All-round Athlete

Chapter 776 Against Slovenia

No team in the world is willing to face the U.S. team in the first round of the knockout round. Even an underdog like the Angola team will be eliminated if they meet anyone, but they are still unwilling to face the U.S. directly.

In the Olympics, the Chinese team once defeated Angola, but it was at home. As the strongest team in Africa, Angola still has some examples. At least in the latest world rankings, Angola ranked twelfth, higher than Brazil, Croatia, Turkey, and Russia.

Of course, this world ranking is based on the results of many continents and competitions. Angola has no rivals in Africa, so the ranking will naturally be higher. For example, the Chinese team, due to their outstanding performance in Asian competitions, can even enter the tenth place in the world ranking . Therefore, this ranking obviously cannot reflect the strength of the team very intuitively.

Angola reversed the German team, locked the right to qualify for the group, and the morale is booming. The black's physical talent in basketball also made Angola very active at the beginning of the game. Lutonda and Gomez hit three points respectively, and Angola opened with a 6-2 lead. Next, the Angola team's three-pointers were also very accurate, especially their number one star Gomez hit four three-pointers in the first quarter, feeling hot.

The height of the Angola team has no advantage, mainly relying on the projection of a small lineup and playing small ball tactics. For Yao, who has not recovered from his injury, he can't keep up with the rhythm. It caused a lot of burden, so Deng Huade quickly replaced Dayao and replaced Zhang Zhaoxu, who was younger and faster.

After the first quarter, the fiery Angola team led the Chinese team 23 to 20. After the opening of the second quarter, Angola continued to maintain the feeling. Lu Tangda scored six points in a row and once extended the gap to 10 points. After Guan came on the court, he used several breakthroughs to draw fouls, which disrupted the rhythm of the Angola team and also curbed the Angola team's offensive.

At the end of the first half, the Chinese team was close to the score. At the last moment, Zhang Guan made a breakthrough, allowing the Chinese team to enter the second half with a 45-44 lead of 1 point.

Deng Huade was a little dissatisfied with the team's defense. During the intermission, he began to "beat the chicken blood" to the young players. I have to say that this move was very effective. Under the encouragement of Deng Huade, the Chinese team's defense changed in the second half. Be a lot more active.

As for the Angola team, the hit rate began to decline. The height of the Angola team does not have an advantage in the first place. Once they fail to score a goal, they have no advantage in rebounding. Therefore, as long as the Angola team does not score a goal, it is difficult for the Angola team to have a second chance to attack.

After three consecutive rounds of no goals and two turnovers, the Chinese team played a 12-0 spurt, expanding the advantage to more than ten points in one fell swoop.

At this time, the Angola team started chasing points like a dream, but the impetuous shooting could not guarantee the hit rate. The Chinese team had entered the last quarter with 66-50.

In the fourth quarter, the Angola team was ready to fight to the death, but Zhang Guan's fast break after two steals quickly extended the score to 20 points. The score difference of 20 points was considered a relatively safe number in the fourth quarter. The game lost its suspense at this moment. won the game.

The Chinese team has a record of 3 wins and 2 losses, ranking third in the group. In the next knockout round, the Chinese team will face the second team in Group B.

The first place in Group A was won by Serbia, and the second place belonged to Argentina. There were 4 wins and 1 loss between the two. The fourth place in Group A is Angola with 2 wins and 3 losses. Germany and Jordan were eliminated.

...

In Group B, Iran and Tunisia obviously came to accompany the prince to study, and the powerful US team only narrowly won against Brazil, and the rest were light. The record of five consecutive victories allowed the US team to easily stand at the top of Group B, and Angola, which is about to encounter in the knockout round, is the weakest persimmon in the knockout stage.

Slovenia unexpectedly finished second in Group B, as their leading scorer, Persijan Nakbar, pushed Brazil into third with a three-pointer. The Slovenian team also became the first opponent of the Chinese team in the knockout round.

