March 18, 2004, sunny.

The March Madness Championship for the 03-04 season has officially begun!

It can be said that this is one of the most fanatical sports events in the United States every year.

As soon as March comes, basketball fans across the United States become extremely restless, like animals that have just come out of hibernation - coincidentally, March Madness is also held in the spring.

During this period, everyone from the top commander of the United States to the gangsters on the streets would talk about one question: "Who do you think will win the championship this year?"

March Madness has even transcended the scope of sports and has become a national event.

During this period, the NBA's ratings will be greatly affected. On the day of the NCAA Finals, the NBA will not even schedule games and directly make way for them.

It's a carnival month for the fans. And why not for the players?

There are no contract disputes, no "Where are we going in the summer" stories, and not so much intrigue.

March Madness is a pure basketball stage for young players to write about their fanatical youth.

Which young boy doesn’t have a passionate basketball dream in his heart?

That passionate plot like "Slam Dunk" is exactly what happens every March Madness.

A battle determines the outcome, go home or move forward.

From the opening game to the final day, there is only a short period of twenty days.

From the first battle to the last battle, the road to becoming a champion only takes six games.

In the NBA playoffs, if you lose a game, you still have 6 chances to come back.

But in March Madness, as long as you lose a game, lose a goal, lose a second, no matter you are North Carolina or Duke, sorry, you can only come back next year.

As for whether we can come next year, I don’t know for sure.

Because for senior players like Tony Allen and players like Wayne who have decided to participate in the draft, losing is a regret that their youth can never make up for!

Therefore, unlimited vitality and a bayonet-like fight are the most common states of March Madness.

Sitting on the team bus, Wayne looked at the fanatical fans around him and couldn't believe he was playing in a college league.

How is this formation different from the NBA?

No, the NBA is comparable to this?

Since the March Madness tournament adopts a knockout system, both teams will play in neutral arenas.

Today's game between the Cowboys and the Huskies was held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

This arena is definitely one of the most luxurious stadiums in the United States. It was built at a cost of US$300 million in 1983 and can hold a variety of sports competitions.

The stadium has nearly 20,000 seats, plus 30 luxury boxes.

This hardware condition is not even comparable to the home stadiums of most NBA teams.

At first, Wayne was still thinking, with nearly 20,000 seats, could it be filled up?

Wouldn't it be embarrassing if there were gaps between blockbusters in the stands?

After all, Las Vegas is not the home stadium of any team. Are there really so many people traveling thousands of miles to watch the game in this neutral place?

But now, looking at the crowded scene outside the window, Wayne knew that he was completely worried.

Not to mention 20,000 seats, even if this number is doubled, they will definitely be full!

In fact, it's not just the scene in Las Vegas. At this time, bars or restaurants in every city in Ohio are packed with people preparing to watch the game together.

There was also no one absent from the Gallagher-Elba Arena. Although the game was not played there, students could still enter the arena and experience the atmosphere of watching the game live through the simultaneous live broadcast on the big screen.

This is the so-called "cloud scene".

As one of the top ten teams in the country according to the Associated Press this season, the Cowboys have received unusually high attention.

The name of "Two Young Masters of Ohio" is now known to everyone.

March Madness is a place where the following mistakes are easy to occur, so fans also want to see how dark the Cowboys' dark horse can be.

It should be quite dark, after all, Wayne's dark face was tested by the unboxing system.

When the bus drove to the entrance of the arena, Wayne also saw a huge poster of himself and Tony Allen.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I feel like a star. But... why is there no Roy on the Huskies' poster?"

Wayne scratched his head. The players on the Huskies poster were Nate Robinson and a guy he couldn't name.

It stands to reason that this huge poster should be the two leading stars of both sides, right?

In fact, Roy is not really the star player of the Huskies. The two top players of the Huskies are "Little Potato" and Bobby Jones.

It's just that Sutton felt that Bobby Jones was not as big a threat as Roy, so he automatically ignored him when he was introduced that day.

After entering the gym, Wayne, like all his teammates, couldn't help but exclaimed "Wow".

Not to mention, the cheerleader girls at the March Madness game are hotter and prettier than usual!

Those flaming red lips, that flowing long hair, that...

"Fuck, focus on Wayne, focus on it." Wayne immediately looked away and muttered to himself.

How did the focus of attention go to that point?

