Chapter 219: Win Again Against Spain – Is This to Qualify First in the Group?
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The Chinese men's basketball team defeated the U.S. men's basketball team in the first round of the group stage, making headlines across major news outlets. After all, the opponent is an invincible "Dream Team." The gap in strength between the two teams is immense, and no one could have imagined that the Chinese men's basketball team would win before the game.
Before the match, it was widely believed that, despite Wang Chong's presence, the Chinese men's basketball team would, at best, lose with a slightly smaller margin when facing the Dream Team. No matter how strong Wang Chong was, he was just one player. That was all. Despite winning the league's scoring title for the last three years, the Dream Team had five or six scoring stars among their top ten players, making them a lethal opponent even if they were outnumbered.
No one expected the outcome of this match to be what it was.
Wang Chong played the entire game for 40 minutes, scoring 38 points, the highest of the game, despite being pursued, intercepted, and attacked by the Dream Team. Especially in the second quarter, when Dayao left the court, Wang Chong fought alone against the entire Dream Team, scoring 15 points in a single quarter—one of the most remarkable moments of Wang Chong's career.
38 points in a single game might not be something to brag about in the NBA. There are many players in the league who score 40+ or even 50+ points in a game.
But these are the Olympics, and the FIBA rules apply. The game only lasts 40 minutes, so if Wang Chong's 38 points were calculated based on the 48 minutes of an NBA game, he would have easily surpassed 50 points, even considering his less-than-ideal physical condition. He could endure a 48-minute game, but it would certainly not be a problem for him to score more than 40 points.
It's important to note that Wang Chong was severely attacked in this game. The Dream Team even used double-teams multiple times to limit his scoring.
However, thanks to the overall performance of the Chinese men's basketball team, even though Wang Chong was often depicted as fighting alone, his teammates did provide some help.
Of course, Dayao, who recorded a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds throughout the game, played a crucial strategic role in the paint. Without his protection near the basket, the Chinese team would have been overwhelmed. The Dream Team was filled with offensive holes due to the innovative efforts of the experts.
Though other players of the Chinese men's basketball team couldn't directly share the pressure with Wang Chong, when Wang Chong was double-teamed and passed the ball to an open position, shooters like Zhu Fangyu, Wang Shipeng, and others did not waste opportunities, hitting every three-pointer they should have. This prevented the Chinese team from falling into a scoring drought when Wang Chong was double-teamed.
In general, the Chinese men's basketball team was able to defeat the Dream Team due to the right combination of timing, location, and people. Added to Howard's failure to hit free throws and commit fouls in the final quarter, the game was won.
Describing it as a lucky win would not be an exaggeration.
After the match, the Dream Team's head coach, Old K, openly stated in an interview with journalists: "The loss in this game was something none of us expected. Obviously, in terms of team lineup and strength, the Chinese men's basketball team definitely couldn't compare to us, but we underestimated the opponent too much and underestimated Wang Chong. After looking at Dayao, we also underestimated the other players of the Chinese team. Our arrogant attitude cost us the game."
"Fortunately, this is just a group-stage match. Even though we lost, we learned a lot from this defeat. In the upcoming games, we won't underestimate any opponent. No matter who we face, we will win, because our goal is the championship and the Olympic gold medal!"
Fans across the country went wild as the Chinese men's basketball team defeated the Dream Team, and major sports forums seemed to celebrate New Year's. Did it feel unlucky or lucky? It didn't matter if it was luck, only whether they won. If you have the skill, maybe you'll have the luck to try!
Defeating the Dream Team also dramatically boosted China's ranking among the teams participating in the Olympic basketball tournament. Chinese fans were eagerly anticipating the second group-stage match.
The chances of China's men's basketball team advancing to the next stage after defeating the Dream Team were significantly higher, as they only needed to win one more game to likely secure fourth place in their group.
But everyone had already formed their dream team. Who wasn't still dreaming of something bigger? The strongest team in Group B had been eliminated by China. Did the remaining teams still matter?
China's opponent in the second group-stage match is Spain, another highly recognized favorite in Group B.
