I just want to play healthy basketball

Chapter 316 Advancing to the semi-finals, against the Dream Team!
The Chinese men's basketball team won five games and won five games and qualified first in Group A. After such good news came back to China, it can be said that the whole country was boiling for a while.

Most of the Olympic men's basketball champions over the years came from the teams that won the group stage.

It is really not easy for the men's basketball team to achieve five consecutive victories in Group A, which is full of strong players.

It is worth mentioning that the dream team, which was regarded as the enemy by the men's basketball team before the game, was not the first team in Group B.

The real number one in Group B, the Lithuanian team, not the dream team, also won all five games in the group stage.

The Dream Team came second in Group B, and the loser happened to be the Lithuanian team.

In fact, the Dream Team struggled in the group stage this year.

Olympic teams are usually not weak on the inside, and the Dream Team was not well-prepared before coming here. Only after coming here did they realize that the inside is too weak just relying on Ben and Jermaine O'Neal.

That is to say, George Karl's fast-break tactics can also work in the international league. Wade and James, young players who are good at breakthroughs, burst out with great energy in the group stage.

In addition, the three musketeers and Garrett also shot from the outside. Originally, the three-point line in international competitions is short. As long as the 40% shooting rate is slightly stabilized, the scoring efficiency is very impressive.

However, once they meet a strong inside team, this battle will be difficult to fight.

After all, the inside line is standing under the basket, and it is easier to score from the basket, it is easier to keep the shooting percentage, and it is easier to protect the rebound.

In order to ensure the outside shooting firepower of the dream team, the outside shooters sent to the field usually have mediocre outside defensive ability.

Therefore, the dream team is very contradictory, relying on talent and a fairly normal configuration to win one game after another.

But it didn't perform as well as the previous dream teams, playing several levels of dominance over other teams.

Having said that, the record of the Dream Team in the group stage has little to do with the men's basketball team. As long as the Dream Team does not qualify fourth in Group B, then everything is OK.

It's not that the men's basketball team is really afraid of the Dream Team, but because the competition system is a single-elimination system, every game faces a lot of risk, and there is no need for the men's basketball team to meet such a strong opponent as the Dream Team before the finals.

On the surface, the men's basketball team does have an advantage in playing the dream team, but all members of the dream team are stars!
In the shadow of a famous tree, in recent years, there has been some worship of foreigners in China. If the players on the men's basketball side are afraid of the paper tigers of the current dream team, then relying on He Li to play against Yao Ming will definitely not work.

In case one is unlucky, the players of the Dream Team are all in good condition, and the men's basketball team is crushed by a wave. Then the men's basketball team, which was the first to qualify in Group A and has a great reputation, will be directly thrown into the soil, just bury it, and don't go back to China.

Therefore, the men's basketball team cannot afford to take it lightly now. First, it has to climb over the mountain of the quarter-finals and get close to the semi-finals.

At that time, no matter how bad it is, there is still a chance to win the bronze medal, instead of thinking about it, if you drop it, then you will win the gold medal in the Olympics.

Thinking about it this way is simply unrealistic.

But the actual situation now is that the men's basketball team that ranks first in Group A will face Puerto Rico, who is fourth in Group B, in the quarterfinals.

The opponent of the dream team in the quarterfinals is the third-placed Argentine team in Group A.

After seeing the competition system clearly, He Li still sweats for the dream team.

Although the Argentina team is the third team in Group A, they are not a weak team!

It's just that this year's Spanish team is a little bit better. Coupled with the men's basketball team led by He Li, the Argentine team is now in third place.

Next, the Argentine team will face the Dream Team. Maybe it will be like He Li remembers. The Argentine team will once again become the sufferer of the Dream Team.

So, without a strong opponent like the Dream Team in the finals, will the gold content of this year's men's basketball Olympic championship drop?
who cares!The important thing is to get the gold medal!
If the Argentine team is really shocked and knocks off the dream team, then maybe this year will really be the year that the men's basketball team most hopes to win the gold medal in the Olympics.

To realize this dream, the men's basketball team must first win the quarter-finals.

Many people may not know Puerto Rico, which is an autonomous state in the United States, mainly composed of whites and blacks.

Although the population is small, the physical fitness of the players is not bad, so it is also one of the strong teams in the Americas.

In recent years, it can be said that it has just entered the golden age of the Puerto Rico men's basketball team.

Although the Puerto Rico men's basketball team does not have a particularly big-name star, the team pays attention to integrity and does not rely solely on the performance of a certain star.

However, Carlos Arroyo, the team's core point guard, performed well last season. He was originally an undrafted and temporary worker, but after Stockton retired, Carlos Arroyo quickly became the Jazz's starting point guard.

