It's not surprising that Sandek would have such thoughts. The Sun Devils have started quite anxiously in recent games. In the last game against Michigan, they were even trailing by 4 points after the first 8 minutes.

That's only the quarter-finals.

It's already the semi-finals, and Sandek was actually prepared to lose points in the first half.

Otherwise, how could it be possible to design such a risky sneak attack from the very beginning... Isn't it just to grab a few points?

I didn’t expect that this tactic would be so effective!

Connecticut's perimeter strength is much worse than Sandek initially thought.

It's almost as good as the University of Oklahoma's perimeter strength.

University of Oklahoma's perimeter trio: Give me some face and don't beat the corpse...

"Hurry up, hurry up, pay attention to the outside, press the whole court, don't give them a chance to breathe!" Sandek immediately stopped hesitating and directed the team to continue to increase the pressure on both offense and defense.

The intensity, especially against the Connecticut guys on the perimeter, was to adopt a full-court pressing tactic.

The three Connecticut outsiders were not used to the intensity that the Sun Devils gave them at the beginning. Now the Sun Devils fought harder, which made them further panic and even a little bit at a loss. At this moment, they recalled

I remember the feeling of being at a loss when facing a street ball master when I first learned how to play when I was seven or eight years old.

"Crack!"

And playing ball under this feeling is naturally full of loopholes.

James Harden completed another steal after three rounds. He had 3 steals in the first 5 minutes. James Harden also completed his steal data in today's game.

"Boom!"

After the steal was successful, there was a "Harlem linkage" between James Harden and Lin Ri. Lin Ri's powerful two-handed chop silenced the entire scene.

Is this the sun?

The guy who beat Blake Griffin!

His talent is really high!

Memphis fans, who were originally focused on Thabeet, had to face Lin Ri, a super rookie, at this moment.

Because his sense of presence is so strong!

"Defense, let's get back the points we lose on offense with defense!"

After Lin Ri scored the goal, the Sun Devils already led 11-3 by 8 points, and Jim Cahoon had to call a timeout to rearrange tactics.

He also saw that the Sun Devils' fierce offensive was the main reason why Connecticut was so passive at the moment.

There are only two ways to suppress their offensive. One is to catch up with their offensive and fight against them.

But Jim Cahoon also knows that this is too difficult for the guys under him. So far this season, their highest score in a single game is only 76 points. They have never been a team that relies on offense to win.

They are a team that relies on defense to win!

"Once you are intercepted, don't be stunned and return to defense immediately. With Stanley and Hashim here, don't be afraid that no one will cover the defense together!"

Jim Cahoon is one of the most experienced head coaches in the league. After a few words from him, Connecticut immediately regained its composure.

When he returned to the field, he even completed a good scoring combination very neatly.

That fluidity was rare in this game against the Sun Devils.

The score came to 5 to 11.

Jim Cahoon breathed a sigh of relief, which at least proved that the pause just now had some effect.

As for how big this effect can be.

It depends on whether his two core players, Stanley Robinson and Hasheem Thabeet, can continue their previous dominance on the defensive end.

The best he can do is to make these guys less flustered, but what can give them more security on the outside is the performance of the two of them.

Thabeet was more nervous and focused than ever before. He could clearly feel that the atmosphere in the entire auditorium was much quieter than at the beginning.

They should be a little disappointed with me now, right?

Such thoughts appeared in Thabit's heart.

Compared to him, Lin Ri has really excelled a lot from the beginning to now.

The two of them were originally compared together before the game. Now the gap is so big. It is normal for the Memphis fans who support him to feel a little disappointed!

but……

The game is not over yet!

Thabeet's vision became firmer, and he wanted to save his image in the hearts of Memphis fans.

When James Harden came to the frontcourt, Lin Ri immediately started a pick-and-roll for him.

While you are sick, I will kill you!

