All-round Athlete

Chapter 786 The Revenge Battle of Team Nine Dreams

In another semi-final that ended earlier, the US team easily defeated Lithuania. Durant scored 38 points and dominated the entire game. The European powerhouse Lithuania was helpless in front of the US team.

Before this, the Dream Nine team was considered the weakest dream team, but now it seems that this dream team is not as people imagined, at least so far, there is no team that can threaten To the dominance of the Dream Nine team.

On the stage of the World Championships, the US team has not tasted the taste of the World Championships for 16 years. In 1994, the Dream Team 2 easily won the Canadian World Championships. In the 1998 World Championships, because of the suspension of the NBA, the US team did not form a Dream Team, and no NBA player participated in the World Championships. So the US team did not win the World Championships that year.

The Dream Five team played at home in the 2002 US World Championships, and finally only got the sixth place. Immediately afterwards, the Dream Six team lost the champion of the Athens Olympic Games. The Dream Seven team lost to Greece in the Japan World Championships, and the Dream Eight team suffered When it comes to Zhang Guan's lore, it can be said that after 1994, the US team only won one world championship at the Sydney Olympics.

Although this year's dream team is composed of young people, this does not affect their desire for a championship in the slightest. They are very eager to bring a championship back to the United States.

"Boys, our opponent in the final is the Chinese team!"

This is Krzyzewski's opening statement.

"Team China, that's great!" Curry said excitedly, seeing Zhang Guan as his idol, he couldn't wait to start the game as soon as possible.

However, no one paid attention to Curry. In the Dream Nine team, there were as many as four point guards, and Curry, who had only played in the NBA for one year, happened to be the fourth one. Before him, there were Billups, Rose and Westbrook, so now Curry can only be regarded as the role of water dispenser administrator in the Dream Nine team.

Curry sat down with some embarrassment, and Krzyzewski continued: "I think you all know that two years ago, we lost to the Chinese team and the Olympic champion. Two years ago, I Thinking about revenge all the time, finally, our chance has come! The dream team has a chance to wash away their shame!"

"Do you remember? Before the expedition, we were known as the weakest dream team ever. Everyone thought that our road ahead was full of thorns, and everyone thought our road was tortuous and difficult. But we used Our strength tells the whole world that we are the strongest! No matter who our opponent is, we will win like a crush, including the next Chinese team!"

"Compared to two years ago, the Chinese team is stronger. Yao and Yi, you should be familiar with them. Their existence makes the Chinese team have the strongest inside combination in the World Championships. Especially Yao, although I don't know him now. How is the recovery, but as long as he appears on the court, it is an existence that we cannot solve. This has been verified many times in the NBA."

Krzyzewski said, looking at his disciples, his expression became more and more helpless, because none of the twelve members of the Dream Nine team could resist Dayao.

In the previous Dream Eight team, there were Howard and Boozer anyway, but the real center in the Dream Nine team was only one Tyson Chandler, an existence who had been beaten by Dayao in the NBA.

For Chandler, Dayao can be said to be a shadow in his heart. The two first met on the 1998 American Amateur Sports Federation All-American Tour, when Dayao was 18 years old and Chandler was 16 years old, and then Chandler was blown away. After entering the NBA, Dayao's precise mid-range shot and 10 cm height advantage can only make Chandler sigh. Every time the Hornets (now the Pelicans) met the Rockets, Chandler had to rely on the help of other players to deal with Yao. Although Chandler's statistics against Dayao are still remarkable, it is a fact that he can't guard against Dayao.

Chandler on the spot can score 10 points per game, but the Dream Nine team does not lack people who are good at offense, and they do not need Chandler to provide firepower. They need Chandler's defense. When Chandler's defense is unreliable At the time, it was really hard to give Krzyzewski a reason to use him.

In addition to Chandler, the big man of the Dream Nine team also has Kevin Love.

Love, who has played for two seasons, has already shown signs of collecting statistics. The average of 14+11 per game looks very dazzling, but Love's defensive level at this time can be described as appalling. For a second-year player, expecting him to defend Dayao is undoubtedly a dream.

