The second game of the men’s basketball group stage.
The Chinese men's basketball team played against the Lithuanian men's basketball team.
The game is still held in the largest local arena in Madrid.
Compared with the previous game, this game had more Asian spectators, many of whom were fans holding small Chinese flags.
CCTV Sports also specially broadcast this game during prime time, cheering for its team with countless Chinese fans.
In the first quarter of the game, both sides were aggressive in their attacks.
The Lithuanian team has strong physical fitness and works particularly hard on the defensive end. The Chinese men's basketball team also showed no signs of weakness and directly entered the confrontation.
This time, head coach Ma Lei temporarily replaced Ding Yanyuhang and Guo Ailun.
The two newcomers have good talents, but do not have much experience in competitions, and it is difficult to compete with each other in terms of physical fitness. Therefore, the veteran players of the national team were replaced in the first quarter and it was up to them to maintain the stability of the entire team.
Thanks to the abundant physical fitness of the Chinese men's basketball players, although the opponent still took the lead in this quarter, the score was not widened by much.
Until entering the second quarter.
The core members of the Huaxia Men's Basketball Team lost strength, especially the insiders who gradually became passive after Yi Jianlian came off the court to rest.
The outside players were unable to maintain stable performance under the high-intensity defense, so they all transferred the ball to Zhao Feiyang.
The Chinese men's basketball team attacks.
Before the ball had passed halftime, Zhao Feiyang had already received a pass from his teammate. He was not surprised by this. He was mentally prepared and took his time to get through the half.
After halftime, facing the Lithuanian player's marking, Zhao Feiyang did not easily break through and get to the basket.
Breaking through consumes too much physical strength and is too much for him to withstand.
"Pick and roll."
Zhao Feiyang gave a signal to his teammates inside.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Qi immediately moved to the low post, but as soon as he moved, the Lithuanian team's players saw through his intention, and the opponent directly came out from halfway to intercept Zhou Qi.
Ding Yanyuhang, who came on as a substitute on the wing, planned to come over and cover Zhao Feiyang. He successfully fended off the defender, but Zhao Feiyang was double-teamed by two Lithuanian players just after he broke into the two zones.
The opponent is tall and strong, and his physical fitness is extremely strong. His defensive cooperation is even more tacit, and he immediately blocks Zhao Feiyang's shooting space.
Zhao Feiyang just twisted his body in mid-air and threw the ball at the last moment before his feet landed on the ground.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
This difficult goal attracted cheers from the Chinese fans at the scene.
However, Zhao Feiyang's expression became more solemn.
It was Lithuania's turn to fight back.
The opponent advanced very quickly with the ball, and just after halftime, the ball was transferred to the inside.
Zhou Qi, who was on the inside, used his body to block the opponent, but the opponent was not afraid at all. He used his body to force him away and went inside, dunking the ball directly under the basket.
It's the Chinese men's basketball team's turn to attack again.
This time Zhou Peng dribbled the ball over. As soon as Zhao Feiyang tried to catch the ball, he was double-teamed by two players from the Lithuanian team.
Zhao Feiyang kept running, trying to get rid of the defensive player, but the opponent was staring at him like hell, not giving him any chance to touch the ball.
"Walk."
"Don't give it to me yet!"
Zhao Feiyang had no choice but to let his teammates dribble the ball over.
After several transfers, the basketball still could not be successfully sent into the inside. It was difficult for the outside defenders to find breakthrough opportunities, so they could only choose to take long shots under the pressure of the opponent's defense.
boom.
The basketball bounced out of the basket.
The rebound bounced off, and Wang Zhelin just jumped up and reached out to touch the basketball. The next second, the big player of the Lithuanian team suddenly snatched it from his hand.
The Lithuanian team counterattacked quickly.
The opponent's defender dribbled the ball all the way to half court. Zhao Feiyang stared at the opponent's player and did not dare to relax. The moment the opponent jumped up to prepare for a layup, he slapped the opponent's ball onto the backboard.
A big shot drew exclamations from the sidelines.
However, the next second, the flying basketball bounced into the hands of another player from the Lithuanian team who followed up. The opponent caught the ball and shot for a layup.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
The rest of the second quarter was a completely different scene on the court.
The Lithuanian team is playing well, both offensively and defensively, while the Chinese men's basketball team is struggling and has constant problems on the defensive end. It relies heavily on Zhao Feiyang on the offensive end.
Basically, three of the five attacks will give the ball to Zhao Feiyang.
This style of play also severely exhausted Zhao Feiyang's physical strength.
By the time the first half came to an end, he was already sweating profusely and his clothes were completely soaked with sweat. To make matters worse, his breathing was also very rapid, and his whole face was red and he looked extremely tired.
But at this time, the score between the two sides was already 50 to 38, and the 12-point gap was enough to determine the outcome of a game.
What's even more frustrating is that of the 38 points scored by the China Men's Basketball Team, Zhao Feiyang scored 18 of them alone.
Although other players did not score as many points, they also worked hard and no one showed any signs of slacking off on the court.
From this point of view, the huge gap in the strength of the Chinese men's basketball team is indeed difficult to make up.