In fact, Spain's men's basketball team boasts a luxurious lineup, second only to the Dream Team in the entire Olympic basketball competition. They have Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol inside, and the talented point guard Ricky Rubio, known as the golden boy, outside. In addition, Calderón and Rudy Fernández have both successfully landed in the NBA.
With this star-studded lineup, Spain's men's basketball team reached the final of the 2008 Olympics, where they had a battle with the U.S. men's basketball team. Although they lost, the score was close, and the situation was intense, making the Dream Team sweat.
Of course, that was the original 2008 Olympics, not now.
With Wang Chong joining the Chinese men's basketball team, in terms of lineup, China is not inferior to Spain and might even be slightly better.
Wang Chong and Dayao are NBA All-Stars and All-NBA players. Wang Chong, in particular, has won the MVP and FMVP, and his achievements far exceed anyone else's.
On the other hand, Spain's key player, Pau Gasol, lags behind Dayao in terms of honors.
Before winning his first career championship in the 2008-09 season, Gasol was not selected for the All-NBA Team. He was only an All-Star once in the 2005-06 season as a substitute.
While Gasol performed better than Kobe during the playoffs in the championship season, before that, Gasol was just an ordinary, unknown player, and calling him a star was even somewhat extravagant.
Gasol, who was only an All-Star once, may not be inferior to Dayao in terms of strength, but in terms of fame, achievements, and public perception, he is still weaker than Dayao.
As for other players like Calderón and Fernández, who only play as role players in the NBA, Chinese fans don't look down on them.
With two superstars in Wang Chong and Dayao, along with players like the United Arab Emirates' Sun Yue, Dazhi, and others, China's men's basketball team ranks second only to the Dream Team in the Olympics. It's unreasonable to think that Spain's men's basketball team could easily defeat them. Or could they?
Unconsciously, the rhythm has become that the Chinese men's basketball team should not only defeat the Spanish men's basketball team, but also defeat all the opponents in the next group stage, rank first in the group and show the prestige of our country.
...
The above is just a superficial look at the situation.
Against the Spanish men's basketball team, even Wang Chong did not dare to show any sign of quitting.
As I said, the other side is much worse in terms of reputation than here, but that is not the case in terms of strength.
In 2008, Gasol was completely defeated by Dayao in terms of honors, but dare you say that Dayao can beat Gasol on the court?
Besides, the strength of the Spanish men's basketball team is not that they have stars. Otherwise, the German team with MVP level player Nowitzki should be stronger. What makes them stronger is that, as a European power, the Spanish men's basketball team is rich. They have game experience and compete with each other. They have an unspoken understanding of cooperation, unified tactics and are very familiar and adapted to FIBA Olympic rules.
This is completely different from the completely irrational style of play of the dream team that relies solely on individual skills to fight alone.
In short, facing the Spanish men's basketball team, Wang Chong will not give any sign of giving up, and even respond to the challenge with the attitude of treating the dream team, because he also wants to qualify with the first record of the group, just like many Chinese fans, as they said, to be able to qualify first in the group in the Olympic Games organized in the own territory will directly bring full cards.
For the Chinese men's basketball team, the only difficulty is the match against the Spanish men's basketball team.
The match between the two sides will be played two days later, on August 14, and the venue is still Wukesong Stadium in the capital.
On the day of the match, a large number of Huaguo fans flocked to the arena with enthusiasm. The Huaguo men's basketball team defeated the Dream Team, which made the fans' enthusiasm to watch the game live unprecedented. They are hard to come by. Who doesn't want to see the Huaguo men's basketball team with their own eyes make history and usher in a historic moment?
In the gym, the two teams have begun to warm up.
The starting rosters of both teams have been presented.
The starting lineup for the Spanish men's basketball team consists of point guard Calderon, shooting guard Rudy Fernandez, small forward Lilumeria, power forward Pau Gasol and center Marc Gasol.
The starting lineup of the Chinese men's basketball team is the same as the last game against the U.S. men's basketball team. It is still the lineup of the top five: Sun Yue, Zhu Fangyu, Wang Chong, A Lian and Dayao.
As Wang Chong thought, this game was not as easy to play as most fans thought.
At the beginning of the game, Wang Chong took the ball and started the attack.