Krzyzewski also felt that Chandler and Love were unreliable, so in the Dream Nine team, the starting center was Odom.

Now Odom is still the best sixth man in the NBA. He married Kardashian at the end of last year. , rebounds, assists, steals, Odom's data are very good. So Odom won the trust of Krzyzewski and became the starting center of the Dream Nine team. With Odom's physical fitness, facing the centers of those European teams, although he can't take advantage of it, he can't suffer a big loss. In the case of someone to help defend, Odom can still handle the center position.

But now we have to face Yao, the situation is completely different, Krzyzewski can no longer put Odom in the center position.

Using Odom to defend Dayao, someone once tried this trick, and that is the "Zen Master" Phil Jackson. At that time, the Lakers' starting center Bynum couldn't guard Dayao at all, so Zen Master asked Odom to play center, and the result was of course very unsatisfactory.

Chandler, Love, and Odom were all unavailable, and Krzyzewski suddenly fell into a dilemma where no one was available. This was also the first headache for Krzyzewski.

The second one that gave Krzyzewski a headache was, of course, Zhang Guan.

"Zhang Guan can not only break through, but also shoot!" Krzyzewski thought of this and sighed involuntarily.

The guards in the Dream Nine team include Rose, Westbrook, Curry, Eric Gordon and Billups. However, the top four defenses are unreliable. Curry, who has only played in the NBA for one year, is obviously the worst defensive one, and Gordon's defensive level is also terrible. Rose and Westbrook have shown the potential of superstars, but they have only played in the NBA for two years. The defensive ability of the second-year students is qualified, and it is far from excellent.

The only thing Krzyzewski can count on is Billups.

Billups has been in the NBA's best defensive second team anyway, and he is much more reliable in defense than those young superstars. Because of this, after Krzyzewski's Dream Nine team, Billups has always occupied a starting position.

"Let Billups defend Zhang Guan?" Krzyzewski was still a little guilty. He recalled that in the Olympics two years ago, Kobe was not able to block Zhang Guan's attack. In terms of defensive ability, Kobe was far behind. Better than Billups, so it seems a bit idiotic to want to guard against Zhang Guan with Billups alone.

"The Chinese team's striker strength is relatively average. If it's really not good, let Iguodala help defend! Two people defend one, and they can always defend!" Krzyzewski thought silently.

...

"Dream Nine's tactics are very strange. Their lineup is to a certain extent to give up the center. In the previous few games, their starters were Odom, Durant, Iguodala, Rose and Billy. Lupus. There is no center in this lineup, not even a pure power forward." Coach Deng Huade continued: "However, the effect of this lineup is very good."

"Odom is only 2.08 meters, maybe less than that. I really didn't expect him to be the tallest person in the US team." Wang Shipeng said.

"The tallest one is Durant, but that guy won't even admit that he is seven feet tall!" Zhang Guan said.

"Indeed, I think Durant is not shorter than me for a while." Ah Lian said here and laughed: "I remember when I was taking pictures in the rookie season, I stood with him. Durant is about the same height as me. I think The only thing I'm taller than him is my hair is longer."

"Really? Durant is about the same height as you? He can play center. But his skills are so good!" Zhou Peng's eyes widened in surprise.

"So he can become the core of the Dream Nine team! The guard's skills, the forward's body, and the center's height, this is Durant!" Deng Huade then added: "Our number one enemy in the Dream Nine team!"

...

In the Dream Nine team, there are only three All-Star players, Billups, Durant and Rose. Of course, this refers to 2010, not the future. In addition to them, the other life-saving players are Westbrook, Rudy Gay, Iguodala, Granger, Curry, Eric Gordon, Love, Odom and Chandler.

Before the Dream Nine team set off, professionals listed three major problems.

The first is the emptiness inside the team. Only one Tyson Chandler is considered a pure center, which is worse than the previous Dream Eight team.

