The players of the Dream 8 team participated in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games together. When the U.S. team played, it was warmly cheered by the audience, and its popularity was no worse than that of the Chinese team.

NBA players are so popular.

Today, Yao Ming has become the flag bearer of the Chinese Olympic team. There are also 4 countries that have unanimously selected NBA players (or former NBA players) as flag bearers. For example, Spurs' Ginobili has been selected as the Olympic flag bearer of the Argentine delegation, Jazz player Kirilenko has also been confirmed to be the flag bearer of the Russian delegation, Mavericks player Nowitzki will carry the flag of the German delegation, and former Pacer and Warriors player Jaskovicius has also been confirmed to fly the Lithuanian flag at the opening ceremony. The NBA flag bearer of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games has become a beautiful scenery of this Olympic Games...... But what is surprising is that the flag bearer of the U.S. Olympic team is actually a former Sudanese refugee, 1500m runner López Ramon.

Eight years ago, Ramon didn't even have a country, and today, he leads real Americans into the Bird's Nest with the American flag held high.

It's another American dream. Ramon was born in Sudan and was separated from his parents by war when he was 6 years old. With the help of friends, he escaped from the quarantine zone to Kenya, where he remained in a refugee camp for 10 years. Ramon spent five Kenyan shillings watching Michael Johnson's athletics in front of a black-and-white television at the Sydney Olympics, and since then he has dreamed of running like Johnson at the Olympics.

Ramon was adopted by an American family 1 year later. Thirteen months ago, he had just officially obtained his U.S. citizenship. Relying on the unique long-distance running talent and hard training of Africans, Ramon grew rapidly, and finally realized his dream of the Yenching Olympics through the trials. Ramon was voted as the flag bearer of the U.S. team at the opening ceremony of the Bird's Nest tonight, and Ramon himself did not expect that he would become the flag bearer of the U.S. team when he was a refugee seven years ago.

This choice represents an American concept that does not require deep background and connections, as long as it is excellent, it can get ahead.

The wait was hard, but at the same time it was happy, and after 7 years of waiting, people finally witnessed the Olympic Games coming to China for the first time on this night. This is a great moment, this is a visual feast, this is an Olympic unity, the great celebration of the people of the world, Zhang Yimou used 50 minutes to perfectly integrate the 5,000-year-old civilization of Chinese civilization, from the "four great inventions" to the Silk Road, from the flying sky to Kunqu Opera, the charm of the Orient is more charming under the interweaving of light and shadow. This is not just an opening ceremony, nor is it an ordinary catwalk, its significance to the Olympics, to Yanjing and even the whole of China, will leave a valuable legacy.

The men's basketball competition at the Yenching Olympics is undoubtedly one of the most watched ball games in this Olympic Games. The host Chinese men's basketball team hopes to make a breakthrough in the history of the Wukesong Basketball Stadium, and the American Dream 8 team is also eager to have a taste of the shame of the last Athens Olympics. The two teams will collide in the first game of the group stage under the huge attention of their respective countries. This sparked a great deal of interest in the media.

On April 26, the results of the draw for the basketball group of the Yanjing Olympics were announced, and the Chinese men's basketball team was in Group B with the United States, Angola, Spain and the two losing teams. On Tuesday night, FIBA announced the specific schedule of the competition. The "U.S.-China showdown" will kick off at 10:15 p.m. Yenching time on August 10, when Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, two Chinese bigwigs who are household names in the United States, will face their NBA teammates and old rivals in their hometowns.

The Dream 8 team is bound to win the Olympic gold medal, and the Chinese men's basketball team seems to be out of the question.

The American media has begun to analyze the situation after the emergence of the Dream Eight team, and according to their calculations, the US men's basketball team is likely to meet Argentina, Russia and other strong teams in Group A. The title match will be played on August 24, the day the Olympics conclude, and the U.S. men's basketball team will look to win the long-awaited Olympic gold medal.

For the American media, the most satisfying thing for them is that the American team game is fixed at 20:00 and 22:15 Yanjing time. In other words, according to the 11-hour time difference between Daylight Saving Time and Yanjing Eastern Time, American fans will be able to watch the Dream Eight game during the day instead of staying up late to watch the game.

Before the game, the Chinese media interviewed Chuck Hayes.

"Of all the players, you are the only one who is in the national team for the first time, but the team has appointed you as captain, how do you feel?" ”

Hayes laughed, "It's a bit of a surprise, but it's also very happy. This is an affirmation from the coaching staff. It's true that I've been with the team for the shortest time, but that doesn't affect my performance. ”

"You're considered a key part of leading Team USA back to glory...... So as the leader of this team, do you think this game is different from the Bobcats? ”

Hayes said solemnly: "Everyone in our team is very capable. I don't have to do most of the offensive load like I did with the Bobcats, it's going to be easy, I don't think I'm here to lead anyone, I'm working towards a common goal. ”

Remember to ask, "Which means more to you, an Olympic gold medal or an NBA championship?" ”

"The Olympic gold medal is more important." Hayes said he found the questions he was remembering boring. "Now I've started playing in the Olympics. The NBA championship can only wait until next season, and it's still early. ”

Remember to ask, "Does that also have something to do with your first Olympics participation?" You already have a championship ring. ”

"Even if I have 10 fingers full of championship rings, I still want it, and I'm willing to win every game."