Facing a typical European team like the Spanish men's basketball team that is good at zone defense, Wang Chong's mid-range shot is the best weapon.
In fact, against a zone defense team, it is not easy to find space for mid- and long-range shots. Wang Chong hit two mid-range shots in a row, which gave the lead to the Chinese men's basketball team.
After a few rounds, the Huaguo men's basketball team's outside defense began to collapse uncontrollably. In the last game, Dayao, who was protecting the basket like a needle in the paint, was useless in this situation.
Gasol had good strategic value when he was with the Bulls, because he has some mid- and long-range shooting ability, he can pull Dayao out of the paint area, and his weight is not small, and he can also play. The defensive wing to some extent.
Both sides have their own advantages, and the first quarter of the game was evenly matched. At 22:20, Huaguo men's basketball team still took a 2-point lead thanks to Wang Chong's strong scoring point.
In the second quarter of the game, Dayao started to show off his power and attacked the young Gasol with continuous attacks. At the same time, the Spanish men's basketball team's outside touch began to decline, causing the Chinese men's basketball team to quickly establish a lead. scoring advantage, winning by 11 points in a single quarter, the point difference also reached 13 points.
Seeing a 13-point halftime lead, Chinese fans thought they were sure of victory, but they did not expect that in the third quarter, Wang Chong took a few minutes to rest and the situation on the court suddenly changed.
Perhaps knowing that when Wang Chong was not on the court, it was the best chance to make up the score difference. The Spanish men's basketball team suddenly launched a fierce attack and played a wave of 8: 0, forcing the Chinese men's basketball team. He called an emergency timeout to adjust. Wang Chong could not Not return to the field early.
Fortunately, after Wang Chong returned to the field, Huaguo men's basketball team had a stable point and regained control of the situation. In the last minute of the third quarter, Wang Chong hit two consecutive outside shots and scored 6 points, successfully. At the end of the third quarter, the score difference expanded to more than double digits.
The game reached the last quarter, which was also the quarter Wang Chong was most worried about.
In the original showdown, the Chinese men's basketball team, which had the lead in the first three quarters, fell short in the last quarter due to physical problems. The Spanish men's basketball team reached the 15-point difference and was dragged into overtime. .
But with Wang Chong, it is naturally impossible to allow this to happen.
Indeed, in the last quarter of the game, the Spanish men's basketball team once again launched a fierce counterattack. The fans present at the venue were frightened to see the flurry of attacks.
Fortunately, every time the Spanish men's basketball team commits an offense, Wang Chong will immediately defend himself.
"Wang Chong's emergency stop jumper from six meters away, hit again! Beautiful!"
In the CCTV studio, director Zhang said cheerfully, "With this mid-range shot, Wang Chong scored 30 points again in this game, and Wang Chong's continuous goals in the last quarter made the Spanish men's basketball team's numerous counterattacks in vain."
"This is Wang Chong. You can always rely on him in critical moments. Without Wang Chong, it would be difficult for the Chinese men's basketball team to match the Spanish men's basketball team in this game. The opponent is indeed the best team in the world. 2006 The team that won the World Championship."
With Wang Chong holding the line, the Spanish men's basketball team failed to come back in the end.
At the end of the game, the score between the two teams was set at 81:76. The Chinese men's basketball team defeated the Spanish men's basketball team by 5 points to win the second victory in the group stage.
Wang Chong scored 33 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in this battle, being the highest score of the game.
Fans watching the game also calmed down a little and gradually began to realize that there is still a big gap between the strength of the Chinese men's basketball team and the best teams in the world. The reason why they can successively defeat the American Dream Team and. Spain The men's basketball team only relies on Wang Chong's personal ability and his unstoppable mid-range shots that no one can defend.
Without Wang Chong, the Huaguo men's basketball team might have lost two games in a row.
Of course, isn't this the reason for all the effort to get Wang Chong? To be able to single-handedly lead a mid-level Chinese men's international basketball team to defeat top teams like the Dream Team and the Spanish men's basketball team shows that Wang Chong is truly an NB, especially his mid-range and long-range shooting. Style He was born for international basketball competition.
End of this chapter
I don't like this arc either, I think it's crap but I can't just delete it and pass it off as if it doesn't exist.
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