The second is the team's shortage of shooters. Rose, Gordon and Gay all rely on breakthroughs to run rampant in the NBA, while the young Westbrook and Curry are not as perverted as they will be in the future. Even Durant , is also regarded as a "blacksmith" who often strikes iron.

The third point is that the players are too young. There are only two veterans, Billups and Odom, and the average age of the team is only 25 years old. Durant, Westbrook, Curry, Rose, and Love are all only 22 years old. Such a young team gives the impression of being inexperienced.

Whether it is the domestic media in the United States or the international media, the Dream Nine team is generally underestimated. The media believes that the Dream Nine team, which lacks inside lines and mainly relies on breakthrough ability to score, cannot cope with the zone defense of European teams; and young players cannot achieve the kind of tacit understanding of traditional European teams. The grade is only B.

Scoring B is of course not the second grade. There are B+, A-, A, and A+ above B. Evenly scoring B can only be regarded as the fifth grade. From this score, it can also reflect that everyone is not optimistic about the Dream Nine team.

However, in Durant, he dedicated a "killing god" level performance. Under his leadership, this most watered dream team in history has also become the most underrated dream team in history.

The Dream Nine team was indeed very young, but it represented the strongest talent in the world at that time. The learning ability of young players is much better than that of old players. Participating in major competitions can also allow young players to grow rapidly. For example, those young people in the Chinese team can get a big improvement through each game, and the top talented young people in the US team grow even faster. So the Dream Nine team played better and stronger.

The "cohesion" of this Dream Nine team is also very good, because there are no superstars in the team, the sharing of ball rights is also smoother, and the cooperation between players is also more tacit. In the previous Dream Eight team, although Kobe was the boss, James may not be convinced by him. Between James and Anthony, there must be dissatisfaction with each other. Everyone wants the ball, plus Paul, Wade and Deron. headache thing. The Dream Nine team does not have this problem. The players are willing to share the ball, which makes the Dream Nine team's offense more smooth.

In terms of defense, the Dream Nine team also relies more on the team rather than individual abilities. The U.S. team has always disdained to use zone defense tactics, because the players' personal abilities are too strong, and they can easily handle opponents with one defense and one defense. But the Dream Nine team began to use zone defense tactics, coupled with excellent physical talent, even without a center, the Dream Nine team's defense was almost impeccable.

...

The Americans didn't pay much attention to the World Championships. Firstly, because there were no superstars in the Dream Nine team, the attraction to the audience was greatly reduced; People don't have much expectations for this; the third is because besides basketball, Americans have many other sports to pay attention to, which also diverts a lot of viewers.

However, when the final opponent was determined, the American media suddenly became excited, and the topic of the World Championships also appeared in the main sections of the major media.

revenge! The word reveal is the subject of hype in the news media. Two years ago in the Olympic Games, the Dream Eight team composed of a group of NBA superstars was defeated by the Chinese team at the last moment, and now the young Dream Nine Team wants to avenge their predecessors!

Revenge is always people's favorite topic. In Europe, from the best-selling of "The Count of Monte Cristo" to the consecration of "Hamlet", revenge is the main theme. Compared with the classics in the East, they are less subtle, and their revenge is more direct. When the storyteller tells that Wu Erlang killed Pan Jinlian with a knife in his hand, there will always be a burst of applause. Even in contemporary times, the phrase "Don't bully the young and poor" also carries the ardent expectations of countless readers for the moment of revenge.

The U.S. team's revenge battle, this gimmick is attractive enough, and it quickly mobilizes the attention of the Americans. Fans all over the world remembered that two years ago, on the last day of the Olympic Games, the Chinese team had an incredible victory over the mighty Dream Eight team. Under Zhang Guan's lore, Kobe Bryant with a shocked face became the background. That scene was An eternal attraction in basketball history.

Two years later, the two teams met again. Zhang Guan is still the absolute core of the Chinese team, while the twelve players of the US team have become different faces.

Can the Dream Nine team avenge their predecessors?

Everyone is looking forward to...