Chapter 20: Coach K's Prayer

  "Charles, I've also got tickets to this game!" Outside the Cameron Indoor Stadium, a middle-aged man wearing a Duke blue No. 21 jersey waved his ticket and shouted loudly to his distant companion.

  "Let me see, wow, this is a front-row seat! This is priceless, how did you get it?" Charles, the black man, said in surprise.

  "Haha, just now I was sharp-eyed and saw a Duke University fan hesitating whether to go in and watch the game. You know it's all about luck, but unexpectedly his ticket was for the front row! Looks like my luck is good today, I think the Blue Devils will also have good luck. I said to Charles, how did you bring Chris along too?" The middle-aged fan even patted the head of a little boy named Chris who looked only 8 or 9 years old standing in front of him.

  "I couldn't help it either, Chris insisted on following me himself. CJ also wanted to come, but you know he has a game too," said Charles, the man with a helpless tone.

  "So that's it, little Chris likes which player of the Devils?" The middle-aged man picked up the little boy and rubbed his cute forehead again.

  "Wens, I, I like Wens Carter" The little boy was made somewhat uncomfortable and shyly replied.

  "Ah, Vince, I knew it, you kids are all about Vince these days," the middle-aged man said with a feigned sigh. "Charles, looks like only us old folks still appreciate Tim." This made the little boy in his arms feel somewhat at a loss, thinking he had misspoken.

  "Haha, I told you not to jump to conclusions. I like Duncan and Carter both, let's go, it's time to get in the game," Charles said as he snatched the child back from the middle-aged man's arms.

  Today is the last round of the ACC 1995-1996 regular season, and today's game at Cameron Indoor Stadium is the most-watched game in this round of NCAA, with Wake Forest facing Duke University. Wake Forest will be vying for its first-ever undefeated record in ACC regular-season history.

  This also brought a large number of Wrexham fans from Windsor to Durham, this game is one of the greatest moments in Wrexham's history, no one wants to miss the opportunity to witness history, so these Wrexham fans are buying tickets for this game at high prices outside the stadium.

  "Larry, welcome to CBS's invitation to be the commentator for this game." A tall white man stood out in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

  "I've been looking forward to this game for a long time too, and I'm honored to be the commentator for this match," said Larry Bird with a smile.

  "Larry, look over there, your good buddy Robert Parish is here too, and other Charlotte Hornets players are also here"

  "Charlotte Hornets didn't have a game today, huh? He's really idle. Anyway, even if they had a game, he would still be very idle. I think he should have retired early, the taste of sitting on the bench is unbearable." Larry Bird first glanced at Parish and saw him gesticulating, then joked.

  "This game today is being watched nationwide, the first time in NCAA history that a team has gone undefeated, Larry, do you think Wake Forest can achieve their goal?"

  "If both sides play normally, Viktoria Plzeň can win 90% of the time"

  "Is it just 90%?" the commentator asked back discontentedly.

  "Isn't 90% enough?" Larry Bird shot back at him.

  "Before the game, Coach K said he had given up resisting and let God decide the outcome of this game. According to our estimated statistics, if Vicksen Lin can maintain its lead throughout the game and win in the end, the ratings of this game are likely to break through 20%, and the number of viewers will also break through 300 million, so I naturally hope that Vicksen Lin can have a 100% chance of winning."

  "Are there really so many people watching this game in the US? I remember that in 1987, the NBA Finals had a rating of just over 15%, and this is just a regular season game. Larry Bird exclaimed. NCAA games generally have much higher ratings than the NBA, but if an NCAA regular season game can get more viewers than the NBA Finals, then the NBA is really tragic."

  "Of course, this game will set an NCAA regular season viewership record, and if Vicksburg makes it to the championship game, breaking the 24% highest basketball rating in the 1979 NCAA Championship Game between you and Magic Johnson is also absolutely possible. You know, Larry, Vicksburg has had 20 nationally televised games this year, the most in the country, with a low rating of 11% and a high of 17%. Vicksburg's basketball is really beautiful, showteam, everyone in the country loves showteam. Now some viewers are even discussing what it would be like if Vicksburg played the Chicago Bulls, they're eager to see how this showteam performs against the world's strongest team."

