Chapter 1599 1598. The Most Dazzling Basketball Era

The Olympics have been going on for more than ten days. Many events have ended and many gold medals have been produced.

Coming to their home court, China sent a large number of athletes to compete for every gold medal they can compete for. Currently, 29 gold medals rank first in the gold medal list, and 71 medals also rank first in the medal list.

In many events, Chinese athletes have created the best results in national history.

Among them, the Chinese men's football team scored the first goal of the national team in the Olympics, breaking the historical record, and by the way, they also showed Chinese Kung Fu, pressing the Belgian players...

The men's volleyball team also created a new Olympic record in the history of the national team. Although they lost in the quarter-finals and were eliminated, they won both games in the qualifying round and won the fifth place!

In basketball, the Chinese men's basketball team defeated Germany 98 to 71 to advance to the finals, and also refreshed the best group stage result created by the Chinese men's basketball team in the Athens Olympics.

All three major balls performed well!

After the Chinese men's basketball team advanced to the finals, other quarter-final teams were also released one after another.

In Group B, where the Chinese team is located, the Chinese team with 5 wins and 0 losses, Croatia with 3 wins and 2 losses, Iran with 2 wins and 3 losses, and Russia with 2 wins and 3 losses advanced to the finals.

In Group A, the US team with 4 wins and 1 loss ranked first in the group stage, and Spain with 3 wins and 2 losses, Greece with 3 wins and 2 losses, and Argentina with 2 wins and 3 losses advanced to the finals.

On August 20, two cross-matching matches between the second and third place teams of the two groups will be played, Spain vs. Spain and Croatia vs. Greece.

On the 21st, two cross-matching matches between the first and fourth place teams of the two groups will be played, China vs. Argentina and the United States vs. Russia.

The match on the 20th... There is nothing much to watch. The gap in strength between Spain and Iran is too obvious, and Croatia can hardly compete with Greece.

But the match on the 21st is much more topical. China and Argentina continued the fight in the last World Championships. Coincidentally, the current core combinations of the men's basketball teams of the two countries are both known as the "Golden Generation".

The United States and Russia are full of topics in all aspects except strength. Just seeing these two names together, even non-basketball fans want to see the victory or defeat of the two teams.

…

…

"Don't underestimate them, they have defeated the United States before..."

"Ace, you have to take responsibility when the opponent's nerves explode, you are our best player..."

"Of course, you don't have to be so stressed, the opponent has Ginobili, we have Ace..."

After the training and tactical meeting on the 20th, the head coach of the Chinese team Harris added pressure to the players, and the leader of the basketball team, Coach Zhang, personally served as the translator for the head coach Harris.

The group stage was too easy to win, and the time, place and people were all in place.

But it was different in the knockout stage. The group stage can be played with a very relaxed mentality, mainly because it doesn't matter if you lose one or even two games. Even if it is a devil group like Group A, winning three games can ensure that you can enter the top eight.

And once you lose in the knockout stage, you really lose.

Winning a medal in the Olympics is the minimum goal of the Chinese men's basketball team in this Olympics at home! That is, at least the first round of the knockout stage cannot be lost!

Argentina defeated the United States unexpectedly. In the last World Championship, China eliminated Argentina. In this game, Argentina is definitely preparing for revenge, and it is a revenge full of confidence. Even if China has a certain strength advantage, it cannot underestimate the opponent.

…

"Hey, you are here too. How did you play in the group stage? Did you win all the games?" Liu Mang sat in the front row and asked another No. 24 who happened to be sitting next to him.

"Tracy, let's change seats. No, Kwame, you also change seats with me. I want to sit farther away." Kobe was so angry that he ignored Liu Mang and asked McGrady and Kwame Brown next to him to change seats.

McGrady stood up and changed seats with Kobe. He looked at Liu Mang speechlessly. He was too arrogant!

However, although he lost a game in the group stage, McGrady is still very happy now.

