20demayo Chapter 1124 The Chinese team's situation isn't that good, and the American team is also..
Chapter 1124 The Chinese team's situation isn't that good, and the American team is also..
This time, the US team didn't give the ball to Westbrook, but instead gave it to the more reliable Wade.
Wade dribbled the ball and rushed towards the frontcourt. After glancing at the time, he didn't hesitate and accelerated his attack. However, Lin Tian's defense was not on the same level as Wang Shipeng's. Lin Tian's lateral movement was extremely fast, accurately blocking and predicting Wade's offensive route.
But Wade remained calm; his ball-handling skills and attention to detail are far superior to Westbrook's at this stage.
Wade dribbled the ball around the three-second zone for a full circle before suddenly making a no-look pass to Bosh at the top of the key.
Bosh was completely unafraid when facing Zhu Fangyu, and he would receive the ball and shoot directly from beyond the three-point line!
He has a height advantage, so he is not afraid of Zhu Fangyu's defense at all.
"Whoosh!"
With a crisp sound, the American team narrowed the gap to 10 points.
More importantly, there are still 31 seconds left in the game. Even if the Chinese team runs out of 24 seconds, the American team can still control the final shot at the end of the quarter!
They need to ensure they have enough opportunities to narrow the gap to within 10 points!
At this point, Lin Tian was no longer in a hurry. He slowly dribbled the ball, looked at Wade, and said, "Dwyane, you're very smart! You look experienced."
"I bet you're going to say next: 'But it's a pity, it's all experience from losing games,' right?" Wade snorted, indicating that he had anticipated Wade's prediction.
"Of course not," Lin Tian chuckled. "What I'm saying is that your experience will be your downfall; you're wasting too much time!"
"When dealing with an opponent like me, remember not to be greedy!"
As soon as Lin Tian finished speaking, he couldn't wait to start taking steps to break through.
Then, after Lin Tian stepped inside the three-point line, he suddenly stopped and pulled up for a long two-point shot!
"Aren't you in too much of a hurry!" Yu Jia shouted.
Lin Tian didn't even call for a screen for this play; he simply drove to the frontcourt and then pulled up for a shot.
It lacks tactics, is unreasonable, too difficult, and too forced.
That shot had too many flaws.
"That's unreasonable!" Zhang Weiping couldn't help but exclaim, but his tone quickly changed: "Even though that shot is unreasonable, that's how he has to play it! Hey! That's what they call 'playing recklessly and yet making sense'!"
Because it's in!
Even if this goal has many flaws, one good point is enough.
That means you can get in!
Lin Tian made a precise long-range two-pointer, widening the gap between the two sides again, while leaving the American team with a full 20 seconds!
"There's plenty of time, isn't there?" Lin Tian said with a smile. "But I bet you won't be able to make effective use of these 20 seconds."
"These 20 seconds are for myself!"
Wade listened to Lin Tian's words but did not answer. Instead, he waved to his teammates to move forward and had Love serve a ground ball.
Wade calmly let the basketball roll on the floor, while he followed closely behind, carefully guarding against the possibility that Lin Tian might rush over and steal the ball.
But this time, Lin Tian did not.
Lin Tian: Dude, you're human too! I've been playing at high intensity for 10 minutes without a break, I need to rest my feet now!
As for Wade's advancement?
Since it doesn't take up time, you can roll around for as long as you want.
Lin Tian couldn't wait to take the opportunity to rest on the court.
According to Don Nelson, Lin Tian will most likely have to play the full 40 minutes tonight. So on the court, Lin Tian needs to seize every opportunity to slack off, even for just one second.
After the basketball rolled all the way to the frontcourt, Wade calmly picked it up, and of course, he didn't rush to attack either.
Team USA, no matter what, will try to use up every last bit of those 20 seconds.
Especially after Lin Tian said that, if the US team had only 2 seconds left and let China score, Wade would have no face left.
With seven seconds left, Wade calmly began his attack, raising his left hand and patting his head twice.
Bosh and Love immediately ran over from either side.
High-position double cover.
Love and Bosh sandwiched Lin Tian like a sandwich, while Wade chose a direction and accelerated to break through!
