller with a longer wingspan and playing with intelligence, Sheldon's strikes collided with a steel board.
In the paint, after intentionally allowing Sheldon to turn to his right hand, Qin Yue firmly blocked the "Landlord's" subsequent layup attempt against the backboard.
Nearby, Evans quickly secured the second rebound and handed the ball to Paul.
Meanwhile, Qin Yue landed and quickly caught up, forming a three-man fast break with Paul and Monk on Duke's half-court.
At this moment, Redick, the fastest player on Duke to return to defense, felt despair.
Only able to attempt a steal from Paul's hands, he not only failed to succeed...
But also, at the moment Paul tossed the ball high, turning to face his own basket, he witnessed a shocking scene:
Under the basket, Qin Yue, following the command of the ground command center, leaped, unfolding his body mid-air into a gigantic battle-axe, delivering a stunning slam to Duke's basket!
Bam—!
A swan on one wind rise, soaring straight up ninety thousand miles!
The stands of Cameron Arena fell into a brief silence because of Qin Yue's slam-dunk alley-oop.
"Do you know how we should describe this scenario to our kids many years from now?" on the sidelines, with clenched fists, Prose turned his gaze to Victor and asked.
Hearing this, Victor shook his head.
"Your senior Qin, his legendary story, starts right now," said Prose, struggling to suppress the excitement in his heart as he witnessed Qin Yue's growth step by step.
...
Note ①: Why does Qin Yue want to punch Redick? Because as an NBA player who received a complete four-year college education and has never publicly exposed himself as an idiot, he used a severely racially charged term to greet Chinese fans in a Chinese New Year video organized by the NBA.
According to Redick, he said the wrong word because his tongue twisted, but as an NBA player with a healthy IQ who could become the head coach of the Lakers, that excuse is hardly convincing.
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