I’m Really Playing Basketball

On August 20, 2008, after a day's rest, the Olympic men's basketball quarterfinals will finally begin.

The four quarter-finals of the Olympic men's basketball team will all end on this day.

The match between the Chinese team and Australia is placed in the third game, and will be played in Wukesong at 8 o'clock in the evening.

As for the other three matchups, the match between the U.S. team and Croatia was placed in the first match, which started at 2:30 pm, and the match between Lithuania and Greece was played in the second match, which started at 4:45 pm.

The last game that starts at 10:15 is the game between Spain and Argentina.

The match between the Chinese team and Australia took place at night, but under the leadership of Chen Xiao and Yao Ming, the Chinese team arrived at the Wukesong Stadium at 3:30 in the afternoon.

This is certainly not here to prepare for a competition.

After the lunch break, the players of the Chinese team came to watch the game of the American team, their biggest opponent in this Olympics.

The American team is now very popular. Many people say that this team has completed its transformation. Chen Xiao and the players of the Chinese team are still quite curious.

When Chen Xiao and Yao Ming brought the Chinese team players to Wukesong, looking at the score at this time, it was quite shocking to be honest.

The game is almost over in the third quarter, and Croatia's score has not even reached 30 points.

Seeing this score, to be honest, Chen Xiao, Yao Ming and the players of the Chinese team were really shocked.

After Chen Xiao and the others learned about the progress of the game from the assistant coach of the team next to them, Guo Shiqiang and Brother Guo, they seemed even more surprised.

As soon as the game started, the U.S. team beat Croatia 20-1. Croatia didn't even score a single goal in the first seven minutes.

When Croatia couldn't make any shots and even had difficulty passing the half, for the US team, of course, it was all an opportunity to launch a counterattack.

Even though Croatia knew that it couldn't make the United States run by beating the United States, but if you can't hit the ball, it's naturally impossible to control the rhythm, and then it just collapsed.

In the first quarter, the American team was beaten 30 to 6. This score was quite scary.

In fact, Croatia was in really bad shape in this game. As the third place in Group A, Croatia had the ability to overtake Australia and finish third. Of course, they have the hard power, but no one wants to encounter a bad situation that is rare in ten years. status.

Historically, when they met Spain in the Olympic quarter-finals, Croatia was also miserable. They were beaten 12-1 by Spain at first, and they also had no sports scores for almost six or seven minutes.

It's just obvious that Spain's counterattack ability cannot be compared with that of the US team, so the damage from Croatia's state against Spain will not be that great, but against the US team, this state will be fatal.

In the first quarter, Croatia was directly defeated by the US team.

Therefore, in the following games, Croatia was simply in pain, no matter how hard they played, they were in chaos.

After three quarters, they only scored 28 points.

If Croatia met Spain, and the first three quarters were so miserable, Spain would let you go because they thought everyone was European, and they would let you go. But what kind of team is the U.S. team? How could they let you go in order to save face?

The current U.S. team needs to establish its prestige. Historically, facing Croatia, which was in extremely poor form, Spain closed in the fourth quarter.

But the American team still played hard in the fourth quarter.

In the end, in the quarterfinals match between the United States and Croatia, the United States defeated Croatia 98-40.

"Another 58..."

Seeing the final score, Chen Xiao didn't know what to say about Xiaopao's current bad taste.

From his perspective, the rotation led by Xiaopao easily beat Croatia by more than 60 points in the fourth quarter, but Xiaopao only won by 58 points. Obviously, this was intentional.

This is what the American team did when they played the German team in the last game.

Now, Xiao Pao and Britney seem to be addicted to giving away 58 to other teams in the US team.

But you can understand it if you think about it a little.

As a former teammate and good friend, Chen Xiao knows that in Xiao Pao's mind, the 58 points given to him by Xiao Tiantian are an eternal shame in his heart. To Xiao Pao, no score is more valuable than 58 points. It’s painful and humiliating, so similarly, beating your opponent by 60, 70 or even 80 is not as satisfying as winning by 58.

