Chapter Twenty-Two: Crazy

  In the Vicksburg University locker room, Duncan held a psychology textbook with an expressionless face, Szczepanik quietly lowered his head and didn't know what he was thinking about. Carter panted heavily, looking tired and somewhat guilty. In the first quarter, he was the most exhausted player on the team, restricted by Steve Wojciechowski of the opposing team. Lagabere looked embarrassed and uneasy, fidgeting with her fingers, while James Posey looked bored, glancing around.

  Zhuang Fei looked at the situation in the locker room and felt a bit more at ease. Except for some disappointment, the players didn't show any unusual behavior. Disappointment was okay, it meant that the players knew their own shortcomings. Zhuang Fei was worried that these players would lose their balance because of being behind by half-time in this game. Before, they had always been winning big and suppressing their opponents, but now they were being suppressed, which required adjustment.

  "What's going on, why isn't anyone talking? You guys are usually so chatty," said Zhuang Fei with a smile. Because the team had been winning games all along, the locker room of Weikessen Forest was always very lively, James Posey often joked around, and Carter often bullied Raja Bell.

  The players looked at Zhuang Fei one by one and chose to remain silent. At this time, they really didn't have the mood to joke around.

  "Vince, remember your first game?" Zhuang Fei laughed at Carter.

  Wensicarter nodded regretfully. Zhuang Fei continued, "After getting the ball in this game, did you not know how to handle it? Just like when you first faced Kangda, your handling of the ball in the first quarter was terrible, if I had to use a word to describe it, it would be like dog shit."

  Carter's eyes dimmed, in the first quarter of this game he was the second worst player on his team, he had no excuse and didn't want to make one.

  "Vince, I remember you're not just a passer, right? Why didn't I see your personal attack in the first quarter? Even if Steve Wojciechowski's defense is strong, it can't completely shut down your personal attack ability. Where's your confidence? Are you afraid just because you were defended twice?"

  Carter was unsuccessful in his first two attacks against Steffon Wojciechowski in the first quarter, after all, Steffon Wojciechowski's defensive ability is absolutely top-notch after being strengthened. Since then, Carter has chosen to pass the ball more often after receiving it, but what's depressing for Carter is that his dribbling route can always be predicted by Steffon Wojciechowski in advance, which shows that Carter's passing skills are insufficient. In the past, when opponents were weak, he didn't feel this way, but facing Steffon Wojciechowski, all these shortcomings were magnified, making it extremely difficult for Carter to handle the ball. Therefore, for a long time in the first quarter, Duncan had to organize and respond from high positions under the basket, and to put it bluntly, Carter was completely shut down by Steffon Wojciechowski in the first quarter.

  "Vince, I need your aggression, I need your attack, take out your courage to face these difficulties, if you can't get past Steve Wojciechowski, you will never achieve greatness. Vince, you are the organizer of our team, no doubt, but at the same time, you are also the sharpest blade on our team, don't be afraid, go bravely charge at Steve Wojciechowski!"

  Wenskate saw Zhuang Fei without blaming himself, gritted his teeth and nodded heavily.

  "And you, Woli, are you really only 18 years old? I think you look like a 58-year-old old man. I see you standing still on the court all the time, and I thought you were an old man who couldn't run anymore." Zhuang Fei joked with a smile. The other players also tried to hold back their laughter, even Szczebiak himself wanted to laugh.

  The first quarter of the game, Szczerbiak was one of the most normal players on the team, his performance was rarely fluctuating, very stable, which is also the reason why the team can always keep the score close. However, in this game against Duke, what Szczerbiak has done so far is not enough, he needs to work harder. Szczerbiak's speed is average, so on the court, he loves to be a spot-up shooter, but in this game, he can't just be a spot-up shooter.

  "Wally, I need you to move around, use your pull on the three-point line to create space for your teammates to run, I need more of your off-ball movement"

  "Raja, I've told you before, in basketball the offense always has the initiative, defense is about limiting them as much as possible. You just need to do your best every time, and no one will blame you. So please don't look so guilty, you haven't done anything wrong, there's no need for self-blame." Zhuang Fei said to Raja Babel. Raja Babel still thinks this way now, always thinking that not being able to defend against the opponent is his mistake, his fault. This spirit of self-criticism is commendable, but sometimes it also makes people feel like he lacks dominance and appears weak.

  "You guys had a terrible first quarter, the worst of this regular season, but so what? We were only down by 5 points. Even with such a poor performance, we were only down by 5 points. So, everyone, let's boost our morale! We are strong, we can reverse the situation, and we will definitely win!" Zhuang Fei said, not forgetting to have other players shout out loud "We will definitely win!"

