Chapter 916 The Constant Farewells that Follow

After bidding farewell to Milicic, on September 1, 2022, the Chinese team sat at the Saitama Stadium and ushered in its first opponent in the second round of the World Cup group stage, the Spanish team.

After the first stage of the group stage, the top two teams of the 16 groups in the 8 groups will continue to be divided into 4 groups in the second stage to compete against each other, and finally the top two teams of the 8 groups will be selected. The team enters the quarterfinals and then is eliminated in a single game.

The Chinese team's opponents in the second stage of the group stage are Spain, Greece and Brazil.

Spain is also an old rival, but because the Gasol brothers and Ibaka have long withdrawn from the national team, Spain is now a bit out of touch.

The Greek team is completely Antetokounmpo's team.

In this World Cup, Antetokounmpo scored 40+ in his first game. It can be said that he and Doncic were outstanding in the group stage.

In Doncic's three games in the first stage of the group stage, apart from playing against the Chinese team, in the remaining two games against Serbia and Argentina, Doncic scored 47 points in one game and 40 points in the two games. Scored 87 points.

This scoring data is absolutely terrifying in the World Cup and FIBA.

It has to be said that Doncic, the biological son of the 2K game, is a player who has averaged 30+ triple-doubles in 2K career mode or Ultimate League, and even averaged 40+ triple-doubles per game. He is a statistical monster in the NBA. , he is also a data monster in FIBA.

Of course, although Antetokounmpo's statistics are not as scary as Doncic's, he is still quite eye-catching in the three first-stage group matches, one with 40+ and two with 30+.

The other opponent in the group stage, the Brazilian team, is a team with a similar style of play to Argentina. Currently, Brazil does not have enough famous NBA stars. The team is the same as Argentina. Most of the players are about 2 meters tall. Players, there are only two players above 2.03 meters, one is 2.07 meters and the other is 2.1 meters.

In short, overall, the second stage of the group stage may be easier for the Chinese team.

Although the three-point teams in the Chinese team's group in the second stage are not weak, they are definitely weaker than Argentina, Serbia and Slovenia in the first stage group.

Even in the first game against Spain, after one quarter of the game, the captain of the Spanish team, Rudy Fernandez, was beaten to tears.

This one was not a joke, it really made Rudy Fernandez cry.

Rudy Fernandez is also an old rival of the Chinese men's basketball team.

This outside player who was next to the Gasol brothers was also a player who caused a lot of trouble for the Chinese team.

After the Gasol brothers retired from the national team, Rudy Fernandez also became the captain of the Spanish team.

To be honest, for such a 38-year-old veteran, he must be pursuing something if he can still stay in the national team.

After all, his era is actually over. He could have left the national team with glory along with the Gasol brothers and Ibaka.

But in the end, he chose to stay.

Not only did he stay and become captain, but he really led by example on the court.

From the beginning of this match with the Chinese team, Spain was in an extremely difficult environment. In such a difficult situation, Rudy Fernandez took the lead and fought for every ball, carrying his injured body and constantly performing. With "Rodman style save".

Even the Japanese fans who came to boo Chen Xiao were shocked by his crazy hard work. They burst into applause every time he caught the ball, dribbled, or shot.

In this World Cup, the 38-year-old veteran Fernandez has been battling injuries. He has suffered varying degrees of injuries to his knees, elbows and neck.

But even so, the 38-year-old Spanish legend is still sparing no effort to fight for every ball and throw his body like a bomb.

In this game against the Chinese team, Rudy Fernandez played 18 minutes and scored 15 points. He did not play the most time in the team, but he scored the most points in Spain. And in the first half, every time the Chinese team wanted to When the score was stretched to more than 10 points, Fernandez always stood up with his three-pointer to stop the bleeding for Spain.

