Chapter 287: Men's Basketball, Expedition
After entering, Chamberlain realized that it was not easy for the people inside, no wonder when he looked at the big screen in the square outside, he felt that the people inside were not enthusiastic, and he couldn't keep his enthusiasm at all times!
When each audience entered the venue, they received a bag, which contained 8 things, light sticks, flashlights, small national flags, fans and water, etc., the opening ceremony required the audience to use such things to cooperate with the performance, the audience was not simply sitting there to watch the performance, occasionally they also had to perform, it was hot inside, they were tired, although there were special people in each area responsible for leading everyone to shout slogans, wave hands, etc., but the effect was not good.
It's normal for the audience to enter at 4 p.m., which is the hottest time of the afternoon, and it's a mess inside, and the opening ceremony doesn't start until 8 p.m., and then the show goes on until just over 12 o'clock. For more than 8 hours, I was in it, and this was definitely my own money to find guilt.
The hottest and most tired are not the audience, but the beautiful girls who welcome the guests, who have been dancing to welcome since the Greek national team entered, and by the time the Chinese team entered, they had already danced for more than two and a half hours!
In this kind of steamer, not to mention dancing for two and a half hours, it is unbearable to sit for two and a half hours, and many people can't dance after the worst, but when they see the Chinese athletes entering, these little girls once again use all their strength to dance to welcome, this time they are spontaneous, because now they are their compatriots, and they are the people who carry their hopes.
Chamberlain had heard that a girl had fainted while dancing, and after entering the stadium, he thought it should be true, the gymnasium was not only hot, but also very chaotic, and noisy! These girls are located in the middle of the stadium, and the noise they endure is the most terrible, hot and chaotic, these girls are all fourteen or fifteen years old, how have they suffered this kind of before?
There was a girl who was sweating profusely and couldn't move, Chamberlain went up and hugged her comfortingly, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and said loudly: "Thank you!" ”
The other athletes were also a little moved to see Chamberlain do this, but after all, they were born and raised in China, and their personalities were not as free and easy as Chamberlain, so this can only be imagined, Chamberlain and every girl who passed by high-fived, just like when they used to play in the stadium.
When the chairman of the Olympic Committee, Rogge, took the speech and began to talk nonsense, the athletes couldn't stand it, the Chinese team was at the front, and a staff member came up to remind them to hold hands, Chamberlain was still at a loss, Yi Jianlian laughed and explained: "This is to prevent some athletes from storming the rostrum, and it is to stifle the risk in the cradle." ”
Chamberlain looked behind him with his height and found that many athletes were indeed full of complaints, especially the Greek team that had just entered the stadium, and some athletes sat directly on the turf regardless of their image.
Seeing this scene, he couldn't help laughing, now people from all over the world are scolding their mothers, and the stadium is really staging a war of scolding among the nations.
Finally, the leaders finished their speeches, the performance officially began, Chamberlain watched with relish, China has paid too much for this Olympic Games, each program is carefully selected, either majestic or touching, when a little girl in red sang the song "Singing the Motherland" with a crisp children's voice, Chamberlain heard a low sob, he turned his head to look, and saw Wang Zhizhi next to him with tears on his face, I don't know when Lu Dao has burst into tears!
The performance ended at 12 o'clock, first the dignitaries from various countries left, then the athletes left, and then the audience left, which took about an hour and a half, and by the time the volunteers walked out of the stadium, it was already more than 3 o'clock in the morning.
Starting from August 9th, the Olympic Games officially kicked off, and the men's basketball game was on the next day, that is, August 10th, the opening game was at 9 o'clock in the morning, it was the Russian team against the Iranian team, and the Chinese team played at 10 o'clock in the evening, and they were going to face the top seed of the Olympic Games, the United States men's basketball team!
There are a total of 12 men's basketball teams participating in the Beijing Olympics, namely China, the United States, Russia, Australia, Lithuania, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, Germany, Iran, Greece and Angola.
