The rest is just noise

On March 11, 1990, Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union and declared independence.

However, the high inflation rate and unemployment rate made this young country precarious. Eventually, the country was divided. In January 1991, Soviet troops suddenly appeared in the capital of Lithuania.

Nominally, they came to mediate the civil strife in Lithuania. But in fact, they wanted to take advantage of the civil strife in Lithuania to regain control of this land.

In Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, the locals were equally excited. People even took to the streets with homemade weapons to confront Soviet tanks. On January 13, 1991, the conflict between the two sides escalated: 13 Lithuanians were shot and killed

, people called this disaster "Bloody Sunday".

At this time, Lithuanian basketball star Sarunas Mathilionis had already made a name for himself in the NBA and became one of the most famous figures in Lithuania. He and another basketball star Sabonis hoped to form a team.

Basketball team competing in the Olympic qualifiers.

This suggestion was quickly adopted, but problems ensued. The country was bankrupt and had no funds to support the team's travel to other countries.

This is the opportunity the Portland Trail Blazers have been waiting for.

Sabonis got a call from Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen a few months ago.

Allen said on the phone that he was moved by the actions of Sabonis and others and wanted to provide money to support them.

Sabonis was moved by Allen's sincerity.

From then on, he began to seriously think about landing in the NBA.

On the night when the Dream Team made its Olympic debut—they beat Angola with an 80-point advantage—things made a breakthrough.

As long as the Trail Blazers can provide Sabonis with 50% of the buyout fee, he can terminate his existing contract and land in the NBA.

This certainly won't be a problem for pioneers hungry for talent.

The news that Sabonis is about to land in the NBA has naturally attracted the attention of many parties.

The first time Americans realized his strength was at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when he represented the Soviet Union and defeated David Robinson's American team.

Although he is no longer in his prime, with his addition, coupled with Thomas, Jordan, Barkley, Nance and the Blazers' wolf-like wing group, Louis seemed to see an 82-win team in front of him.

established.

Although Sabonis was under 28 years old in 1992, his knees and Achilles tendons suffered varying degrees of injuries due to long-term unscientific training.

His athletic ability is much worse than what Louis saw on TV (the 1988 Olympics), but he is still a very influential giant.

Louis doesn't know what impact such a person will have on them joining the Trail Blazers, but he knows that the Trail Blazers in the new season will become like the Lakers in 1969, the Celtics in 1981, and the Lakers in 1985.

That way, the team will fail if it doesn't win the championship.

As you know, in Louis' world, only the 1981 Celtics successfully won the championship.

There is basically no suspense in the Dream Team game.

Louie was known for not calling timeouts during games.

Every substitution of the dream team is five ups and five downs.

In every game, they start different people.

The superstars, who were thought not to cooperate well before the game, put aside their pride and became part of the team.

The only opponent in the group stage that kept the Dream Team motivated was a Croatian team led by Petrovic and current and future NBA players such as Toni Kukoc and Dino Raja.

Speaking of which, Louis unintentionally changed Kukoc's fate.

In Louis' previous life, the story of Jordan and Pippen teaming up to block Jerry Krause's beloved Kukoc is a "good story".

Kukoc has never met his two future Bulls teammates, but he shouldn't have the slightest enjoyment during the game.

Jordan hated everything Krause liked, and Pippen was driven by personal interests - Krause hoped to use part of the salary cap space that should have belonged to Pippen to sign Kukoc - so Kukoc was put on the spot.

defeated.

But today, Kukoc did not have that experience.

Jordan and Pippen were not interested in him, but Wilson heard that the Knicks had selected Kukoc in the draft a few years ago, so he tested him many times during the game.

After the game, Wilson exchanged jerseys with Kukoc in a friendly manner.

Ewing was so impressed by Kukoc's several passes that he asked Louis after the game: "When are you going to sign him?"

"It depends on himself." Louis was also satisfied with Kukoc's performance tonight. "There is a place for him in New York at any time."

Ewing disagreed with Louis' statement that he was always available.

He legitimately questioned: "What if the quota is full by then?"

"I'm going to cut Kevin," Louis joked, "so we have a roster to sign him."

Ewing heard that Louis was joking and said pretendingly: "I'm really sorry for Kevin."

What the dream team has to do now is to enjoy the process of being part of this group. The game is not enjoyable because it is not competitive.

