After the Diamond Cup, the men's basketball team's warm-up match is completely over.
With more than a week left before the Olympic group stage, all men's basketball players are actively involved in intense and intensive training.
However, the Olympic Games is not only a sports competition, but also a large-scale fame and show venue.
Before the group stage started, Du En, Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian and others received various invitations one after another, including officially organized program groups, so even Du En was not exempt.
In particular, the men's basketball team faced the famous Dream Team in the first game of Group B.
Maybe it's because Duan has attracted too much hatred in the NBA before, or maybe the Dream Team wants to regain its dominance in the international basketball world. The configuration of this year's Dream Team 8 is even more luxurious and powerful than the previous Dream Team 7.
Point guards Kidd and Paul, shooting guards Kobe and Wade, small forwards James, Anthony, Prince, power forwards O'Neal Jr., Boozer, Bosh, centers Howard and Stoudemire.
With the configuration of the Dream Team, it would be difficult to win the championship.
The men's basketball team will face such a powerful opponent in the first game of the group stage. Fans across the country naturally want to know the preparation status and confidence of the men's basketball players before participating in the group stage.
Du En, Yao Ming and others accepted official interviews and said some indifferent words. In order to avoid being criticized after losing, they did not say too much.
However, Du En still wanted to win the next battle.
You know, in a game that determines victory or defeat, the gap between the men's basketball team and the Dream Team is not as big as imagined.
"The game is about to start. I just want to tell everyone now, don't give up any game that you have a chance to win."
On August 10, the Olympic Games have begun, and the men’s basketball team will also usher in the first game of the group stage.
Before the game, Du En encouraged other players, hoping that everyone would give it a try with him and show their best condition to win the next most difficult game in the group stage.
After Du En finished speaking, Yao Ming also stood up and spoke: "Everything is difficult at the beginning. We must overcome the current difficulties..."
Not long after, the starting five of the men's basketball team officially debuted, and the group stage officially kicked off with a jump ball from Yi Jianlian and Howard.
Yi Jianlian's talent is explosive, but his physical quality is only close to that of black players. Howard's talent is explosive. Among black players, it is a level that is rare and peerless in a century.
It is precisely because of this that Howard effortlessly won the ball over Yi Jianlian's head.
After getting the ball, Kidd quickly got rid of Liu Wei's defense and went straight to the penalty area after halftime.
Duen's help came quickly, and there was Yao Ming in the penalty area.
Facing Duane's defense, Kidd could only pass the ball to James who was following up through a ground pass.
However, under Yao Ming's defense, James' layup was interfered with and failed to score. The subsequent rebound was collected by Yao Ming.
However, just when Du En turned around for a fast break, Kobe and Kidd both chased after him. Yao Ming could not pass the ball directly to Du En, so he had to hand the ball to Liu Wei first.
The starting lineup of the men's basketball team is Liu Wei, Sun Yue, Du En, Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming. The defense is okay, but the offensive end relies more on Du En and Yao Ming to attack with the ball, and lacks independent offensive ability in other points.
The Dream Eight team consciously double-teamed Duen and restricted Duen from catching the ball. This had a huge impact on the men's basketball team.
However, the next scene surprised the players of Dream Team 8.
As soon as Yao Ming reached the three-point line, he stepped forward and played a pick-and-roll with Liu Wei.
Liu Wei passed the ball to Yao Ming, followed by a pass, and Yao Ming took the ball directly at the top of the arc and aimed at the basket.
"Let Yao shoot?"
"Why are their guards running to the basket? Rebounding?"
"Yao isn't really going to shoot a three-pointer, is he?"
Under normal circumstances, when the guard plays a pick-and-roll with the inside, the guard will shoot with the ball, and the inside will move forward to take the cake, or get stuck and demand the ball and then take the ball for singles.
This scene on the court at this time is absolutely contrary to previous basketball concepts.
However, such a strange scene soon had a certain effect.
brush--
Yao Ming's three-point shot quickly and accurately helped the men's basketball team score 3 points, temporarily leading the Dream Team.
"Farke, I really can't guard this ball!" James yelled.
It was also because Yao Ming was shooting from the outside, and Kidd and Kobe were flanking Dunn, so James had to come over to cover the ball.
It turned out that Yao Ming was more than half a head taller than him.
Moreover, Yao Ming's wingspan seems to be very short, but if you really want to reach out to block the shot, you will find that you can only touch Yao Ming's forearm, and you need to take off to defend.
Yao Ming did not hesitate to take action. The tactic of this shot was for him to shoot.
The tactics used in this game were also a bit unreasonable. James was completely unprepared, and then he was shot in the face.
"Don't worry, Yao doesn't have the ability to shoot from the outside all the time. As long as we guard Du En and Yao well, this game will be easy to win."
