With four minutes left, the ga had lost all suspense. The point difference had widened to 19 and was still growing, leaving no hope for a coback. Su Xi had completely dismantled the Longhorns’ tactical system, and they had no way to stop Anthony’s onslaught.
Coach Rick Banis called a tiout. He subbed out his starters, effectively declaring their final ga of the year over.
Syracuse University was the winner. They were heading to the National Championship.
Caron Anthony finished with 35 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
He set a new Final Four scoring record for a freshman.
Su Xi had 16 points, 12 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 1 block.
His stats completely overshadowed TJ Ford’s. Ford had a terrible ga, finishing with only 16 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal. He scored the sa number of points as Su Xi but on seven more shot attempts.
This ga was a major setback for him.
His draft stock would take a hit, though not by much. After all, his track record was simply too impressive.
For Su Xi, however, this performance was enough to make his draft stock skyrocket.
In the words of draft expert Chatford: "While Caron Anthony is the freshman setting a new record, the guy standing next to him, Little Sheep Su Xi, is also a freshman. He didn’t play at all last season. His rise has been so astonishing that people have every reason to believe he has even more potential. And most importantly, I just looked at his player profile—he’s younger than Caron Anthony."
"If I were a team in desperate need of a defensive point guard and held a mid-to-late lottery pick, I would take a gamble on him."
"There are a lot of point guards entering the draft this year, but he’s the youngest of the bunch."
"Dwyane Wade from Marquette University, Kosinrich from the University of Kansas, tonight’s TJ Ford, Marcus Banks from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Luke Ridnour from the University of Oregon, Troy Bell from Boston College, Steve Blake from Maryland, Derek Zimrman from Mississippi State, Mo Williams from the University of Alabama, Jas Jones from Florida State University..."
"Most of these players are seniors, with a few juniors and sophomores mixed in. Do they have more potential than Little Sheep Su Xi? Are they really more NBA-ready than him?"
"And yet, the one playing in the championship ga is Little Sheep Su Xi."
Chatford was singing Su Xi’s praises on the ESPN broadcast. Many fans suspected the notoriously harsh draft expert was on Little Sheep Su Xi’s payroll.
But judging by the way he had to look up his player profile, he clearly hadn’t known who Su Xi was before this.
"Jack, why did you press TJ Ford full-court three tis in a row? If you hadn’t, we could’ve put this ga to bed ages ago," Caron Anthony asked Su Xi on the bench.
Earlier, Su Xi had picked up TJ Ford in the backcourt three consecutive tis, racing him down the floor.
Even with Ford dribbling the ball, Su Xi still couldn’t keep up.
He put his own lack of speed on full display for everyone to see.
Jim Boham was so angry he pounded his chest, but he still softly advised Jack not to pull stunts like that.
What could he do? Su Xi was the team’s MVP right now.
If this had happened before, Boham’s temper would have had Su Xi benched imdiately. And that’s not even ntioning the ti he abandoned his defensive assignnt mid-ga to go chat with Iverson.
A happy smile spread across Su Xi’s face. During those three full-court sprints, he had managed to fuse the super-speed talent he’d just received from Iverson up to 69%.
This was a remarkable achievent.
If it weren’t for the risk of giving up easy points and destabilizing their entire strategy, he would have loved to keep racing TJ Ford.
"I wanted to challenge my weakness," Su Xi replied to Anthony.
Anthony was taken aback for a mont, then he gave a thumbs-up. "Jack, I need to learn from you," he said. "You always confront your weaknesses head-on and bravely take on the toughest challenges."
Uh...
Su Xi fell silent.
Seeing Su Xi’s ’humble’ expression, Anthony couldn’t help but reflect: ’Caron, oh Caron, you are so damn lucky. You’ve t a super-teammate, a gift from God Himself. When you’re shining, he takes on the toughest defensive assignnts for you. When things get difficult, he steps up to fight right by your side.’
’Without Jack, we would’ve been eliminated back in the Elite Eight when McNamara got hurt, wouldn’t we?’
’And now, we’ve made it to the National Championship, on the verge of pulling off a miracle no all-freshman team has ever achieved in NCAA history.’
A wave of camaraderie washed over Anthony. He reached out and placed a hand on Su Xi’s thigh.