His steps were heavy and forceful, and he charged straight for the basket with unstoppable momentum.
Xu Yong and Da Zhi quickly moved forward to double-team Wade, trying to stop him from attacking the basket, but Wade's breakthrough was not so easy to defend.
The guy suddenly gathered the ball, took a big step forward with his left foot to the left front, and then took a big step to the right with his right foot.
With his Euro step, Wade seemed to be able to take two huge strides and go straight from Europe back to America!
After shaking off two defenders with two steps, Wade raised his hand to force a layup, but just as he lifted the ball, the defender who should have been shaken off had already returned to his defensive position under the basket.
If Wade had chosen to shoot a floater or a close-to-the-basket jumper, he would have had virtually no chance of catching up.
Unfortunately, Wade lacked confidence in his shooting, and his first choice was always to attack the basket directly.
This made him a step slower, and he had to shake off his opponent before returning to the basket.
This one delay is enough to roughly complete the return defense.
Faced with Bosh's timely retreat, Wade did not choose to attack himself, but suddenly twisted his body in the air and then passed the ball back to Bosh outside the three-point line.
"No!" Anthony saw it clearly from the side and wanted to warn him, but it was too late!
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind Bosh, circled around to Bosh in the blink of an eye, and then stole the ball.
Lin Tian!
It's Lin Tian again!
When he made the steal, there were only 2 seconds left in the game.
So Lin Tian didn't hesitate at all, and instead of passing the ball, he turned and jumped, quickly shaking off Bosh. At the same time, he almost flew up, and the force of his spin and jump propelled him towards the frontcourt.
With that momentum, Lin Tian launched his long-range three-pointer!
Because the distance was long enough, the whistle to end the first quarter blew long before the basketball even reached the basket.
"Buzz!"
Everyone was watching the basketball, wondering if it would go in.
Then, the basketball slammed heavily onto the backboard, bounced off the rim, and bounced several more times.
Finally, the basketball, having had its fill of mischief, reluctantly and after a series of bounces, obediently fell into the basket.
Lin Tian made a buzzer-beater, ending the first quarter!
36: 21!
China's first quarter was almost perfect! They built a huge 15-point lead!
For everyone who supports the Chinese team, there couldn't be a more perfect start!
For Team USA, who had been determined to avenge their defeat and had spent six years building their team, waiting for this night to finally settle their score, they were absolutely plunged into an abyss.
If the US team can't turn the tide quickly and close the gap by 15 points, they'll be in real trouble.
If the long-awaited revenge match ends with the Chinese team dominating and beating them to a pulp, they'll lose face big time.
"What do you think of Paul?" The Argentine and Spanish teams, who were watching the game from the sidelines, had already gathered together. A large portion of the Argentine team played in the NBA and the Spanish league, which was almost the same as the composition of the Spanish team. The two teams had been playing on the international stage for many years.
They knew each other very well.
Right now, Ginobili is sitting next to Gasol, chatting with him.
"Paul, my name is Paul." Gasol corrected Ginobili again, which was clearly a deliberate slip of the tongue, and then said, "The situation of the US team is not that bad, and the situation of the Chinese team is not that good either."
"The US team can dominate other teams from start to finish, but against the Chinese team, their advantage only becomes more and more obvious in the second quarter or even the latter part of the third quarter."
"It's still about physical fitness, isn't it?" Ginobili said somewhat boredly, "Lin and Xu, these two absolute core players, played the entire first quarter. If Xu can rest for a while and have even a tiny bit of time to recover his physical fitness..."
"Then Lin will almost certainly play the full 40 minutes."
"Whether Lin can withstand the intense pressure from the American team will be the key to whether the Chinese team can win tonight."
"You already know what's going on, you vulture, so why are you asking me?" Gasol retorted immediately, annoyed that Ginobili called him Paul.
"I'm the Pampas Eagle!" Ginobili cursed, rubbing his sparsely-headed head. "I was just checking out what the world's third-ranked player had to say."
"We've won second place at the World Championships 10 years ago," Gasol said. "Do you know what a silver medal tastes like? And you're just a rookie who hasn't even won a bronze medal a few times?"
When facing acquaintances, Gasol is willing to say a few more words, and he is also willing to joke around and throw in a few trash talk for fun.
