The day before the quarterfinals began, Chang Wei found Younas sighing on the sidelines of the training ground, looking unconfident. This surprised Chang Wei, Younas was a little depressed when he was preparing for Spain, and he has always been very confident since then, why is he still so depressed when he plays Croatia now? It's not Argentina, who are second in Group A.

Chang Wei couldn't turn a blind eye, and after the training, he deliberately found Younas and said his doubts straight to the point. Younas smiled bitterly, "You've seen it all...... Yes, I don't have a lot of confidence in this game. ”

Chang Wei was taken aback by Younas's candor, who never felt Croatia to be a difficult opponent, even though they were second only to Lithuania and Argentina in Group A. At the end of the day, Chang Wei is unfamiliar with the names of Eastern European players, and there are no active NBA players in the Croatian men's basketball team, which is not comparable to the other three teams in Group A.

But Younas doesn't see it that way, saying: "Croatia doesn't have any active NBA players, but that doesn't mean they're easy to bully, in fact, in my opinion, it's Croatia that can stick to the team style and play to the best in this Olympics." Moreover, their leader, Marco Barnic, mixes well in the Spanish league and is a good player in FIBA. ”

Chang Wei's expression froze, and then nodded silently. As Younas said, Croatia don't have a star who can make a big splash on the pitch, but it also means that their firepower is very spread out and everyone can be an endpoint. Although the Chinese men's basketball team has a lot of firepower, the blind can see that they are playing superstar basketball around Yao Ming.

Therefore, when playing against Croatia, it is almost impossible to blindly try to prevent the opponent's attack, and the only way is to play against them, put the Chinese team's most scoring player on the field, and see who can defeat the opponent first. Younas gladly accepted Chang Wei's opinion, because he thought the same thing, but he hadn't made up his mind before.

Chang Wei and Younas are not worried about the morale of the team, and Yao Ming has repeatedly stressed the meaning of continuing to win in the dressing room. Previously, the best result of the Chinese men's basketball team in the Olympic Games was eighth place, which means that every time they win a game, they are creating the history of Chinese basketball.

On the other hand, Croatia is also preparing nervously, they did not expect their opponent to be the host China who performed impressively in the group stage, but they do not believe that the Chinese team has the so-called home advantage. Everyone is a tried and tested veteran, who hasn't seen a big scene? Moreover, the Croatian players believe that their opponents are just lucky, and they are confident that they will win the game.

The match was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on August 20 and was also the opening match of the quarterfinals. Just after lunchtime, the audience at Wukesong Stadium was filled with Chinese fans who had come to cheer for the national team. When the Chinese team took the lead in the warm-up, some fans were still waving flags and singing red songs in the stands.

Seeing this scene, Younas couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "The Chinese fans are so crazy, to be honest, I have never seen them so excited." If we lose the game, the boos will be loud enough to tear down the roof, right? ”

Chang Wei nodded next to him and said: "So we must win this game, even if it is not to create a record for Chinese basketball in the Olympic Games, we can't disappoint these lovely fans, victory is the best reward for their cheers!" ”

However, once the game started, it was Croatia who took the lead in attacking. As the star of Croatia, Barnich took over the main offensive power without giving up, but he did not rely on his skills to pass Zhu Fangyu, who stepped forward to defend, but played a blocking and dismantling cooperation with his teammates who pulled out, and stubbornly broke into the interior line under Yi Jianlian's defense. Suddenly, he was near the free throw line, as if he was going to pass the ball out, distracting Yi Jianlian's attention and then hitting a jumper directly to open the scoring for Croatia.

Soon China will still be in color, and their main point of attack is still Yao Ming. Although Croatia's starting center Stanko Balaci is 2.17 meters tall and can also be inside and out, Yue is no match for Yao Ming, and Da Yao is as easy as chopping melons and vegetables on his head. This also forced Croatian coach Lipiza to replace Balaci in the first quarter less than two and a half minutes into the game, and he was simply helpless in the face of Yao Ming, let alone protecting the frame.

Replacing Balach was Ničevic, who is 2.10 meters tall, and he was a little smarter than Balaqi, using his body to resist Yao Ming and keep him from getting close to the basket, while trying to interfere when he was shooting. Originally, Lipisa planned to let the 2.08-meter-tall Prakasin play the No. 5 position, but his height was too far from Yao Ming, and he had to be taught to be a man every minute of the inside offensive and defensive line.

Despite this, the Chinese team still failed to open the score, and from the perspective of the field, they only relied on Yao Ming to take advantage of the inside. Led by Barnic, the tactics of the Croatian players were in full swing, making the Chinese men's basketball team tired. Younas waved his hand and let the players attack with all their might, and on the defensive end, they only had to interfere as much as they could.

Look at the starting lineup of the Chinese team to know what Younas is playing, the guard line is Chen Jianghua and Wang Shipeng, and the two can be regarded as a tacit understanding with one shot and one burst; On the flank is Zhu Fangyu, the current No. 3 scorer in the CBA; Although Yi Jianlian's scoring ability is slightly weak, the meaning of his existence is to allow Yao Ming to devote himself to the offense more confidently.

Since you can't prevent Croatia's attack, let's let go of your hands and feet and go all out!

With Yao Ming doing the shaft near the elbow area, the outside pitchers of the Chinese team got a lot of opportunities, and Wang Shipeng and Zhu Fangyu also grasped some of them. Chen Jianghua frequently used his speed advantage to cut the bottom line, and after receiving the ball, he either scored a layup himself, or passed back to Yao Ming to shoot the middle distance, or gave Wang Shipeng a three-point shot to the bottom corner.

However, Barnic was like a hang-up in the quarter, although he "only" scored eight points, but he handed out four assists, and his driving layup in the final minute helped Croatia lead 29-27 at the end of the first quarter. Younas is quite satisfied with this point difference, but he still wants to regain the lead, which requires the Chinese men's basketball team to work harder in the second quarter.