"Jack, I’ll always have your back from now on," Caron Anthony declared firmly to Su Xi.
BZZZT!
The final buzzer sounded.
The ga was over.
to 69.
Syracuse University had eliminated the University of Texas by a massive 26-point margin.
In the NBA, a margin like that would be equivalent to a 40- or 50-point blowout.
The mont the ga ended, Su Xi had barely stood up before reporters sward them, completely surrounding him and Anthony.
Tonight, the two of them were the biggest stories in the basketball world.
One had set a new freshman record; the other had burst onto the scene to shut down a projected lottery pick.
"Jack! What are your thoughts on the ga? You’ve made a historic run to the National Championship—how would you rate your own performance? And also, do you think TJ Ford is a genius?"
CBS snagged the first question, directing it at Su Xi instead of Anthony.
It showed that in the eyes of the dia, Su Xi was the more compelling story.
"It was a great ga. We played to our strengths, and I’m proud of every one of us."
"But I don’t like to rate myself. You should ask TJ Ford and Aivei to rate ."
Su Xi was as earnest as ever. "Of course TJ Ford is a genius. He’s the best player I’ve ever faced. He has incredible explosiveness and speed. I learned a great deal from playing against him."
"Before the ga, everyone expected TJ Ford to shine, but you completely shut him down tonight. What do you think was your advantage that allowed you to do that?"
The reporter pressed on.
Su Xi thought for a mont before answering seriously, "I don’t know. I don’t feel like I had any particular advantage. I was just very focused."
"Besides, I didn’t really shut him down, did I? He still scored 16 points," Su Xi countered.
A wave of laughter went through the reporters.
To Su Xi, "shutting soone down" ant holding them scoreless.
But in everyone else’s eyes, Su Xi’s performance tonight had not only dominated Ford but had also completely neutralized his tactical impact on the ga.
The reporters then turned to Caron Anthony with a barrage of questions.
They asked about his on-court performance, his scoring record, his feelings about reaching the championship, and the rumored deal with Nike.
He fielded them all.
All with a calm composure.
Bill Daffy and his team had given Caron Anthony dia training; he was getting more and more comfortable with the rhythm of press interviews.
Su Xi hadn’t received any such training. He didn’t even have an agent or a team.
As a result, his interviews were far more interesting.
A reporter asked him, "Jack, your opponent in the final will be either Marquette University or the University of Kansas. Who are you hoping to face?"
"Marquette University," Su Xi answered without a mont’s hesitation.
"Why?" the reporter quickly followed up, his eyes filled with anticipation, as were the others’.
"I like defending talented players, and the coaching staff showed ga tape of both Dwyane Wade and Kosinrich," Su Xi said honestly.
The reporters were practically buzzing with excitent.
"So you’re saying Dwyane Wade is better than Kosinrich?" a reporter imdiately pounced.
"No. That’s what the draft experts are saying. I went out of my way to find a computer last night to look up the draft projections. Those basketball experts say Wade has more talent. I trust what they say; they’re the professionals."
Su Xi passed the buck to the draft experts.
Beside him, Caron Anthony chuckled.
The reporter seized the opening. "Well, did you see your own na in those draft projections? Are you satisfied with where they have you ranked?"
"I’m not interested in draft rankings. What pick I’m selected with doesn’t matter at all," Su Xi told the reporter earnestly. "My goal isn’t to be the number one pick. My goal is to make the NBA’s superstars afraid to see coming."
Uh...
The reporter’s mind was blown. ’What a bombshell! This rookie has so serious nerve.’
’How can he be so arrogant?’
’The first half of that sentence sounded like Jordan, the King of Swagger, and the second half sounded like Bird, the King of Swagger.’
’It was like the lifelong swagger of two kings fused into one.’
Viewers still tuned in to the live broadcasts on ESPN and CBS were stunned, their jaws hanging open in an ’O’ shape.
Since the turn of the 21st century, NBA rookies had beco increasingly humble and cautious. It had been a long ti since they had seen a rookie this brazen.
This kid was here to shake up the entire NBA.
’Kid, aren’t you afraid you’ll get into the NBA and have every superstar in the league take turns schooling you?’
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