...

Deng Huade held the tactical board with a very serious expression.

"Slovenia's inside line is very strong. Their starting center Brezek is a player with ten years of NBA experience. His height of 2.16 meters also gives him an advantage in the center position. Their starting power forward Rakov Qi is 2.08 meters tall and is a powerful forward who was selected by the NBA with the 60th overall pick in 2007."

When Deng Huade said this, he couldn't help but glanced at Ah Lian. Arab League was selected with the No. 6 overall pick in 2007. It is considered to be at the same level as Rakovic, and both of them are also power forwards. Obviously, the important task of dealing with Rakovic will be handed over to Arab League.

Ah Lian silently clenched his fists. He is the No. 6 rookie. If he can't be the No. 60 rookie in the same period, it would be really embarrassing. I suffocated.

Deng Huade continued: "Slovenia's starting player at the small forward position is Miha Zupan. You should have heard of him. Yes, he is the deaf one. He has a strong body and can play small forwards. Big forward, can even fight against the center, strong rebounding ability, and a good three-pointer."

Miha Zupan is a deaf player. His most obvious feature is that he wears a hood on his head, and a hearing aid is sandwiched in the hood, allowing him to play like a normal player. Without hearing aids, Zupan couldn't hear his teammates and coaches. God closed the window of hearing for Zupan, but opened the window of basketball for him. Zupan's body is very strong, his skills are also very good, and his golf quotient is very high. Perhaps because he is a deaf person, Zupan is also very focused in playing. difficult. And he became an official basketball player as a disabled person, which is also a great inspirational story in the basketball world.

"The top scorer of the Slovenian team, Persijan Nakba, appeared as the second position this time. His height base also has an advantage in the third position, and the advantage in the second position is even greater. To be honest, our No. 2 player is no match for Nakba." Coach Deng Huade said here, looked at Dayao, and continued: "Yao, your old friend is very difficult!"

Dayao chuckled, but didn't say a word.

Nakba was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 15th overall pick at the end of 2002. It was also Dayao who was selected by the Houston Rockets with the No. 1 pick that year, so Nakba and Dayao were comrades who entered the same NBA team in the same year. At that time, Dayao, who had just entered the NBA, had the title of No. 1 pick, but still had to overcome cultural and language differences. Nakba, who was both a rookie and an international player, became Dayao's bosom friend for a long time. During that time, Nakba was Dayao's only playmate, so the relationship between the two was very close.

Nakba's statistics in the NBA are not good, even in his peak period he can only be regarded as a qualified rotation player. However, the value of international players cannot be calculated according to the data of the NBA. Too many international players will not adapt to the environment in the NBA, and the data is relatively average, but when they return to the international arena, they become lively again. Kobe Bryant's Spanoulis is a rookie in the NBA. He can't do anything offensive and defensive. When it comes to the European League, he becomes the king, and all kinds of MVPs are in his pocket.

So Nakba, a player who can't average 10 points per game in the NBA, is the number one scorer and tactical core under the Slovenian team's system.

"The number one position is the only position we occupy." Deng Huade looked at Zhang Guan, and then said: "Slovenia's starting point guard Dragic does not move fast, the frequency of movements is also very slow, his body is not strong enough, and he lacks confrontation. So-so pass awareness, nothing but shooting. This guy is more of a shooter."

"Is it really Dragic that Deng Huade is talking about?" Zhang Guan felt speechless for a while. In his impression, Dragic can be regarded as a first-class guard in the NBA, and he is also a "Mr. Billion". The offense is aggressive and not slow, especially very proficient in pick-and-rolls, and was even called the "King of Pick-and-rolls" at one time.

However, in 2010, Dragic can only be regarded as a qualified rotation player, and he has just established himself as a backup guard for the Suns.

"Hearing what Deng Huade said, Dragic seems to be very good now! I don't know if he will frequently use pick-and-roll tactics in the game?" Zhang Guan thought silently.