Finally, in the second quarter, after playing for eight consecutive minutes, he was exhausted. When he was replaced, he had not yet sat down on the chair. Xiao Chen and Chen Muxin on the court scored two consecutive three-pointers, which originally led to nine points. When the score difference widened to 15 points, Rudy Fernandez on the sidelines finally couldn't hold himself any longer and sat directly on the sidelines, covering his face with his hands and crying bitterly.

At this time, he is no longer the young man chasing the wind 20 years ago.

At this time, he is no longer the invincible marksman who fought with the Spanish team against China and destroyed the United States more than ten years ago.

At this time, he was just a 38-year-old veteran with some gray hair on his temples.

He once lived in Spain's most glorious era.

But now, he is using his tears to bid farewell to the era when he was not far away from saying goodbye, making him intoxicated and nostalgic.

Yes, when Rudy Fernandez burst into tears, he knew that his time with the Spanish was really over.

As "AS" said after the game: "Captain, the eternal captain of the Spanish team, in the 18 minutes he came on the field, he threw himself out to grab the ball and became the mainstay on the defensive end, scoring a total of 5 steals. The five three-pointers he hit were each more precious than the last. He used everything he had to save the last dignity for Spain, but in the end, he failed. Spain failed, but our captain is a hero!"

18 minutes, 15 points and 5 steals. This data shows what Rudy Fernandez did in these 18 minutes.

In this regard, Spanish head coach Scariolo was also full of praise: "He is an incredible athlete, he is not afraid, he looks like he is 18 years old, he is a great captain, especially in It was a very difficult moment for the team. Against the Chinese team, I hoped he would have some reservations, but he had no reservations. He wanted to restore dignity for the team. Our original plan was that this game with the Chinese team was not that Intense, because it is not that important for qualifying from the group. He wanted to play the whole game, but I only played him for 18 minutes. Yes, he cried. It was my fault. He is forever. Everyone wants to fight, but this time, I only let him play for 18 minutes. He didn’t want to end the game. He really didn’t want to end the game. And I also know that he still wants to fight, but Spain can no longer support him to continue fighting. When the Chinese team competes, we have no choice but to choose, because we are not worthy of him now."

What the Spanish head coach said was quite moving.

This Spanish team is not worthy of their great captain Rudy Fernandez.

It's true fate. In this year's World Cup, from Milicic to Rudy Fernandez, Chen Xiao feels that this World Cup is like bidding farewell to his old rivals.

However, this is understandable. After all, it is already 2022 and Chen Xiao himself is 40 years old. No matter how old these old opponents are, it is indeed time to say goodbye.

Let's put it this way, a few years ago, Chen Xiao began to bid farewell to his old rivals almost every year, starting from the farewell to Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

In this FIBA ​​World Cup, Milicic and Fernandez are FIBA ​​superstars, and because they are FIBA ​​superstars, and FIBA ​​represents the feelings of family and country, their farewells are indeed more touching.

After all, Ko's farewell is not a farewell to the NBA, but a transition from player to coach.

For FIBA ​​players, saying goodbye to FIBA ​​is really a farewell.

Milicic and Fernandez may no longer appear in FIBA.

Therefore, in the match between China and Spain, even many Chinese fans were very moved when Fernandez cried during halftime of the Chinese team and was unwilling to leave the field.

No matter which country the players are from, this kind of family and country sentiment that is willing to sacrifice everything for the country can always resonate.

In order for the Spanish team to qualify in the group, the Spanish team only allowed Fernandez to play for 18 minutes, but even under such circumstances, Spain ultimately lost when facing its second opponent, Brazil.

And this also means that despite all calculations, the Spanish team failed to qualify.

Because Brazil defeated Greece in the first match of the group.

Both Brazil and China won both games.

From this we can also see how strong the Chinese team was in the first stage.

Argentina, which did not qualify in the first stage of the group, defeated Brazil to win the US Championship. Although Argentina and Brazil are similar in strength, Argentina's strength is indeed superior to Brazil.

Brazil was able to defeat Spain and Greece in the second group stage.

