NBA: Start the water cooler and reach the Hall of Fame

Even Li Kaiming didn't expect that after the opening ceremony, many people in China were already slightly dissatisfied with him. When the grouping and schedule of the Olympic men's basketball competition were announced, this dissatisfaction even fermented into watching a show. mentality.

Because there are a total of 12 countries participating in the men's basketball Olympics this time, divided into two groups AB. Although China was not assigned to Group A where America is, the strength of Group B is also quite strong.

In addition to China, there are the hosts leading the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe's powerful furry bears, South America's dominant Brazil, the Kangaroo Country with the highest score reaching the semi-finals, and the real giants of Group B, who defeated the Chinese men in the last Huadu Olympics. The Spanish national team won the silver medal in basketball.

The promotion rules of the Olympic Games are based on the FIBA ​​method. In the early stage, group matches are held. Each team in the group must play one game. A win is worth 2 points, a loss is worth 1 point. In the end, each group has points. The top four teams qualify and enter the knockout rounds. If the points are the same, the points difference will be compared.

The rules of the knockout stage are somewhat similar to the NBA playoffs. The first in Group A will play against the 4th in Group B, the second in Group A will play against the 2rd in Group B, and so on. The winner will be determined by one game.

Some Chinese audiences who were waiting to see Li Kaiming's jokes were ready to watch the show in the first game in China, because China's first opponent was the strongest in Group B. The big Spanish national team.

"This is going to be a good show. If this flag-bearer who has high hopes leads the team and loses in the first game, then today will be a good show..."

"There is a high probability of losing. Although Spain's golden boy Rubio did not come this time due to injury, they have brothers Gasol and Calderon on the outside. They are all NBA-level starters. No matter how good Li Kaiming is, he can't do it alone. Shoot five.”

"Haha, let's talk about playing well first. The international arena is not like the NBA, which gives star players so many body hair whistles. I hope they don't show their true colors in just one game..."

The discussion on the Internet about the first match against Spain was also very lively, which also attracted the attention of a large number of Chinese people for the first match of the Chinese team, and more than half of them came to watch the match because of the unfamiliar flag bearer Li Kaiming.

As for the men's basketball players, although there is already a lot of noise outside, for them, those are irrelevant things, because for them, there is a more important thing, and that is to win the opening game beautifully and give them a good performance. This Chinese men's basketball team's Olympic trip is off to a good start.

So from this perspective, it is also beneficial to meet Spain, the strongest team in the group, in the first game. As long as they can win the first game, the momentum of the Chinese men's basketball team will greatly increase, and the subsequent games will be Can play more confidently!

Of course, the prerequisite for achieving this effect is to defeat Spain, which is not easy. Only Yao Ming and this group of people at the peak can play back and forth with Spain for 35 minutes. At the end of the game, his physical strength dropped and he was pulled away. opened.

Now that a younger core has been replaced, there is a question mark as to whether he can achieve the same effect as Yao Ming's leadership...

This is the true thought in the minds of most Chinese fans. After all, this can be regarded as a real training for Li Kaiming in the national arena. The intensity of the previous Asian Championships was too low and nothing could be seen at all.

Soon the time came to July 7, the second game of the men's basketball event of the 29 London Olympics, China played against Spain!

This game has attracted a lot of attention. Before the game even started, a large number of fans were waiting in front of the competition venue. There were both Spaniards and Chinese. Jiang Shan also brought Sun Jianguo and Sun Jianguo, wearing red Chinese t-shirts. The national support team is waiting for the venue to open.

Jiang Shan even painted a Chinese flag on her face, which looked very cute.

When the time came, fans poured into the arena like a tide under the guidance of on-site staff. By this time, players from both sides were already warming up on the pitch.

The time came to four o'clock in the afternoon. After all the pre-match preparations were in place, the starting lineups of both sides were also displayed on the large screen responsible for displaying technical statistics.

Huaguo: Point guard Liu Wei, shooting guard Sun Yue, small forward Zhu Fangyu, power forward Yi Jianlian, center Li Kaiming.

Spain: Point guard Jose Calderon, shooting guard Rudy Fernandez, small forward Lirumeria, power forward Pau Gasol, center Marc Gasol.

Spain's lineup can be called luxurious, and they also have golden boy Rubio who did not play. Also sitting on the bench are Navarro, the second-round pick in 2003, and Serge Ibaka, an old acquaintance of Li Kaiming.

No wonder even most Chinese fans think that the Chinese team may not be able to beat Spain, because this Spain can basically win medals.

The three referees signaled the starting players of both sides to come on. Li Kaiming called everyone together, then looked around and said, "Brothers, although this is only a group match, we are very familiar with this opponent. We hated you in 08." do you remember?"

Yi Jianlian and others next to him had fire in their eyes, "Of course I remember! That was the closest we got to a medal!"

"Okay! Since we remember everything, let's find a way to fuck the special girl! Give these proud Spanish cowboys a little shock to China!"

Then everyone pressed their hands together, "321! Charge!"

The players from both sides stood in midfield. Li Kaiming walked to the center circle and showed his teeth to Gasol on the opposite side. "Mark, long time no see!"

Gasol rolled his eyes, thinking that he was really unlucky. How could he jump the ball with this guy? What's the point of jumping the ball?

