Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

In the stadium.

In the blink of an eye, it is already the end of August.

The small training camp has been open for a few days and everyone has gotten into the game.

A group of players were training. At this time, Zhuang Yu and Xiao Qingyang were not on the court. They sat on the sidelines, drinking water and talking.

“I don’t know how the game went.”

Xiao Qingyang suddenly spoke, causing Zhuang Yu to be stunned for a moment, before he realized that he was talking about the Basketball World Cup.

Today is the day when the Basketball World Cup officially kicks off, and the Chinese men's basketball team will also face their first opponent in the group stage, Côte d'Ivoire.

This Basketball World Cup is held in China. As the host, the Chinese men's basketball team is automatically classified as a first-tier team and is placed in Group A with Côte d'Ivoire, Poland and Venezuela.

This grouping is still very good for the Chinese men's basketball team. Among the opponents in the same group, the strongest one is Venezuela, but even Venezuela is not particularly strong.

At least it can't be compared with Greece, Spain, France, and the United States.

Several strong European and American teams were not placed in the same group with the Chinese men's basketball team. The competitive pressure on the Chinese men's basketball team is much smaller, and there are great hopes of qualifying from the group.

The Ivory Coast team we faced in the first game was the weakest team in Group A.

This is a good thing for the Chinese men's basketball team. They have the hope of getting off to a good start, gaining a victory and boosting the team's morale.

The game was taking place at night in China time, but it was daytime in the United States, and the game was in progress.

Although Xiao Qingyang was very concerned about the game of the Chinese men's basketball team, his friends in the training camp were all training at this time, so he couldn't be absent, but he was still worried about it.

"Don't worry." Zhuang Yu smiled and said, "Cote d'Ivoire is the weakest team in Group A. At least we have two NBA players, Zhou An and Zhou Qi, as well as Brother Lian. We will definitely have no problem beating Cote d'Ivoire."

"Yeah." Xiao Qingyang nodded.

Unfortunately, I failed to make the national team.

At this moment, he wished that he could also wear the national team jersey like Zhou An and represent the national team in the Basketball World Cup.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Zhuang Yu, and sighed in his heart again. Now the possibility of Zhuang Yu returning to the national team can be said to be increasingly slim.

The idea of ​​wearing the national team jersey with Zhuang Yu and Zhou An and representing the Chinese men's basketball team in competitions has become a little vague.

I don’t know if that day will ever come.

......

China.

Beijing.

A game is going on, China Men's Basketball Team vs. Côte d'Ivoire Men's Basketball Team.

There are many teams participating in the Basketball World Cup this time, with a total of 32 teams, divided into 8 groups of four teams in each group. The games will be held simultaneously in eight cities in China. As the host, the Chinese men's basketball team will play against other teams in Group A in Beijing.

At this time, the game had entered the second quarter, and the Chinese men's basketball team was leading in the score, but the difference between the two sides was not large, with the Chinese men's basketball team only leading by 6 points.

"Requesting a timeout."

The Chinese men's basketball team called a timeout.

After several players came off the court, Coach Du Fang made a substitution. The team was just rotating, but now he started to replace the main lineup. He then spread out the tactical board and said, "Zhou Qi, you have to protect the rebounds. Also, don't stay outside the three-point line. Stand under the basket and shoot high when you get the ball."

"Alian, you go up and screen for the guard later."

"Guo Ailun, Zhao Jiwei, you two should pass the ball to Alian and Zhou Qi in time. Xiaochuan, you have to make more breakthroughs, okay?"

After that, he clapped his hands and emphasized, "Do a good job of defending the inside, shrink the defense in time, and pay attention to the opponent's open cuts. If the opponent's outside shooting is not accurate, you can let them go and give them some three-point opportunities. That's it."

Several players agreed.

Du Fang put away the tactical board and signaled the players to go on the court.

The twelve players selected for the Chinese men's basketball team are Yi Jianlian, Zhou An, Zhou Qi, Zhao Jiwei, Wang Zhelin, Guo Ailun, Zhao Rui, Sun Minghui, Abdu, Kelan, and Zhai Xiaochuan.

Zhou Peng and Ding Yuhang were not included in the 12-man roster due to injuries.

When the timeout ends, players from both teams return to the court.

The Chinese men's basketball team did not have Zhou An on the field. The inside combination was still Zhou Qi and Yi Jianlian. However, there were some changes in tactical play compared to the warm-up match some time ago.

After Zhuang Yu made the suggestion, Yao Ming immediately discussed it with Du Fang and the coaching staff, and finally decided to make changes to make the players play as simply as possible.

However, in the deployment of the troops, Du Fang did not let Zhou An start, but made him the core of the "second lineup", and can also be regarded as the "sixth man".

Having an inside player as the "sixth man" is quite unique.

After the timeout, the Chinese men's basketball team mainly focused on Yi Jianlian and Zhou Qi on the offensive end. Yi Jianlian is the absolute strong point of the Chinese men's basketball team. He has a considerable advantage over the players of the Ivory Coast team in terms of physical fitness and personal skills.

It is difficult for the Ivory Coast team to defend Yi Jianlian.

