"Young men, we are now just twenty minutes away from entering the Final Four!"
United States, Oklahoma Sooners' campus.
Inside the away team's locker room, Coach Calipari roared passionately: "I don't think anyone can beat us. Keep doing what you did in the first twenty minutes; they can't stop us!"
"..."
"Coach, we need to make a defensive adjustment in the second half!"
After Coach Calipari finished his motivational speech, Jinwoo, wiping sweat from his brow, suddenly spoke: "Trae Young's individual offense is ultimately a hidden danger, but he has no chance to score against me!"
"So, from the start of the second half, I will be primarily responsible for defending Trae Young. Even after a screen, everyone must not switch!"
"Leave that Stephen Curry 2.0 to me!"
Halftime quickly ended, and both teams' players returned to the court.
Coach Calipari chose to let Alexander and Vanderbilt, who led the team in the latter half of the first half, rest on the sidelines.
Jinwoo, who was the first to rest in the first half, would lead four teammates onto the court!
For the Oklahoma Sooners, Trae Young, who played the full twenty minutes of the first half, was still in the game!
"If there are no surprises, Trae Young will play the entire game today!"
Seeing the starting lineups for the second half, the two commentators on site began: "This talented young man from the small town of Lubbock has pretty much given his all for his team!"
The first possession of the second half belonged to the Oklahoma Sooners.
Trae Young quickly dribbled the ball across half-court, directly facing Jinwoo's defense.
Skillfully making a gesture, he used his team's center for a screen, and Trae Young dribbled toward the weak side.
Unlike the first half, this time the Kentucky Wildcats did not choose to switch.
Jinwoo quickly went around the screen, once again intercepting Trae Young's path.
"The Kentucky Wildcats did not choose to switch after the screen. Jinwoo quickly went around the screen and once again positioned himself in front of Trae Young!"
"The Wildcats changed their defensive strategy in the second half. If Trae Young wants to win the game, he must defeat Jinwoo's defense head-on!"
The two commentators on site exchanged glances.
Although Trae Young, with the help of screens, avoided Jinwoo's defense multiple times to score in the first half, the excitement displayed in the game was far less thrilling than Trae Young directly challenging Jinwoo one-on-one!
Watching these two exceptionally talented rookies go head-to-head like Mars colliding with Earth—that was the scene everyone was truly anticipating!
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Trae Young also realized this point.
Being able to get rid of Jinwoo's defense with a screen was only a temporary measure; a head-on confrontation was the main theme among geniuses!
Thinking this, Trae Young didn't waste any more time, accelerating directly. After continuous in-and-out dribbles, he backed into Jinwoo. It looked like he was about to shake off Jinwoo with a burst of speed.
"Thump!"
At the critical moment, Jinwoo's left hand, like a dragon emerging from the sea, reached from behind Trae Young, touched the basketball, and slapped it away!
The basketball instantly flew out. Jinwoo quickly leaned forward, snatching it before everyone else. While securing possession, he immediately launched a fast break!
Trae Young, who was directly stolen from by Jinwoo, reacted quickly as well, turning around immediately to chase on defense.
The two rookies engaged in an Olympic 100-meter-like chase on the court, but this sprint battle ended before it even truly began.
Trae Young had just reached the three-point line when Jinwoo, a small step inside the free-throw line, took off on one foot, seeming to float. His aerial posture was incredibly light, his left hand switched the ball to his right, and his right hand delivered a powerful one-handed tomahawk dunk!!
"Jinwoo steals from Trae Young directly, fast break, and a powerful dunk for the score!!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, that was a hand-switching tomahawk dunk, taking off from the free-throw line!"
The two commentators on site literally sprang out of their seats: "This will be a dunk worthy of being etched into NCAA history!"
Not just the two commentators on the sidelines, but even the Oklahoma Sooners fans in the arena all stood up from their seats.
A free-throw line, hand-switching tomahawk dunk!
This was a dunk rarely seen even in the NBA, and only a handful of times in the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest.
Now it was actually happening in a real game, on the stage of the NCAA tournament!
And the one who accomplished all this was a player from Korea?
Terrifying!
"Woohoo, a free-throw line, hand-switching tomahawk dunk!"
In the stands, Stephen Curry was also stunned: "This young man's dynamic talent is too explosive, isn't it?"
As a somewhat famous "Dunk King" in Golden State, Stephen Curry's heart was similarly burning with excitement over Jinwoo's incredible dunk.
"Yes, his athletic talent is genuinely exaggerated!"
Draymond Green, who was nearby, was also shocked: "Compared to Jinwoo, why do I feel like Trae Young is just an ordinary player?"
After a secret comparison, Draymond Green suddenly discovered with surprise:
Trae Young was nothing more than a freshman with great shooting skills!
In front of Jinwoo, he was like an immature elementary school student, while the latter looked more like a favored son of heaven.
The actions that deepened this feeling for Draymond Green and Curry were still continuing.
Back on the offensive end, facing Jinwoo's suffocating, tight defense, Trae Young had no solutions.
On one hand, his height and shooting advantage simply wasn't enough in front of Jinwoo.
Jinwoo's height and wingspan could firmly cover him.
More importantly, Jinwoo's defensive anticipation was almost always able to predict Trae Young's moves.
Trae Young, still in his college years, was also far from as terrifying as his peak NBA form.
In front of Jinwoo, this so-called "NCAA all-time number one" ultimately lost his magic.
Conversely, Jinwoo's performance on the offensive end was completely unleashed due to Vanderbilt and Alexander resting on the bench.
The Oklahoma Sooners' offense was stalled. After the Wildcats players secured the rebound, they immediately passed the ball to Jinwoo.
Back on offense, Jinwoo almost copied a highlight reel move: a pull-back and gather, an acceleration after a crossover that directly shook off his defender, driving into the paint, and scoring with an aerial reverse layup over the opposing center.
His dazzling dribbling moves combined with his extremely quick first step directly froze the defender in place, who took a long time to react.
Next possession.
Jinwoo continued to drive, getting past his defender as easily as crossing an empty road in the early morning, reaching the paint in just a few moves.
The Oklahoma Sooners center once again completed a rotation to help, but Jinwoo this time only paused, then suddenly accelerated again, slipping past the defender's right side into the basket, and making another reverse layup.
Turning back, facing Trae Young's strong drive, Jinwoo followed closely, step by step. As his opponent attempted a scoop layup, Jinwoo burst out from behind, gifting Trae Young a spectacular chase-down block!
The Wildcats players secured the rebound and immediately passed the ball to Jinwoo.
With the ball in his hands, Jinwoo quickly dribbled from the backcourt to mid-court. Facing a wide-open court view, he suddenly shot!
After the shot, the basketball was still flying through the air.
He already turned around, his back to the hoop, raising his left hand high, extending three fingers!
"Swish!"
With the atmosphere like this, how could that shot possibly not go in?
And this Logo three-pointer became the final straw that broke the Oklahoma Sooners' back.
"Jinwoo has already scored his 28th point in this game!"
"The Oklahoma Sooners' perimeter defense has completely become Jinwoo's personal playground!"
"In the second half's head-to-head matchup, Trae Young was completely dominated by Jinwoo on both ends of the court!"