Kidd picked up the ball and passed it to Howard while enlightening other Dream Team members on the court.
The pressure of the Dream Team's game tonight is indeed not high. Logically speaking, it can be easily handled by playing normally.
Because they are relatively unfamiliar with FIBA's competition rules, everyone has a new understanding of Yao Ming's shooting ability, but this does not affect the overall situation of the game, at least in their opinion.
However, the Mengba team obviously underestimated the men's basketball team in the first half.
In the offensive round of the Dream Team, Kobe Bryant was deathly entangled by Duen. After a try, the three threats did not choose to force the shot, but passed the ball back to Kidd.
Kidd played a pick-and-roll with James, who caught the ball and went to the basket, and then passed it to O'Neal.
O'Neal Jr. immediately made a fadeaway jumper after receiving the ball, but missed due to interference from Yi Jianlian.
After the men's basketball team protected the rebound, Liu Wei quickly tried to shoot a three-pointer. Although he missed the shot, Yi Jianlian helped the men's basketball team establish a two-point advantage with a tip-in.
Immediately afterwards, James held the ball and rushed to the basket. Before he could challenge Yao Ming to the basket, the referee caught him and started walking.
After spreading their hands, the game continued.
The Dream Team played a zone defense, and Du En and Yao Ming were still heavily defended.
Although Liu Wei had a certain amount of offensive space, perhaps he felt that there was a lot of pressure facing Kidd's defense, so he passed the ball to Yi Jianlian.
Yi Jianlian is not afraid of tigers as a newborn. He immediately turns around and drives to the basket when he gets the ball.
It's a pity that Howard's defense speed is too fast, and Yi Jianlian's passing ability is not good.
When he couldn't break through and had no chance to pass the ball to Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian could only resort to the second trick of his three axes - a turn-over jump shot.
It's a pity that Yi Jianlian has not yet completed his three goals, and his shooting percentage needs to be increased. This shot is just a Duang shot.
The Dream Team protected the rebound and immediately launched a transition attack. Relying on James' fast-break athleticism and Kidd's precise passing, they broke the scoring drought.
"Give me the ball later!"
Duan knew very well that if he wanted to win tonight's game, he had to stand up, so he chose to play with the ball early.
Kobe and others saw Duen speak. Although they didn't know what Duen said to his teammates, they roughly guessed it.
Kobe wanted to limit Duen's ability to catch the ball as much as possible, but Duen was just two or three steps away from the three-point line.
If the Dream Team flanks Duan in a place like this, there will be too much space for the inside to attack.
In the NBA, Yao Ming playing with Howard is like playing with a toy, so Kobe and others can only let Duan catch the ball.
After Du En got the ball, he signaled Yi Jianlian to come out from the inside.
In the previous warm-up matches, this high pick-and-roll tactic was used frequently.
Although Yi Jianlian doesn't do much offense with the ball, only three goals, he is not unable to score other than that. At least he can rely on his athletic ability and the help of Du En to complete some pie-eating tasks.
Duan used the pick-and-roll to get rid of Kobe and rush to the basket. Because Howard had to keep an eye on Yao Ming, he didn't immediately save the ball.
Before O'Neal Jr. and James arrived for defense, Duan suddenly stopped and took off near the free throw line in advance, followed by a mid-range shot.
brush--
Du En seized the opportunity in the semi-open position. The Mengba team had just scored 2 points by switching attacks. In the blink of an eye, Du En relied on jump shots to continue to widen the point difference.
However, Duen does not score every ball, and the players of Mengba Team are not rotten fish, and not every ball starts walking.
Soon, Kobe and O'Neal both hit some shots, and some players on the men's basketball team also completed the scoring. The two teams took turns to score.
Overall, the men's basketball team is slightly better.
After the first quarter, the score was 20 to 24, and the men's basketball team entered the second quarter with a 4-point lead.
Perhaps because they had already established an advantage in the first quarter, the men's basketball team seemed to play more confidently and with more fighting spirit in the second quarter than in the first quarter.
Zhu Fangyu, Sun Yue and Wang Shipeng hit three-pointers one after another, and Du En also relied on his personal ability to score 7 points at the beginning of the second quarter to help the men's basketball team stabilize the situation.
However, after Duen came off the court, Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian did not perform very well and did not seize the opportunity to expand their lead.
It wasn't until the last 2 minutes of the second quarter that Duan came back on the court and scored another 4 points. Only then did the men's basketball team avoid being counterattacked by the Dream Team at the last moment of the first half.
47 to 48, the men's basketball team's lead was reduced from 4 points to 1 point.
After the second quarter, the situation became slightly unfavorable for the men's basketball team.
Yao Ming's dream team did not produce the results that everyone imagined.