"Wayne!" At this time, Teacher Tony shouted, helping Wayne come back to his senses.

"Tony?"

"I'm a little nervous."

"It's not like I didn't play in March Madness last year. I was so nervous."

"It was different last year. We didn't get so much attention last year. We just came to make soy sauce.

But this year, we are competing in the championship as one of the top seeded teams! If we lose, everyone will be extremely disappointed with us!"

"That's true, and there are probably a lot of scouts on site for these games."

"Damn, stop talking, I feel like I already want to go to the toilet." Teacher Tony couldn't help but tremble at the mention of the scouts.

After all, he was only a junior last season. If he doesn't play well, he can come back for another year.

But as he is already a senior this year, if he cannot be reliably selected, his career path will be very bumpy.

The whole family is still waiting for him to play in the NBA to support the family.

"So don't be nervous. You don't want to fall back to the second round in the mock draft, right?" Wayne knew Teacher Tony's difficulty. This is the dilemma of senior players.

"Yeah!" Tony Allen nodded firmly, then grabbed Wayne's wrist, "Come on, let's see Wayne, all of his hard work over the course of the season has been reflected in these games!"

"I..." Wayne looked at Teacher Tony's hand that had nowhere to rest, and really wanted to slap him away.

It's such a passionate game, but why do you act so effeminately?

If we tell people in the future, this NBA defensive star was so nervous that he held his teammates' hands before a game in college. Who would believe it!?

Some people really know people but not their hearts.

After everyone arrived in the locker room, fans began to enter the venue one after another.

Although the locker room has a soundproof door, you can still hear the "rumbling" footsteps and shouts outside.

Old Sutton looked serious, and his son Sean was so nervous that he kept flipping through the tactical manual he had developed over the past two days.

Everyone is ready, and they are burdened with too much expectations and eyes.

It would be a lie to say that Wayne wasn't nervous, but he could still control it and didn't go to the point of trying to grab his teammates' hands...

Before the game, Wayne also had a phone call with his parents at home.

Since Wayne decided to participate in the draft, his parents have called more and more often, and they even offered to come here to take care of Wayne.

Participating in the NBA draft is a big deal, and what parent doesn’t want their children to prepare for the game in peace and peace of mind.

Just like before the college entrance examination, parents hope that their children can eat well and sleep well, and they want to take good care of them.

From the perspective of Wayne's parents, the draft is equivalent to a "college entrance examination" in basketball.

But Wayne declined their kindness because he felt that he would be distracted by his parents' arrival.

However, daily phone reports are indispensable, and the report before the game cannot be forgotten.

Although they couldn't watch the game live in China, Wayne's parents also said on the phone that they would wait until the results of the game came out before going to bed.

Otherwise, they won't be able to sleep well.

Well, Wayne is actually under greater pressure. Because he knows that in addition to the United States and his parents, there should be many fans in China staring at him now.

Therefore, Wayne dared not be nervous. The more nervous he was, the easier it was for his hips to stretch.

After the players all changed their clothes, the old Sutton, who had been silent just now, stood up.

He took out the four NCAA Coach of the Year trophies he had won so far in his coaching career from a small box next to him.

"These trophies carry far more than just my honor, but the honor of everyone that year! As soon as I see these trophies, I will think of the players who walked with me that year.

We have been through the lows, and now we have the opportunity to climb to the top.

This year, we are very hopeful that we will make a breakthrough in the championship, and we may very well sit in a position that no one has ever sat before.

So, go on the field and show yourself to your heart’s content! Let me be proud of you, and let’s leave memorable memories too!”

Old Sutton did not talk about tactics or emphasize key points, but just chatted with the players.

Because he knew that if he talked about tactics at this time, he would lose more than he gained.

When the time comes, the players will be in a daze when they go on the field, unable to remember anything, and any talk about tactics will be in vain.

Instead of doing this, it is better to mobilize the enthusiasm of the players and eliminate their tension.

Otherwise, he is a veteran coach. When it comes to controlling players' emotions, Sutton is very good at it.

Teacher Tony was obviously moved and secretly hammered his chest.

Wayne also took a deep breath. The final sprint before the draft training is now!

Finally, Sutton gathered everyone in a circle and shouted several slogans.

Young guys all have a fire in their hearts, and Old Sutton is on fire at the drop of a hat.

With his encouragement, Wayne and his teammates rushed out of the locker room full of enthusiasm.

