"Doctor, how is Zhao Feiyang's condition?"
"He just sprained his foot... It's not a big problem. He just needs to rest for a day..."
In a local hospital in Madrid, head coach Ma Lei was asking about Zhao Feiyang's injury. Although the China Men's Basketball Team successfully won the first game, Zhao Feiyang's injury at the last moment undoubtedly touched the hearts of many people.
Not only did the domestic media report the news immediately, but even the Golden State Warriors called to inquire about the situation.
Fortunately, Zhao Feiyang was not seriously injured and everything was just a false alarm.
After the doctor left, head coach Ma Lei also came to the ward. Zhao Feiyang was lying on it looking leisurely playing with his mobile phone.
"Thank you for being okay... If something happened to you, this World Cup group stage would be over..."
Ma Lei said.
Zhao Feiyang was very indifferent, "The team can't always count on me alone. My power alone is limited. All I can do is help the team win more points, which may not determine the team's victory or defeat. ..."
Ma Lei sighed.
"Everyone understands the truth! But the current situation of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team can only rely on you..."
After coach Ma Lei finished speaking, Zhao Feiyang finally stopped looking at his phone, but he handed the phone to coach Ma Lei and asked him to pay attention to the information on it.
"Coach, I have calculated it. It shouldn't be a big problem for us to finish fourth in the group stage. In short, among the next opponents, it will definitely not be a problem to defeat the Kimchi National Men's Basketball Team..."
"But except for the Kimchi National Men's Basketball Team, it is difficult for us to win the other three teams... If we look at it according to the competition system, we will successfully get the fourth place, and then we will face the other three teams in the second round. It is the first team in Group C..."
Zhao Feiyang analyzed while talking.
"In this case, we will lose with a high probability. The first place in Group C is the American men's basketball team... But if we can still win another game, it is best to control the ranking to the third position. Then We will face the second place in Group C..."
"According to the current strength analysis, the second place team in Group C is likely to be the Ukrainian men's basketball team and the New Zealand men's basketball team. Of course, these two teams are also very strong, but it is not impossible to defeat them. This time there are many The national team's lineup is not the best, and even many stars from the American Dream Team are not here..."
Zhao Feiyang elaborated on his thoughts, while head coach Ma Lei fell into thinking.
"you mean?"
"I think we can choose to give up appropriately. Since some opponents cannot be beaten at all, then let's simply let the new players play more. Of course the old players still have to play, but reduce their playing time, save physical energy and keep them healthy. ..."
"Those three most powerful opponents, in my opinion, we have a chance to defeat the Angola team... We have defeated them before! But we can completely let go of the Lithuanian and Slovenian teams... ....."
Before Zhao Feiyang finished speaking, he was directly interrupted by head coach Ma Lei.
"no."
"Are you kidding? We must not give up in every game in the group stage. When it is time to fight, we must fight to the death... No matter what, we will not know until we play... ..."
"Otherwise, if we give up on our own initiative, how will the fans explain it? How will the Basketball Association explain it?"
Zhao Feiyang shook his head.
"All the Basketball Association wants is the final result."
"Of course the fans care about it, but are these two teams we can defeat without giving up? Basketball is not football, and it is difficult for an upset to occur under the influence of absolute strength..."
"I'm not afraid of them, nor am I lazy. I just think that the competition is so intense and there are so many schedules. If everyone can get better rest, they will definitely perform better in the second half... It's just right. You can take this opportunity to train young players..."
"Stepping back is not to give up, but to punch harder next time..."
Zhao Feiyang spoke very seriously.
Coach Ma Lei is in a dilemma.
He froze in place for a while, still not thinking about the result. At this time, all the players from the national team came to see Zhao Feiyang. Taking this opportunity, coach Ma Lei quietly walked out of the ward and came to a secluded place.
"Hey, is Chairman Xin here? Help me get to his office..."
Ma Lei called Xin Guotao.
The other party quickly answered the call.
After Xin Guotao asked about Zhao Feiyang's exact injury, Ma Lei also took this opportunity to inform him of Zhao Feiyang's idea. Unexpectedly, Xin Guotao interrupted Ma Lei's narrative before he finished listening.
"What bullshit idea? Who made him think that?"
"Are you giving up the game? So what if you can't beat it? Can you give up if you can't beat it? Who will take the blame when the fans start scolding you? Do you want me to take the blame?"
Xin Guotao flew into a rage and spewed obscenities unceremoniously on the other end of the phone.
Ma Lei was humble and submissive, and only cautiously added when Xin Guotao paused, "It's not because we are afraid of playing with the opponent, but because of the physical considerations of the players... The schedule is too tight, and our players are better than the opponent in terms of physical fitness." Weaker, if we can wait for work, maybe there will be unexpected results..."
"Get out of here, uncle!"
Xin Guotao scolded him unceremoniously, "Ma Lei, what nonsense are you talking about? Why did it hurt your body? What does it have to do with me if it hurts your body? What does it have to do with you?"
"Ma Lei, let me tell you, I put a lot of effort into putting you in this position. I asked you to coach the team to achieve results. As for who is injured, what does it have to do with me? Everyone is used to it. If he can't use it himself, why should he rely on me? On the Basketball Association?"
"Anyway, I put my words here. No matter what you think, you must go all out in the next few games! Even if you lose, you have to look like you tried your best. Otherwise, how can you explain it to the fans? And... ...Don’t Zhao Feiyang have a lot of ideas? If you ask me to see, he still hasn’t tried his best!”
"He must play the full game in the next few games, do you hear me? If he misses one minute, you will get out of the national team immediately after you come back..."
Beep.
Beep.
The phone was hung up.
Ma Lei didn't expect such a result.
He sat in a chair beside him in silence, hesitating for a long time before finally walking into Zhao Feiyang's ward again.
However, this time he didn't say anything.
Early the next morning, CCTV Sports specially interviewed the China Men's Basketball Team and learned from them that Zhao Feiyang was fine with his injury.
After the news was reported in China, countless Chinese fans finally felt relieved.
The Huaxia Men's Basketball Team had no chance to take any time off. Just one day later, they faced their second opponent in the group stage.
This time, their opponent is the Lithuanian team, which is the strongest in the group stage.
What is worrying is that before the start of this game, the Lithuanian team encountered the Kimchi National Men's Basketball Team in the first group match, which was not much weaker than the Chinese Men's Basketball Team.
The two teams ended the battle in just three quarters. The Lithuanian team played an extremely impressive performance and easily defeated their opponents with a score of 97 to 69.
Such a huge difference in score also made the Chinese men's basketball team feel great pressure before the game even started.
