"Welcome to the world of regret!"
Li Fei's words were undoubtedly a message to the University of Connecticut.
This was your city of regret.
After tonight, your journey would come to an end!
"Bang!"
With a thunderous crack, Li Fei slapped the ball straight into Kidd's hands.
The next moment,
Li Fei used his long, imposing legs
to show the UConn Huskies what the world outside was like.
The towering figure in number 91 raced downcourt, leaving a crowd of players behind who could only watch in awe.
"Crash!"
When Li Fei burst out of nowhere, took just one step inside the three-point line, and soared into the air for an alley-oop slam,
Donyell Marshall felt a chill in his breath.
Every player on the University of Connecticut team sucked in a breath.
"An alley-oop right after the tip-off! Li Fei has brought this kind of play to March Madness!"
"Come on, guys! This is the must-have dinner special from UC Berkeley!"
"I guarantee no other conference has ever tasted anything like this!"
Just as the commentator said,
Li Fei's talent was truly terrifying—something the University of Connecticut had never seen before.
Back on offense, Donyell Marshall found himself hounded by Green Stewart.
With no room to shoot, he used a triple threat move, accelerated into the Paint, and put up a floater.
The main reason Marshall was projected to go in the lottery during the loaded 1994 draft was his excellent touch.
But Li Fei swatted away the floater with a monstrous block.
"Welcome to the world outside."
After the block, Li Fei gave Marshall a cheerful response.
On the ensuing half-court possession, Li Fei was the first to make his move in the paint.
Facing Travis Knight, Li Fei didn't even need to use a single technique.
He lowered his shoulder and sent Travis Knight flying two meters away.
Then he raised his left hand, swung it around Knight, and hammered down a dunk.
"Whoa, did you see that, guys? He was nearly two meters from the rim, and Li Fei went straight up from a standstill and dunked right over Travis! This is Li Fei's signature half-court move!"
"Other players could never pull off a standing dunk from that spot. Li Fei is showing everyone, in the most physical way possible, who comes from the stronger world!"
After the change of possession, Donyell Marshall was still struggling to find any room to operate.
The Golden Bears had done their homework before March Madness began.
Marshall was projected to go so high in the draft because his game was so versatile that he could fit in with any NBA team.
He could be a stretch big, didn't need the ball, had a reliable three-pointer, and possessed a full arsenal of offensive skills—but he didn't excel at any one thing.
There was nothing wrong with using him as a 3-and-D role player, but asking him to lead a team and serve as its primary offensive option?
He simply wasn't capable of that.
As for the more promising Ray Allen,
he was still only a freshman, and his ability to create off the dribble wasn't good enough to make him a primary option either.
In other words, this UConn Huskies team had very little room to grow offensively. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been ranked sixteenth in the East.
The Golden Bears' suffocating defense sparked a 23–0 scoring run.
With Li Fei protecting the paint, the UConn Huskies missed their first 21 shots from inside.
"The UConn Huskies can already announce that their run ends in the Round of 32."
"They're down by as many as 28 points, and, more importantly, they can't find any way to break through the Golden Bears' defense."
"Let's take a look at the first-half stats. Li Fei held the UConn Huskies to just four points in the paint for the entire half!"
At last, the game was over.
The Golden Bears had piled up 102 points against the UConn Huskies and advanced to the Round of 32 with a 58-point blowout!
Forget Li Fei's 42 points tonight. With 15 blocks and 4 steals, he had turned the Golden Bears' paint into a zone marked off-limits!
He'd broken the March Madness single-game record with 15 blocks and become the first player in March Madness history to record a 40–20–15 stat line!
"Li Fei has proven that he'll make everyone who doubts him eat their words."
"Most people don't understand just how much ground Li Fei can cover on defense. That's why teams facing him for the first time get their shots blocked again and again!"
"In his March Madness debut, Li Fei used 15 blocks to announce one thing to the whole world."
"Li Fei ahead—no heroes allowed!"
"If we're the world outside..."
After the game, the 2.06-meter stretch shooter Donyell Marshall was no longer the fired-up player he'd been before tip-off.
His face was twisted with pain.
"Li Fei comes from a sci-fi future!"
The NBA scouts at courtside all reached the same conclusion.
Marshall really couldn't be a team's primary scorer.
He'd be much better off as a humble 3-and-D role player.
And Li Fei—
just as Marshall had said, he was the true giant of the future!
The next day, Marshall's postgame interview was all over the March Madness newspapers.
But Glenn Robinson, gearing up for his first game of March Madness, was furious when he saw the headlines.
"What the hell does 'sci-fi future' even mean?"
Before the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks, Big Dog excitedly declared, "I've already got my eyes on the battle for the Sweet Sixteen!"
An entire season's worth of effort—
Big Dog Robinson had worked only to get revenge on Li Fei in March Madness!
Put it this way.
For Big Dog, beating Li Fei even once would feel almost as good as jerking off.
Now he had his chance.
As long as Purdue University could beat Arkansas and make it to the Round of 32,
he'd get to face Li Fei in the battle for the Sweet Sixteen!
And so,
at that moment, the African Spotted Hyena couldn't wait to skip right past the Arkansas Razorbacks and go straight for Li Fei's ass!
But the awkward truth was...
Just as fans across the country were eagerly looking forward to Big Dog Robinson facing Li Fei in a fateful March Madness showdown,
Big Dog got gutted in the first round instead...
The Arkansas Razorbacks double-teamed Big Dog while their offense spread the scoring around. In just a few minutes, they'd opened up a double-digit lead.
Big Dog immediately began to fight back like a man possessed.
But when he prayed to God, the only response he got was a first-half blowout.
Purdue University ended its season with an 85–58 loss. Big Dog scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but even that couldn't spare him the indignity of getting gutted.
He'd have to wait until the NBA to get his revenge on Li Fei.
At last,
the opponent for the Golden Bears' Sweet Sixteen game had been decided.
The Arkansas Razorbacks.
The game would be played at the Phoenix Suns' home arena: America West Arena!
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