The Raptors really tried hard to build a team around him this time. Richard Jefferson was sent away to make room for him, and two excellent shooters and point guards were found for him. Joe Johnson was also kept for a large sum of money. The substitutes for him and Joe Johnson were Battier and Jason Kapono. The former is an extremely good locker room leader and defensive stalwart, a corner shooter, and can also play as a power forward in a small lineup. The latter is also an excellent shooter. The Raptors are collecting a large number of shooters for McGrady, and at the same time, they are also collecting a large number of shooters for Kwame Brown.

Kwame Brown felt like the sky was falling when he was first traded, but after McGrady's comfort and multiple interviews with the Raptors management, Kwame Brown gradually regained his fighting spirit.

As McGrady said, Kwame Brown felt that being sent to the Raptors was the best choice besides staying in the Hawks. He was not sent to the West to compete with those super inside players every day, and the Raptors were building an inside line around his characteristics.

The Raptors seem to want to copy the Magic's one-star-four-shooting tactics and the Hawks' one-big-four-small or even five-small lineup to themselves, and want to follow a similar path to the Suns last season.

Udrih, Blake, Joe Johnson, Kapono, Battier, Bargnani, Kris Humphries, Brad Miller...

McGrady and Kwame Brown saw such a group of teammates...feeling full of hope!

The depth of the lineup in each position is very sharp!

"Ace." McGrady shouted to Liu Mang next to him after sitting down.

"Yeah." Liu Mang responded.

"Our match is about to start."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it..."

...

Spain and Greece both defeated their opponents without any suspense.

Especially in terms of effort, both teams fought hard and did not regard the other team as a so-called weak team. Both teams went all out and did not give the other team any chance of upset.

In the knockout stage, no matter how weak the opponent is, you can't relax. If you lose, everything will be over.

This brought a very positive viewing experience to the Chinese players and learned a little bit of the mentality of a strong team.

For the Chinese team, the biggest problem is that they have only been a strong team for four years, while the other teams in the quarterfinals were or are mainstream strong teams in the world basketball.

This made Harris, the head coach of the Chinese team, very satisfied. It was indeed right to bring the whole team to watch the game!

Although Harris is ready to resign after this Olympics, he turned 71 two months ago. He won the best coach of the NBA 94-95 season and led the Chinese team to the semi-finals of the Olympics and the World Championships. In the eyes of many media, professional basketball people and fans, Harris created the Chinese team to become the top team in the world basketball.

Harris also wants to make the Chinese team a real strong team, and he can continue this strong team posture after he retires.

In this way, his name is bound to leave an indelible mark in Chinese basketball and even in the world basketball!

As an old coach who has been an assistant coach since the 1960s and has worked hard in the coaching position for more than 40 years, this is what he desires most and the dream he pursues all his life.

Spain and Greece have advanced to the semi-finals. The next is tomorrow's quarter-finals between the Chinese team and Argentina, and the quarter-finals between the US team and Russia.

If the Chinese team can enter the semi-finals, it is basically certain that the top four teams are China, Spain, Greece, and the United States. Except for the United States, the other three teams have won all the championships and runner-ups in the world competitions since the new century except the 2002 World Championships. Basically, the most powerful basketball countries since the new century have been gathered together!

"Basketball Prosperity"

This is the cover headline given by the international edition of Time magazine after Spain and Greece advanced to the semi-finals.

There is no doubt that these eight years are the most dazzling moment in the world basketball. The US team has difficulty entering the top four; Yugoslavia, Argentina, and China have successively won the world championship, Argentina, Greece, and Spain have won the second place, and the US team has not won a medal in three consecutive world competitions...

This situation of multiple teams competing for hegemony in the world basketball was the last time before the Dream Team appeared, when the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia, and the United States competed for hegemony!

In these eight years, a large number of international basketball superstars have emerged. When fans are amazed by this dazzling era, the time for the Chinese team and the Argentine team to compete has come!