In addition to caring about the Dream Team, Louis also pays close attention to the performance of the national basketball team.

The National Basketball Team is in Group B. There are three tough bones in that group, namely Lithuania, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Australia with Luke Longley.

The first game was against Lithuania, the strongest team in Group B.

This was the first time Yu Tiancan played against Sabonis, and Louis went to the scene to watch the game in person.

If Yu Tiancan can perform well against Sabonis, Louis may increase his playing time in the game against the Trail Blazers.

However, Yu Tiancan was dominated by Sabonis in this game.

What hurt most was Lithuania's No. 2 player Rimas Kurtinaitis, a player Louis didn't know, who scored 31 points.

Although the National Basketball Team has Sun Jun and three other current NBA players scoring in double figures, the inside line has been blown away.

Sabonis single-handedly defeated the twin towers of Song Tao and Yu Tiancan, scoring 19 points, 18 rebounds, 4 steals and 5 blocks.

The National Basketball Team suffered a disastrous defeat.

This is a gap in hard power, and there is nothing to say if you lose.

But the next game against Puerto Rico raised Louis' blood pressure.

Except for Yu Tiancan, Hu Weidong and Wang Mukong, who are also quasi-NBA players, did not enter the starting lineup.

Moreover, Wang Mukong was forced to sit on the bench and had little chance, and Hu Weidong only had 20 minutes of playing time.

On the other hand, Puerto Rico, although they do not have active players in the NBA, most of their players are playing in Europe. Their overall level is higher than that of domestic players.

Puerto Rico has a wild game rhythm, and the national basketball team is not used to it. Once the inside line cannot be opened, it will be beaten and chased.

Under such circumstances, Louis cannot understand why Hu Weidong and Wang Mukong, two players trained under the American campus system - who are very good at playing fast-paced games - stubbornly use players in the system.

109 to 89

The national basketball team lost its second consecutive game.

The next game against the CIS was still a huge defeat.

As a result, the national basketball team has been pushed to the edge of a cliff.

To ensure qualifying, you must win the next two games.

"Xiao Yu, can you be tougher?" Louis shouted.

Louis was once worried that he had selected a parallel import with the fourth overall pick.

After all, Yu Tiancan is a player who stands out entirely due to his influence.

In Louis' previous life, Yu Tiancan was unknown. Now he has emerged, but who can be sure that he will become a talent?

Louis didn't know if his lifelong fame would fall on this brat.

Then in the fourth game, Yu Tiancan scored 22+20, and the Chinese team relied on the inside to defeat Venezuela.

Finally, they met another tough nut in Group B. Facing the current NBA centers Langley, Yu Tiancan and Song Tao, the twin towers had an absolute advantage.

Song Tao's monopoly on offensive rebounds and Yu Tiancan's post-ups.

Langley tried his best to defend, but it was difficult to prevent Yu Tiancan from scoring with a big hook.

Hu Weidong also made five three-pointers from the outside.

The National Basketball Team and Australia fought hard to the end, and Song Tao grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a tip-in.

After this battle, the group stage ended. Unfortunately, Yu Tiancan's condition came too slowly.

Although the National Basketball Team and Australia both had 2 wins, Australia ranked fourth in the group with a small point advantage and qualified.

The National Basketball Team, which has the most active players in the NBA, ended its journey to the Barcelona Olympics with a record of 2 wins and 3 losses.

"It would be great if I were their coach."

Louis dares to say that at least he will not let this team fail in the group stage.

Zhao Yuanzheng asked unexpectedly: "Have they never invited you, Lao Lu?"

"I'm not afraid of making you laugh if I tell you." Louis shrugged, "They have never told me about this. They probably don't like me."

Don't like Little Lu?

No basketball team in the world is qualified to say that.

Zhao Yuanzheng asked: "If the Dream Team and the Chinese Team invite you at the same time, how will you choose?"

"Actually, from the fact that I tried every possible means to run for the head coach of the Dream Team, you can see that I am a vain person."

But at the same time, he is also a patriotic person with a strong sense of honor and national pride, who wants to change the national basketball team.

How will you choose?

"I'll probably give up coaching the Dream Team."

Louis said abruptly.

Rather than coaching the dream team, he prefers to be the opponent of this group of people.

Who told him to only take the most difficult road?