Therefore, as long as Xiaopao has a chance, he must beat his opponent to a pulp.

After the match between the US team and Croatia, while the players of the US team were celebrating proudly, Chen Xiao and Yao Ming left with the players of the Chinese team and handed over the stadium to the US team.

When Chen Xiao and Yao Ming left with the Chinese team, NBC's guest commentator Barkley shouted: "Wonderboy and Yao looked solemn when they left. They once again felt the pressure from the American team!

There is no doubt that this American team is definitely the strongest American team I have ever seen besides the Dream Team! "

Barkley said that this American team is the strongest he has ever seen besides the Dream Team. This is not necessarily a boast or an exaggeration.

In history, Mengpachi from 08 was very strong, and the current Mengpachi is naturally stronger. In addition, there is another difference between this Mengpachi and the historical one. This Mengpachi is There is a positional offensive tactical system.

As for the Mengba team in history, to be honest, there was no tactical system for positional warfare from the beginning to the end, because there was no team to force them out of the tactical system of positional warfare, because they didn't need it. This swept the entire Olympic Games.

Let's put it this way, this Dream Team may even be the only team in the history of the US team that has a systematic positional warfare tactic, although the core of this positional warfare tactic is Howard.

However, since Howard served as the core of the US team's positional warfare, his performance is indeed very good. In this game against Croatia, he scored 20 points and 10 rebounds and only played 28 minutes.

Quite mighty.

Not only is Howard very powerful now, the US team is indeed quite powerful now.

Chen Xiao and the others felt it.

"Xiao Chen, the American team is very aggressive now."

After Dayao, who was walking side by side with Chen Xiao, finished speaking solemnly, Chen Xiao nodded.

"We need to be prepared for a hard fight, Dayao, can you hold on?"

After Chen Xiao finished speaking, a slight smile appeared on Yao Ming's solemn face.

"As long as I'm alive, I can hold on!"

The current U.S. team really makes them feel a lot of pressure. Even if Howard is not his opponent, when the U.S. team focuses on the inside, it will definitely consume him a lot. When he meets the U.S. team in the next game , it is absolutely impossible to be so calm and at ease.

He was even prepared to compete with Howard Oden for the entire show.

This will be difficult for him.

but!

"No one can stop our path to greatness!"

Even if this game is the last game of his career!

Yao Ming has this mentality, so do other Chinese players, and so does Chen Xiao.

At 8 pm on August 20th, at Wukesong Stadium in Beijing, the quarterfinals between the Chinese men’s basketball team and the Australian men’s basketball team is about to begin.

For the Australian opponent, although they are fourth in Group A, the Chinese team still attaches great importance to it.

Because Australia was able to beat the European Championship champion Russia from Group A, because this team defeated Russia head-on, and also defeated Lithuania, the first group in Group A.

Although the Lithuanian team let go in the last game, even so, Australia scored 31 points against Lithuania 106 to 75, which is definitely something Lithuania does not want to see.

I have to say that Lithuania's current state is indeed very good. In the first two games of the group, because the team's head center Bogut was suspected of FD and XD being captured by the police and lost the game, but the next three games recovered After that, it was indeed a very tenacious strength.

Therefore, before the start of this game, many domestic experts are also reminding the Chinese team not to underestimate the enemy. Teacher Zhang said: "Australia is not Bogut's team alone, and Bogut's absence will not even have any impact on Australia. The only thing that is really scary about the team is their guard, CJ-Bruton's three-pointer, playing Lithuania dominated Australia's game with 16 of 25 three-pointers. His speed even puts Team USA superstar point guard Chris Paul to shame."

Teacher Zhang even told Chen Xiao in private that Mills was the fastest defender he had ever seen. There was a rugby team in Australia who wanted to sign him with a big price to play running back. Of course, Mills refused, otherwise it would not be Appeared in the Olympics.

When preparing for the game, for Australia's preparations, the Chinese team will inevitably encounter the warm-up match they played against the US team in Shanghai.