It is also Carlos Arroyo's performance in the NBA that is quite good, allowing him to gain a lot of voice in this Puerto Rico men's basketball team.

In addition, although the team's forward Elias Ayuso did not make it to the NBA, he is the dream of thousands of Puerto Rican girls.

Gorgeous style of play, efficient scoring, and ability to fight tough battles are the absolute pillars of the Puerto Rico men's basketball team.

In addition, there is Daniel Santiago, a giant center with a height of 2.16 meters. Although he only averaged less than 5 points and 3 rebounds per game in the NBA.

But in the International League, there is no doubt that this is another O'Neal.

From the lineup point of view, the Puerto Rico men's basketball team is not as famous as the Chinese men's basketball team, but it has a complete set of equipment, an excellent core point guard, a high-quality forward who can run and jump, and a strong inside line. The Chinese men's basketball team is not needed at all.

The only advantage of the men's basketball team may be outside shooting.

But if He Li is the focus of defense, it may not be so easy for the men's basketball team to have high-quality and high-yield three-pointers.

Closer to home, after the warm-up is over, the game will start soon.

In the pitching session, Yao Ming lost to the little-known Daniel Santiago.

The Puerto Rico team succeeded with a jump ball and scored two points with a clean layup in the first round of offense.

"Defense, pay attention to defense."

After all, it is the quarter-finals. If you lose one game, you will go home. No matter how well the men's basketball team plays in the group stage, it is useless.

So He Li, as the boss of the team, immediately reminded his teammates to pay attention to defense after conceding a goal.

Yao Ming might have been stimulated by He Li's words, and felt that he could play in the next round, so he directly reached out for the ball.

Originally, He Li was going to put the ball in the hands of Yi Jianlian, who was going down, but seeing that the Puerto Rican men's basketball team was prepared, he passed the ball to Yao Ming.

Yao Ming lived up to He Li's trust and directly hit the basket, drawing a foul from Daniel Santiago.

After hitting two free throws, Yao Ming helped the men's basketball team draw Puerto Rico 2-2.

However, in the next round, Carlos Arroyo found an opportunity on the outside, and before He Li could assist the defense to make up for it, he made a decisive shot from the outside.

Carlos Arroyo hit a jumper from the three-point line, but fortunately it was just a long two.

In order to put some pressure on the Puerto Rico team, He Li made a decisive shot and stepped up from beyond the three-point line.

But it seems that the ball was missed because of poor hand feeling.

Fortunately, Yao Ming got stuck under the basket, jumped up and reached out to make up for it, but the ball missed, but Yi Jianlian took off continuously, and finally dunked the ball into the basket.

The men's basketball team once again tied the score.

He Lizheng was considering whether to find an opportunity to break the deadlock of one of you and one of you, and the Puerto Rico team made a mistake.

Li Nan made a sudden shot to complete the steal, and then quickly went down. He Li immediately followed, caught the ball halfway, adjusted a little before shooting, and hit a three-pointer after chasing the body.

The men's basketball team finally leads the Puerto Rico team in scoring.

Next, the men's basketball team suddenly picked up.

Not long after that, Liu Wei found an opportunity, shot a three-pointer, and added another three-pointer for the Chinese team, rewriting the score to 12 to 8, and the men's basketball team took a 4-point lead.

Immediately after the successful defense, He Li made the icing on the cake and scored another three-pointer. The men's basketball team widened the point difference to 7 points.

The Puerto Rico team played steadily, desperately chasing points, and once tied the score.

But the men's basketball team is not a vegetarian, especially Yao Ming, who is in a really good state today. After seeing his teammates on the outside feel less comfortable, he immediately took up the responsibility of the core of the team and asked He Li to ask for the ball.

He Li is actually in good form today, but Yao Ming wanted the ball, and he played well before, so he used his own shooting threat to help Yao Ming create better low-post singles opportunities.

Yao Ming took advantage of the footsteps under the basket to sway Daniel Santiago, and scored repeatedly under the basket. After the first quarter, Yao Ming made 6 of 3 shots and 4 of 4 free throws and scored 10 points.

Yao Ming alone scored nearly half of the team's points, which is enough to prove how good Yao Ming is.

After He Li discovered this, he also allocated more balls to Yao Ming in the second quarter, allowing Yi Jianlian to rest for a while.

Of course, He Li will not consume Yao Ming too much.

After noticing that Yao Ming was sweating and panting, He Li turned to attack by himself, and then fed the ball to Yi Jianlian after the defensive intensity of the encounter increased.

Seeing the situation, Yao Ming pulled out to the outside line instead, so Daniel Santiago had to run out.

With the help of He Li and Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian also played a considerable role in the second and third quarters.

When the wind blows, the other players of the men's basketball team suddenly become mighty.