"This is the first time I've seen someone flaunt their silver medal!"
"That depends on who I'm bragging to. Bragging to the champion is foolish, but bragging to the fourth-place finisher gives me a real sense of superiority!"
After a short break, the second quarter resumed quickly.
As expected, the Chinese team dared not substitute Lin Tian, and they brought on Yi Jianlian again, along with Da Zhi, Sun Yue, and Zhou Peng, making the five-man lineup of the Chinese team back on the court.
It's still a mixed lineup of starters and substitutes.
On the American team's side, they clearly felt the pressure as well. Coach K didn't field any particularly extreme lineups anymore; instead, he brought out a relatively reasonable and conventional lineup.
Paul, Durant, Anthony, James, and Howard!
The team consists of three highly capable forwards, a defender, and a center forward.
This lineup may not have the highest absolute height, but its average height is top-notch. With three forwards over 2 meters tall, it's enough to put pressure on the Hebei China Fortune team's lineup and tactics.
With Durant and Anthony, the highest-scoring duo on the US team in this Olympics, the US team's firepower has not diminished in the slightest.
The first offensive possession of the second quarter went to the United States.
Due to the US team's lineup, China continued to play their man-to-man defense strategy.
Lin Tian was matched up against Paul, but Paul immediately passed the ball to James after arriving at the frontcourt.
James accelerated directly from the top of the arc, and after attracting a double team, he leisurely passed the ball to Anthony.
Anthony received the ball and pulled up for a three-pointer from beyond the arc!
This guy's confidence and shooting range have always been top-notch.
For a scorer, confidence is definitely one of the most important qualities.
"Whoosh!"
With a crisp sound, the US team took the lead in the second quarter, scoring 3 points.
However, China's attack then encountered problems.
Team USA has also adopted a zone defense!
After Lin Tian arrived at the frontcourt, a 2-3 zone defense was set up in front of him.
Judging from the US team's approach and positioning, they will definitely collapse the defense as soon as Lin Tian breaks through, forcing him to take difficult shots or have his teammates finish the play.
In short, don't let Lin Tian have a comfortable attack!
In addition, Lin Tianneng noticed that the US team's zone defense was different from other teams' zone defenses, which mainly defended the three-point line and lacked effective ways to counter three-point shots.
This is an expanded joint defense!
The American players are positioned quite far out, and their extended zone defense is not much different from other teams' half-court pressing in terms of defensive coverage.
If another team defended like this, they would likely find themselves riddled with holes in no time due to the excessive distance they had to travel and the difficulty of providing help defense.
But the American team obviously doesn't have this problem!
The US team's strategy was essentially the same as the first quarter: wear down Lin Tian!
At the same time, the American team certainly has absolute confidence.
They believe they are fast enough! They can fill the gaps created by the expanded defensive area.
They believed they could quickly close in when Lin Tian broke through, and also spread out completely again after Lin Tian penetrated deep into the paint and passed the ball, to face the person they needed to defend again.
This defensive strategy is simple; it's just the most basic tactics of contraction, expansion, interference, and delay.
It sounds simple, but in practice it is extremely difficult.
Players must possess exceptional mobility, superior physical attributes, and a high level of concentration. They must maintain intense, all-around pressure on the ball handler while simultaneously returning to their defensive positions immediately upon receiving a pass.
Physical fitness, focus, defensive willingness, and tactical awareness are all indispensable.
The US team can obviously do all of these things at the same time! And among all the teams in the world, only the US team can do this for a long time during a game.
Even if other teams could do this for a short period of time, they simply couldn't sustain it.
Because it puts too much strain on the players, their stamina will be depleted like water during such defense.
However, the US team is strong, has explosive physical abilities, and has a large pool of available players, so they can fully withstand this kind of strain.
Facing the US team's insane defense, which started by double-teaming them from beyond the three-point line and then further expanding their defense after the ball handler was passed inside, the Chinese team immediately showed their inability to adapt.
They simply can't keep up with that intensity!
Or rather, apart from Lin Tian, the rest of the players simply couldn't play at the intensity of the US team.
All they can do is pass the ball around; they can't do anything else.