The three defenders Brad Newley, CJ Bruton, and Patty Mills made the US team dizzy. Their rough features and their dense defense forced the US team to jump and almost suffocated the US team.

Therefore, before the game, the head coach of the Chinese team, Faye Wong, also repeatedly emphasized that in this game, Australia will definitely shrink and defend intensively, prevent the Chinese team from attacking inside and breaking through from outside, and let Chinese players shoot from the outside. The ball has to be thrown in.

Therefore, the key to this game against Australia is shooting. Only when the Chinese team can make accurate shots from the outside can they break Australia's tortoise shell and take away the victory.

Otherwise, like the US team, using Dayao to start the game with a strong inside attack will definitely be an act of getting twice the result with half the effort.

Although the US team has stronger players and better talents, they still can't really play shameless "floor flow" games in FIBA, and the scale is not well grasped. Australia is a famous hooligan team. That will definitely blow up the US team, and it is really unnecessary for Dayao to fight with them at the basket.

Therefore, the key to this game is to see if Chen Xiao, Xiao Zhu, and Brother Wei can open the outside attack at the beginning.

In this game, in order to strengthen outside shooting, Wei Ge replaced Hua Tsai as the starting point guard.

Chen Xiao, Wei Ge and Xiao Zhu all have very strong three-point shooting ability.

Therefore, on the court, the Chinese team and Australia jumped the ball. After Yao Ming defeated Australia's center Chris Anstie to win the first offensive opportunity of the game, Wei Ge did not rush to push the fast break under the interference of cj Bruton. Instead, with the help of Yao Ming's cover, he slowly pushed through the half court.

Brother Wei pushed across half court and came to the three-point line. Yao Ming, who had just screened Brother Wei, did not rush to the basket, but stood in a circle with the other Chinese team players around the three-point line.

Yao Ming, Zhu Fangyu, and Yi Jianlian all stood outside the three-point line.

Looking at the Chinese team's formation and position, Australia's head coach Brian Gore frowned on the sidelines.

This is a conspiracy, a conspiracy that Australia has no way to solve. The strength gap between Australia and the Chinese team is too big, so they can only make a desperate gamble to shrink their lives.

He won the bet in the warm-up match against the U.S. team. The U.S. team made 3 of 18 three-pointers, Anthony made 0 of 4 three-pointers, and James made 1 of 4. Their contraction allowed the U.S. team to attack the basket in the end. Their roughness allowed Howard to make 0 of 6 free throws in this game, and the US team made 20 of 33 free throws, a hit rate of just over 60%.

Let's put it this way, if Wade hadn't scored 22 points on 8 of 12 kills in this game, Kobe had 3 of 9, Anthony had 4 of 13, and Ron Howard had 1 of 4, then the American team would have definitely lost.

Playing against teams like the United States and China is a life-and-death gamble.

If fate is on their side and the Chinese team is forced to attack the basket like the American team, then Australia's opportunity will come.

When you come to the basket and my ferocity can hurt one or two of you, then I win.

Therefore, Gore is very nervous now, because he knows that the Chinese team will definitely let Chen Xiao attack three-pointers when they come up. Chen Xiao is a player that the American team does not have. His three-pointers are invincible in Fiba.

So, can this goal be scored?

Bang bang!

Chen Xiao was the first to hit Ingles' three-pointer.

This made Gore breathe a sigh of relief and secretly clenched his fists. In this game, he used the young Ingalls to defend Chen Xiao. It seemed to be a success!

At this time, Chen Xiao on the court glanced at Ingles, who had just supported him well, and was a little surprised.

"It seems that what I thought was a bit simple."

Good height and good defensive awareness.

but……

A slight smile appeared on Chen Xiao's face.

After Australia's No. 1 attacker C.J. Bruton used a pick-and-roll to get rid of Brother Wei, Xiao DaDa directly threw against A Lian from outside the three-point line.

Australia's offensive style is as rough as their defense. Australia threw 16 three-pointers against Lithuania.

But this time the prepared Arab still interfered with him.