Remember to ask: "Do you think this American team in Yenching is much stronger than it was in Athens four years ago?" What do you think are the odds of winning the championship? ”

"I think the media should compare us to the Dream Team, and there's no doubt that we're going to be the champions of this Olympics." Hayes said.

Remember to ask, "Is it because of your joining?" ”

"No, I'm not arrogant. My team-mates are strong, we have a better squad than any team, there's no reason not to win, it's a question of how much to win. ”

The reporter in charge of the interview smiled in his heart. That's not arrogant. Although interviews with Kobe Bryant and James also thought that the American team could win the championship, they were not as resolute as Hayes.

"What do you think will happen in the opening match against China?"

The U.S. team has played four warm-up games with China, all of which were easy wins, but Hayes is also embarrassed to say that he can beat the Chinese team by a big margin. "We will win, but the Chinese team will definitely be able to play at a very strong level."

On the evening of the 10th, the opening match finally began.

The list of 12 Chinese men's basketball players in the 08 Olympic Games is: Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian, Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, Chen Jianghua, Li Nan, Liu Wei, Sun Yue, Du Feng, Wang Lei, Zhang Qingpeng.

The starters are Liu Wei, Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, Yi Jianlian, and Yao Ming.

Dream 8 starting lineup: Billups, Kobe, James, Hayes, Howard.

The fans in attendance supported both teams, with China being the home team and the United States playing the most beautiful. The mentality of the Chinese players is very relaxed, because there is no mandatory target for them to win this game, and the two sides have reached a consensus very tacitly, friendship first, competition second. Preserving the physical strength of the main players and fighting hard for the last three games is the purpose of the Chinese team.

This game is more like an exhibition match. The U.S. team opened the game with a combination of defensive defenses instead of using the frontcourt pressing, which had been tried and tested in the warm-up game. The Chinese team attacked with Yao Ming as the core. Yao Ming singled Howard several times, Liu Wei and Wang Shipeng also hit three-pointers respectively, and Wang Zhizhi, who came off the bench, also relied on his height advantage to jump and hit a three-pointer on the outside.

Wang Zhizhi is the most important treasure of the Chinese team to win, since he returned to the national team, China's strength has been greatly improved, although he is not as strong as the young man's luck, but the pace is getting better and better, and the shooting is more accurate. It can also provide rich experience for the national team.

The game played 11 minutes, and the Chinese team actually led by 3 points 24-21. In this way, the Chinese fans were particularly excited, as if they saw the hope of defeating the American team. In fact, the mentality of the American team is too relaxed, and the shooting percentage is not very high.

Kobe Bryant shot 1 of 6 in the opening stage, and James made two three-pointers from the outside.

Hayes played against Yi Jianlian on the inside, with an advantage in strength, but he didn't get much of the ball.

Seeing Kobe Bryant's consecutive missed shots, Hayes was a little helpless. Big brother, didn't you say that the Olympics are the main defense? Why are you crazy about iron?

Bryant is also competing in the Olympics for the first time. He's only played for the U.S. in qualifiers before, so today he's a little excited. In addition to the missed shot, there was also a walking violation error.

Coach K asked for a timeout. Replaced Kobe Bryant and replaced Ray Allen, asking to play the ball to the inside Hayes offense. After Yi Jianlian was replaced, Hayes's counterpart was Wang Zhizhi. Hayes's movement speed and strength are all dominant. Twice used his feet to easily shoot a low-handed basket and overtook the score.

In the next game, the Dream 8 team began to exert force. Soon the score was exceeded. The Chinese team can only rely on Yao Ming's own reading power to support, but the stars of the Dream 8 team are not fools. Wade and Paul drew consecutive fouls on Yao Ming. In the Olympic Games, five fouls were about to be sent off, and Chinese head coach Younas hurriedly replaced Yao Ming.

Without Yao Ming, China's interior defense also went awry. He was dunked by the U.S. team Stoudeyer and Bosh on the inside on several occasions. At halftime, the U.S. had an 11-point lead at 60-49.

In the second half of the game, the United States also firmly occupied the initiative on the field. China's outside Wang Shipeng and Zhu Fangyu shot continuously and hit the iron, and after another NBA player Sun Yue came on the court, he covered Bosh with a hat, but apart from this block, nothing was done.

The U.S. team also appropriately saved face for the Chinese team, and the confrontation between the two sides was not too fierce throughout the game, and they were also friendly to each other when they fouled. Hayes played 21 minutes in the first game, finishing with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Decent performance. James scored a game-high 26 points.

In the end, the U.S. team defeated the host Chinese team 123-91. Although the 32-point defeat was defeated, the fans were not disappointed by the Chinese team, which was already the smallest difference in the game record between the two sides.

The opening game of the U.S. team was very relaxed.

(To be continued)