Chapter Twenty-Six: Duncan

  "Vicksburg Forest 89 beats Louisville University 77, advances to Elite Eight"

  "Tim Duncan played with the flu and scored 20 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals, the NCAA champion is him."

  "Many teams in the lottery district show love, but the Warriors remain unchanged. Is Tim Duncan, the expected top pick, going to refuse the NBA draft again?"

  "Kart interprets violent aesthetics, 4 times isolated dunks in a game, tonight Duncan can't cover his light"

  "Toronto General Manager Publicly Supports We The North May Face League Punishment"

  "NCAA's first three-point god shot, Szczepanik challenges Ray Allen from beyond half court"

  "Boston's Wally Zebiah and Tre Mitchell, two of the top three-point shooters, will leave NCAA"

  .......

  .......

  The NCAA tournament officially started, and Vicksburg was unexpectedly listed as the number one seed team in the Southern District. However, what worried Zhuang Fei was that the team's captain, Duncan, contracted influenza before the first round of the game began, which also gave Zhuang Fei a big fright. The team couldn't afford to lose Duncan! Fortunately, although Duncan had the flu, his determination was unwavering, and his performance didn't suffer in the slightest. He led the team through Northeastern Louisiana University, Texas University, and Louisville University, and they were the first to enter the Southern District finals.

  The NCAA tournament is underway, and once again, the already red-hot Duke Blue Devils are heating up even more. Now that it's late March, the NBA regular season is also nearing its end, and many teams have been eliminated from playoff contention. As a result, every game has become a showcase for NBA scouts to evaluate NCAA players. And as one of the hottest and strongest teams in the NCAA, Duke's games are naturally the focal point for all scouts. Many mock drafts are now centered around Duke, with their three core players being described as potential lottery picks. Zion Williamson is particularly being touted as the likely number one overall pick, which has coach K slightly concerned that all this attention might affect their mindset.

  "Tim, are you feeling any better?" asked Coach Zhang Fei in his office at Viksen University.

  "Much better," Duncan replied with a smile.

  But Zhuang Fei could sense something unusual from his tone, and his nasal voice was still very heavy. Zhuang Fei shook his head and continued to speak.

  "Tim, you don't have to force yourself to attend the team's training now. Take care of your body, the team will still need you in the future." Zhuang Fei really had no way with Duncan's personality. Duncan was a somewhat introverted person, but that didn't mean he was taciturn. On the contrary, Duncan sometimes loved to crack jokes. Most importantly, this player was very opinionated and once he made up his mind, nobody could stop him. This made Zhuang Fei very frustrated. Encountering such a player was both fortunate and unfortunate for the head coach, as you couldn't control such a player. Such players didn't need the head coach to worry about them either, just like some parents who hope their children aren't too perfect, or else they would lose the fun of being parents.

  Duncan just smiled lightly after hearing Zhuang Fei's words and didn't respond, Zhuang Fei could only smile wryly to himself, Duncan once again rejected Zhuang Fei's suggestion.

  "Tim, our next opponent has emerged, it's the University of Kentucky. Their inside line is very strong, I think you'll be under a lot of pressure in the next game." As soon as he got his hands on the roster of their next opponent, the University of Kentucky, Zhuang Fei was shocked. This was the first time he had seen so many familiar names on one team, which meant that this team was extremely strong. The names that Zhuang Fei could remember were naturally not some unknown players from the NBA.

  "So, Tim, I need you to be in top condition as Duncan two days later, which is also the reason why I came to find you today. So, Tim, you need to have a good rest and get over your flu," said Zhuang Fei sincerely once again.

  This time Duncan didn't remain silent, he just hesitated for a moment and then nodded slightly. It was the first time he saw Zhuang Fei sincerely pleading with him.

  "If there's nothing else, I'll go first." After Duncan left, Zhuang Fei stared at the University of Kentucky player roster again.

  ................

  ................

  "Tim, you're leaving so early? That's not like you," Duncan ignored the surprise of Stephon Green and his teammates, packed up his things and left the training gym to head back to the dorm.