It's just that Battelle, who wanted to score points, became a soft-legged shrimp today. Harris also discovered this, so he quickly replaced Battelle.

In the end, relying on Wang Zhizhi as Yao Ming's substitute, Yao Ming was left with time to rest.

Fortunately, when Yao Ming was off the court, the outside firepower of the men's basketball team did not misfire.

He Li took the lead in the charge, first with a three-pointer to calm down the scene, and then Wang Zhizhi followed suit and scored!

With two three-pointers, the men's basketball team quickly widened the gap between the two sides to more than 10 points. The head coach of Puerto Rico had to call a timeout to discuss countermeasures.

However, the men's basketball team is already imposing, and it will be difficult to overwhelm it.

Before the fourth quarter, He Li went all out and increased the number of times he broke through the basket.

Today, the Puerto Rico team has a big center under the basket. He Li did not blindly attack the basket. After the breakthrough, the more choice is to feed cakes to Yi Jianlian under the basket.

After all, Yi Jianlian's jumping talent cannot be buried.

And after this period of time, the cooperation between the two is really tacit.

By the end of the third quarter, He Li's assist count was in double figures. You must know that in the previous few games, He Li's highest number of assists was 11, and this is the data obtained by playing the whole game.

Of course, today's assists are fun, but the points have not been able to break through 20.

After three quarters, He Licai scored 15 points. Compared with the past, the scoring data is indeed a bit worse.

However, as long as the men's basketball team has an advantage and can win the game in the right way, that's fine.

The game quickly entered the fourth quarter, and Yao Ming re-entered the court after resting for half a quarter in the third quarter.

This time the state is not as good as before, but no matter how the hit rate drops, 50% is still there.

More importantly, Yao Ming suppressed Puerto Rico's big center Daniel Santiago.

Daniel Santiago in the fourth quarter, thanks to the efforts of Yao Ming, not long after the fourth quarter, Daniel Santiago has accumulatively committed four fouls, and he dare not make too many moves on the defensive end.

Considering that the men's basketball team still had a 6-point lead, He Li continued to lob the ball to Yao Ming, hoping that Yao Ming could beat Daniel Santiago down.

It's a pity that Daniel Santiago remained on the court when the game was over.

However, after Daniel Santiago committed four fouls, Yao Ming played a little easier in the paint.

And Yao Ming is also smart enough to know that his physical strength has been exhausted and his state has declined a lot. Sometimes he will pretend to be layup, but in fact pass the ball to Yi Jianlian by hitting the ground and passing the ball.

Although there are also passing errors, Yi Jian basically dunks the ball into the basket after connecting with the ball, which is very important for the men's basketball team.

Today, the men's basketball team scored 20 points in the two major insiders, completely dominating the Puerto Rico team's insiders.

And there is no need to say anything on the outside line, He Li stands there, it is impossible to lose too much to other teams.

What's more, He Li's condition is actually pretty good today.

Although He Li has reduced the number of his own shots, it does not mean that He Li cannot shoot, and He Li does not score high.

In fact, He Li's shots were not very difficult. In today's game, He Li only missed two shots except for the first shot.

After the whole game, He Li made 11 of 8 shots, 6 of 4 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 22 points.

In addition, He Li also had 14 assists and 8 rebounds, almost hitting a triple-double.

To be honest, He Li is only judging from the data. He Li is still the most critical player for the men's basketball team to win the quarterfinals.

Of course, He Li's real influence on the field is much more than this.

Without He Li's containment and passing, Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian want to score 20+ in both figures. I am afraid it will not be so easy, at least Yi Jianlian does not have this ability.

Having said that, the Puerto Rico team once tried to regain the situation in the final time of the fourth quarter, but it still ended in failure.

At the end of the game, the score was 89 to 81. The men's basketball team defeated the Puerto Rico team by 8 points and successfully advanced to the semifinals.

The next opponent of the men's basketball team also finished today's game very quickly.

The Argentine team fought a fierce battle with the Dream Team, and in the end, the Dream Team was superior. The final score of the game was 80 to 82. The Dream Team narrowly won by 2 points and advanced to the semi-finals.

And it just so happens that the next round of the Chinese men's basketball team will be the Dream Team!

This is really no coincidence!
The level of the Chinese men's basketball team in this Olympic Games is definitely at the championship level. Once they make it out of the semi-finals, they have great hopes of winning the championship.

However, the Dream Team has been the gold medal winners over the years. Even though this year's performance is not satisfactory, it is still one of the strong contenders for the championship.

But at this time, the Chinese men's basketball team and the dream team met in the semifinals.

It can be said that whoever wins the next round of semi-finals may become the Olympic champion of this year's men's basketball event.

(End of this chapter)