As soon as he ran out of the tunnel, Wayne was dazzled.

Nearly 20,000 pairs of eyes and countless cameras, reporters are watching them!

Most of the fans at the scene were wearing orange T-shirts and stood and cheered - that is the main color of the Cowboys.

Larry Bird sat in his office, staring at the screen.

Next to him sat team spirit Reggie Miller, and... Artest, who followed Miller to join in the fun.

"Who do you think is great?" Seeing the Cowboys players coming on the field, Artest put his face close to his.

"That Asian." Bird replied angrily. He obviously wanted to invite Miller to express his opinions on Wayne. He didn't know why this guy with no brains came to join in the fun.

"Oh, he's so thin, I guess I can keep him lying down for a week with just one elbow, hehe." Artest said, showing off his iron elbow, and seemed quite proud of it.

Bird's mouth couldn't help but twitch twice, this guy... there must be something wrong with his brain!

At the same time in Detroit, in the physical therapy room of the Palace Arena in Auburn Hills, Rasheed Wallace, who had been transferred to the Pistons, was receiving a massage while watching TV.

Billups, who was also preparing to receive physical therapy, walked in and picked up the remote control to change the channel, but was stopped by Rasheed.

"Huh? Ohio State vs. University of Washington? What's so interesting about this? There's Connecticut on the next stage. Don't you want to see Okafor?" Billups looked confused. Isn't the game for the No. 1 pick candidate more exciting than this?

Moreover, Billups graduated from the University of Colorado, which was badly beaten by Ohio State this year.

Therefore, Billups doesn't have a good impression of the Cowboys.

"Just watch this, Ray (Billups' middle name). Don't you want to see how the Cowboys were defeated?" Tianzun was furious. Although he was no longer a member of the Trail Blazers, he

Still haven’t forgotten last year’s humiliation in Portland.

"If you say so... well, let's just watch this." Billups spread his hands, and he would be very happy to see the Cowboys lose.

Trail Blazers general manager Patterson was also staring at the screen. The reason he decided to send Rasheed Wallace away in the middle of the season was because he believed Wayne could replace him.

Countless pairs of eyes were fixed on Wayne, including, of course, Nate Robinson and Bobby Jones at the scene.

The two were eager to try, but the other was only 2.06 meters tall, and his jump was not high, so there was nothing scary!

Especially Jones, he doesn't care at all how tall the opponent is, because he has dunked on countless people taller than him, and his height cannot prevent him from completing aerial performances time and time again.

Dunking on Wayne in front of so many people and so many cameras...it's exciting just thinking about it!

Wayne didn't know that he had been stared at by two spring men with malicious eyes. Halfway through the warm-up, someone suddenly said that he wanted to be interviewed on the sidelines.

Wayne turned around and saw that it was Director Zhang and the staff of CCTV 5!

"Director Zhang, why are you here?" Wayne was a little surprised, because in this era, not to mention the NCAA, even NBA games, domestic teams rarely send teams to the scene in person.

Under normal circumstances, only NBA Finals-level games will have Chinese reporters and commentary teams go to watch the games.

It was not until the wealthy Penguin Factory entered the NBA that it pioneered the practice of having a team of Chinese reporters come to the sidelines to cover almost every game.

"It has to come, we are going to make a complete record of your process from March Madness to the draft! Play well, Xiao Wei, many fans in the country are waiting for your news!" Zhang Weiping smiled from ear to ear,

It was also his first time to watch a March Madness game live and he was very excited.

"Yeah, I'll let you go back with good news."

"Hey, that's right!"

In the distance, Nate and Bobby saw Chinese reporters arriving, and they were even more excited.

Damn it, if the fight is completed today, will it become popular abroad?

They have already begun to imagine that after this game, they will be famous all over the United States.

Soon, the referee signaled that both teams were ready to start.

Nate and Bobby have Wayne in their eyes, but the most nervous person in the Huskies team right now is Roy.

Because Roy discovered that Wayne neither looked at Nate nor Bobby, he only looked at himself!

"this......"

Roy swallowed. He didn't know why he, as a small role player, was being targeted by the big guys.

At this moment, the referee threw the ball into the air, and the Cowboys' March Madness journey officially began.

The Huskies fought for the ball first, and Nate Robinson advanced with the ball.

He waved his hand and motioned for his teammate's center to come up and cover.
Chapter completed!