After the third game ended, Zeng Xingyang reflected deeply and, besides his daily training, continued additional defensive training.
Although his defensive performance on the court was average, he still put in full effort, so his defensive experience increased rapidly over the past few games, and he's close to leveling up.
Whether it's core strength training, tactical drills, or practicing sliding steps, all these contribute to boosting defensive experience, leading to an interconnected improvement in defense.
He's somewhat eager to level up to Level 3; otherwise, facing some strong offensive guards, Level 2 defense still feels a bit inadequate.
After all, some players in the NCAA have offensive capabilities that match NBA players.
Finally, on the morning before the fourth game of the Kentucky Wildcats.
While practicing sliding steps, Zeng Xingyang felt his feet became significantly more agile and nimble.
"Clang! Defense upgraded to Level 3."
[Defense: Level 3]
[Experience: 5/5000]
[Note: Reached NBA-level defensive ability!]
Zeng Xingyang felt not only his foot speed improved, but also noticed an enhancement in his defensive awareness and reaction time.
Simultaneously, he also gained some techniques for watching videos and analyzing opponents' offensive characteristics in his mind.
Zeng Xingyang stopped, picked up a bottle of water nearby, and took a big gulp.
The efforts of this period continued to pay off, which is also a form of spiritual enjoyment.
However, Zeng Xingyang was unsure about the specific meaning of the note: had his defense reached the minimum NBA standard or the average level?
But in the afternoon, when Zeng Xingyang watched videos of his opponents, he already sensed that he could limit the matched-up player.
Even if the opposing player was also hailed as having NBA lottery potential.
Zeng Xingyang was even more looking forward to the arrival of tomorrow.
....
December 10th.
Rupp Arena.
At six in the evening, although there was still an hour until the start of the game, the entrance was already jam-packed.
Fans from all over were flocking in.
It can be said that the attention some strong NCAA matchups receive is not less than NBA games.
In fact, in many cities without NBA teams, NCAA college teams are more like the representatives of the city.
Fans in Kentucky were very enthusiastic, starting to beat drums and shout outside the venue early.
"Go Wildcats!"
"Take them down!"
"Keep the winning streak!!"
The die-hard fans of the Kentucky Wildcats also put on uniform blue jerseys, shouting various slogans, as if this was a war!
The Kentucky Wildcats faced the challenge of the Louisville Cardinals at home, compared to Morehead State University and University of Richmond, on paper, the Louisville Cardinals were stronger in overall strength.
Last year, Louisville won the national championship, and they are a renowned powerhouse team in the country.
Currently, their lineup includes three players with NBA potential.
Power forward Montrezl Harrell, center Onuaku, and shooting guard Rozier.
In the last game, the University of Louisville defeated their opponent by 30 points, and team core Rozier showed excellent form on the court, scoring 33 points himself. His name appeared frequently in national NCAA news reports.
This is another lottery-level super offensive guard!
Undoubtedly, this was also a focal battle, with the stadium packed with nearly twenty-two thousand spectators.
The fans' voices gradually united, cheering for the home team.
After warming up, Rozier sat on the sidelines, and Harrell came over to drink water and sat down as well.
"Terry, don't be afraid on the court in this game, I'm here," Harrell said.
"Why would I be afraid? My opponents are Devin Booker and that Chinese guy, both have poor defense, and I think your pressure might be greater," Rozier said with a bitter smile.
Harrell didn't like the way he spoke, why say he was afraid when meeting Kentucky on an away game?
Kentucky University's frontline is Towns and Koulistan, both steady lottery-level prospects, Harrell's reputation compared to them is much lesser, you might be the one to be afraid.
"Humph, I'm going to take them down, I'm going to dominate them." Harrell said with defiance.
He's really fed up with the media and scouts' perception of him.
Why label his prospects as a second-round pick?
His ability is clearly at the first-round top-three level, Harrell has always been extremely confident in himself.
.......
Inside the arena, ESPN commentators, various media, and scouts from around the world were also in position.
Scouts at NCAA Alliance games aren't just from the NBA; there are also scouts from European leagues. If they find players suitable for European leagues, they might bring them over.
Some European scouts also focused their attention on Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang's physical appearance looks good, and his warm-up three-pointers were quite accurate. After checking the stats, they were adequate...
But, being Asian, if he were a forward, it might be considered, but for a guard, there are higher demands.
Asian guards generally give scouts an impression of being physically less gifted, with average fundamentals and not great tactical habits.
If both a Black guard and an Asian guard have similar statistics, scouts typically prefer the Black player.
After all, not every Asian is Jeremy Lin.
The warm-up ended quickly, and both teams entered the opening ceremony.
Louisville Cardinals starting lineup: Chris Jones, Terry Rozier, Wayne Black, Montrezl Harrell, Onuaku.
Kentucky Wildcats starting lineup: Tyler Yonas, Booker, Lyles, Koulistan, Towns.
Zeng Xingyang was still on the bench.
The game between the two sides started quickly.
Unlike the first three smooth games, this game saw Kentucky in a passive position right from the start.
Harrell showcased combat abilities inconsistent with his reputation, being extremely active in the paint, either catching alley-oops from teammates or single-handedly scoring against Towns.
Harrell looks rugged, but his technique isn't; his footwork is very agile, putting Towns and Koulistan's inside defense in a passive position.
Harrell's offense was inside the basket with no mid to long-range threat, but Towns and Koulistan just couldn't contain his near-basket scoring tonight.
Meanwhile, on the outside, Booker's defense was also burst through by Rozier.
Rozier is only 185cm tall but plays as a shooting guard with strong driving and shooting abilities and a high shooting percentage. Right at the start, he created chaos with continuous drives.
Booker and Tyler Ulis' defense didn't match up, leading to their failure to contain him.
Then on offense, Towns was a bit too eager to respond to Harris, resulting in continuous solo attacks that faced double teams without passing out, leading to several elementary mistakes. These were quickly turned into counterattacks by the University of Louisville, greatly damaging the morale of the University of Kentucky.
The collapse of both inside and outside defense left the Kentucky Wildcats in a passive position at the start.
After 10 minutes of play, the score was 17 to 6.
The Kentucky Wildcats were trailing by 11 points, prompting Calipari to call a timeout.