Faced with Wang Xian's eye-blocking, Yu Zhibo's shooting form was clearly distorted! The basketball bounced off the rim, and Yan Hui smoothly grabbed the rebound, turned, and threw a long pass to Tang Chenfeng, who was driving on the right. Tang Chenfeng dribbled towards the center, drawing the attention of Ningbo Fourth Middle School's defense, then strategically passed the ball low to Wang Xian, who was cutting to the left...
Wang Xian successfully avoided Ningbo Fourth Middle School's attention, caught the ball, and made an layup, easily scoring 2 points.
A successful defense, followed by a successful counterattack.
Not only the opponents Ningbo Fourth Middle School, but even the spectators in the stands did not expect that the player who scored the first blood of this game would not be Yan Hui, not Xiao Yu, nor Yu Zhibo, but the little-known Wang Xian!
Of course, in this transition from defense to offense, Yan Hui contributed a defensive rebound and a beautiful long pass, while Chen Feng received a beautiful assist. Ultimately, Zhuji Middle School relied on teamwork to execute this counterattack.
He Ximeng, standing by the sidelines, led the applause for his teammates on the court!
"Don't be impatient, take your time!" Xiao Yu reminded Yu Zhibo as they backtracked.
Yu Zhibo's attention had originally been focused on Yan Hui and He Ximeng, and he had indeed underestimated the other players of Zhuji Middle School. Moreover, since the two teams were not in the same group, Ningbo Fourth Middle School did not know the specific performance of Zhuji Middle School during the group stage. They only knew that He Ximeng's individual strength had significantly improved, Yan Hui's strength had not changed much, and Zhuji Middle School had gained a new player, Wang Zhang Zhenpeng... Apart from these three, Ningbo Fourth Middle School knew nothing else about Zhuji Middle School...
While Ningbo Fourth Middle School was unfamiliar with Zhuji Middle School, Zhuji Middle School was very familiar with Ningbo Fourth Middle School.
All the matches in Group A had been recorded by Cui Tianci with a video recorder. Last night, Zhuji Middle School had also studied Ningbo Fourth Middle School's playstyle in detail, coupled with He Ximeng, the "tactical analyst," breaking it down on site... Frankly speaking, Ningbo Fourth Middle School's few tactics had been thoroughly dissected by He Ximeng. Not to mention He Ximeng, even the ordinary players of Zhuji Middle School were predicting Ningbo Fourth Middle School's next move.
The resulting benefit was that Ningbo Fourth Middle School found it difficult to execute fluid offense, being restricted everywhere and always on the defensive.
The entire team had to rely on the individual abilities of Yu Zhibo and Xiao Yu to score, making it very difficult for other players to score.
With this contrast, Zhuji Middle School, through overall performance and even with He Ximeng off the court, managed to tie with Ningbo Fourth Middle School.
Halfway through the first quarter, He Ximeng and Zhang Zhenpeng were supposed to play together. Seeing the current situation on the court, He Ximeng chose to remain on the bench, only sending in the impatient Zhang Zhenpeng to match up against Yu Zhibo!
Yu Zhibo, known as the strongest small forward in the Zhejiang division in terms of offense, naturally had his unique scoring techniques. In the first half, after repeatedly being disrupted by Wang Xian's eye-blocking, Yu Zhibo reduced his mid-range jump shots and opted to drive to the basket with the ball! This way, Wang Xian's eye-blocking technique had no room to play. And Yu Zhibo could continue to help the team score!
He Ximeng then sent in Zhang Zhenpeng, who had better physical attributes! Zhang Zhenpeng's individual defensive skills were not as good as Wang Xian's. However, his height, weight, and jumping ability were not inferior to Yu Zhibo's. After Zhang Zhenpeng came on, he successfully contained one of Yu Zhibo's drives. Then, turning the tables, Zhang Zhenpeng used the same tactic against Yu Zhibo, driving to the basket for a layup!
After all, he was the man who dared to challenge Liu Yudong head-on. Facing Yu Zhibo, Zhang Zhenpeng felt no pressure at all!
However Yu Zhibo attacked, Zhang Zhenpeng would counter!
"Aren't you known as the most versatile small forward offensively? I'm challenging the most versatile offensively..."
To be honest, Yu Zhibo knew before the game that a team that could defeat Hangzhou Fourth Middle School would be tough to play against. But the toughness he envisioned was Ningbo Fourth Middle School struggling after Yan Hui, He Ximeng, and Zhang Zhenpeng went all out... not like this, where Xiao Yu was entangled by Yan Hui and couldn't spare any effort, and he himself was being provoked by a rookie first-year student, and what's more, he couldn't do anything about him after being provoked... He Ximeng was still sitting on the bench! What would Ningbo Fourth Middle School do if he came onto the court?
For a moment, Yu Zhibo's mind was in a mess, and his shots missed the rim one after another.
Ningbo Fourth Middle School's head coach saw that Yu Zhibo was not in the zone and substituted him out early to rest.
After Yu Zhibo left the court, only Xiao Yu was left to carry the team for Ningbo Fourth Middle School. Although Xiao Yu made two consecutive baskets in the paint, Yan Hui and Zhang Zhenpeng combined to make two shots. Zhuji Middle School led Ningbo Fourth Middle School by 4 points, 24:20, before the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Yu Zhibo, who had calmed down, returned to the court.
On Zhuji Middle School's side, He Ximeng tried letting Zhang Zhenpeng lead the team alone, while Yan Hui went to rest. He Ximeng had not yet entered the game.
Putting aside his distractions, Yu Zhibo regained his all-around small forward skills. He first made a three-pointer from the perimeter under Zhang Zhenpeng's defense, and then, capitalizing on Zhang Zhenpeng's eagerness to counter, he stole the ball from behind and scored another 2 points with a fast-break layup!
Just as the second quarter began, Yu Zhibo scored 5 points in a row, helping Ningbo Fourth Middle School successfully reverse the score and take the lead.
This was the first time Ningbo Fourth Middle School led Zhuji Middle School in this game, and it was also the last...
He Ximeng then took off his jacket and officially entered the game from the bench.
With He Ximeng orchestrating, Zhuji Middle School's offensive fluidity improved significantly.
He Ximeng's first possession after entering the game was a drive and a fake pass to Zhang Zhenpeng on the wing, but instead, he made a no-look pass to Zhu Ningzhen, who had cut to the basket!
Zhu Ningzhen caught the ball, rose up, and slammed it down with both hands for a dunk!
When He Ximeng partnered with Zhang Zhenpeng, he always liked to use Zhang Zhenpeng as a decoy to draw the opponent's defensive attention. The opponents dared not leave Zhang Zhenpeng open, because if you gave Zhang Zhenpeng space to shoot, he could actually make the shot!
Therefore, whether He Ximeng intended to pass to Zhang Zhenpeng or not, the opponents had to immediately focus on blocking Zhang Zhenpeng. This created excellent opportunities for He Ximeng to pass to other players!
Although Zhang Zhenpeng, after being "fooled," would always complain to He Ximeng, asking if he could have fewer decoy plays and more real passes.
He Ximeng would agree verbally, but then, he would continue to use Zhang Zhenpeng as a decoy as before, without changing anything due to Zhang Zhenpeng's complaints... Zhang Zhenpeng would be so angry that he would roll his eyes, but he had to admit that the opportunities He Ximeng created for his teammates by using him as a decoy were truly good... Therefore, whether Zhang Zhenpeng wanted to or not, he had to accept this role as a decoy!