Huaxia, Beijing, Chongwen District.
In BJ in late March, the cold weather gradually faded, office workers began to take off their down jackets, and professional women wearing stockings and short skirts appeared on the street.
Su Qun parked his car and walked into the Tiantan Mansion on Xingfu Street, where the editorial department of "Basketball Pioneer" is located.
He took the elevator to the fifth floor, entered his office, opened the window for ventilation, turned on the computer, and prepared to start his day's work.
Since its publication in 2004, "Basketball Pioneer" has quickly become popular all over the country and become one of the largest basketball print media in China.
Su Qun, as the editor-in-chief of the magazine, gained even more prestige in the domestic basketball circle, and was unrivaled in the limelight for a while, and was even called "China's Basketball Report No. 1".
But he didn't show a little bit of arrogance amidst the praises, and he didn't dare to relax in the work, and he was always one of the first people to come to the editorial department.
He sat down for less than 5 minutes, then stood up again, frowning and closing the window.
As a person who likes to go outdoors for photography, although Su Qun doesn't know what smog is, she is still keenly aware that the air in BJ is getting worse.
He sat down again, picked up a pile of printed English newspapers and magazines next to him, and flipped through them.
As the first reporter in China to interview the NBA on the spot, he knows that his biggest advantage is his profound qualifications. Although the "Basketball Pioneer" has many resident reporters in the United States, he still maintains his attention to the American basketball world.
These newspapers and magazines are faxed back intermittently from the United States. Although he is busy with work, he still insists on reading some of them every day.
The top one is a copy of "USA Today", which can be seen from the date of two days ago.
He took a cursory look at the reports about the NBA. He knew all the news that day, and then focused on the part about the NCAA.
In the two years since the magazine was founded, almost every aspect of the NBA has been explored to the extreme. Su Qun has always wanted to develop a new column.
After some thought, he set his sights on the NCAA.
As the most popular league in the United States, the NCAA is the base that provides rookie players for the NBA. Most American stars come to the NBA from the NCAA through the draft.
At present, Chinese fans are still very unfamiliar with the NCAA, but fans are also paying more and more attention to the NCAA. Su Qun believes that this will be a promising direction for the magazine to report in the future.
"Huh? It's interesting..." His eyes lit up when he saw an exclusive interview in the newspaper.
"…This newspaper had the honor to interview Coach Z of Butler University. He is from China and is the youngest head coach in the NCAA. However, in his first coaching team, he led the team to an astonishing 30 wins and 3 losses in the regular season. Record, ranked first in the league, and successfully won the playoffs, allowing the team to enter the crazy March again after a lapse of four years, attracting the attention of the United States, and its starting point guard Stephen Curry even averaged 27.7 points ranked first in the NCAA scoring list... Coach Z, how did you achieve such a score in your rookie season?"
"This is thanks to my coaching staff, especially my chief assistant Stevens, who has provided me with a lot of help. Of course, my players have implemented the tactics perfectly on the field, and it is the team that can enter the madness. The most important reason for March, I just chose the tactics that worked best for them."
"Can you comment on Stephen Curry?"
"He's a real genius."
"But it is said that he was rejected by many schools before he joined Butler, is that true?"
"You know, there are always some people who are bound by traditional concepts, and they don't see the great potential in Stephen."
"So you're not a traditional person?"
"Of course, you can tell by my age. I don't think there is a head coach with a sharper concept than me in the entire NCAA."
"Speaking of which, can you talk about your experience as the head coach of the Bulldogs? I don't want to admit it, but college basketball in general is very conservative, and I think your age and nationality are a big obstacle."
"It's a long story. When I first came to the United States, I wanted to join the Bulldogs. After half a year of doing odd jobs, Coach Lickett..."
"One last question, what are your expectations for the team's performance?"
"The top sixteen."
"Are you so confident in the team?"
"No, the board of directors has strict requirements on my leadership performance. If the team fails to reach the top [-], I will be fired."
"...Okay, thank Coach Z for accepting the interview, and wish Butler success in tomorrow's game!"
After reading the entire interview, Su Qun's eyes became brighter and brighter. He pondered for a while, and then focused on Zhang Yu's resume.
"The 24-year-old Chinese head coach led the team into March Madness..." He tapped his fingers on the table and laughed.
Su Qun took out his mobile phone, found a number, and dialed:
"Xiao Duan, do you know a person named Zhang Yu, he is the head coach of NCAA Butler University... I don't know? Then you start to learn about Zhang Yu now, he is Chinese, it should not be difficult to find... go Interview him? No, no, no, don't contact him first, wait and talk... Okay, okay, that's it, you are busy."
