Chapter 65: Group Stage
Although there are no long-established superstars in the team, and the United States has never paid attention to the World Basketball Championships, you may not believe it, since 1994, the United States has never won the World Championships, which is a little incredible. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info
This year's U.S. team focuses on young players from the lineup, but it also named a Dream Nine team, and the young players are very excited to play for the country for the first time, but Blake Griffin is generally excited, and he comes more with a practice mentality.
The game will be grandly launched on August 28, so there is not much time left for the U.S. team to train intensively, but as far as Griffin is concerned, there is not much tactical guidance for the U.S. team's training camp, and more is the run-in and communication between teammates, which is the focus of the training camp.
The highest tacit understanding with Griffin is teammate Gordon, but Gordon's playing time is not particularly much, the guard line is similar to Westbrook, Curry and the old driver Billups and so on are all time-taking, plus Kevin Durant on the front line, the offensive firepower is enough.
The hidden danger of the United States is in the inner line, whether the combination of Tyson Chandler and Lamar Odom can withstand the impact of the European white bear is still unknown, after all, Odom is not a strong inner line, he is still weaker in the inner line, Tyson Chandler is not invincible in terms of weight confrontation, so the hidden danger exists.
The coach is also a famous coach in the American basketball industry, Coach K, Griffin has not had much contact with Coach K, but he is very impressed, confident, has ideas, and is always thinking quietly, these are the impressions left on Griffin.
With the NBA Finals over and the World Cup in South Africa closed, it's basketball turn, and less than a month after an emergency training camp for the American Dream Nine, the young American Dream Team is about to leave for Turkey.
Turkey is a country worth introducing, its full name is the Republic of Turkey, which is a country that straddles Europe and Asia, including the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia and the Eastern Thrace region of the Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, Syria and Iraq to the southeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, Greece and Bulgaria, and Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran to the east. Between the Anatolian Peninsula and Eastern Thrace, the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles, the Black Sea Strait, also known as the Turkish Strait, is the only shipping route connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Istanbul is the largest city, but its capital is Ankara, located in the middle of the Anatolian plateau.
This time Griffin went out of the house and Jiaolatin didn't lose his temper, firstly, Griffin had been accompanying her before this, and the two had been together like glue during the break, and they had been secretly photographed where to play more than once, and secondly, Griffin was also considered to be on the road for the country this time, and the sense of honor was not comparable to ordinary basketball games, so this time Griffin was quite well-behaved and sensible.
On August 22, the entire U.S. team arrived in Turkey, and the group went to the characteristic hotel provided by the Turkish government, which does not match the country's international image.
Even NBA stars who have seen a lot of big hotels are full of praise, and Griffin is even more fine, he would rather spend 10 days in this hotel than play in this kind of international chicken rib league that is not very high.
The hotel prepared in Turkey is called the Royal Pattern Hotel, which is only 5 minutes away from Turkey's largest night club, and it should be considered one of the most luxurious places with everything you need, directly saving the time and travel expenses of the stars to have fun.
Coach K urges the team to practice for a few hours every day, as for the private lives of the players, Lao K never asks, the players, not only are they physically and mentally good, but some channels for venting are also normal, as long as the game can be won, these are not very important.
So every day, the Turkish sports media can photograph one or two football stars playing in nightclubs or other places, and there is no shortage of all kinds of blonde and long-legged girls, of course, there are occasionally a few different races, but in general, they are all top-level girls.
It's a pity that Griffin can't go like this, and Griffin keeps an eye on Griffin at all times, but Griffin is not a womanizer, and he looks at the scenery of Turkey every day, and if it weren't for the tight time, Griffin is even willing to travel around Turkey.
On August 29th, the group stage started quickly, the first opponent of the United States team was Croatia in Group B, the game will be held in Istanbul, the United States is still too strong for Croatia, only resisted 2 quarters of the game and lost the suspense, Gordon showed a good game in this game, 3 points broke through, scored a high 16 points in the United States team in 22 minutes, Durant 14 points, Griffin played 12 minutes 7 points and 7 boards, including a stunning two-handed dunk, Knocked Croatia's Ujic straight off the line.
On the first day of the group stage, China lost to Greece 81:89, and it is worth mentioning that the Chinese player Yi Jianlian scored 30 points and 14 rebounds.
After a day of rest, Istanbul on the 30th, the United States ushered in the second opponent of the group, Brazil, as early as before the game, the media declared that Brazil would be the biggest opponent of the United States in the group stage, but in the eyes of American players, no team can pose a threat to them, even Griffin felt so, but the facts gave them a big slap, and also made Griffin understand a little why the United States team did not win the championship in the previous World Championships.
Under the unique rules of the international arena, coupled with the fact that many NBA stars may not be able to play their own characteristics, if the opponent's physical confrontation does not suffer, the outcome is really unpredictable, the United States team narrowly defeated Brazil 70:68, and the winner was decided in the last 2 minutes of the game, the Brazilian team's Vinicius, Barbosa and Split scored 16 points, 17 points and 13 points respectively, posing a huge threat to the American team.
Durant played well, cutting 27 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes, which can be said to be the biggest contributor to the victory, especially the two three-pointers in the fourth quarter, which can be said to be a forced continuation for the United States, Griffin played 10 minutes with 8 points and 9 rebounds, Odom 30 minutes with 11 points and 7 rebounds, Rose 11 points, Bilops 15 points, Gordon Love with 0 points, Wei Shao 2 points, Curry and Granger and others did not even play.
On the same day, China lost to Puerto Rico 76:82 again, Yi Jianlian continued to perform well with 17 points and 11 rebounds, although China lost but the team's morale is very good, and the game looks very hard, so the victory will come sooner or later.
After the loss of the American team to Brazil, it was bombarded by the American sports media, and the attitude and ability of the Dream 9 team were questioned, especially the inside line, which did not show an advantage at all in the face of other strong teams.
On the 1st schedule, China lost to Russia 80:89, the veteran Wang Zhizhi performed well, scoring 14 points, and the UAE 19 points and 13 rebounds, continuing to play well, Russia is indeed a higher level for China.
The next day, the U.S. team, which was no longer so impetuous, brutally washed the opponent in the face of the weak team Tunis, 100:57 without any mercy, and the best transition offense beat Tuunis to a temperless, Griffin played 15 minutes and scored 14 points and 7 rebounds, 8 of which came from dunks in the fast break.
And the Chinese men's basketball team finally won the victory, defeating Scottia to win the only victory in the group stage, accumulating 4 points, but there are two teams in Group C that are also four points, so China has a great hope of relying on the advantage of small points to enter the knockout round!
(The author is not too fortunate to be too lucky to buy books and go to class these days, so the update is a little slow, everyone bear with me for a few days, and then you can continue to update stably after the time on the author's side stabilizes!) Thank you for your tolerance and support!