Connecticut's outside level is obviously not good enough. In this case, if the two of them come up with their trump card pick-and-roll tactics, they will definitely be even more powerful!

They can also see that Connecticut has regained some confidence and confidence, and they want to use this momentum to recover the lagging score. The next period of time will be a short or long stalemate period, for the Sun Devils

, can we not use a more confident way to score goals during this period to prevent Connecticut's momentum from further increasing?

Don’t forget, this is an away game for the Sun Devils!

Let them build up their momentum, and the cheers and shouts of 25,000 people in the audience will bring them a second dimension-reducing blow, so they must score goals during this period!

The current tacit understanding between James Harden and Lin Ri is really as good as it could be, which makes their pick-and-roll quality very high. The Connecticut No. 2 and No. 4 following the two of them bumped into each other when changing positions.

They were so shaken during the movement that they were a little dizzy.

James Harden was instantly open, and without any hesitation, he took the ball and went inside.

However, Thabeet delayed his release and successfully blocked him near the low post. Unwilling to do so, James Harden took two steps back, and his dribbling movements became more gorgeous. He slowly approached Thabeet again.

, and then with a drastic change of direction, he jumped directly from the right side of Thabeet. As soon as he took a step forward, he reached for the basket with his whole body.

He wanted to use the time when Thabeet adjusted his center of gravity and turned around to hit a layup with a time difference.

"Crack!"

Unfortunately, as soon as the ball left his hand, a palm larger than his face covered the ball and slapped the ball away.

Thabeet, who is 2.21 meters tall, moves much faster than he imagined!

This hat also let James Harden know why this guy is called "Mutombo II".

This frame-protecting ability is simply...

It’s right, it’s right!

The audience at the scene also burst into loud cheers because of his block.

This is what Memphis fans want to see happen.

This kind of frame-protecting ability is what the Grizzlies currently lack!

Therefore, Thabit is the guy they are waiting for, who can lead them to the light!

Fortunately, fortunately, he showed this characteristic at this time!

For the fans of the Memphis Grizzlies, the one minute to two minutes just now was a very difficult time. They were like a young woman who had just gotten married but suddenly met a man who made her heart beat.

The torment of knowing that you can't do it, but deep down in your heart, always wanting to look at that man is really too uncomfortable!

Fortunately, at this moment, that feeling was completely gone, because Thabit proved that he was a capable man, and they were right!

Thabeet fits Memphis, and that's enough...enough that they don't have any wild ideas anymore.

James Harden got a taste of Thabeet's power in the paint. He called for the pick-and-roll again and simply shot. What he didn't expect was that although Thabeet was delayed and couldn't come further than the high post, this team could

And there's a guy named Stanley Robinson.

In terms of physical fitness alone, among the power forwards in the 2009 class, he might be a little worse than Griffin and the Sun. If it weren't for this season, he took a break from school for almost a season due to some family matters and didn't return to the team until after Christmas.

If so, his name shouldn't have been mentioned by only a few people.

It's a terrible thing to waste a year in the NCAA!

But Robinson, who wasted a year, returned and still perfectly demonstrated his mobility.

Thabeet guards the basket, and Robinson is his derived arm, delaying him to a greater distance.

The two of them combined make Connecticut's defense one of the top defensive teams in the NCAA.

James Harden was blocked in the air and could only quickly twist his waist and pass the ball out.

It was Jeff in the corner who got the ball. He immediately shot the ball.

Under the basket, Thabeet and Lin Ri began to compete for the rebound position.

Originally, Lin Ri thought it would be difficult to grab rebounds against Thabeet, but Thabeet's chassis was not as stable as he thought, and he was the one who grabbed the advantageous position.

"Bang!"

The ball hit the basket at this time and bounced out.

Thabeet suppressed Lin Ri's rise with great experience, which made it difficult for Lin Ri to exert force immediately even if he was in a favorable position. The person who jumped up first was Thabeet who did not grab the favorable position.
To be continued...