Su Qun put down his cell phone. The person who was talking to him just now was Duan Ran, a reporter from the "Basketball Pioneer" based in the United States, who was his right-hand man.
He asked Duan Ran to get a preliminary understanding of Zhang Yu first, and planned to interview Zhang Yu after Butler University went a little further.
No way, domestic fans know very little about the NCAA, so they know a little bit about March Madness. The "Basketball Pioneer" also reported on Chinese players who played in the NCAA, such as Ma Jian in the 90s, but the response mediocre.
And Zhang Yu is not a player yet, Su Qun wants to be more on the safe side and interview Butler after he has achieved good enough results.
He put this matter aside for the time being and started his day's work.
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Zhang Yu didn't know that his name had been passed back to China, and he was remembered by the editor-in-chief of the largest basketball print media in China.
When Su Qun saw this interview, the NCAA round of 64 had already been played.
Butler's opponent in the first round is the Old Dominion University. This school has a better record than Butler in the past. It can enter March Madness from time to time, but it just stops at the top 64. It is a standard championship team.
The core player in the team is the junior swingman Brian Henderson, who averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He is relatively versatile and tough on the defensive end.
But the other side of omnipotence is omnipotence.
During the game, Zhang Yu focused on tactics against Brian Henderson. On the basis of Mike Green's main defense, AJ Graves and Julian Beko were always ready to provide him with personal services.
After the whole game, Brian Henderson felt that a hand was attached to his body all the time. He broke into the inside and had the kind condolences from Drew and Campbell. He was warmly entertained by the entire Bulldogs for 40 minutes.
This directly led to him making 18 of 5 shots and scoring only 12 points, which was a big drop in performance.
The offensive ability of other players of the Old Dominion University was lackluster, unable to make up for Bryan Henderson's scoring gap, which caused a serious setback to the team's offense.
On the other hand, the Bulldogs have a very strong offensive integrity. Zhang Yu is very cautious. He did not put all the treasure on Curry alone, but played team basketball.
Due to the weak inside of the old Dominion University, Zhang Yu boldly pushed Julian Beko to the forward position, replacing Campbell as the starter, adding a shooter to the team's outside.
Under the weak defense of the old Dominion, the Bulldogs blossomed more, with Mike Green, Drew, Julian Beko and AJ Graves all playing well.
Curry is still the best performer on the team. He made 14 of 9 shots and 9 of 6 three-pointers in the game. He scored 24 points very efficiently and led the team to beat the opponent 76:64 and successfully advanced to 32. powerful.
This is because the last 7 minutes of the game were reduced to garbage time, the Bulldogs' defense was a little relaxed, and the opponent took the opportunity to recover a few points, otherwise the final point difference would remain at around 20 points.
After this game, Butler's dark horse posture became even more dazzling. Coupled with the addition of the previous USA TODAY interview, Zhang Yu became famous in the United States. Many fans know that the youngest head coach in the NCAA is only 24 years old, and he is still Chinese. Start following Butler University.
...
Chicago, Illinois.
The Windy City, located on the shore of Lake Michigan, has a mild climate. The average temperature in March is nearly 10 degrees Celsius, but it still feels wet and cold.
Louis came out of the hotel, tightened his fleece jacket, and walked quickly to Chicago State University.
Every year, March Madness holds games in neutral cities and does not allow teams to play home and away games across the United States. This year's first and second round games are hosted in Chicago.
Lewis came to the Jones Center arena at Chicago State University. There was already a long line at the door, most of them wearing blue and white sweaters, and he could only be at the end of the line.
Louis looked at the dark black sweater on his body, raised his eyes, and saw only a few black spots dotted in the long blue and white river, and whispered with some resentment:
"The fans are so amazing, you will definitely not win!"
Today there will be a match between the Bulldogs and the Kentucky State University for the top [-] spots. Fans from both sides will be present. As an NCAA giant, Kentucky State University fans undoubtedly account for an overwhelming majority.
However, as a dark polo team, the Bulldogs do not lack supporters. Many fans from other cities even made a special trip to Chicago to cheer for the Bulldogs.
Louis waited at the door for more than an hour, and finally entered the Jones Center.
The atmosphere in the arena gradually became warmer with the increase in the number of people entering the arena, and buzzing conversations rang out, lingering around the stadium.
Louis found his seat with ease and sat down. Tickets for the round of 32 games were hard to buy, but he made an early start, and the tickets he bought were not too bad. They were located in the middle of the arena, which was more suitable for watching games.
"Hey, could you please step aside?"
As soon as he sat down, a pleasant voice sounded in his ear.