Junior Basketball says

Chapter 117 Severe Test
After two consecutive away games, the Sun Devils team finally returned to their own territory, where they will face the Oregon State Big Beavers and the University of Oregon Ducks successively.The strength of these two teams is average, and they can't pose any threat to Arizona State University. Evans generously gave the players a day off and asked them to come back to practice the day before the game.

Although Xu Hao didn't put in much effort in the previous two games, the continuous away games still made him feel a little tired.After the coach announced the disbandment, he simply went back to the dormitory and threw himself on the bed and fell asleep.Originally, Harden wanted to ask him to go out with him, but after seeing Xu Hao sleeping like a dead pig, he gave up the idea.

After sleeping in bed for a whole day, Xu Hao felt refreshed, which made him extremely excited during training the next day.Despite this, his touch was still so good that Coach Evans, who originally wanted to tell him to calm down, was speechless. He just told him to be careful to avoid getting injured during training.

After the training, Harden asked suspiciously: "Xu, why are you so excited today?"

Xu Hao said with a smile: "No, I just got enough sleep. If you didn't go out to have fun yesterday but stayed in the dormitory to rest, you might be similar to me today. And you choose to go out, so I At once……"

Harden was speechless about this. If I don't go out to hang out, it would be better for me to die!
Xu Hao's fiery state did not fade quickly, and he directly brought his state into the game.As a result, the Beavers' outside players were devastated like never before, and they even had the illusion that their defense was full of holes.

From the first minute of the game, Xu Hao kept dribbling the ball to hit the inside line, and before Ailes came up to play a pick-and-roll with himself, he directly tore apart the Beavers' defense line after continuous changes of direction, followed by straight Pound Huanglong.

Only halfway through the first half, Xu Hao had already scored 15 points, which was very rare in previous games.Since he is usually willing to give assists to his teammates, his teammates also reciprocate to help him open up space and let him score as much as he wants.

Under the leadership of Xu Hao, the Sun Devils established a huge lead in the first half. They only allowed their opponents to score 27 points, but they scored 42 points. Among them, Xu Hao scored 23 points alone. There is absolutely no one-on-one general.

For this reason, Evans deliberately talked to him during the intermission, asking him to slow down in the second half and give his opponent a little face.At this time, Xu Hao's energy was almost released, and he agreed to the coach's request smoothly.

Despite this, he did not continue to score points, and he began to frantically send assists to his teammates, and even led the team to continue to increase points.The Beaver players on the opposite side were about to cry: Brother, please, can't you continue to score?Don't organize it, okay?

God didn't seem to hear their prayers. In the end, the Beavers left Phoenix with a disastrous defeat. Arizona State, which started with three consecutive victories, also temporarily tied for the first place in the Pacific Ten Schools League.

The Beavers lost, as did their sibling team, the Ducks.Although Xu Hao has returned to normal, the gap in hard power between the two sides will not be made up for a while. The Duck team only lasted for 12 minutes before being beaten by the Sun Devils.

The focus of this game became Harden. With the support of Xu Hao, he scored 27 points in half the game with amazing efficiency.And since most of his shots are catch-and-shoot jumpers, Harden rarely makes any mistakes, which makes his individual statistics look even more dazzling.Evans is very satisfied with this, and he is relieved to have such a backcourt combination.

The Ducks also tried to chase points in the second half, but as soon as their momentum came together, Xu Hao hit a three-pointer in time to suppress them.Coupled with the fact that Hayward and Ayers also scored points, it is almost impossible for the Ducks to come back.

The final score of the game was 84 to 68, still an undisputed victory.In these few games, the Sun Devils have shown a strong scoring ability, and the players are not big colanders on the defensive end. However, their overall offensive and defensive performance did not allow them to get a fair evaluation. The reason is very simple. The teams that played against them are not very strong.

Why are teams like North Carolina, Duke, and UCLA recognized as strong teams?It's not because they abuse food and abuse well, but because they can beat strong opponents time and time again in the tournament, and the strength of their opponents further reflects their strength.As for Arizona State University, their previous opponents were not considered strong, and it is normal that they did not enter the media's attention.

But then they have their first serious challenge of the season -- a trip to the USC Trojans.The University of Southern California, referred to as USC, although they have only reached the final four in history and failed to win the championship, their overall strength in recent seasons is still good, and there are many star players who have attracted much attention .

Originally, their internal and external combination of Daniel Hackett and Ty Gibson had already made many teams fearful, but last summer, after USC acquired the fifth-ranked swingman DeMar DeRozan among the freshman high school players , The team's overall strength has been further enhanced, and USC is also considered to be a strong team in the Pacific Ten Schools League after UCLA.

Although Arizona State started the regular season with 4 consecutive victories, in the eyes of many media, they are not USC's opponent.The local media in California even arrogantly stated that USC would definitely teach the visiting team a profound lesson.

Xu Hao and the others are naturally very upset about this trend of public opinion. No team wants to hear that they are inferior to their opponents, let alone they are gearing up to show their skills in the championship.Since USC has been hyped up by the media, it is even more necessary to blow them up in their territory and slap others hard with the outcome of the game.

But it’s okay to be unhappy. Both coach Evans and his players admit that this is a difficult opponent to deal with. During the game, no one can make too many problems, otherwise they can only wait to lose the game.More importantly, after the game against USC, Arizona State University will also challenge the UCLA Bruins, the biggest name in the division, in an away game. The importance of the two games and how to allocate the physical fitness of the players need to be carefully considered by members of the coaching staff some.

Losing both games is not out of the question without good strategy.

(End of this chapter)