No More Holding Back, Showdown

In fact, it wasn't just one Disney princess who came courtside, but also Lindsay Lohan, the recently rising starlet with fiery red hair, stepped onto the court.

She wore a different kind of smile, as if she had come to witness a joke at Hilary Duff's expense.

Interestingly, they sat in adjacent seats closest to the court.

What caught the basketball fans' interest even more was that on the other side of the court, in the front row, there was another pair of adversaries. Michael Jordan sat in the prime seat next to the home team's bench, and adjacent to him, three seats away... was Isaiah Thomas, the general manager of the New York Knicks.

Thomas hasn't been having a good time in New York recently. The big contracts he managed are exploding one by one. The high-profile coach he hired, Larry Brown, has recently been rumored to be considering resignation... it seems no one wants to deal with this mess in New York anymore.

"I bet Isaiah Thomas came this time to watch Kansas make a fool of themselves. Everyone knows he's been at odds with Larry Brown lately. And Larry Brown is a super coach who emerged from Kansas," speculated Kenny Smith maliciously from the commentator's booth.

Next to him was... Charles Barkley.

This left the audience in front of the television stunned. Typically, this top-tier commentary duo only appeared in NBA commentary booths. It was surprising that they would deign to come to an NCAA arena.

"Without a doubt, I'm here for Bruce Li. This guy has been snatching too many headlines lately, and... he actually imitated Michael Jordan's game-winner, and even saved Hilary Duff from under a five-hundred-horsepower truck... My God, my daughter is a die-hard fan of hers."

Charles Barkley rambled on and on. (T/N: Big 'Ol Women of San Antonio)

Kenny Smith told him that both Michael Jordan and Hilary Duff were here at the venue tonight.

"This is the charm of Bruce Li. He's made every basketball enthusiast in America focus on this. Trust me. In five minutes, you'll be like me, a die-hard fan of his."

Smith declared solemnly.

They would just have to wait and see.

Barkley raised an eyebrow.

...

The game started quickly, and as expected, Coach McHaney replaced Thompson with TJ Walton in the starting lineup.

He had confidence in his tactics. He believed that as long as Li Zhen controlled the rhythm, with TJ Walton weaving through, the offensive effect would certainly surge... because Walton's finishing ability was really strong.

To be fair, TJ Walton was indeed an outstanding attacker. However, his problem was that he was only 185 cm tall, even shorter than Li Zhen. At the same time... his shooting ability wasn't outstanding. Without a pass button installed, giving him the ball would only result in driving into the paint for a finish or getting directly blocked out.

If the opponent weren't Kansas, he might fare a bit better.

Mario Chalmers was an excellent defensive player. In NCAA, his defensive ability could even be called top-tier; he excelled at pressuring steals.

At the same time, Kansas' inside line-up included the talented forward Lanny Kuhl, and the robust white big man Greg.

Under layers of heavy defense.

As soon as the game started, TJ Walton charged into the paint, only to be directly blocked by Lanny Kuhl.

On the second offensive, he was once again pushed to the baseline by Mario Chalmers. When he attempted to jump and smash the basketball onto Chalmers in hopes of a rebound, the basketball was directly snatched away.

Then, he started hitting iron, both beyond the three-point line and at the free-throw line, leaving a mark of his clanging shots.

If it weren't for Li Zhen launching two rapid counterattacks, combined with a beautiful pick-and-roll cooperation with Scott, Stanford might have still been scoreless three minutes into the game.

"So, this is the so-called super point guard? His performance is mediocre. The ball possession is being controlled by the player number 23 next to him, but this player number 23's skills are really lousy," Charles Barkley said disappointedly.

Kenny Smith was even angrier; he was a fan of Li Zhen. He couldn't stand Stanford's tactical arrangements for this game: "Do you remember that article on the internet? It turns out it was true. That foolish pig McHaney actually changed the tactics. I've never seen such a jealous and narrow-minded coach before. He's personally destroying the miracle created by Bruce and Coach Jamie Lin..."

Smith grew increasingly incensed as he spoke.

It was only then that Charles Barkley remembered that he had also shared that article and mentioned it during the commentary for the Nets vs. Bulls game. At the time, another commentator, Ernie Johnson, emphasized that Jason Kidd's behavior of isolating the coach in the locker room and driving the coach out was inappropriate.

Barkley quickly spoke from the players' perspective: "Players can feel the changes in the game's rhythm even better than the coach. And for a super point guard like Jason Kidd, whose basketball IQ is only surpassed, not inferior, to the coach, he naturally should have more autonomy. In fact, many coaches are not as great and upright as they seem. Today, I saw a really terrible coach on the internet. He left when the team had no hope, but returned when the team was continuously creating miracles. He even relegated the miracle-working assistant coach to the video room, while allowing another key player to replace the core position of the meritorious player..."

These words surged up, combined with the situation on the court, Barkley's disappointment turned into dissatisfaction with Stanford's coach.

In fact, most of the fans in the San Diego Arena felt the same way. Most of them had seen that article online, and at the time, they were skeptical. But now... the facts were right in front of them, and everyone's anger was rising.

Everyone had a set of scales in their hearts, filled with fairness and justice.

But apart from discontent, apart from booing when TJ Walton held the ball, what else could they do?

The initiative was always in the hands of Stanford's coach.

When the game reached 3 minutes and 53 seconds.

Li Zhen dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and by now, the Cardinals Team was already trailing Kansas by 8 points.

In this process, Li Zhen saw Michael Jordan shaking his head on the sidelines, and also saw Isaiah Thomas, who was pursing his lips with a look of disappointment. Most importantly, in the previous round, when Chalmers was shooting free throws, he saw Kevin George in the stands making a fist gesture towards him: meaning to encourage him, and to perform well.

Obviously, the Spurs' general manager and chief scout sitting beside him were also somewhat interested.

These people all came because of their miraculous performance in the first four games. Now, they finally gained so much attention. Yet TJ Walton and McHaney wanted to destroy it by force. There's a saying in China, 'to ruin someone's future is like killing their parents.' The actions of these two are completely up to this crime.

Originally, before the game, Li Zhen thought that McHaney would make some adjustments.

But now, with TJ Walton playing so poorly, he only instructed Frank Benson and Scott to quickly move up the court for pick-and-rolls with Walton, while also asking Li Zhen to pass the ball faster.

"Pass me that damn ball!!"

TJ Walton's demand came again, and he looked invincible.

But... beep!

Li Zhen called a timeout, and he slammed the basketball fiercely onto the ground, striding angrily towards the bench.

He felt it was time.

Now, every Stanford player, including the chairman of the athletic committee, was in a gloomy mood, witnessing firsthand McHaney's stubbornness and incompetence.

The team was already trailing by 8 points, and emotions had reached a boiling point.

So, it was time to lay the cards on the table!