The next day, at two o'clock in the afternoon.
The game between Butler University and the University of Oklahoma finally kicked off.
This game to determine the elite top [-] places also attracted widespread attention from fans.
Although the top seed in the Eastern District is the legendary giant University of North Carolina, Alabama, where Birmingham is located, is still some distance away from North Carolina, and there are not many North Carolina fans here.
Had the game been held near North Carolina, UNC would have taught other teams what home field advantage is.
Because it is the No. 3 seed, Butler University has the right to use the locker room of the home team, and the University of Oklahoma can only use the narrow locker room of the visiting team.
At this time, the head coach of the Shortfooters, Ron Kruger, was nervously repeating the previous tactics, but Griffin almost didn't go in, but sat there thinking about the evaluation of him by the media.
"Blake Griffin's skills are too poor. He doesn't look like a college student, but like a beginner who has just touched basketball. I suggest that he go back to high school and wait until he has a solid foundation in basketball before going to college..."
"I admit that his physical talent is very explosive, but look at his short hands, he is not a Tyrannosaurus rex, he can tear opponents apart with his teeth!"
"Greg Oden is struggling in the NBA. No one still has expectations for Griffin, right? His talent and skills are far inferior to Oden. I don't recommend any team to use the pick on him!"
"..."
In the past season, Griffin ushered in endless criticism from the media.
He was under pressure that he shouldn't have at his age.
But who made him once a talented high school student famous all over the United States?
Countless people have high hopes for him, thinking that he will be the next superstar.
At the beginning, he was offered countless prestigious schools to choose from. After careful consideration, he chose the University of Oklahoma.
With Oden and Durant in the lead, Griffin is confident that he will dominate the NCAA in his freshman year, and then enter the NBA as the No. [-] pick.
His talent and his explosive athletic ability are his greatest confidence.
But the reality gave Griffin a blow.
After the intensity of the confrontation increased, his unfavorable brutal style of play in high school no longer worked, and he became helpless in the face of a shrinking defense and a tight rotation of the zone defense.
The opponent's defense lay in front of him like an iron wall, making him at a loss what to do.
Is this the NCAA?
What would a higher level of the NBA look like?
Griffin, who was severely beaten by the society, quickly gave up his unrealistic ideas, settled down to exercise, and strengthened the practice of basic skills.
The draft website predicts his draft prospect as 5th to 25th pick, which is very volatile, and it depends on whether any team dares to bet on his talent.
Fortunately, there is still March Madness. As long as he performs well on this stage that focuses the attention of the whole United States, he may still be favored by scouts.
But even after accumulating a season of experience, Griffin only scored 12 points and 4 rebounds in the first round against St. Joseph University, and his performance was mediocre.
And today's opponent is last year's dark horse and this year's recognized strong team Butler University. He is very uncertain. Is it really necessary to postpone the election for a year?
"Blake, let's go, we are going to enter." When his mind was tumbling, a person patted him on the shoulder and reminded him.
Startled, Griffin looked up and saw that it was his brother Taylor.
He looked around the locker room, and his teammates were walking towards the door one after another.
"Okay, I'll be right there." He quickly took a sip of the energy drink and followed.
The admission ceremony was quickly complete the players of the two teams had a simple warm-up, and the game was finally about to start.
Griffin looked curiously at No. 30 on the opponent's team. Even after watching a lot of Curry's highlights, he still couldn't believe that this seemingly harmless baby face turned out to be the two-time NCAA scoring leader.
He looks like an immature high school student.
Just by looking at his face, some people would believe him if he was a primary school student.
There is also the head coach of Butler University, who looks like he is not a few years older than himself.
And that small forward, is he Jordan's illegitimate son?
Griffin shook his head, this is really a wonderful team...
When he diverted his attention and relieved the tension in his heart, the game finally started.
The Shorties successfully jumped the ball and had possession of the ball for the first attack.
Griffin came to the frontcourt, struggling to block the opponent behind him, and opened his hands for the ball.
The coach said before the start of the game that Butler University's interior defense is not strong, and he must seize this opportunity to perform well.
A teammate passed the ball, and Griffin sank his shoulders and started hitting back.
But he pushed a few times and found that Campbell behind him was motionless.
Griffin took a deep breath, next season I will definitely strengthen my lower body strength training!
He immediately changed his strategy, turned left and wanted to rush past Campbell, but suddenly a hand stretched out from the side and broke the basketball in his hand!
Griffin looked back and found that it was the player on the opposing team who looked like Jordan.
Griffin was very impressed with this student of the same grade. His name is also Butler, which has the same name as the school.
After Butler made the steal, he quickly passed the ball to Curry. After receiving the ball, the latter quickly advanced with the ball.
3: 0.
Looking back, Griffin didn't believe in evil and continued to take the ball to single out Campbell, but this time he encountered AJ Graves' help defense, made a hasty pass error, and was seized by the Bulldogs to fight back.
This time it was AJ Graves with a layup, 5:0.
In the subsequent games, Griffin did not dare to make mistakes. Given his tactical status in the team, two singles was already the limit.
Griffin, who had nowhere to vent his energy, grabbed several backcourt rebounds one after another, and the offensive end finally seized the opportunity to show off a bounce.
He grabbed an offensive rebound in an attack by the Quickies, flew up, and slammed the ball into the basket, with a very violent aesthetic look, showing a trace of the demeanor of the later white monsters.
After landing, Griffin roared like venting, full of domineering.
But at this moment, Griffin found that the Chinese head coach of the opponent gave him a very malicious look, which made him tremble inexplicably, and a bad feeling arose.
Then, he knew where this feeling came from.
Curry put him in front of him through the pick and roll continuously, and he was singled out.
And every time he was swayed by Curry's dexterous dribble, not only couldn't prevent Curry's shots and breakthroughs, but also suffered several fouls. The coach called a timeout to remind him.
After returning to the court, the Quickies double-teamed Curry, but Zhang Yu replaced Campbell with Mike Green, pushed Butler to the power forward position, and the space on the court suddenly opened up.
Curry faced double-teaming and found open teammates many times, and they also frequently hit open three-pointers.