Simple! Brutal!

After two days of rest, UConn hosted the University of Notre Dame.

The team had crushed the opponent during their ten-game winning streak, so this was also a great opportunity for UConn to lift its morale.

But Lamb disappointed UConn's fans once again.

He was completely lost all game, shooting just 3-for-15 for 8 points. He was blocked twice in a row by the opposing center and even committed a basic mistake by dribbling out of bounds.

In the end, UConn narrowly lost 53-56 and suffered its third straight defeat.

The losing streak also dropped them straight from second place to fourth. They were on the verge of falling out of the upper half of the standings.

At the next day's training session, no one spoke. Even Walker sat silently on the sideline as promised to Tang Tian, without smiling.

The atmosphere was exceptionally stifling. The dark cloud that had originally dispersed began hanging over the UConn arena once more.

"Jeremy, come here! Go one-on-one with me and let me see what the hell is wrong with you!" Tang Tian suddenly shouted at Lamb.

The shout came so suddenly that all the other players stopped training in shock, Lamb included.

Ollie wanted to get up and stop Tang Tian, but Cahoon held him back.

Tang Tian had always seemed like a steady player to him, so this sudden outburst made him curious.

At the same time, he had some issues with Lamb. The NCAA might not be the NBA, but it was still a place where strength spoke. If talent could not be realized, then he could only step aside and give others a chance.

"Get out here! Come on, go one-on-one with me!" Tang Tian walked to half court and shouted at Lamb.

"Don't tell me you don't even have the damn courage to go one-on-one with me now. If that's the case, then you really are admitting you're a coward." Seeing no reaction from Lamb, Tang Tian continued shouting.

The other teammates all sucked in a breath. Tang Tian was being a little too direct—and a little too brutal.

Lamb walked over.

Seeing Lamb come over, Tang Tian felt slightly relieved.

If he could not even provoke Lamb into coming over, then Lamb really might be worse than Wiggins, who soaked goji berries every day.

"Come on. Want me to give you one hand?" Tang Tian continued.

"No need." Lamb replied, taking Tang Tian's ball and preparing to attack.

By then, all the teammates had gathered around the court.

One-on-one, especially one filled with this kind of trash talk, had not appeared in this arena for a long time.

"Then prove it to me." Tang Tian lowered his center of gravity.

He was completely serious, his eyes locked on Lamb.

Lamb dribbled, changed direction, suddenly accelerated, and leaned into Tang Tian for the shot.

Though he had performed poorly in games, he was still pretty good on his own court.

Bang!

But the instant he released the ball, Tang Tian seized the opportunity. After the contact, he swatted it away with a vicious block right in his face.

"Whoa..." Napier's mouth fell open on the sideline. Tang Tian had gone hard on that one, showing absolutely no mercy.

"Old man." Ollie could not help speaking up. Tang Tian might just crush Lamb's confidence by playing him like this.

"Let's watch a little longer." Cahoon was also curious about what Tang Tian was trying to do.

Lamb panted heavily. Being blocked like that in front of his teammates was clearly hard for him to take.

"Are you really sure you don't need me to give you one hand?" Tang Tian shouted again.

Even Walker could not help baring his teeth. Though he already knew what Tang Tian was planning, this was still a little too vicious!

Lamb said nothing. He took the ball and continued going at Tang Tian alone.

There was no opening for a drive from the front, so he switched directly to a post-up. After several moves, he spun and went for a Fadeaway Jumper.

Tang Tian still had no intention of giving way. He lunged at him with everything he had and nearly blocked it again.

Lamb's heavily contested fadeaway was a complete Airball.

"Hiss!" It was not just Napier now. O'Riaqi and Orland both could not help sucking in a breath. Tang Tian was really trying to destroy him.

"What, still going?" Tang Tian asked.

"Again!" Lamb was getting a little angry now. He had once been a gifted high school player, after all.

Tang Tian smiled and gestured for him to continue.

Slap!

Tang Tian stole the ball.

"Still want to go?"

"Again!"

Bang!

The shot missed.

"You really want to go again?"

"Again!"

Bang!

Another missed shot.

Under his teammates' watchful eyes, Lamb challenged Tang Tian seven times in a row. He was blocked once, stripped twice, threw one Airball, and bricked three shots.

But Lamb never gave up. Maybe he could not back down in front of so many teammates, or maybe he really was unwilling to accept it.

On Lamb's ninth one-on-one attempt, the repeated attacks had drained a lot of his physical exertion, and his release point was noticeably lower.

Tang Tian blocked him viciously again, sending the ball straight into Lamb's body and knocking him to the floor.

Napier covered his face, unable to bear watching any longer.

Tang Tian's defensive ability was now strong enough to defend even someone like Brooks. In front of him, Lamb was practically a little brother!

"Still going?" Tang Tian looked coldly at Lamb on the floor.

Lamb said nothing. After catching his breath, he got up on his own and carried the ball back to the three-point line.

It was his tenth attempt at attacking.

Ollie was already preparing to stand up and call a stop, but Cahoon held him back again.

Cahoon had coached in the NCAA for forty years. He had already seen what Tang Tian was trying to do.

On Lamb's tenth drive, he took a deep breath beforehand, held it in, and charged into Tang Tian's chest before forcing up a shot through hard contact.

That move was fierce.

Tang Tian felt it. He had originally had a chance to block the shot, but he deliberately held back.

Bang!

Lamb's shot after the contact hit the backboard, then bounced into the net.

When he saw the ball go in, Lamb immediately shouted excitedly at Tang Tian, his face full of ferocity.

"Whoa! Whoa!"

Seeing that things were going wrong, Napier hurried onto the court and stood between them to prevent the conflict from escalating.

Tang Tian smiled.

"Are you only tough against your own people?"

"Just wait! You'll see!" Lamb angrily threw out the words, then turned and walked out of the Training Facility.

Lamb's departure finally brought the trash talk-filled one-on-one to an end. Most of the teammates were still unable to recover from what they had just watched.

"Tang, do you think it will really work?" Walker limped over.

"I hope so," Tang Tian said.

Lamb had actually been defended terribly by him just now. Normally, his mentality should have collapsed long ago, but it had not. That meant he had most likely gotten over that hurdle during the process.

"You sacrificed quite a bit." Walker patted Tang Tian on the shoulder.

He could tell Tang Tian had deliberately let up on the last ball, only to get shouted at by Lamb afterward.

"Did I?" Tang Tian replied with a smile. Compared with Walker's sacrifice, his own was hardly worth mentioning.