"Australia can only play like this when playing against the Chinese team. If we don't open up the outside, there will be no chance inside."

"It seems that Chen's touch is not very good in this game. Australia still has a chance."

On the sidelines, the players from the US team had already arrived.

This Australian team is a very good touchstone.

They are very much looking forward to Australia causing some trouble for Chen Xiao.

After the two teams' opening three-point attempts were all hit, it was the Chinese team's turn to attack again. With the same tactics and the same style of play, the Chinese team once again hit the ball into Chen Xiao's hands, while everyone else was on the three-point line. Stand outside the breakout line and pull away.

Chen Xiao held the ball one-on-one against Ingles at the top of the arc. This time, Chen Xiao did not throw it directly against him. Instead, he put on a tank hat and boarded the tank. Like Xiao Zhan, he faced Ingles. It was just a charge. After knocking away Ingles' defense, Chen Xiao immediately made another Tracy McGrady-style emergency stop to pull the ball and retreat.

At this time, Ingles was desperate to see Chen Xiao, who was once again standing outside the three-point line, being pushed away and retreating to the free throw line.

The iconic pull-up by the Chinese team's No. 11 not only made Ingles despair, but also made the players of the US team next to him sigh.

Especially Xiao Zhan and McGrady.

Chen Xiao's tank breakthrough just now was taught by him.

At first, he always thought that Chen Xiao had the same bad feel for the ball as him.

But who would have thought...

Xiao Chen actually has the same ball sense as Tracy McGrady!

No, a better feel for the ball than Tracy McGrady!

Xiao Chen's tank breakthrough is not as good as his own, but his picturesque ball control is worse than McGrady.

There is nothing wrong with saying that Xiao Chen is a combination of him and Tracy McGrady.

Can the combination of James + Tracy McGrady be defended by Ingles alone?

A swipe!

Three point hit!

3 to 0!

"For that young Australian, it is an honor for him to have the Wonder Boy use such invincible singles skills in front of him!"

"Wonderboy was in a good mood in this game and showed his unique skills from the beginning."

Barkley was very happy while watching the excitement.

Australia's head coach Gore is hardly happy.

Chen Xiao's three-pointer was still open, so early.

In this case, there was no choice but to besiege Chen Xiao and bet on the chances of the rest of the Chinese team to shoot.

Obviously, Australia's luck in this game was not that good, or in other words, the Chinese team's first-choice shots were not that good.

At the end of the game, the Chinese team defeated Australia 116-85, beating Australia by 31 points.

Chen Xiao, who played 25 minutes in this game, made 8 of 14 shots and 4 of 7 three-pointers. He scored a game-high 25 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists.

Dayao played 22 minutes, scoring 16 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting.

In addition, Arab League scored 15 points, while Xiaozhu and Wei Ge each scored 10 points.

In this game, the Chinese team's starting lineup played very easily. Even though the Chinese team only won by 31 points, the score between the two teams at halftime was 64 to 37. After almost half of the third quarter, the Chinese team gave up.

Because as soon as the third quarter started, under the leadership of Chen Xiao, the Chinese team went on a 14-0 run. In addition to the 27-point lead in the first half, the Chinese team led by 41 points.

As for the Chinese team, they don't have the bad taste or strength to beat Australia 58, so they use the remaining games to keep other players in good condition and train well.

The reason Australia was able to catch up later was really thanks to Australia's substitute guard Mills, who came off the bench and scored 20 points.

Therefore, Australia's 85-116 loss was not so ugly.

By the way, all 12 members of the Chinese team played in this game, and everyone had at least 10 minutes of playing time.

Therefore, after the Chinese team suppressed Australia in this game, Barkley stopped calling the American team invincible.

"The Chinese team also had a chance to beat Australia 5-8, but they let it go after three minutes in the third quarter!"

"It seems that the American team still cannot be said to be stronger than the Chinese team. The battle between China and the United States is still evenly matched!"

Yes, Coach K and the players on the US team on the sidelines felt the same way.

They and the Chinese team are still 50-50.