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Today's NBA has several major events, one is the Grizzlies narrowly defeated the Spurs, locked in the championship of the Southwest Division, and also lifted a Lakers.
Of course, in addition to thanking the Grizzlies, the Lakers are estimated to have now rushed to the door of Kelden Johnson's home to thank the grace of not killing.
The other is the game between the Suns and the Warriors, which also played to the last moment, and as for the mistake of chasing the dream, it can only be said that Paul was laughed at.
After this game, the Suns' winning count reached 62, equaling the best record in team history, and almost a kick in the door, while the Warriors fell directly to the fourth place in the West.
If there's one of the most important things outside the NBA, it's probably the head coach Shaheen Holloway who brought St. Peter University to the NCAA Quarterfinals this year to join his alma mater, Seton Hall University.
The NBA story will be too late to say later, but this dark horse story, which is called a dark horse story that cannot be written in Hollywood, may be the best time today.
In an interview with The Athletic a week ago, Ryan Whalen, principal assistant professor at St. Peter University, lamented: "Hollywood can't write a script like this, yes, they can't write it!" ”
The reason for this sentiment is that the unknown St. Peter's University ended the NCAA's crazy March game as an eight-time finalist.
How hard is this achievement? Before the NCAA started, there was a list of team approval ratings, and at that time, in the NCAA's top eight, the probability of St. Peter University reaching the top eight was 0.87%.
Turning the 0.87% probability into a 100% fact is the best proof of this story.
Losing is a common occurrence for St. Peter's University. After all, after losing to St. Francis University, ranked 322nd, in a match at home to MAAC (Atlantic City Athletic League) this season, the team's ranking dropped to 218th, and the live audience of this game was only 464.
At that time, no one could imagine what such a team could do this season. After all, St. Peter's University is a small school with only 2355 students, not only is the team unknown, but even this university does not have much of a presence.
They've had three NCAA tournaments in their history, but they've all rushed home after their first game.
But then they beat MAAC league leader Monmouth to move into this year's NCAA through an automated bid. Even so, no one thinks they can do anything brilliant in the game.
They are 60th in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Championship and are the 15th seeded team in the Eastern Division.
Then the team began its counterattack journey. In the first game, they beat the nation's seventh-place Kentucky 85-79, the alma mater of Towns, Booker and Thick Brow, an established powerhouse team that has been in the NCAA Tournament for many years.
The team, which has neither a key scorer nor an absolute star, carried a group of resilient benches and flipped the opponent upside down.
None of the team's players were in the top 100 in the United States in high school, and their highest-scoring player, Daryl Banks, averaged less than 12 points per game, but six of them averaged more than six points per game.
Even their head coach Holloway nearly missed the game against the University of Kentucky. Because he had a bad stomach the day before while eating at McDonald's, he had to take public transportation to the arena the next day.
In the second game, they won Morant's alma mater, Murray State University, a team that had previously won 21 straight. The third game was won by Purdue University, ranked third in the United States, facing several future stars of the NBA.
Before the game, St. Peter's University trained in its gymnasium, built in 1975, and the street opposite the entrance to the stadium was a row of dilapidated houses with cracks in the steps and tires.
It wasn't until it faced Duke University, led by coach K, that St. Peter's University lost the game 49-69, giving the NCAA its first Appearance in the Final Four of Duke vs North Carolina.
But St. Peter's University also worked wonders, becoming the third 15th seed in NCAA Tournament history to reach the Sweet 16 and the first all-time No. 15 seeded team to reach the Elite Quarterfinals.
Head coach Shaheen Holloway confessed after the game against the University of North Carolina: "I really thought we were going to win this game. There is no disrespect for them. I just think we can compete with them. ”
The history created by this team, in addition to the difference in strength, is also the same in terms of financial resources. They are the shortest team in the Round of 16, with a full-year budget of $1.5 million in basketball, including coach Holloway's annual salary of only $266,000.
If you want to make a comparison, they eliminated Kentucky University coach John Calipari in the first round with an annual salary of 8.5 million, which is 31 times that of Holloway. Even the University of Kentucky's teaching assistant salaries are higher than Holloway's, at $360,000.
When Holloway was just the head coach of the team in 2018, the most worried students when recruiting asked: "Can you see the team's locker room?" ”
"We're really not going to show them anything," assistant coach Ryan Whalen said, "we're not going to show them the locker room, we're not going to show them our office, we're not going to take them to the gym." Even though there were five or six kids who wanted to see it at first, they didn't see anything. ”
Because the locker room was so broken that, in Holloway's words, "The rats here are as big as cats." ”
Holloway would always take students around campus and then go straight to the Student Activity Center, which was the most modern building in the school, and there was a beautiful conference room on the fourth floor, and he would always arrange for students to interview in the conference room, "They just believed in the vision that Holloway had given them, what kind of person he would become." ”
Such a school naturally can't recruit talented students, but Holloway is also reluctant to settle down, and has its own set of rules, "I don't go to the gym to find the best person, but the most suitable person." All the players I discovered myself. I asked him, 'Can you play for me?' If you don't like the sport, if you don't want to be coached, if you're not tough enough, you can't play for me. ”
When Holloway first became the head coach of St. Peter University in 2018, the team registered only 14 to 18 players, and Holloway's first season in charge, the team only achieved a record of 10 wins and 22 losses.
