"Wow, that's beautiful," said the tall man, sitting on a plane to Latvia, looking at the thick clouds drifting by.

"Don't talk to me, I'm a little dizzy" Wang Zhelin, who was sitting next to the tall and strong, was closing his eyes and recuperating.

"Don't sleep, it's the first time I've gone abroad" Gao Dazhuang obviously didn't intend to let go of Wang Zhelin, and continued to chatter.

This time he was recruited to join the U19 national youth team, and he experienced too many firsts in his life.

For the first time, I put on the team uniform printed with the Chinese national flag, the first time I came to the training ground of the General Administration of Sports of China, the first time I had a long closed training camp, and the first time I went abroad to compete......

Fortunately, the atmosphere of the whole team is very good, although there is competition on the field, but this group of young people off the field has become friends who talk about everything, after all, they are all young people, and they are easier to deal with.

There are many players in the team who have dealt with Gao Dazhuang in the national youth league, such as Luo Hanchen, Wang Zirui and so on; After arriving in Beijing, Gao Dazhuang quickly got into a mess with Wang Zhelin and Zhai Xiaochuan.

Of course, in addition to his tall and strong character, there is also his strength.

Now the captain of the U19 national youth team is Guo Allen, a player of the Liaoning team and the nephew of Guo Shiqiang, a former national player in the men's basketball team. He has performed very well in various competitions, not only a regular in the national youth team, but also a shortlisted national team, and is a young basketball player with great potential in China, known as a talented point guard.

The vice-captain is tall and strong who has just joined the national youth team.

When Coach Wang Huaiyu announced the news, everyone in the team was not the slightest surprised, because in the training camp, Gao Dazhuang has proved everything with his strength, and he now firmly occupies the position of the team's scoring guard, especially when the Guangdong team Gao Shang is absent due to injury.

And Gao Dazhuang performed well in the CBA league, not only occupying a rotation position in the Shanghai Sharks basketball team, but also selecting the rookie of the month.

It can be said that Gao Dazhuang has walked in front of these "pride of the sky" in the CBA league, which is also an important reason for everyone to recognize Gao Dazhuang.

"Tall and strong, you are very relaxed when the competition is coming" Wang Huaiyu, the head coach of the national youth team sitting in front, couldn't help but turn around and smile when he heard the ridicule behind him.

"Coach, Chairman Mao said that we should despise the enemy strategically and attach importance to the enemy tactically" After a period of intensive training, Gao Dazhuang is already very familiar with Coach Wang Huaiyu, so Gao Dazhuang joked very easily: "I think it is very good to play the American team in the group stage, it can test our strength, first difficult and then easy, and it is also good for future games."

According to the U19 World Youth Men's Basketball Championship grouping announced by FIBA, after the draw, the Chinese team was divided into Group D, with the United States, Serbia and Egypt in the same group.

China's strongest team in Group D is undoubtedly the defending champions USA, while Serbia has also been a traditional powerhouse in basketball, finishing fourth in the European Under-18 Championship.

On top of that, Egypt is also a force to be reckoned with, having won the African Championship in the past.

And the biggest difference between the U19 World Youth Championship and the U17 World Youth Championship is that most of the players in each team are professional players with good tactical literacy and personal skills.

"Oh, so do you think our group can break through?" Coach Wang Huaiyu said with interest.

"Well, compared to the United States and Serbia, we are undoubtedly at a disadvantage, against these two opponents, we do not have an advantage in the interior and confrontation, and the chances of winning are not great," Gao Dazhuang said after thinking for a while.

"Why can't the inside line, I think we still have an advantage in the inside line" Wang Zhelin, who was closing his eyes and recuperating on the side, was unhappy when he heard it, and hurriedly retorted.

"That's it, that's it" At this time, Zhai Xiaochuan, who was sitting behind the tall and strong, also ran over to join in the fun.

"I'm not done yet, even if you have an advantage, it's just a height advantage" Gao Dazhuang continued with a smile: "When playing against these two opponents, we should still play a good defense on the basis of giving full play to the team's flexible characteristics, and pay attention to tearing apart the opponent's defense line with a combination of internal and external methods."

