Y13 [EN]: Chapter 18

Y13-18 NCAA (2010)

“Tch…”

Youngjae, groggily waking up, wiped the drool from his mouth and stretched. Now accustomed to his yoga routine, he moved effortlessly, not even bothering with his messy hair. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and ran his hands over his face, shaking off the drowsiness.

Time flew, and it was already March. Three months had passed since 2009 turned into 2010. The second semester was nearing its end, and the Aztecs had navigated a challenging but rewarding season. The players seemed to have elevated their game, showing improved performances. They had truly become a team, habitually caring for and supporting each other.

The freshmen, including Youngjae, had undergone physical changes. Kawhi Leonard and Alex Williams had each grown about an inch, and Youngjae had steadily grown since the semester’s start, now standing at 6-5 (196cm).

Remembering his past self, who had wished to be just 6-3, Youngjae chuckled at the memory. The Aztecs proudly secured first place in the Mountain West Conference, earning a spot in March Madness [the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament]. Although the seed assignments weren’t yet determined, in a national tournament, no team could be underestimated.

There are two ways to advance to the national tournament called March Madness: win the conference league playoffs or secure a spot based on non-conference/conference game results, overall performance, and academic standing. The Aztecs, however, confidently advanced as the top team.

Yoon Youngjae was selected as the best player of the 09-10 season in the Mountain West Conference.

He also swept the conference awards, including Freshman of the Year.

Youngjae ranked first in the conference for points (22.3 points/2nd place: Jimmer Fredette with 22.1 points), assists (7.9 assists/2nd place: Ronnie Moss with 5.9 assists), steals (2.6 steals/tied for 1st place: Jackson Emery), 3-point percentage (48.1%/2nd place: Roman Martinez with 41.8%), and free throw percentage (95.4%/2nd place: Tyler Haws with 91.7%). These were undeniably dominant statistics.

Thanks to Youngjae’s performance, San Diego State University achieved a record of 13 wins and 3 losses in the conference regular season and 11 wins and 3 losses in non-conference games. They won the conference championship by winning the tournament’s quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, securing a spot in the national tournament. Their overall record was 27 wins and 6 losses.

“Ugh-”

Youngjae stretched his legs wide and bent his waist forward. Recently, Youngjae had been focusing on more professional yoga and stretching. After playing three intense games in three days from March 11th to 13th to win the conference, he felt quite fatigued. He realized that improving his flexibility along with bulking up would be more beneficial. He refrained from excessive bulking during the season, gradually increasing it while focusing on flexibility and conditioning.

Basketball games are not usually held for three consecutive days, but they do happen in special cases like the NCAA tournament.

After finishing his yoga and stretching, Youngjae felt refreshed and went to the bathroom to wash up. Feeling invigorated, he dressed neatly, put on his black Huaraches [a type of Mexican sandal], and grabbed the ankle brace he had hung to dry.

=====

“Wow, this is bad.”

“……”

Youngjae sipped his iced Americano through a straw, pretending not to notice and subtly averting his gaze.

“It’s a pretty durable product, but you really put it through a lot.”

“Ah, well… I use it every game… haha.”

Youngjae had become quite friendly with Meli Yeon, the basketball equipment store clerk. It turned out that Meli Yeon was a relative of David Yeon, whom he had signed an autograph for, and Meli Yeon had helped David Yeon choose the gift.

As a basketball player, Youngjae needed to replace or repair his shoes and equipment regularly. Since he wasn’t a professional player, he couldn’t afford to buy new shoes after every few games, so he had to rely on Meli for repairs.

Meli would replace the worn-out material with new material, seal the torn parts, and maximize functionality. Meli had majored in design, especially in shoes, so she was excellent at shoe repairs. However, repairs for items like ankle braces inevitably had a rough finish. Although the appearance might be a bit odd, Youngjae was satisfied because it was much cheaper than buying new ones, and Meli’s skills were better than he expected. So, he kept going back to Meli.

Meli took a sip of her cappuccino and began repairing the ankle brace, replacing the functional material. Youngjae sensed a hint of professionalism in Meli’s work. She was careful, cautious, thorough, and precise, which made him trust her even more.

“How much will the repair cost?”

“Just replacing the functional material will cost about 1/3 of the product price.”

“Ah… I’m a college student, so I don’t have much money.”

It was the same line every time: He was a college student and didn’t have much money. Meli glared at him but nodded after glancing at the cappuccino.

“Since you bought me coffee, just give me $4.”

“Haha.”

Youngjae quickly handed over $4, afraid Meli would change her mind. Meli took out the cost of the coffee from her wallet and put it in the cash register.

“Thank you as always.”

After chatting about trivial things for about 30 minutes, Youngjae thanked Meli as she handed him the repaired ankle brace, saying, “It’s done.”

“You always say the nicest things.”

“Hahaha. But the coffee was good, right?”

“…… I guess so. That’s true.”

Meli snapped out of it, realizing she was being too lenient. She stared at Youngjae and held up two fingers.

“I have two requests. Can you grant me these?”

Youngjae was apprehensive about what she might ask, but he nodded without showing it, as Meli had always been helpful.

“First, win the first game of March Madness.”

“Okay.”

“Just win that game.”

……

Youngjae couldn’t help but laugh, realizing that Meli, who was usually reserved but spoke her mind, would make such an absurd request.

