Chapter 223: The Veteran's Heart
"At the end of the half, 50-48, 50-48, China leads, China leads-"
"It's a miracle that the Chinese team is ahead of the American team at the end of the half, it's already a miracle!"
"The U.S. team is not invincible, and the Chinese team has hope of winning!!"
"Amazing Li Cheng, amazing Chinese team. We had a half-time lead over the USA, who else? Who else? â
"With 21 points in the half, Li Cheng was the biggest contributor to the Chinese team so far, and his save zĂ i helped the Chinese team to dominate the American Dream Team with one knife and one shot."
"Before the start of the game, we thought that the Chinese team would succeed if it was not beaten too badly, but we didn't know that the Chinese team could still lead."
Such a score is really not a mistake of the scoreboard, it is a score scored by the Chinese team.
Kobe Bryant now has an urge to curse, but he still suppressed his temper on the national team, and he didn't go back to the locker room to lose his temper like he did with the Lakers. Kobe Bryant's face sank like water, and without saying a word, he was the first to walk into the players' tunnel. Everyone knows he's angry, but what can he do? Who knew that the Chinese team would burst out with such a strong fighting force today?
In the locker room of the American team, Coach K was nervously arranging tactics.
In the locker room of the Chinese team, Younas was not so nervous. But the atmosphere in the dressing room delighted him.
Before, the Chinese team always lacked a little self-confidence, and they always felt that they were a weak team. But today, Li Cheng's performance and the Chinese team's own play made them realize that they can already compete with the world's most powerful dream team.
Now, in the hearts of everyone in the Chinese team, there is something called self-confidence that is breeding.
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After the start of the second half, the American team decisively changed its strategy. They let go of their dream team form. Kobe Bryant and James teamed up to flank Li Cheng.
The U.S. team also realized that the Chinese team's ability to explode so strongly this time was caused by the Chinese second-round pick that disrupted the league pattern in the NBA.
Li Cheng's absolutely central role in the Chinese team has made him fully integrated into this team.
The U.S. team, on the other hand, is more of a two-to-three team, and they don't have the whole team together. Not even if they have three All-Star caliber point guards.
Kidd, Paul, Delon, which of these three is not the core of their own team? Which one doesn't need to hold the ball in his hand? But now this American team, how can it be possible to control the ball in the hands of these three people.
If Kidd is to control the ball, will Kobe Bryant run without the ball, let Anthony and Howard fight inside to grab rebounds, and let James block on the wing. Do a defensive job?
In the star-studded American team, everyone is the core of the team, but it is very difficult to glue these bigwigs of their respective teams together.
So the strength of the American team lies in their individual strength and in their advantage in local battles.
But now this Chinese team, the addition of Li Cheng shares the pressure on Yao Ming, and he is not afraid of anyone in one-on-one battles. The U.S. team lost the advantage of local battles, while the Chinese team had some advantages on both inside and outside. That's why the U.S. team will fall behind.
The biggest problem of the American team is to completely strangle Li Cheng's performance, and this guy can't be allowed to score and organize the team's offense unscrupulously.
The Dream Team has their pride, but they don't want to lose. Under pressure from the Chinese team. They eventually chose to let go of their bodies. Kobe Bryant's paranoia made him not allow himself to fail, and there has been a long-standing grudge between James and Li Cheng. Therefore, these two people took the initiative to apply to cover Li Cheng.
These two took the initiative to say that they were going to defend Li Cheng, and Lao K's hanging heart was also put down. As long as Li Cheng's problem here is solved. With the individual ability of the American team, it should not be a problem to regain the initiative on the field.
After Li Cheng was trapped, the Chinese team instantly fell into passivity on the field.
"Li Cheng was caught by the American team. It can be said that when the U.S. team opened the bag against Li Cheng, the Chinese team was already successful in this game. â
"But now from the perspective of the game, the Chinese team is in difficulty."
Under the wrap of Kobe and James, Li Cheng's first shot in the second half bounced out of the basket.
Then Li Cheng went to organize the attack, but under the attack of Kobe and James, Li Cheng's organization became extremely difficult.
The Chinese team's attack was frustrated, but the American team took the opportunity to play successful counterattacks again and again.
The Chinese team was able to scorch with the American team in the first half, and there was still a little bit of a taste of taking advantage of the situation. But in the second half, after the Dream Team put down their pride and began to fight hand-to-hand with the Chinese team, the weaknesses in other positions were suddenly exposed.
The Chinese defenders, except for Li Cheng, had no one to hold the ball. But Li Cheng is now gradually lost in the middle of Kobe and James.