...

Slovenia's head coach Zidovic is also arranging tactics.

"In the World Championships four years ago, we lost to the Chinese team and got a lore at the last minute! But this time, we must not lose." Zidovic continued: "The one four years ago was still in the group stage. , even if we lose, we are still qualified; but this time is a knockout round, we have no way out, so we must win!"

"We are stronger than four years ago, but the Chinese team is also stronger than four years ago. They even defeated the US team in the Olympics! The good news is that through these few days of observation, I found that the Chinese team's Center Yao obviously hasn't fully recovered from the surgery, and his total playing time in the group stage is only ten minutes." Zidovic found Zhang Guan's name on the tactical board behind him, drew a circle on it, and then Said: "So what we need to do most is to curb Zhang Guan's performance!"

As Zidovic said, he looked at Dragic. At this time, Dragic seemed a little nervous and uneasy, apparently feeling that he was unlikely to be able to restrain Zhang Guan.

Zidovic went on to say: "Zhang Guan's sharpest offensive method is his breakthrough. Even the Dream Eight team can hardly stop his breakthrough, and we may not be able to stop Zhang Guan's breakthrough. The risk of fouling, so we have to prepare a plan B!"

"Plan B?" Everyone's attention was focused.

I only heard Zidovic say: "We must limit Zhang Guan's scoring as much as possible, but more importantly, we must score! The strength of the Chinese team in the second and third positions is not as good as ours, so we must play our strengths." advantage, with Nakba and Zupan as our main attack points."

Zidovic turned his head to look at Dragic, and then said: "Golan, it's up to you to pass the ball to Nakba and Zupan. If it's not easy to pass the ball directly, you can try to use the pick-and-roll cooperation, Come to interfere with the Chinese team's defensive rhythm and create opportunities for us."

...

On the first day of the knockout round, in the first two group matches, Serbia defeated Croatia with a slight advantage of 73 to 72. Another focus battle was also held between European teams. The Spanish team led by Gasol Jr. defeated Croatia with 80 -72 score, defeated the Greek team. Serbia and Spain will compete for a place in the final four.

On the second day of the knockout round, there were also four teams on stage, namely China against Slovenia, and France against the host Turkey.

At the beginning of the game, both the Chinese and Slovenian teams sent their main players on the field. As expected, the five starting players of Slovenia were Brezek, Rakovic, Zupan, Nakba and Dragic .

Brezek and Alian are responsible for the jump ball of both sides. Brezek's timing is better, and Slovenia also has the opportunity to take the lead in possession of the ball.

As a former member of Yugoslavia, Slovenia has also inherited Yugoslavia's basketball style. The team is good at tactical coordination and positional warfare. In the positional battle, the role of the center is irreplaceable. Both teams have big centers, so at the beginning of the game, Dayao and Blazek were entangled with each other.

Blazek's strength is naturally not as good as Dayao's, and Dayao likes to deal with this traditional center the most. In NBA games, Blazek was almost blown away when he met Dayao. But Dayao's injury has not recovered, especially in terms of physical confrontation, he is far from the peak, so when facing Brezek, although he did not suffer, he did not take advantage either.

The inside big centers of the two sides are tantamount to locking each other. At this time, the tactics surrounding the big centers are also abolished. Now players in other positions need to come forward.

As the top scorer of the Slovenian team, Nakba stepped forward decisively at this time. He tried hard to run out of the open space and signaled Dragic to pass the ball to himself.

Nakba ran out of a good position, but there was a problem with Dragic's pass. He just threw the ball, but was blocked by a hand from the side.

"Zhang Guan, steal!" The commentator had just finished saying this, but Zhang Guan had already rushed to the Slovenian team's half with the ball.

"Zhang Guanxia is on the fast break!" The players of the Slovenian team realized this, but they couldn't stop Zhang Guanyi from rushing to their basket and scoring a layup.