But by the second year, Holloway led the team to an 18-12 record, including a 14-6 record in MAAC, and the team advanced to the quarterfinals that year, but the game was cancelled due to the epidemic.
By the 2021-22 season, St. Peter's University had a record of 22 wins and 12 losses throughout the season, which was a step up the ladder every year.
Facing third-seeded University of Kentucky throughout the game in the first round, holloway kept telling players that the team would win each time, and even though Kentucky was leading by six points in the final minutes, Holloway was convinced.
Speaking of The Athletic, former Seton Hall coach Tom Amek said: "I can tell you that his players now exude the same confidence as he does, and when I see the way they play against the University of Kentucky, they are fearless, just like their coaches. ”
Ultimately, St. Peter's University made history. And these days, new locker rooms, gyms, basketball offices are also becoming a reality, with new flooring and air conditioning equipment, and the team's home stadium has been renamed "Run Baby Run Arena" in honor of the 1968 St. Peter's nickname for beating Duke University to reach the NIT semifinals, the highest St. Peter University has previously achieved in the NCAA.
Holloway smiled and said, "These days, things aren't so bad, at least I don't have to hide some rudimentary equipment anymore." ”
But the quality of the equipment is not the determinant of the team's performance, as the team's small forward Hassan Radham said: "Those facilities are just a place, but as long as there is a court with two baskets and a basketball, we have no problem." Holloway has something that matches my growth, and that's what he's most proud of. ”
Holloway's ability to attract these players is his personal charm.
After winning Purdue, Holloway said in an interview that was particularly classic: "Cinderella? dark horse? This or that? Listen, I just have a bunch of guys who are happy whenever they have a ball. ”
Of course, this is just the glory of Holloway's coaching career, if you push the time forward 25 years, you will find that he is inextricably linked to the various basketball celebrities that everyone knows today.
At the age of 13, Bryant had a "kill list" of players ranked higher in the United States than him, and Holloway was one of them.
Back in high school, Holloway was already one of the nation's top point guards, and along with Mike Bibby, he was named the best point guard of the class of '96.
In 1996, at the McDonald's All-American Game at Pittsburgh Civic Stadium, Holloway won the MVP of the year with 7 points, 8 assists and 6 steals, when his teammate was a guy named Kobe Bryant, who scored 13 points.
"Of course I remember the McDonald's game, he was going crazy because he didn't get the MVP, he played very well in that game." In retrospect, Holloway hid his merits and fame.
But Holloway's head coach Boyle said, "He's the first great guard I've ever had, the first All-American player I've ever had, he's a great commando, always attacking, like the Pac-Man, constantly coming at you."
There was also a story that Holloway University chose Seton Hall University in New Jersey with St. Peter's University, and was the only player at the time to refuse the invitation of coach K Twice.
At the time, Duke University assistant professor Dan McHale recalled that when Old K was gone, the low-key Holloway shrugged his shoulders and said to McHale, "I can't leave my barber in New Jersey." ”
It was just a joke, but he became a New Jersey legend. Before St. Peter's University reached the NCAA Quarterfinals, New Jersey had not made the NCAA Round of Sixteen in 22 years. The last game to reach the NCAA Semifinals was seton Hall University in 2000, and the team's starting guard was Holloway.
How hot was Holloway at the time? Owen once recalled: "I've been a big supporter and fan of Seton Hall since I was 11 years old. If I don't go to Duke, that's probably the school I'm going to, and it's close to home. It's only five minutes away from where I grew up, so it would be great if Holloway went there to coach. “
Unfortunately, Holloway missed the NBA due to injury, but he shines in the coaching position. There was a better team to invite Holloway, but in the end he chose to coach St. Peter's University in New Jersey.
"When he got to St. Peter's, he had to create something of his own, and these wins were the culmination of those accumulations." Amek sighed.
"He rekindled the dream of a lot of people, players, coaches and teams who saw their stories and said, 'Anything is possible'. Holloway was a dreamer, which meant a lot to many people. ”
Now, holloway is back as head coach at his alma mater, Seton Hall University, and when he talks about the future, he replies: "When you get a lot of emails and phone calls saying, 'I want my son to play for you, I like what you're doing,' I think the future is very bright. ”
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