The whistle of referee Tim Gattis sounded again through the entire Rupp Arena complex, giving as ended the brief interruption of the game after the spectacular basket by Julius Randle that put the score at a comfortable 4-0.
In the stands, the emotion was still felt skin-deep, with the Wildcats fans applauding and cheering every movement of the quintet of rookies that Coach Calipari had decided to send to the court in this start of the NCAA season.
"It's crazy, the pace that these guys are imposing in the first minutes of play," said the commentator from the Fox Sports South network toward the camera, while the producer made signs to him from behind, indicating to him the audience levels that the live television broadcast was reaching on this Friday night.
"For being a group of first-year students, the chemistry they are demonstrating under the post is something that hasn't been seen since the era of the Fab Five at Michigan," the analyst next to the main narrator continued saying, while noting down in his notepad the movements of Aaron Reed in the paint.
Back on the court, the Bulldogs' point guard Andrew Rowsey received the ball from the hands of his teammate Jaron Lane and immediately began to give slow bounces, seeking with his gaze the way to be able to break the defensive wall that Coach Calipari had implemented in the team.
The 1-3-1 zone that the Wildcats found themselves performing put a suffocating pressure over the perimeter players of the Asheville team, causing them to have to pass the ball to each other in a rapid and precise manner if they did not want to lose possession of the ball before the siege of the Harrison twins.
"Over here!" shouted Corey Littlejohn, trying to unmark himself from the fierce marking that Aaron Harrison was imposing on him since they crossed half of the court.
Rowsey, seeing a small opening, launched a lofted pass straight toward the hands of Corey, who upon receiving the ball immediately attempted to perform a shot fake to deceive the Kentucky defense.
However, Aaron Harrison did not fall for the deception and instead maintained his defensive position, forcing Corey to have to pass the ball in a desperate manner toward the power forward Will Weeks, who found himself near the three-point line.
Weeks, upon receiving the ball and seeing that the possession clock kept going down dangerously, decided to take the risk and attempted a rapid penetration in a diagonal straight toward the paint of the Wildcats, seeking to get the first points for his team.
But what he did not take into account was that upon entering the painted zone, he would encounter directly the imposing figure of Aaron, who found himself waiting for him with his arms well extended and his knees slightly flexed, blocking completely any free route toward the hoop.
Upon feeling the enormous physical pressure that Aaron imposed in the paint of play, Weeks attempted to change his trajectory at the last second, seeking to perform a reverse layup through the right side of the basket.
"Nice try," Aaron murmured to himself, while with a rapid movement of feet he rose through the air with a clean jump, extending his left hand in a perfect manner toward the trajectory of the ball.
"THUD," was the dull sound that was produced when Aaron's hand impacted with strength the ball in the air, sending it straight against the backboard, causing a long rebound to emerge immediately, unleashing madness in the stands of the arena.
"Incredible block by Aaron Reed!!" enthusiastically shouted the television narrator while seeing how the defensive play of the young center completely destroyed the hopes of the visiting team to be able to premiere the score in this half of play.
The long rebound was caught with ease by James Young, who upon getting control of the ball immediately turned and began to run at full speed toward the other half of the field, initiating a lethal counterattack in rapid transition on the part of the locals.
Seeing his teammate advance, Aaron did not stay behind, and despite his great size, he began to run with long and powerful strides, crossing the court in a few seconds to give support to the offense of the Kentucky team.
James Young, upon arriving at the three-point line of the Bulldogs, saw how two Asheville defenders closed in on him rapidly to avoid him launching a comfortable triple, so with total tranquility he decided to pass him the ball low to an Andrew Harrison who came free through the center.
Andrew, upon receiving the ball, raised his head and saw how Aaron entered with strength into the low post, winning the physical position against DJ Cunningham, who did all possible to push him out of the restricted zone without having success before the greater physical strength that Aaron had been gaining in the weekly training sessions with the nutritionist.
Trusting in Aaron's abilities, Andrew launched a lofted pass straight toward the hoop in a classic alley-oop play that left all those present holding their breath for a brief second in the arena.
Rising through the air with an ease that defied his own stature, Aaron caught the ball with both hands at the highest point of his jump and with a fierce movement plunged it with strength inside the hoop, causing the entire metallic structure of the basket to shake in response to the tremendous dunk.
"Two points for Kentucky!!" exclaimed the commentator with his eyes wide from surprise upon seeing the ease with which the quintet of rookies coordinated the offensive plays on the field of play, putting the score at a convincing 6-0.
The match continued with the same pace during the rest of the first half of play, with the team of the Kentucky Wildcats completely dominating every aspect of the basketball encounter before the helpless gaze of the visiting coach of the Bulldogs, who did not find the way to break the tactical scheme that Calipari had designed for this official season debut.