As for Zhou Qi, he is mainly responsible for protecting the rim, rebounding, and dribbling in the paint. In terms of running and jumping ability, he is not as good as the players of the Ivory Coast team, but he has absolute height on the court and his height advantage is obvious.

However, after a few minutes, Zhou Qi's performance was somewhat disappointing. It was as if his hands were covered with butter. He missed the rebound in the three-second zone and the ball was cut off as soon as he started... Fortunately, Yi Jianlian was unstoppable on the offensive end, otherwise the score difference would have been narrowed.

"Requesting a substitution."

Du Fang frowned and made substitutions, replacing Zhao Jiwei, Zhai Xiaochuan, and Zhou Qi with Zhao Rui, Zhou An, and Abdu.

Now the outside line is Guo Ailun and Zhao Rui, two guards who can break through, the small forward position is Abdu who can shoot three-pointers, and the inside line is Zhou An + Yi Jianlian.

In fact, this is the best lineup in Du Fang's mind.

Sure enough, the effect of this substitution was immediate.

Guo Ailun pushed the ball to the frontcourt and called for a pick-and-roll. At this time, it was no longer Yi Jianlian who called for the pick-and-roll, but Zhou An. After making a pick-and-roll for Guo Ailun, Zhou An did not cut into the inside, but stayed outside the three-point line, while Yi Jianlian stayed in the low post.

Guo Ailun broke through with the help of a pick-and-roll, then passed the ball back to Zhou An. After receiving the ball, Zhou An first made a fake shot, then accelerated to break through.

If it were in the NBA, Zhou An would definitely not do this.

But this is not the NBA, and the opponent is just the Ivory Coast men's basketball team, so he broke through decisively, passed the defender and ran towards the basket.

"Take up defense."

The inside players of the Ivory Coast men's basketball team quickly stepped forward to make up for the defense, and Zhou An made a ground pass to Yi Jianlian in the low post. Yi Jianlian grabbed the basketball and slapped it forward, then he jumped into the air and made a two-handed slam dunk.

With a "clang", he slammed the basketball into the basket.

There was a sudden burst of enthusiastic applause from the audience.

This was in China, and most of the people in the audience were Chinese. This was the home court of the Chinese men's basketball team, so naturally there were thunderous cheers and applause.

"here you go."

Coach Du Fang was also cheering excitedly.

Yao Ming, who was sitting in the audience, agreed with a smile on his face. Zhou An's ability was indeed much stronger than Zhou Qi's, whether in scoring ability, overall view, or passing ability.

If it were Zhou Qi, there would be no such inside-to-inside coordination.

A big man who can handle the ball is so important.

The Chinese men's basketball team has always had a problem, which is the lack of a guard who can handle the ball and pass the ball to the right place, and Zhou An made up for this to a certain extent.

Of course, Zhou An is not Zhuang Yu, he can only make up for this to a certain extent, and he cannot be an "organizing center".

But it is enough to beat Côte d'Ivoire.

......

boom!

With a dull thud, the Ivory Coast team missed the shot.

Zhou An grabbed the rebound and did not pass it to the defender immediately. Instead, he moved forward himself and after a few steps made a long pass straight to the frontcourt.

At the same time, Guo Ailun had already rushed over at full speed. He rushed to the front and had already reached the frontcourt. After receiving the ball from Zhou An, he went straight to the basket.

"beep!"

"Shh!"

The whistle blows and the ball goes in.

The referee blew the whistle and called a foul on the Ivory Coast player, and Guo Ailun successfully scored the goal, so he had to take an extra penalty.

Guo Ailun pounded his chest and roared excitedly, which once again ignited the enthusiasm of the fans. People stood up and cheered loudly.

"Well done."

“This 2+1 is awesome.”

"Zhou An's pass was also great. Haha, I didn't expect to see such a counterattack in our national team's games. It's awesome."

People were so excited that they slapped their thighs.

It's not just because Guo Ailun played well on this ball, but also because Zhou An passed the ball well. The inside player grabbed the rebound and passed it directly to the frontcourt, assisting the fast-breaking guard to make a layup... This would have been impossible to see in previous games of the Chinese men's basketball team.

This is the change Zhou An brought.

It is also a change in the tactical play of the Chinese men's basketball team!

This 2+1 directly stopped the Ivory Coast team, forcing them to call a timeout to adjust.

However, after the break, the Ivory Coast team was still at a disadvantage.

The Chinese men's basketball team has Zhou An and Yi Jianlian in the interior, Guo Ailun and Zhao Rui in the exterior, and Abdu in the front. Each of them has his own duties, Zhou An is responsible for coordination and low-post offense, Yi Jianlian focuses on scoring, Abdu squats on the three-point line, while Guo Ailun and Zhao Rui are constantly breaking through and tearing the Ivory Coast team's defense line to create opportunities for their teammates.

After a few minutes, the Chinese men's basketball team completely gained the upper hand.

When the second quarter ended, the score was 43:28, and the Chinese men's basketball team was leading by more than 15 points.

"Haha, we're already leading by 15 points."

"They played really well in this quarter, especially after Zhou An came on the field. They completely dominated the Ivory Coast team. We are sure to win."

"It's still Zhou Anqiang. He can assist, score, defend and grab rebounds. He is worthy of being an NBA player..."

In the audience, the fans were smiling happily.