Chapter 35: Ultimately All For Naught
After defeating Duke, the March Madness championship entered a six-day break.
Six days later, TTU will challenge for the Elite Eight. Their opponent in this round is the University of Pittsburgh, a defense-oriented team built around seven-foot center Aaron Gray. However, they are not a team overflowing with talent like Duke.
A strong emotion was also permeating the Texas Tech University campus. When students learned the school team had advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, the red lights on the campus clock tower stayed on all night, and thousands of students spontaneously gathered at the fountain square in front of the administration building, chanting the slogan “TTU! TTU!”
The president’s office hung a huge banner overnight on the main campus road: “Pride belongs to the Red Raiders!”
Students used red paint to cover the “Alumni Avenue” with celebratory slogans. Someone even spray-painted the school mascot—a red stallion—on the steps at the main entrance of the library. The student cafeteria launched a special “Sweet Sixteen” red cake, which sold out in less than two hours.
The team’s players became stars, and Xu Ling faced especially severe disruptions in his daily life.
Almost all his classmates bought his jersey and asked him to sign it. Regardless of whether it was out of admiration, as long as he made a name for himself in the NBA, the value of those signed jerseys would multiply many times over.
Since they were classmates, Xu Ling naturally couldn’t refuse. After all, he was still a friendly person off the court.
But the harassment outside of class started to get a bit excessive.
Texas media all wanted to contact him, but they were all blocked by Knight.
Sponsors approached the school, offering high prices, just hoping Xu Ling would publicly use their products.
Xu Ling naturally wouldn’t agree, as it was no different from working for free for the school.
The most helpless thing was the constant possibility of being approached.
Three girls who “happened to run into” Xu Ling three times outside the gymnasium asked him to sign their collarbones.
The student activity center became a disaster zone. Whenever Xu Ling appeared there to eat, some girl would “accidentally” spill a drink or “happen to” buy an extra cup of coffee. Psychology major Anna even carefully planned an “academic consultation”—bringing a basketball tactical board that was completely outside her field of study to ask questions.
Such things had shown some signs when he first became famous, but now that he had become the school’s sports hero, they were intensifying.
This frenzy even spread to the classroom. During a lecture on “star effect and brand value,” an economics professor directly used Xu Ling as an example, half-jokingly asking the whole class to assess the potential commercial value of the name “Eli Xu,” which drew laughter from the room and left Xu Ling in the back row helplessly pretending to take notes.
Even more exaggerated, the school bookstore quickly launched limited-edition T-shirts printed with “From Lubbock to Glory!（From Lubbock to Glory!）” and Xu Ling’s exclusive number “1.” They sold out as soon as they hit the shelves. The campus had almost become a sea of red.
Whenever he mentioned his troubles, his teammates would mock him for not understanding romance.
“Come on, Eli!” After training, Daryl Dora draped an arm around his neck and grinned, “Do you know how many people dream of having your kind of ‘troubles’? Those are hot girls! If you can’t handle them, I’d be happy to help share the load!”
“And then we’d both make the tabloid headlines the next day?” Xu Ling shoved him away irritably. “With the headline ‘TTU Twin Stars’ Late-Night Party, March Madness Prospects in Jeopardy’? Thanks, but I’ll handle it myself.”
Even the usually serious Julius Jackson spoke up for once: “Eli, this might just be God’s test for you. He gave you unparalleled talent, and he will inevitably make you bear the corresponding attention. Learning to handle it is part of growing up.”
“I’d rather his test not be so… enthusiastic.” Xu Ling sighed.
All this off-court noise eventually reached Knight’s ears. Before one training session, he pulled Xu Ling aside.
“Listen up, kid.” Knight said, “I’ve seen countless geniuses ruined by fame. They get surrounded by cheers, flattery, and women, and then they stick like flies to sugar and can’t fly anymore. Now all this crap has come for you.”
He stared hard into Xu Ling’s eyes: “Autographs, women, TV cameras… they’ll try desperately to turn you into another ‘star’ instead of a ‘winner.’ But I tell you, in this gymnasium, only one identity matters: ‘player.’ If those things take up an inch in your head, your feet will be a second slower, and that one second is enough to send you from heaven to hell!”
“Keep all that stuff out! If I see even a hint of distraction in your eyes or the slightest slack in training, I’ll be the first to dunk you in the cold water bucket to wake you up! Got it?”
“Crystal clear.”
TTU could only have one bastard, and that was the coach himself—too easy to understand.
“You’d better!” Knight glared at him, then turned and blew the whistle to gather the team.
After handling these off-court distractions, Xu Ling put all his attention back on the court.
The next day, Texas Tech University flew to California.
The third round of the national championship game was at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, a multi-purpose arena that could hold 20,000 people. That day, the venue was flooded with massive crowds.
“This might be unfair to the University of Pittsburgh, but I have to say, at least 15,000 people in the arena are here for TTU’s No. 1.” The commentator said.
“Exactly, Eli has become one of the brightest stars in college basketball!” Another commentator chimed in.
The University of Pittsburgh’s star center Aaron Gray took a few steps on the court.
