Dean Smith Center, the game resumes with 2 minutes and 4 seconds remaining in the first half, the Tar Heels have possession.
Evans, replacing Paul, almost got passed by Felton during defense, but Qin Yue stepped up in time to delay and effectively interrupt the Tar Heels’ attack.
Yet immediately, Felton noticed the open lane exposed by Qin Yue helping his teammate disrupt...
At this moment, behind Qin Yue, Marvin Williams was ready.
However, to bypass Qin Yue, Felton’s overly cautious lob pass provided Qin Yue with some reaction time and space to recover.
On the court, Qin Yue, always highly focused, quickly turned and successfully blocked Marvin’s shot angle before he could shoot.
On the sidelines, the coordination, flexibility, and reaction speed demonstrated by Qin Yue in this defense greatly shocked the Tar Heels’ head coach Roy Williams.
In Coach Roy’s view, Felton’s conservative lob indeed indirectly gave Qin Yue a chance to shine.
"Considering his height and weight... his agile moves completely defy my understanding of basketball."
Currently, in the visualized data of the Mountain Peak system, Qin Yue’s agility rating is at 75.
Compared to those NBA point guards, Qin Yue’s current agility isn’t considered high.
However, as Coach Roy said, when Qin Yue’s height and weight are paired with his agility... he is like an aircraft carrier that can swiftly turn on the court.
On the court, after completing the aircraft carrier turn, Qin Yue helped Wake Forest defend successfully in this round.
Next, it’s their turn to attack.
At the top of the arc, facing Marvin’s defense, Qin Yue didn’t rashly attack.
Unlike most previous opponents, tonight’s North Carolina is not only disciplined but also exhibits strong overall defense.
In college basketball without the defensive three-second rule, blindly playing one-on-one and reckless charges against opponents at your level are tantamount to suicide.
On the court, after patiently observing North Carolina’s defense for a while, Qin Yue proactively called Gray over for a hand-off coordination.
Because through observation, Qin Yue noticed the flank gap exposed by North Carolina when defending the zone.
To exploit this gap, after Paul’s ejection, Wake Forest had to take a circuitous route.
This is what makes the sport of basketball fascinating.
Sometimes when you want to take down your opponent in one go, you might end up breaking your teeth.
Only by considering the overall picture and finding the weakness in the opponent’s defense can you succeed without hindrance.
On the court, with the completion of the hand-off coordination between Qin Yue and Gray...
In an instant, the situation changed dramatically.
Since Felton couldn’t bypass the pick, Marvin had to come forward to delay.
But at the same time, Qin Yue quickly moved to the right side to continue setting a screen for his teammates, instantly giving the Devil’s Deacon Team a breakthrough.
To prevent Evans from getting an open shot from outside, Sean Mei had to choose to extend his defense.
But Marvin, who had earlier helped delay Felton, couldn’t return to defend Qin Yue in time.
Seeing this, Qin Yue immediately removed his screen for Evans and quickly rolled to the basket.
At this moment, Gray, seeing Qin Yue’s movement, unhesitatingly delivered an alley-oop pass.
In the Tar Heels’ paint area, Qin Yue leapt, caught the ball, and dunked it!
On the sidelines, Coach Roy couldn’t help but applaud for Wake Forest’s offense.
"He fully utilized his teammates... and deciphered our zone defense through picks and off-ball movement."
At this moment, Coach Roy admired not Qin Yue’s graceful dunk but his quick thinking in breaking North Carolina’s zone defense.
Turning over, the Tar Heels have possession.
Qin Yue adjusted his breath while quickly assessing North Carolina’s offensive formation.
"Felton mainly focuses on breakthroughs tonight, with few three-point attempts; rather, Rashad McCants requires attention..."
On the court, after quickly reviewing the prior performances of North Carolina’s five players, Qin Yue, stationed inside, clearly saw North Carolina’s offensive launch and immediately began directing his teammates’ defensive positioning.
"Justin, stick to Rashad."
"Ronnie, press hard, I’ll be ready to provide help defense."
"Jamal, don’t give Marvin the opportunity to cut in!"
Under Qin Yue’s command, North Carolina’s offense fell into stagnation.
Unfortunately, college basketball has a lengthy 30-second offensive window.
On the court, after two failed tactical launches, the Tar Heels still had a few seconds to launch an attack, successfully finding Sean Mei, retreating to the right baseline.
Then, he scored with a long-range two-point jump shot.
Seeing this, Qin Yue didn’t pressure his teammate after the defensive failure but confidently told Ellis, who didn’t follow Mei: "Don’t worry, I’ll respond with offense in the next round."
Especially noticing his calm and composed demeanor, Ellis instantly understood what it meant to be a leader.
North Carolina is strong.
Dean Smith Center, Wake Forest’s offensive round.
Following through on his words, Qin Yue, noticing North Carolina switch to man-to-man defense for this round, immediately moved to the high post to receive the ball and signaled with gestures for teammates to clear space for his solo play.