Julius Randle became an unstoppable force in the paint, capturing a total of 8 offensive rebounds and scoring several consecutive mid-range baskets that made the Asheville defense look completely overcome on each possession of play.
For their part, the Harrison twins controlled the perimeter with a surprising maturity for being rookies, distributing the ball with intelligence and always finding a James Young who found himself on fire from the three-point line, scoring three triples in a row that increased the advantage in the general score of the match.
However, the player who was truly taking the gazes of all those present in the arena was Aaron Reed.
Despite not seeking absolute protagonism on offense, Aaron had become the defensive anchor of the Wildcats, accumulating 7 spectacular blocks and altering countless shots of the opposing point guards, who felt terror to enter the paint upon seeing the enormous physical wingspan of Aaron under the hoop.
In addition, his capacity to initiate counterattacks with precise passes from coast to coast demonstrated a vision of game summo rare for a player of his position and current weight of play.
"TWEET," the whistle blew, indicating the end of the first 20 minutes of the first half of the match, with the score showing an overwhelming 48-22 in favor of the locals before the shouts of satisfaction of the 20 thousand fans dressed in blue in the stands of the arena.
Walking straight toward the locker room tunnel, Aaron wiped the sweat from his forehead with a small white towel while listening to the congratulations of his teammates, who found themselves extremely enthusiastic about the level of play they had demonstrated on the field of play.
"Good job, guys, but this still doesn't end," Coach Calipari reminded them once all the players were gathered inside the main locker room, taking a seat in their respective lockers of the room.
"The advantage is good, but I want you guys to maintain the same defensive intensity in the second half of the match; I don't want to see any type of relaxation or excess of confidence on the court," the head coach warned them with a serious tone, knowing how easy it is for a group of young rookies to lose concentration after such a bulky advantage in the first matches of the year of the league.
Calipari then turned toward the tactical whiteboard in the corner of the room and began to erase some names from the initial lineup of play to write down the rotations for the second half of the official encounter.
"For the next ten minutes of play, I want to perform some changes in the paint rotation," Calipari began to say while his eyes fixed on the team's bench.
"Willie, you are going to go in for Aaron in the center position," ordered the head coach of the Wildcats, winning the immediate attention of Willie, who found himself seated a few meters from Aaron with a look full of hunger for play in his dark eyes.
Willie, upon hearing his name, immediately stood up, letting the team sweatshirt drop to the floor, revealing his jersey, ready to enter the hardwood of play to demonstrate what he was made of before the main coach.
"Understood, coach, I won't disappoint you," Willie responded to him with a firm tone of voice that demonstrated the great internal competitiveness he felt toward the new rookies who had taken away his spot as an indisputable starter in this start of the NCAA season.
Aaron, upon seeing the reaction of his teammate, simply extended his fist to him with a cordial smile on his face in a sign of mutual support between companions of the paint of the Wildcats.
"The paint is all yours for now," Aaron told him with calm while he accommodated himself in his locker to rest his legs and recover his breath after the physical wear and tear of the first half of play of the match.
Willie bumped Aaron's fist with strength, maintaining his gaze fixed on him for a brief second in a clear show of competitive respect between the two centers of Kentucky in this year of competition.
"Have that for sure, friend, I don't plan to stay behind in this game," Willie responded to him before turning around and leaving straight through the players' tunnel along with the rest of the substitutes' team, ready to give start to the second 20 minutes of the second half of play.
From the substitutes' bench, Aaron observed with attention the development of the second half of the match, seeing how Willie imposed a style of play completely different from his on the court of play.
Unlike the tactical subtlety and the vision of game that Aaron usually showed under the post, Willie was pure energy and explosive athleticism on each play, running the court at maximum speed and seeking direct physical contact against the opposing centers of the Asheville Bulldogs.
In one defensive play, Willie read in a perfect manner the pass of the opposing point guard and with a great jump intercepted the ball in the air to then run solo through the entire court, finishing the play with a savage two-handed dunk that made the arena public stand up once more to shout with strength the name of the local team.
"That guy really has a brutal intensity when he sets his mind to it," commented Julius Randle, who found himself seated at the side of Aaron on the substitutes' bench with an ice bag over his right knee as a common precautionary measure of the team's training staff.
"Yeah, Willie is like a force of nature on the defensive court," Aaron agreed, with his gaze fixed on the foot movements of his teammate, analyzing the way in which Willie used his lateral quickness to cover the flaws of the substitute players on the perimeter of play.
And so, little by little, the game went deciding itself without any setback, in which all the fans of the Wildcats team could see how Coach Calipari's plan of lining up 5 rookies was giving results and would completely give what to talk about in this season.
Similar thoughts had several coaches of teams and people who found themselves watching the match at that moment.
Authors thought's
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