Although Yao Ming scored in double figures in the first half, his offensive efficiency was not high. He only scored 11 points by making 4 of 9 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and 2 of 3 free throws.
In comparison, Duan made 7 of 11 shots, 3 of 5 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 19 points, which was undoubtedly much more efficient.
It is worth mentioning that even if Yao Ming's performance is average, in order to restrict Yao Ming, the Dream Team is constantly making fast breaks and attacking inside, which consumes Yao Ming's physical strength.
Yao Ming's state in the second half was actually predictable.
Similarly, since Yao Ming has been restricted, it is inevitable that Du En will encounter more restrictions in the second half.
Sure enough, after the game restarted in the third quarter, Duan suffered a more severe attack.
Prince became the starting small forward of the Dream 8 team in the third quarter, teaming up with Kobe to double-team Duan.
At the same time, the Dream Team relied on a full-court press, causing the men's basketball team to make some dribbling errors, and then used the errors to create some counterattacks.
From the beginning of the third quarter, the men's basketball team was at a disadvantage. After being overtaken by the Dream Team, the score was once pulled to eight points.
In order to preserve the chance of winning tonight, the men's basketball team, under Du En's suggestion during the timeout, had no choice but to gamble on luck, first remove Yao Ming, and then rely on the forwards to shoot three-pointers and grab rebounds, and play transition offense to follow the dream Eight teams fought with bayonets.
I have to say, you still have to rely on real teammates.
Zhu Fangyu played with Du En for a season and won the championship together, so he was naturally able to keep up with Du En's rhythm.
Moreover, switching offenses and three-pointers are things Zhu Fangyu often does in the Bulls.
This time it just happened to feel good again, so the chain didn't drop.
In the third quarter, Zhu Fangyu relied on two three-pointers and two transition layups to score 10 points in a single quarter, helping the men's basketball team secure the score.
However, in the fourth quarter, he was rewarded with a Kobe, and Prince came to defend Duan alone.
Although Du En continued his firepower, other teammates failed to step up and score, wasting some ball rights.
In particular, Yi Jianlian was really not in good shape tonight. He made 2 of 9 shots from the field, 2 of 4 free throws, and only had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
As for Yao Ming, it can only be said that he was quite satisfactory, scoring 16 points in 15 shots.
If it were anyone else, if the Dream Team could score 16 points in a single game, it would definitely be considered very good, but there are only so many people who can play in the men's basketball team.
If Yao Ming doesn't score, not many people can score.
Yao Ming's performance tonight really couldn't help Du En and the men's basketball team win.
97 to 85, the Dream Team scored more points each quarter. In the end, relying on constant defensive counterattacks and transition attacks in the fourth quarter, they defeated the men's basketball team that could not keep up.
“Sports and competitions are like this. If there is a gap in strength, then there will be a gap in performance.
Of course, losing games cannot affect us.
We still have to look forward. If our physical strength is not good enough, we should continue to practice physical strength. If our skills are not good, we should practice technical skills.
As long as we overcome the objective conditions and as long as our players are willing to improve, we will definitely become stronger and stronger by then. "
After the game, Duen, who scored 31 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block against the Dream Team in the group stage, accepted an interview with the official reporter.
As the saying goes, a defeated general cannot be brave enough. The men's basketball team lost to the Dream Team for the first time in the group stage. Although it was reasonable, most people did not have the courage to face their hometown elders.
Only Du En, the best performer, can speak out on behalf of everyone.
In fact, there is nothing to say. The lack of physical fitness can only be practiced by the players themselves.
It's actually not bad in the NBA. I usually take more nutritional supplements and I won't feel too tired during games.
But now it's the Olympics, and the supply has been cut off before the training camp. These additives are also strictly prohibited during the competition, and then the real physical level of the players is compared.
Therefore, even if some players in the men's basketball team have already "furthered training" in the NBA, the phenomenon of insufficient physical fitness to play the entire game still exists.
"There is no problem in advancing to the group stage. Although Group B is a death group, we are confident of getting out of Group B. I believe we will not let everyone down this year."
After beating the Dream Team, the men's basketball team will play the World Championship champion Spain in the next game. Everything is difficult at the beginning. All the strong teams were met by the men's basketball team at the beginning of the group stage.
However, only the top four in the group can advance to the quarterfinals.
The Men’s Basketball Team might not be able to beat the Men’s Basketball Team of Mengba and Spain, but it’s not a big problem to beat the other four teams.
As for the strong teams in Group A, they are mainly the Lita Bowl team and Argentina.
Because the men's basketball team has already defeated Argentina in the Diamond Cup before, we are relatively optimistic about the third place in the Doon group advancing to the quarterfinals.
Of course, it would be best if the top two teams in the group advance to the quarterfinals.
Therefore, the next game against Spain is particularly important. (End of chapter)