  Larry Bird nodded in agreement, then looked around at the stands and said, "I'd like to see a game like that, it would be fun. Look, Duke's home court has been completely taken over, three-quarters of the fans are wearing Carolina blue jerseys, I thought we were playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium."

  "Yes, according to our TV station's news, there will be around 50,000 Vicksburg Forest fans gathering outside the stadium for this match."

  .........

  .........

  When Zhuang Fei and the players of Viksund University came out, there was a huge applause and cheers from the scene. Zhuang Fei looked at the stands and was startled, thinking he had arrived at his home stadium.

  "Oh, Larry, this Chinese coach was also shocked by the atmosphere on site. A 25-year-old young man who created the NCAA's youngest head coach record led Vicksburg to a 31-0 record in just one season after taking over, which is simply a miracle."

  The CBS announcer continued.

  "Vicksen Forest quickly got on the winning track after a chaotic preseason, and was not favored after the departure of team core Randolf. Unexpectedly, this Chinese did not fall under these difficulties, Vince Carter, Wallace Zbigniew, James Posey, Raja Bell, these four are just freshmen in their first year, and Tim Duncan is only a junior."

  "If Vicksburg's batch of players can stick around in the NCAA, I think Vicksburg will be an undisputed powerhouse for years to come"

  "How long Duke can last in this game is unknown, but being able to take down the former champion and start the NCAA championship journey, I think this is what all Duke fans want to see most"

  Duke University's performance this season is not bad, much better than last season, with 19 wins and 12 losses so far, ranking fourth in the ACC league. However, when facing Wake Forest, no one in the US would look good on them, otherwise Duke fans wouldn't sell their tickets either.

  But is this really true? The commentator didn't see any worry on Zhuang Fei's face.

  The new quest from last night is called "Coach K's Prayer", it's absolutely a more perverted task than "Maburi's Grudge".

  Coach K's Prayer

  Task level: A

  Mission Description: Coach K is at a loss against the mighty Villanova, and sincerely prays to God for help. With a sincere heart that moves heaven and earth, all players of Duke University have their attributes increased by 10 when facing Villanova University in regular season games. Mission requirement: Defeat Duke University.

  Reward for completing tasks: Unknown, Penalty for uncompleted tasks: Unknown.

  Zhuang Fei almost fainted when he first saw this task. All players' attributes increased by 10. Taking Stephon Green, the worst player in the starting lineup of Vicksen Forest, as an example, after adding 10 points, his stats became: Shooting: 53, Offense: 52, Defense: 80, Physical Talent: 72. Zhuang Fei was not clear about the calculation method for ability values, but with these attributes, Stephon Green's ability value would be at least over 70. To know that players like Stephon Green are all over the NCAA, Duke University alone has six or seven players with similar or even better strength than Stephon Green. After learning about this task, Zhuang Fei quickly prepared to spend 100 Dynasty points to inquire about Duke University, but was finally informed that it was not possible to query the task team during the task period.

  If Duke University were all players like Steve Green, he wouldn't worry. Zhuang Fei is afraid that Duke University has strong men like James Posey, and after getting this bonus, his ability will surpass Carter. Fortunately, Duke University doesn't have players of the level of Marbury, Pierce, and Ray Allen, otherwise Zhuang Fei would cry to death.

  Even so, Zhuang Fei could feel the pressure was enormous. After the addition, Duke University would have at least 6 or 7 players with an ability value of over 70, and there might even be one or two with a value of over 80. With such strength, Duke University could already compare to Wake Forest, which only had four players with an ability value of over 70.

  This game's bench depth and lineup depth can't compare to Duke's, they can only rely on their top players, Zhuang Fei once again put all the expectations on Duncan.