  After shouting for a while, Zhuang Fei clearly felt that the depression in the hearts of these players had been shouted out, which was exactly what Zhuang Fei wanted.

  "Alright, I'll make a personnel adjustment in the second quarter. Steph, you're resting in the second quarter, LaGaa you're up, we'll play small ball lineup. Tim, your interior defense will face great pressure, can you guarantee the team's defensive rebound? And LaGaa, James, your defense needs to be more aggressive next quarter, slow down their three outside players' passing speed. Vince, use your speed to help teammates with defensive assistance, you're a defensive free man."

  Zhuang Fly's decision to replace a big man with a small one is well thought out. Duke University's outside shooting today is indeed stronger than Vicksburg, and Zhuang Fly needs to use numbers to make up for it, making it difficult for Vicksburg's inside defense. Duncan not only has to guard two players at once, but if the opponent's outside player breaks through to the basket, Duncan's situation will be even more difficult. Fortunately, Duke University's three outside players are not the type of players who excel at breaking through.

  "Raja, James, Vince, Wally, I hope you guys can use aggressive defense to disrupt their offense from the high position and take some pressure off Tim."

  This is a gamble. If this lineup doesn't work out, he'll still make adjustments. In the end, if there's no other way, he can only go back to his previous tactical setup.

  .........

  .........

  "The second quarter began, and the starting lineup of the Vicksburg team changed. Stefengreen was withdrawn, and James Posey and Lagabell came up at the same time. What's going on? A center plus four swingmen?" The CBS commentator said with a look of surprise as soon as the second quarter started.

  What's going on? They actually replaced an inside player with a scoring guard, how is this supposed to work? After all, the NCAA is still relatively traditional at this time, and the five positions are still very clear. Zhuang Fei's team didn't even have a point guard, which was already unconventional, but now they've also eliminated the power forward position.

  "This, I think this Chinese coach should be trusting Duncan's strength, the team added an outside line and gained more speed and vitality. This Chinese person should start preparing for outside pressure defense. However, this lineup has advantages but also obvious disadvantages. Duke University's two inside lines are not bad, Duncan will face great pressure."

  Lary Bird is also puzzled, he thinks that Vickson's tactics in the first quarter were not problematic. The team falling behind was not a problem with the tactics. If they continued with the first quarter's tactics, Vickson could have used Duncan's absolute strength to turn the game around. There was no need to take such a risk and change the lineup.

  Not only did the commentators and Bird not understand, but some professional basketball coaches who watched this game live or on TV also didn't get it. This was a complete trampling of the traditional five positions in basketball. Even the craziest person wouldn't come up with such an absurd lineup, just like no one would play a soccer match with 9 defenders and 1 forward or 9 midfielders and 1 forward.

  "Tex, is this the coach you recommended?"

  In a high-end apartment in Chicago, two people sat in front of the TV, intently watching the game.

  "Phil, what do you think?"

  "Very bold, extremely bold, unheard-of boldness. I think even that madman Pat Riley wouldn't have the guts to do this. Tsk tsk, four swingmen, and he actually dares to do it! Pat Riley always says that the future of basketball will belong to small forwards, that the best lineup is five all-around small forwards around 2.05 meters tall, but I've never seen him put it into practice." Phil chuckled and nodded.

  "Phil, it's not just that, he also has a very good grasp of the triangle offense, no stiffness at all, and he understands it thoroughly."

  "Tex, you're certainly complimentary about him, but would he be willing to give up the head coaching job at Wicsonsin University to become my assistant coach? Young men are always full of ambition and dreams seeking high challenges," Phil Jackson said with some regret.

  Rajon Rondo and James Posey came off the bench, and the entire defensive and offensive strategy of the Celtics became more vibrant.

  The four players on the backcourt were all desperately running, even Szczygiel, who was not fond of running, started to run. Soon, Vicksen surprisingly turned around the disadvantage in the first quarter with a numerical advantage on the perimeter. What's more astonishing is that Duncan seemed to be unfazed when facing two opposing inside players, still looking so effortless.

  In an instant, Duke University was put on the back foot by Vicksburg's crazy pressing, and they didn't have the composure of the first quarter.

  Witnessing this change, Larry Bird couldn't help but admire the young man. Lately, he felt that life had lost its challenge and interest; perhaps becoming a head coach was not a bad choice. The idea of wanting to become a head coach germinated in Larry Bird's mind.