Gasol is a very typical European center player, with superb skills, but not good at running and jumping, so when he saw that the opposite center was Li Kaiming, he was a little helpless.

The two sides stood still, and shouts of "come on" came from the surrounding auditorium from time to time. It was the Chinese fans cheering for their national team.

The referee came to the center circle, held the ball in one hand, and after the whistle blew, he threw the ball into the sky!

Almost as soon as the whistle sounded, Li Kaiming kicked off the ground with both feet, pulled up on the spot, and soared into the sky like a rocket. Gasol on the opposite side took off slowly, and Li Kaiming had already put the ball into the hands of his teammates!

After landing, Li Kaiming stretched his muscles. Since entering the NBA, he has never been a starting center. He hasn't jumped the ball in the opening game for a long time. He jumped today and feels pretty good!

In the audience, Chinese fans saw Li Kaiming easily defeat Gasol's jump ball victory, and they all shouted in celebration!

The ball was given to Liu Wei, who dribbled the ball across half court, and the Huaguo men's basketball team began to run tactics around Li Kaiming.

The basketball rules in the international arena adopt FIBA ​​rules, which are generally similar to those in the NBA, but there are some differences. The biggest difference is that there is no defensive three seconds in the international arena. The center can guard the basket unscrupulously without fear of being called. Technical foul.

This leads to the fact that in the international arena, if you want to break through and layup in a positional battle, it is simply difficult to reach the sky, because you will find that you have finally broken through the perimeter defense, and only after you get to the basket, you find that there is another person on the opposite side. A mountain of guys guarding the basket.

Therefore, in the international arena, the requirements for shooting ability are very high, and they must be shot under high-intensity confrontation. Because in the international arena, generally speaking, the level of referees is also uneven, so the penalty scale will be much larger than that in the NBA. Many of them are in the international arena. Fouls that the NBA will call will not be called in the international arena, let alone star whistles.

Spain's defense is also very typical. It defends a 2-3 zone defense on the top line, and Gasol under the basket serves as the last line of defense to protect the basket.

After Huaguo came to the frontcourt, Li Kaiming went over to block Liu Wei, but Spain's defensive cooperation was very tight. Calderon directly chose to bypass Li Kaiming's screen, which was to let Liu Wei shoot.

It seems that the Spanish head coach is very aware of Li Kaiming's power on the offensive end. I wonder if Gasol and others told him...

Liu Wei hesitated for a moment on the outside, and then chose to take a shot, but unfortunately he didn't score. Gasol under the basket protected the rebound, and then handed it to Calderon to dribble across half court.

China's defense is also a zone defense, but it is different from Spain's. Deng Dehua has deployed a 3-2 zone defense with tighter upper line defense. This kind of defense requires relatively high defensive capabilities from inside players, but now the inside line of the Chinese team is Li Kaiming, and Li Kaiming, who has both internal and external defensive attributes reaching 90, is naturally able to do this.

Spain also started the pick-and-roll inside and outside. Liu Wei did not dare to go around the screen like Calderon and let the latter shoot. Instead, he honestly squeezed the screen. Calderon used Gasol's screen to trap Liu Wei behind. , and then move inside while waiting for Gasol to arrive.

After Gasol ran into the penalty area, Calderon passed the ball. Gasol took to the international arena like a duck to water. Facing Yi Jianlian, who could hardly return to defense, Gasol turned around and hit the hook easily!

0 to 2, Spain scored the first point!

In the auditorium, the Spanish fans had already started cheering and waving the national flag, while the Chinese fans fell silent.

Hua Guo served to the frontcourt. Liu Wei stuck out his butt to protect the ball and looked back to observe the situation. Deng Dehua on the sidelines could not help but stand up and direct the players to move. He was also under a lot of pressure in this game. For him, It's a must-win game.

Li Kaiming blocked Sun Yue. Sun Yue took the opportunity to run without the ball to 45 degrees outside and got a short opening. Liu Wei directly passed the ball to Sun Yue, but Spain's defense was very good. Directly switch defense from outside to attack Sun Yue's shot.

The chance of the ball was fleeting. Sun Yue originally wanted to grit his teeth and force the shot, but suddenly Li Kaiming at the free throw line stretched out his hand towards him and said, "Give me the ball!"

Although he was doubtful, after playing side by side with Li Kaiming for two seasons, Sun Yue did not need a reason to trust Li Kaiming, so Sun Yue, who had already taken off, changed his shot to a pass and passed the ball to Li Kaiming in the air.

Zhang Weiping in the broadcast area perked up after seeing this scene, "Sun Yue, good opportunity, passed the ball to Li Kaiming. This is the first time Li Kaiming has the ball in this game. Let's see how he will play!"

The moment Li Kaiming caught the ball, Spain's double-team came over. The one on the line and Gasol on the inside rushed over, but Li Kaiming was extremely calm. It was unrealistic to rush to the basket in this situation. It is estimated that Gasol is not easy to break out next to the basket, so he can only shoot!

So Li Kaiming just dribbled the ball, and then followed up with a long step to the side, widening the distance between the outside defenders. Now the only thing left in front of him was Gasol, who was rushing towards him. Li Kaiming didn't care. Hesitantly pull up the jumper!

The basketball spins in the air and hits the net along a perfect parabola!

Swish!

2-2, Li Kaiming helped the Chinese team score its first point in the Olympics!