"Well, yes, the analysis is very good" The words of the tall and strong were affirmed by Coach Wang Huaiyu.

"And even the Egyptian team, we can't underestimate it, the physical fitness and running of the African team are strengths, we want to enter the rematch, and we can't afford to lose this game against Egypt" At this time, the voice of the team captain Guo Allen came.

"We must first strive for the group qualification", "We can't beat the American team, other teams still have to fight for it" The topic gradually attracted discussions from Luo Hanchen, Wang Zirui and others.

Coach Wang Huaiyu and the other two coaches of the team, Zhang Yunsong and Zhang Cheng, glanced at each other with a smile, and now the atmosphere of the team is very good, united and motivated.

In this World Youth Championship, the Basketball Association did not set hard performance indicators for the national youth team, which also made the team have a lot less unnecessary pressure.

The coaching staff has always believed that the biggest task of this World Youth Championship should be to train young players and run in skills and tactics, and the other is to give full play to their own characteristics and styles in the game and cultivate talents for the national team.

After a long flight, the national youth team finally arrived in Riga, the capital of Latvia.

Latvia is located in the western part of the Eastern European Plain, on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, with the Gulf of Riga deep inland and bordering Estonia, Russia, Belarus and Lithuania.

Bordering the Gulf of Riga, the city spans both sides of the Daugava River, 15 kilometers north of the Baltic Sea, at the crossroads of western and eastern Europe, Russia and Scandinavia, and its port is of great strategic importance, known as the "beating heart of the Baltic Sea" and the "Paris of the North".

However, it is clear that the Chinese national youth team does not have time to enjoy the beautiful exotic scenery.

The day after arriving in Riga, the Chinese national youth team will face the first opponent of the group stage - the United States national youth team.

Although there is a clear gap in the strength of the two teams, everyone from the coach to the players is not willing to give up any chance to win easily.

As soon as the team arrived at the station, they immediately began to prepare for the game.

"The U.S. youth team is not perfect, its interior height is insufficient, and the main offense is running and bombing" In the resident room, Coach Wang Huaiyu is arranging tactics for the team, "and standing on the international stage, American basketball can only accept the championship, and their pressure will be greater."

This is as true for the NBA's biggest stars as it is for the fledgling American Youth Army.

The courage to set such a goal is based on confidence in the hegemony of world basketball and an understanding of its own strength.

The first thing the coach of the American youth team, Paul Hewitt of George Mason University, said after arriving in Latvia: "The purpose of our competition is to win the championship, and we are the only ones who can beat us." ”

Looking at the information in his hand, Gao Dazhuang also felt that the first game of the group stage would be very, very difficult.

The core members of this year's U.S. youth team are all from the NCAA, and University of Connecticut guard Jermie Lamb, University of Michigan guard and former NBA All-Star point guard Tim Hardaway Jr.'s son Tim Hardaway Jr., and Butler University forward Kaye Marshall are their leaders.

Among the three leaders, Lamb is undoubtedly the offensive and defensive core of the American youth team.

In this year's NCAA Championship, Lamb averaged 16 points per game and shot 63% from the outside, and was the second most contributor to the Connectum championship in addition to Camba Walker.

Lamb will be key to the success of this year's U.S. youth team, and it will also determine the tactical characteristics of this team - they will still look for quick offensive and defensive opportunities through outside pressing.

But in fact, although the U.S. youth team is strong, they also have shortcomings.

"They only have one center on the U.S. youth roster, Meyers Leonard from the University of Illinois, who is also the only player on the U.S. youth team who is more than 2.10 meters tall. The other two big men, Patrick Young and Tony Mitchell of the University of North Texas, both 2.06 meters, are actually power forwards, and it is difficult to play as center in the team. This directly determines that the speed of the U.S. youth team will become more important, but if it is limited by joint defense, we are not without opportunities," Coach Wang Huaiyu said seriously after looking around at all the players.