“Alright, hehe. I’ll try my best to win.”

Meli was deeply engrossed in NCAA basketball, and perhaps because of her connection with Youngjae, she had become a fan of the Aztecs, knowing everything about them.

“Good. Then, second.”

Youngjae was slightly terrified of Meli’s second request, but he had no choice but to nod.

——

Tuesday, March 16, 2010.

Coach Fisher gathered the players as soon as team training ended.

“The Aztecs’ seed has been assigned.”

March Madness is a national tournament where a total of 68 universities from across the United States compete. To prepare for this, all universities, including the Aztecs, had completed their league and tournament within their respective conferences by March 13th.

The Aztecs proudly won the Mountain West Conference, earning a direct spot in the national tournament. In addition to the 32 universities that won their conferences like the Aztecs, the remaining 36 universities are fairly selected based on criteria set by the NCAA and their combined Conference/Non-conference game records. Even championship teams can receive low seeds depending on the level of their conference. The Aztecs were a similar case.

(This is similar to how FIFA rankings are calculated by combining official matches and friendly games. The weighting of points varies depending on the opponent’s level.)

The bottom 8 seeded teams play a preliminary round to select 4 teams, forming the 64-team bracket.

“We have been assigned the 12th seed and will face the 5th seed, Maryland, in the first round.”

?!!

Youngjae couldn’t help but be surprised. In his past life, the Aztecs were the 11th seed and played against the University of Tennessee in the first round. But now, reality was slightly different from what he knew.

“As you know, Maryland is the champion of the top-tier ACC [Atlantic Coast Conference] conference. Especially the seniors, Greivis Vasquez, Landon Milbourne, and Eric Hayes, are great players who can demoralize the opposing team. I think you all know Maryland’s reputation.”

That was true. Maryland was a traditional powerhouse, a great university that won the major conference. They were almost always ranked in the top 30 nationally. Especially Greivis Vasquez, who was graduating this year, was expected to be drafted in the first round. His versatility was coveted by many teams in the NBA, as well as colleges.

“However, there are also positive aspects. First, we are also the proud champions of the Mountain West Conference, making us no different from Maryland. Second, Maryland’s bench depth is relatively weak, except for their three starters, which is something we can exploit.”

The Aztecs also didn’t have a particularly deep bench. Chase Tapley at point guard, Kelvin Williams at shooting guard, Tyron Shelley and Alex Williams at forward, and Brian Carwell at center were the main players, operating with a 10-man roster. Although these bench players might not fully match the starters, they had honed their defensive skills under Coach Fisher, boasting a solid defense that rivaled the starters.

However, in Maryland’s case, besides Greivis Vasquez, Landon Milbourne, and Eric Hayes,

they only had Jordan Williams at power forward and Sean Mosley at guard, with only 3 bench players, using an 8-man roster. This was largely due to Coach Gary Williams’ inexplicable recruiting, which failed to bring in promising players to Maryland after Greivis Vasquez.

Of course, in short tournaments like the NCAA tournament, it is common to use a 7-9 man roster. Because it is a short-term game, they squeeze out the maximum power. The NBA is the same, and the gap between the starters and the bench in the NCAA is significant. However, players cannot play full-time like in soccer, so they take breaks, but the playing time of bench players is significantly reduced compared to the regular season. Bench players who were put in during relaxed games may lose their chances to play.

Therefore, Coach Fisher’s words are both right and wrong. The productivity of the bench becomes less important, but even so, if the bench collapses, the starters will inevitably be overloaded. Even if the starters take the lead, the bench can eat away at the lead or allow a comeback. This can exhaust the starters both physically and mentally.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

★Thank you to those who subscribed, recommended, commented, and gave coupons!!

The reason for setting Youngjae’s comparison to Devin Harris in the previous episode is that he is a similar penetrating dual guard with speed as his strength. Of course, Harris is weak in shooting, which shows the difference from the main character, but usually, almost no player reproduces NCAA shooting in the NBA as it is. This is because the difference in stamina and defense is too severe. In addition, Harris was selected for the Eastern All-Star in 2009. Since the main character at that point is evaluated as not even being able to guarantee the second round, Devin Harris’ comparison is also high.

Of course, Youngjae’s height will continue to grow, and his grades will improve, so the comparison after the draft will be different again.

Like the NBA, the total roster for NCAA is 13-15 players. However, the number of players who actually play in the game varies from school to school and coach to coach.

커요커요님/// Ah, it was only used on some sites including DC at that time. It is said that the popularization point is after 2013. Thank you for pointing out.

우유동자님/// Yep. Even just getting attention among NCAA players can greatly increase the chances of being drafted in the future…

dio2n님/// There is no suspension. Don’t worry!!

뱅퇴유님/// Assignment……Fighting. The writer is also groaning in the swamp of assignments.

진실의거울님///Yes. We are aiming for a real sports genre. As a result, the fantastic feeling may be lacking. There will never be a suspension, so don’t worry.

백예님, 하얀심장님, 리드벤님, 태루군님/// Thank you ^^ I feel energized when I see the comments!!

yongA님///I will try to write a novel with a high readership!!

퓨로타님/// You are a fan of Jazz. If you watch the Jazz in the second half of the season these days, you will enjoy watching basketball. They are successfully rebuilding with just the draft. Hayward and Favors are doing a good job of holding the center of offense and defense… Gobert’s growth is also great.

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