It is actually possible to switch to Argentina.

However, Argentina met the Chinese team and Slovenia, and ultimately failed to appear in the group.

On September 3, in the group match between the Chinese team and Greece, the Chinese team won easily.

Although Antetokounmpo is very strong, Greece's overall strength is indeed not that strong.

This is different from Slovenia.

Although Slovenia also relies entirely on Doncic, there are players of Dragic's level in the team to help.

But Antetokounmpo is in Greece. To be honest, the players who can help him are not that strong.

Let’s just talk about this game between China and Greece.

In the first half, relying on Antetokounmpo's crazy impact and physical exertion, the Greek and Chinese teams were somewhat inseparable in the first half.

Just like the Chinese team led by Yao Ming in historical time and space, every time they meet the American team, relying on the unity of Yao Ming and the whole team, they can always play inextricably with the Dream Team in the first quarter.

But soon, when the Chinese players' physical strength came down, the points difference quickly widened.

This situation also happened in the match between Greece and China.

Greece, led by Antetokounmpo, could only compete with the Chinese team for half a game. In the third quarter, the Chinese team, which rotated normally and was still full of energy, directly beat Greece 30 to 10 in the third quarter.

The originally intractable point difference suddenly opened up by more than 20 points after three quarters, and the game instantly reached garbage time.

They lost to Brazil in the first game. If they lose again in this game, they will be out.

Of course Antetokounmpo and Greece are unwilling to give in.

Therefore, after the game entered the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo, who had been frustrated for a season in the NBA, had a very strong desire to be a winner this time. Even if Chen Xiao did not play, he wanted to defeat Chen Xiao.

So in the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo played more and more brutally.

With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo was finally whistled for an unethical foul by the referee because of such a brutal style of play. He impulsively fouled Chinese player Chen Muxin. He was whistled for a physical foul and was expelled from the game.

Antetokounmpo's style of play is sometimes really hard to control his hands and feet. It's hard for you to know whether he does it intentionally or unintentionally.

But obviously, for FIBA ​​referees, catching physical violations is much stricter than NBA referees.

FIBA referees defend normally and play loosely, and the intensity of the game is high, but they are also strict about violating the rules and are not allowed to injure anyone.

At this point, NBA referees still need to learn.

In the end, because of Antetokounmpo's sending off, Greece completely lost hope.

In the end, the Chinese team defeated the Greek team 110-90.

The Chinese team, which had won both games, advanced to the quarterfinals with Spain.

Of course, the two teams still have a game to decide the first place in the group.

It's just obvious that for Brazil, they must strive for victory in this group match with the Chinese team.

Because if they lose this game, their opponent in the quarterfinals is likely to be the American team.

Therefore, this is still very interesting for Brazil.

In the group stage with the Chinese team, if you win and escape, you may be able to set a team performance record.

And if you lose, you will be completely gone.

In this World Cup, the American team performed really well.

So far, the American team, like the Chinese team, has not lost.

Therefore, when facing Brazil in the second group stage, the Chinese team is also ready for a tough battle.

Teams like Brazil and Argentina are really difficult to play.

However, because of their experience against Argentina, the Chinese team played more comfortably against Brazil in this game.

In the end, the Chinese team, led by Xiao Xiaochen and Zhou Qigaobo, defeated the Brazilian team 92-83.

Xiao Chen, Zhou Qi and Gao Bo all scored 20 points in this game.

It's still Xiao Chen's style of play that breaks the gap on the outside and releases Gao Bo and Zhou Qi.

Argentina couldn't resist, and Brazil couldn't stop it either.

In the end, the Chinese team also qualified with a complete victory in the second stage of the group stage and advanced to the quarterfinals.

In the end, eight teams including China, Australia, France, Germany, the United States, Brazil, Slovenia, and Puerto Rico entered the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals match between the Chinese team and Australia is on September 6 and will start in Seoul, South Korea.