...
In January, with the NCAA battle rekindled, the Devil's Deacon Team officially entered the sprint stage of the season.
Though in daily training, everyone would use "Reach March Madness" as a slogan to motivate each other.
In fact, as long as the Devil's Deacon Team doesn't frequently suffer upsets in the upcoming games, they've already secured a qualification to participate in March Madness.
It is well known that before the Big West Conference was established, each of the 30 leagues in the NCAA Division I had one automatic qualification slot.
This qualification slot is usually decided by the leagues' championship tournaments, namely their playoffs.
However, since the Devil's Deacon Team is in the ACC league, the toughest division in NCAA, obtaining the qualification for March Madness through winning the championship tournament…
Even though the Devil's Deacon Team has an outstanding record this season, nobody dares to guarantee their fate in this regard.
In fact, what the Devil's Deacon Team has truly secured ahead of time is an alternative way to participate in March Madness.
Namely, one of the other 35 qualification slots determined by the NCAA Selection Committee. (Note①)
Generally, the NCAA Selection Committee announces these results in mid-March, based on factors such as team performance, differences in league strengths, and schedule difficulties.
However, since this season the Devil's Deacon Team reached the top of the national rankings for a time, plus they have star players like Paul and Qin Yue, as long as the NCAA Selection Committee doesn't want their results questioned for objectivity and fairness, from a certain perspective, the Devil's Deacon Team has already secured their March Madness qualification.
Of course, even so, Prose hopes his students won't become too complacent in the upcoming games.
After all...
Better safe than sorry.
Luckily, his students quickly responded to him with outstanding performances on the court:
Coach, who says we don't want to be the top seed in the ACC league entering March Madness?
In the seven games after the relaunch, the Devil's Deacon Team achieved an excellent 6 wins and 1 loss.
In these seven games, with guidance from Duncan, Qin Yue continuously absorbed knowledge on post-up plays through practice on the court.
He used each opponent as a trial and gradually established his dominant reputation in the college basketball under-the-rim territory.
North Carolina became the only team to defeat Wake Forest in January.
As for the reason...
During the game, the Tar Heels team deployed multiple inside players to encircle Qin Yue.
The foundation of an NCAA traditional powerhouse lies in this.
Maybe for a particular season, my star player may not match you in level.
But in terms of the number of players who can play, what can you compare with me?
Although on the court, Qin Yue once showcased a spectacular scene under double team defense forcibly sending the basketball into the hoop.
But as the game progressed further, with his stamina slowly running out, he inevitably had to accept the team's fate of losing to North Carolina.
Huh? You ask what the Devil's Deacon Team's star player Paul was doing during this game?
The next day, when a new day came, Chris Paul walked into the team training hall with a gloomy face, telling you without a word by immersing in practice:
Don't ask, asking means you're lacking respect for the God of Point Guards.
In his freshman season, whenever weak little Paul encountered those tank-like guards, he was helpless.
Unfortunately, in this regard, even Qin Yue couldn't help him.
Because you can't have Josh Howard come back to play NCAA, can you?
On January 29th of this year, Wake Forest officially held a retirement ceremony for Josh Howard's No. 5 jersey.
As a legend in Wake Forest's team history, Josh Howard, with his astounding dynamic and static talents, certainly had the capability to quickly set up a second line of defense for the team when Paul was broken through.
But, where would the Devil's Deacon Team find such a top-notch wing player now?
Monk and Evans, as shooters, have defense never been their specialty.
If Prose was willing, Qin Yue could wipe Paul's back.
But...
Doing so would surely cause Qin Yue's stamina to decline rapidly at an astonishing rate.
There's no solution; this is an insoluble problem.
Because in NCAA, you can't strengthen your team's current roster through trades.
Chris Paul is destined to learn how to compete with those top-notch point guards by constantly taking hits.
...
In February, with the increase in playing time, Qin Yue has already refreshed his stats in the 03/04 season to an average of 14.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.7 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game.
Considering the richness of the ACC league and Qin Yue's around 27 minutes of playtime, this report card has already made him a hot candidate for ACC league Rookie of the Year this season.
He now has the star aura, not only the NBA is paying attention to him, but domestic reports about him are also increasing.
Online, many Chinese fans are quite interested in news about him.
Of course, also interested in Qin Yue are his parents.
Previously, fearing his family knew he had chosen a completely bottoming-out path of no return, "Qin Yue" mostly told stories when talking to his family on the phone.
Even Qin Yue couldn't help but sweat for the lies "he" told after investigating his memory.
However, the lies "Qin Yue" told, unexpectedly turned into a good thing.
Because to Qin Yue, who didn't know how to face his parents in this life, it meant he saved a lot of explanation time.
This day, while expressing routine concern to Qin Yue on the phone, Qin Yue's parents proudly told him that to better communicate with him, they had recently learned how to go online.
In addition, besides caring, his father Qin Yong also demonstrated what financial capability means to Qin Yue.
Thus, Qin Yue understood why "he" messed around so thoroughly.
Because "he," lacking persistent interest in basketball, didn't need to change his fate through basketball like those African-American players.
"He," merely chose the path of basketball because he grew tall early on and had wingspan far exceeding peers.
After browsing through "his" memory, Qin Yue was clear that "he," choosing to study in the United States at fifteen, was simply because he found it fun, novel, coupled with not being restricted by parents.
Therefore, upon arriving in the United States, facing setbacks, "he" decisively chose to lie flat and escape reality.
"Since I inherited everything from you, let me help you realize those lies and bragging you made in the past!"
This day, after talking with his family on the phone, Qin Yue thought silently.
...
Note①: From 2001 to 2010, the number of NCAA March Madness qualification slots was 65. From 2011 to now, it's 68.
PS: Begging for collection, monthly tickets, recommendation votes for the new book!