Xu Ling’s first impression was that the guy’s name sounded familiar, but he definitely hadn’t made much of a name, probably one of those players who lasted a few years in the NBA.
Then, just as the coaching staff had said before the game, Gray’s athleticism looked very limited.
Even just watching his pre-game warmups on the sideline revealed some clues.
It was rare to encounter a team with no roster depth at the Sweet Sixteen stage, and TTU was determined to step over them to create the best record in school history.
“Today, we’re gonna run like Forrest Gump!” Knight said. “Run, guys—as long as you can get running, the opponents will be left far behind!”
After the game started, the momentum did not swing toward TTU.
The University of Pittsburgh knew they needed to speed up the pace.
Every opponent they faced played that way, and they knew how to counter it.
It was nothing more than staying composed, calm, and waiting for the opponent to make mistakes.
Like the Red Raiders and other teams that lost to the University of Pittsburgh, they committed the sin of being overly aggressive. They were too eager to open up breakthroughs from the outside and too focused on Gray’s paint threat, only to be countered with fast breaks off their missed shots.
Xu Ling’s hot shooting touch cooled off unusually, missing his first two shots, and the star player’s inaccuracy spread to the others.
The University of Pittsburgh jumped out to a 10-3 lead.
TTU called timeout.
Knight’s pen pointed at the opponent’s paint: “Drive in there and finish him! Don’t keep dreaming of solving them with three-pointers once and for all—that’s not realistic! If they were that fragile, they wouldn’t be here! Eli, take the ball and attack him. Don’t tell me he’s too tall. If you can’t handle Aaron Gray, how can I expect you to deal with Greg Oden!”
Actually, even without Knight saying it, Xu Ling would try driving to the basket after consecutive misses.
Beating up small-ball lineups was an essential part of the small-ball era training.
Since Knight had ordered it, Xu Ling naturally went all out to trouble Aaron Gray.
After the timeout, the game reached a turning point.
During pre-game observation of Gray’s warmups, Xu Ling had noticed that this guy was an inside player with relatively slow movement. He wasn’t clumsy—for his height, his technique and passing were decent—but his physical functions couldn’t keep up with his reaction speed.
Xu Ling held the ball at the top of the arc, facing the defender. His consecutive crossover dribbles disrupted the opponent’s footwork. As the defender tried to chase, he suddenly accelerated left, then quickly stopped, switched the ball under his legs to his right hand, and stepped back to the right.
It all happened too fast; Gray, responsible for help defense, was a beat slow. His massive frame was like a wall, but the wall moved too slowly. Xu Ling seized that fleeting gap, brushed past Gray, and charged to the basket. Gray stretched out his long arm desperately for the block but swatted at air. Xu Ling leaped up and finished with a beautiful layup off the glass with his off hand.
The University of Pittsburgh tried to respond, but their rushed offense led to a miss, and they got hit with a fast break.
Xu Ling received a pass from his teammate and pushed the fast break. His ability to find opportunities in transition had improved significantly; just past half-court, he dished to Julius Jackson.
Jackson charged into the paint for a layup and the score.
On the way back on defense, Knight stood on the sideline and high-fived Xu Ling. “Not enough, Eli—this is far from enough!”
Hearing that, Xu Ling could only beat Aaron Gray thoroughly.
As TTU found their rhythm, the crowd could easily see the stylistic mismatch between the two teams.
TTU might be the team that counters the University of Pittsburgh the most in the entire March Madness.
Besides Daryl Dora, four of their starting five could step out and shoot threes, forming a rare four-shooter lineup in modern basketball.
And Xu Ling played the cleanup role on defense, filling TTU’s biggest gap.
Once Pittsburgh lost offensive stability, they would face a storm of fast breaks.
Even if they scored in the half-court off their inside advantage, Aaron Gray would be tested on defense.
Xu Ling called pick and roll for Gray specifically, and the University of Pittsburgh tried to protect him with their power forward. But after the switch, Xu Ling kept calling for the inside pick and roll. Gray had nowhere to hide and could only gamble on Xu Ling’s poor touch, dropping back into the paint.
Xu Ling took one dribble to the free-throw line and hit a jumper right over Gray.
That was the basket that gave TTU the lead.
It was also the start of TTU’s complete domination of the game.
Once Xu Ling got going, TTU’s outside shooters gradually heated up. Julius Jackson hit the game’s first three-pointer, Martin Zeno followed with the second, and then Xu Ling nailed a pull-up three-pointer in transition.
The lead quickly stretched.
The University of Pittsburgh only struggled sporadically.
“The University of Pittsburgh’s efforts are ultimately in vain!” ESPN college basketball expert Andy Katz scribbled rapidly in his sideline notepad. “Texas Tech University is like the NCAA’s Phoenix Suns, but without a Steve Nash-like alien point guard. This is a Suns team built around Kobe Bryant. Their dynamic offense shattered another March Madness powerhouse. Who can stop them? North Carolina? Does Brandon Wright still remember what he said to Eli? Does Eli remember? How will we ultimately remember this year’s TTU? Has Bob Knight already prepared a whole playbook for Roy Williams? All the answers will be revealed in 48 hours.”
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