  "This is still the first time I've left early in memory," Duncan said with a wry smile in his heart. Damn cold.

  "The opponent is Kentucky, hoping to have a little challenge. Recently, I feel that the NCAA players have become much weaker." Thinking of Zhuang Fei's concern and care just now warmed Deng Ken's heart.

  Duncan considers himself a very lucky person, of course except for that one thing. In his less than 6-year basketball career, he is a very lucky person. At the age of 15, he gave up swimming to follow his brother-in-law to practice basketball. At 16, in an event, he single-handedly challenged Mourning and ended up with a tie. At 18, he entered Wake Forest University as a scholarship student, last year won the National Best Defensive Player award and made it into the Sweet Sixteen, this year he took another step forward. He became the first person in NCAA history to do so, making progress every year, and all of them were major breakthroughs. This is unimaginable for an ordinary player.

  Duncan attributes these advancements to encountering some very good mentors, the first being his brother-in-law who introduced him to basketball and showed him its charm. The second was his former coach at Wake Forest, Dave Odom, who taught him about the cruelty and intensity of professional basketball. The third was his college coach Bill Lange, who was his mentor in terms of basketball skills. The fourth is his current head coach Zhu Fangyu, who helped him complete his transformation and made him feel different. His current confidence and demeanor are absolutely not what he had a year ago. Continuous victories can sublimate a player.

  "This year is really a special year" Duncan thought back to the time when he was under Odom, the whole team was working hard for a league eight, but it always seemed like they were one step away from success. Last year's 16th place finish was already considered very successful, but this year, under Zhuang Fei's leadership, they easily made it into the elite eight, and not only that, the team has yet to lose a single game, which makes him full of respect and admiration for Zhuang Fei, a coach who can bring victories.

  "Champion, it's really going to be champion soon, and it's already been half a year since the first training session." The championship goal that Zhuang Fei said on the first day of training is about to come true. Deng Kun couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions.

  This will be a great season and a season of miracles, the excitement in his heart also made Duncan's footsteps quicken involuntarily.

  Kentucky, are you ready? Duncan muttered a sentence at this time.

  .........

  .........

  On March 20, 1996, outside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, fans of Vicksburg High School had begun filtering into the arena.

  "What's Kentucky got? We've got Tim and Vince"

  " Carter will definitely blow up Anthony Walker and let everyone know that he is the strongest small forward in NCAA."

  "Muhammad can't stop Duncan's footsteps, Duncan is the strongest"

  "So today we will definitely win"

  The game was held at the home stadium of Vicksburg, but there were also some Kentucky fans who came here and heard the ridicule and teasing from the Vicksburg fans. They wanted to go over and reason with the Vicksburg fans, but when they saw the dense crowd outside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, they ultimately chose to give up. At this time, reason told them that silence was the best choice. The stadium of Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum had been completely surrounded, but countless fans were still rushing towards here.

  This is the last time this season that Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum hosts a Wake Forest game, and if they make it to the semifinals, they will go to the site of the championship game for their final contest.

  Fans of Vicksen Forest hope to go all the way with the team, and this game is a city-wide mobilization.

  "Robbin, Chris, CJ, hurry up, we can't get into the stadium if we're late. These are front-row basketball tickets I managed to get with great difficulty." A middle-aged black man yelled outside a van.

  "Alright Charles, now shut up, Chris's poster is gone and I'm helping him find it." A woman's voice came from inside the van.

  "Alright, Robin, hurry up," said the middle-aged man with a hint of disgruntlement, clearly intimidated.

  "Found it!" Finally, after a middle-aged man had waited impatiently for several minutes, a voice like heavenly music to the middle-aged man came from inside the car.

  "Honestly, there are so many people, why do you have to come here in person? Isn't it the same watching on TV?" The woman complained, indeed there were a lot of people, she was holding her child and being squeezed to the point of discomfort.

  "Mom, I want Carter to sign the poster he gave me." The woman looked at her child in her arms and sighed helplessly. The whole family were basketball fans, what a suffering! Damn Vicks, damn Carter, damn Duncan, and that damn Chinese guy.

  Zhuang Fei was shot again.

  ;