Although Lin Tian can play at this intensity and still look like he's in complete control, he's not a superman and can't possibly take on five opponents at once.
He can guarantee that he won't make mistakes, but he can't guarantee that his teammates won't either.
He could repeatedly penetrate the paint, but facing the US team's frequent double-teams of 3-4 players, Lin Tian couldn't keep shooting and making his shots.
However, after he passes the ball out, the American team's terrifying physical attributes and mobility allow them to quickly fill the gaps and continue their close defense.
Lin Tian can certainly make cuts, but the problem is that the rest of the team doesn't have the ability to accurately pass the ball to Lin Tian in this situation.
Lin Tian needs support; he needs more help from his teammates!
Old Nelson, of course, also saw this, and he quickly substituted Lin Tian's best helper for the night, Xu Yong.
However, Xu Yong was facing the league's truly top players like Durant, Anthony, and James, and his level was ultimately a bit lacking. When he came on the court, he could only offer a small amount of help to Huaxia and Lin Tian.
China's attack encountered huge problems!
That's not all. For the Chinese team, the worst situation is that Durant has regained his touch! After a crazy miss in the first quarter, Durant quickly found his shooting rhythm in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, players like Anthony and Paul from the US team are also in excellent form.
In this situation, the Chinese team, which was so dominant in the first quarter, was immediately overwhelmed by the American team.
In less than 5 minutes, the American team turned the score around to 42-37!
The point difference was narrowed to 5 points.
Then, with two minutes left in the first half, Durant once again forced a shot from two meters beyond the three-point line, and the basketball flew towards the basket again, which meant that the Grim Reaper had once again wielded his scythe.
"Whoosh!"
After a crisp crack, the score was 49:50!
The Chinese team extended their lead to 15 points in just 10 minutes of the first quarter, while the American team took the lead in just 8 minutes of the second quarter!
After that play, Don Nelson decisively called a timeout. The team needed a rest, even though he didn't really have any other options.
Everyone was stunned by the US team's incredibly high-intensity output on both offense and defense; otherwise, they wouldn't have scored as many as 16 points in just 8 minutes. It was practically a crushing defeat.
Even after calling a timeout, Nelson still felt his mouth was dry.
He didn't know how to make arrangements; the huge gap in player ability left him at a loss.
Many of the strategies he devised and prepared before the game were completely useless when facing such a revenge-driven American team that played with the selflessness, hard work, and unity of college students.
The feeling of overwhelming force with sheer power was crystal clear at that moment.
The American team played a very simple and direct style, but it was precisely this simplicity and directness that left Don Nelson bewildered.
He had never experienced such a difficult moment in his life.
The reason for this situation is actually quite simple.
He had never encountered such a situation before, nor had he ever seen a situation where the strength of the two sides was so obviously different and disparate, yet the stronger side still wanted to use 150% of its ability to fight against the weaker side.
If you can't steal a chicken, it's hard to find an opportunity to turn the tide and achieve a comeback.
Although the team was only down by one point, Don Nelson foresaw a rather bleak future and second half.
For a few seconds after the timeout began, Don Nelson didn't say anything. He was genuinely at a loss. Calling the timeout was just out of professional habit and a coach's instinct; it was because a timeout was necessary, not because Don Nelson had come up with a solution.
But it was at this moment that Lin Tian spoke.
"We have to maintain our lead!" Lin Tian wiped the huge beads of sweat from his body with a towel, gritting his teeth as he said, "No matter what, we have to maintain our lead at the end of the first half! Even if it's just a one-point advantage, I want it!"
"I won't let Team America go into the second half with a lead!"
"That's right! We can't let them take the lead!" Old Nelson added. "We need to take it back!"
Old Nelson said something to Lin Tian, but then he fell silent.
This time it wasn't because he didn't know what to do, but because he knew the team only had one option left.
Pass the ball to Lin Tian.
But as the head coach, he really couldn't say such a thing.
That's so useless.
This is the kind of thing only a loser like Mike Brown or Doc Rivers would say.
"Zhaoxu, Peng, Xiao Ding, and my nephew, the four of you come with me." Lin Tian saw that Old Nelson wasn't saying anything, so he knew what he was thinking and immediately gave the orders. (End of Chapter)