Chapter 157 Morris Twins

Kahun was eager to learn, and Tang Tian wanted UConn to go further, so there was no reason not to share.

"I think Shabazz Muhammad could start at the two-guard spot," Tang Tian said.

"A dual-point guard lineup?" Kahun was a little surprised by Tang Tian's suggestion.

"Yeah, North Carolina likes to rush for offensive rebounds, which means their formation on the court is pressed towards the frontcourt. This tactic is fine if they can grab offensive rebounds, but if they can't, their transition defense will definitely be a problem. With a dual-point guard lineup, we can launch a fast break immediately after getting the defensive rebound," Tang Tian continued.

Kahun was silent for a while, then suddenly slapped the table.

"That's right! How didn't I think of that!" Kahun felt like he had wasted 40 years coaching in the NCAA, not being able to think of such a simple solution.

Tang Tian didn't laugh. Kahun wasn't bad, but there was a difference between the NCAA and the NBA. In the NCAA, team rosters changed a lot every year, and teams from different conferences might only play each other once in the tournament, so the research and preparation for opponents were far less detailed than in the NBA.

He had coached for more than twenty years in his previous life, and although he hadn't been doing it as long as Kahun, his knowledge of tactical strategies was much deeper.

"Tang, you really have what it takes to be a coach." In his excitement, Kahun looked at Tang Tian with a slightly excited expression.

"I just liked reading books about basketball tactics since I was a kid," Tang Tian casually explained.

Actually, if he wanted to, he could apply to be a coach in the NBA and become a new basketball guru.

But having lived life once already, doing it again would be too boring.

On the contrary, his experience at UConn this year had made him love being a player, and it had also sparked his passion for basketball as a player.

Kahun smiled and nodded. He didn't ask too much. There were too many mysteries about Tang Tian. If he were to delve into them one by one, he was afraid he would have to become Sherlock Holmes.

Tang Tian provided Kahun with a new tactical approach, and Kahun quickly began to implement it in training.

He could feel that the players were all a little excited.

After a few rounds of practice, the players' confidence increased greatly. Although they knew that the team's strength was still some distance from North Carolina's, it wasn't as big as they had imagined. This targeted tactic was like adding a large weight to the scales of victory, and it would definitely give North Carolina a big surprise.

The core of the tactical approach provided by Tang Tian was twofold: one was to protect the defensive rebound, as Kahun had mentioned before, and the other was to launch a fast break.

In other words, after the forwards protected the defensive rebound, they had to get the ball to the guards as quickly as possible, and then the guards would launch a fast break as soon as possible.

Oriakhi was tall, which gave him enough passing vision, and Walker and Napier were fast, so they could push the ball to the frontcourt in the first instance.

So this tactic was entirely feasible for UConn.

After two days of training, the players had basically mastered it because the tactics were relatively simple.

Now they were even more eager to play North Carolina.

On the day of the game, Olsen drove a new Maserati Quattroporte to deliver the cake again.

Tang Tian smiled wryly when he saw the car.

Did Olsen's family have a mine? One supercar per city.

This time the cake was different from the last time. Last time it was cheesecake, this time it was Vienna chocolate almond.

Compared to last time, her preparation was obviously more thorough and more attentive.

The delicious milk chocolate, along with the sweet almond flavor, slowly melted on the tongue, the chopped almonds in the cake filled the taste buds, and released with the silky cocoa aroma, perfectly and delicately lingering in the mouth.

Tang Tian ate a piece and really felt that Olsen was simply a top-notch cake maker.

While marveling at how delicious it was, he became even more curious about her family. What was it about them that made them not eat such delicious food?

When he brought the cake back to the hotel this time, Walker couldn't help but eat a piece.

"Let's go to the supermarket, otherwise this cake will definitely be eaten by me," Walker said, swallowing his saliva after eating.

There was a supermarket near the hotel, and they just happened to be going to buy some food.

Walker originally wanted to just buy one casually, but he didn't expect that the supermarket also happened to sell Vienna chocolate almond cake, and he bought it with a look of joy on his face.

Now he could eat cake with Tang Tian on the court.

The two of them wandered around the supermarket and bought some other food, but just as they were walking towards the checkout counter, they unexpectedly saw two tall figures, and they looked almost identical.

The same face, the same stubble beard, the same buzz cut, similar heights, and even the tattoos on their bodies were exactly the same.

It was obvious that they were twins.

"The Morris brothers," Walker said after seeing them.

Tang Tian nodded.

The Morris brothers were the absolute core of Kansas University this year. The older brother, Markieff Morris, was 2.08 meters tall and played power forward, mainly focusing on low-post offense and mid-range shots. The younger brother, Marcus Morris, played small forward, mainly focusing on mid-to-long-range shots.

Both were good on both offense and defense, especially the younger brother, Marcus, who averaged 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and was selected to the All-American Second Team. He was ranked first in the media's small forward rankings before.

Tang Tian also knew the Morris brothers in his previous life. Even in the NBA, they were players with starting-level strength.

Kansas, as the No. 2 seed in the West, also had a talented freshman, Thomas Robinson, as well as NBA-caliber Jeff Withey, Josh Selby, Tyshawn Taylor, and others, in addition to the Morris brothers.

Their strength this year, although not as good as Duke and North Carolina, was definitely second only to them.

If there were no surprises, they would advance to the Elite Eight and would be UConn or North Carolina's opponent in the West Regional Finals.

"Let's go say hello," Walker said.

Although they were potential opponents, it was still necessary to say hello when they saw them.

"Can you tell them apart?" Tang Tian asked.

"...I don't think so," Walker said after thinking about it.

"Then how are you going to say hello when you go over there? Are you going to say 'Hey Marcus?' or 'Hi Markieff?' It's not polite to just call them Morris, is it?" Tang Tian said with a smile.

Walker nodded after listening, as if that made a lot of sense.

"Hey, Kemba." Not long after Tang Tian and Walker spoke, the Morris brothers noticed them first and came over to say hello directly.

"Hey..." Walker didn't know what to say at this moment.

"Hey, I'm Tang." Tang Tian said with a smile, reaching out to one of them.

"Marcus." Marcus Morris smiled and reached out to Tang Tian.

"Markieff, I know you. You defended Derrick Williams before. Your defense is very strong." Markieff Morris then reached out to Tang Tian as well.

Watching Tang Tian shake hands with the two of them one after another, Walker suddenly felt a little dumbfounded.