This time the Chinese team attacked, Li Cheng almost retreated to the middle line to get the ball.
Li Cheng slowly controlled the ball, while Kobe Bryant and James in front of him stared at him and didn't care about others at all.
Howard defended Yao Ming in front of the inside line, and Anthony pushed Yi Jianlian out with his physical strength.
As for the remaining Liu Wei and Sun Yue of the Chinese team, Paul can't take care of them alone, but James's position is quite good. Paul pestered Liu Wei, but James kept between Li Cheng and Sun Yue. Li Cheng couldn't pass the ball to Sun Yue at all.
And he wants to find Liu Wei first, this will not work, once Liu Wei gets the ball, Paul will be entangled in an instant, and will never let Liu Wei have a chance to pass the ball.
The U.S. team has not only improved Li Cheng's defensive level, but also raised the defensive intensity of their entire team.
"James, this orangutan is really annoying." Li Cheng scolded in his heart. But he has to admit that James has a wide field of vision, and he blocks his passing path, making himself very, very uncomfortable.
"Damn, that's it again." Li Cheng cursed, and then glanced at the scoreboard again.
57 to 53! The Chinese team is already 4 points behind, "This attack, we must score." You have to keep the pressure on the U.S. team on the scoreline. â
Li Cheng decided to come on his own after deciding, but he still underestimated the defensive ability of James and Kobe.
He wanted to get in from the wing and attack the basket. But as soon as he ran outside the three-point line, James and Kobe caught up. Li Cheng barely took two more steps inside, and he was already completely caught in the defensive trap of Kobe and James.
There is no object to pass the ball, and there is not much chance of attacking yourself.
Li Chengyi gritted his teeth, turned around from side to side, and then turned around 360° in front of his body. His body spun like a spinning top.
His trick might be of some use to others, but the man who caught him was a man named Kobe Bryant.
Li Cheng's trick was learned from Kobe Bryant's video.
Kobe Bryant fully understood what Li Cheng was going to do next, and he stuck his position in advance.
However, Li Cheng's super-large angle of leaning back was still a bit unexpected by Kobe. However, Li Cheng's turn was still disrupted by Kobe, and his final backward jump was not high enough.
Although Kobe Bryant and James failed to cover Li Cheng's ball, Li Cheng's shot did not score this time.
The U.S. continued to fight back, with Paul throwing the ball directly to the basket from beyond the three-point line, and Anthony slapped the ball into the basket from behind.
The little melon looked up to the sky and roared, which was regarded as a fierce vent.
Anthony really didn't play much in this game, and in the star-studded dream team, Anthony's status on the team was completely incomparable to that of the Nuggets. In this match, he also only had a total of 4 shots. This is the second goal he scored in this game, which is unimaginable if it were placed in the Nuggets.
However, Anthony's roar attracted crazy boos from the fans at the scene.
"If you score, you will score! What the hell? â
"It's us who are lagging behind now, you are the leaders, what are you yelling at?"
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At this time, everyone could see that the Chinese team was completely in trouble. They simply can't replicate the scene of relying on Li Cheng to fight with the American team in the first half.
Younas called a timeout and replaced Wang Zhizhi, hoping that Wang's experience would help the Chinese team solve their current predicament.
The number of blocks and dismantlings of the Chinese team gradually increased, which somewhat eased the difficult rhythm on the field, but the Chinese team still could not recover its disadvantage in front of the American team.
Gradually, the margin widened, and finally in the seventh minute of the third quarter, the difference between the two teams reached double digits.
"Still can't stop the Dream Team's Iron Riders?" Some of the fans at the scene have already given birth to sad feelings.
"Alas! Although it is much better than before, it ...... The dream team is still invincible! â
However, this sadness is not among the Chinese team members, but there is no soil for survival.
At this time, the Chinese team broke out with a strong desire to fight.
"This is our land, this is our country, why should we lose? Do we want to admit that you are invincible? â
Li Cheng was as persistent as ever, and his inner paranoia never allowed him to give up the fight until the end of the match.
The others, more or less, were a little angry.
And among so many people, there is one person who is particularly angry in his heart.
Wang Zhizhi!
This ill-fated veteran, this veteran who dedicated all his youth to the Chinese team.
Veterans never die, they just wither away!
This time the Chinese team attacked, and Li Cheng finally passed the ball out. But Sun Yue's shot popped out of the frame, and the scene sighed. Howard pestered Yao Ming, Anthony jumped, and he was already reaching out for this backcourt rebound.
However, at this moment, a loud roar came from behind Anthony...... (To be continued......)