The break ends quickly.
The second half comes.
"Coach, I want to take another break."
Zhao Feiyang found Ma Lei and said.
Ma Lei did not refuse sternly, but responded with a coaxing tone, "Feiyang, I know you are very tired, and you have played all the time in the first half... However, the team cannot be without you. ! The first half ended like this, what if I don’t have you in the second half?”
"Just carry it a little longer! I'll let you down to rest later..."
Ma Lei looked serious and sincere, which made it difficult for Zhao Feiyang to refuse.
He may not care about Ma Lei, but he cannot care about the national men's basketball team.
He knows better than anyone the consequences of his end. If he follows his strategy, this game can be abandoned directly.
But at this point, he couldn't make up his mind.
There were so many fans at the scene cheering for the team. How disappointed would these people be if they just gave up?
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and Zhao Feiyang appeared again.
In the third quarter, Yi Jianlian, who had regained his strength, finally helped Zhao Feiyang to share some of the pressure. He continued to beat the Lithuanian team's big players in the paint. Although he did not succeed every time, he also made the opponent's players feel the pressure. , had to be more restrained on the offensive end.
In order to save energy, Zhao Feiyang chose to use long-range and mid-range shots as offensive methods.
At the beginning, the output was stable, but as the opponent's double-teaming strategy continued, Zhao Feiyang's touch gradually declined.
Later, he was even more entangled by the opponent, and it was difficult to get a chance to connect the ball.
In this state, Zhao Feiyang persisted until the end of the third quarter.
At this time, the score difference between the two sides has gradually widened.
When the last quarter started, Zhao Feiyang was exhausted and began to make some mistakes on the court. The same is true for Yi Jianlian on the inside. On the offensive end, he completely lost his previous strength and became sluggish.
The Chinese men's basketball players in other positions are not in much shape either, and the entire team is almost in trouble.
Seeing that the Chinese men's basketball team seemed to be giving up, the Lithuanian team put on substitute players to use up the last bit of time.
call out.
When the referee's whistle sounded, the game finally came to an end.
90 to 70.
The Chinese men's basketball team lost by a full 20 points.
The Chinese fans at the scene were undoubtedly a little regretful, but most of them were mentally prepared and did not feel angry because of such a result.
Head coach Ma Lei looked ashamed, but said nothing.
Most of the players walked towards the tunnel one after another. Only Zhao Feiyang did not leave in a hurry, but rested on the bench for a while.
It can be said that he played the entire game today. Except for the halftime break, he did not leave the field for a minute at all.
Even if he knows how to conserve his energy, and sometimes reduces his singles and chooses to assist his teammates, the opponent's double-teaming and various movements still consume enough of his energy.
The result of the game was reported back to China, and many fans also felt sorry for it.
However, most people did not blame the China Men's Basketball Team. They knew very well that it was not easy for the Men's Basketball Team to perform like this. This Lithuanian team was the opponent's core lineup. Even if the China Men's Basketball Team from the 2008 Olympics came, it might not be able to do so. Easily defeated, let alone this team in the post-Yao Ming era.
That night, Zhao Feiyang also took the initiative to find coach Ma Lei in the hotel where he was staying.
As soon as he entered the door, he took the initiative to express his position to coach Ma Lei, saying that he would choose to take a truce in the subsequent game against Slovenia.
"no."
Coach Ma Lei refused directly.
"why not?"
"Today's game was played like this because of your best efforts. If you don't play in the next game against Slovenia, how will the team lose?"
"It's all a loss anyway, what's the difference? What's the difference between losing by 10 points and losing by 30 points? What's more, choosing a truce is to conserve energy to deal with the Angola team later. It's not that the truce is because of fear of opponents, but because it doesn't want to help the team win. Contest......."
Zhao Feiyang explained seriously.
But coach Ma Lei kept shaking his head.
"no."
"If we really lose by 30 points, how will we explain to the fans when we return to China? How will we explain to the Basketball Association?"
"Basketball Association?"
Zhao Feiyang snorted coldly, "What should I explain to them? All they want is the final result. Isn't it enough as long as we advance to the second round? Not to mention the fans. They all know that we can't beat us. There must be someone who will understand. Our choice….”
"Or not."
Seeing Zhao Feiyang's determined face, Ma Lei immediately softened. He continued to act like a "loyal elder" and began to persuade Zhao Feiyang.
"It's not that I don't want to lose! But, what if we can't beat the Angola team in the future? What if we can't beat the Kimchi national team? The game hasn't started yet, and no one dares to say that we must win them. ....."
"If you can't beat me, you can't beat me. What can you do?"
Zhao Feiyang did not agree with Ma Lei's remarks, "Does getting a higher ranking this time prove how good the Chinese men's basketball team is? Or has it reached this level? I agree with working hard to chase victory, but regardless of the players' I don’t agree with being healthy and chasing a so-called ranking..."
"The national and national teams say they have trained the players, but the players also paid a lot of money when they were in sports schools and youth training teams! Playing football has never been a stable profession. If someone suffers serious injuries due to this, , will the national team support him for the rest of his life?"