Speaking of the strength of each team, the Chinese men's basketball team is not counted in the world, but it is the absolute "first place" in Asia, and only three of the previous Asian men's basketball championships have not won the championship, and since Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming entered the men's basketball team, the Chinese men's basketball team has completely dominated the Asian basketball world, not to mention that there is now a more fierce Wang Zhizhi.
However, after going out of Asia, the Chinese men's basketball team has not yet reached the first-class level in the world, and even for many years, the Chinese men's basketball team has not been able to break through the "eighth" ranking in the world. However, this time the Olympics is regarded as a breakthrough year, first of all, as the host, the Chinese men's basketball team has been one step ahead of other teams in terms of time, place and people, and secondly, their lineup has reached an unprecedented strength in history.
There is no doubt that the national team participating in the Olympic arena this time is the strongest in the history of the Chinese men's basketball team: Yao Ming, the leading player, has been rolling in the NBA as a regular selection for many years, and has become one of the strongest centers in the basketball world today.
Chamberlain, despite only playing one season in the NBA, has become widely recognized as the NBA's No. 1 center, and his defensive range can pull the three-point line from the restricted area, and with him, the game will definitely become a breeze. However, there is a hidden danger that Chamberlain and his teammates have been training together for too short a time, and the run-in may be very poor.
Yi Jianlian is also a full-fledged player in the NBA, and if you count Wang Zhizhi and Sun Yue, China has five players who have been or have had close contact with the NBA. From this point of view, the internationality of Chinese players is indeed unprecedented.
This coupled with the Chinese men's basketball team composed of a group of players with outstanding strength in the CBA, it will indeed make the Chinese men's basketball team shine in front of the fans, and now before the game, the fans of the men's basketball team have given the national team a new name - the Dragons, which is naturally aimed at the dream team of the United States.
Known as the Dream Team, the U.S. national men's basketball team has the most international success in history, competing in 15 Olympic Games and winning 12 championships. The Olympic record is an all-time record of 114 wins and 5 losses.
Since the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, the U.S. basketball team has dominated the world. Since then, the NBA Professional League in the United States has sent professional players representing the highest level in the world to participate in the competition, so it is known as the "Dream Team". In fact, the Dream Team is a testament to the arrogance and pride of the Americans, because not all American teams can be called Dream Teams.
With the rapid development of international basketball, American basketball has lost its former dominance. In the last century, the gold medal in international basketball seemed to be made for the American team, and the world has been trying to catch up with the United States. And now, the world basketball world has undergone qualitative changes, fully entering the "Warring States Era", Spain, Argentina and other teams are eyeing the tiger, and now the Chinese men's basketball team has Chamberlain, and has also obtained the qualification to be eyeing the tiger.
The U.S. men's basketball team lost the opportunity to directly qualify for the Beijing Olympics because it won only one bronze medal at the World Championships last year, and had to be reduced to the point of participating in the Olympic qualifiers. The "dream team" of this Olympic Games has only one goal, an Olympic gold medal.
The strength of the Russian men's basketball team is also considerable, this team has just completed the replacement of the old and the new is on the rise, the Russian men's basketball team, formerly known as the Soviet men's basketball team, had a brilliant record before the 80s of the last century, but since 1998, the Russian team has never won a gold medal in any international competition, the reason is naturally due to the division of the Soviet Union caused by the outflow of a large number of outstanding players.
In the 2002 European Championships, the Russian team narrowly beat the French team to snatch the last European qualification for the World Championships, but the Russian men's basketball team members have never stopped being confident of competing for Olympic medals. Not long ago, Kirilenko, the main player of the Russian men's basketball team, publicly stated that under the leadership of coach Blatter, the potential of Russian players has been maximized, and he personally wants to represent the Russian team in the Beijing Olympics.
On the Olympic stage in Beijing, the Russian men's basketball team is known as the world's No. 1 in defense, and it is certain that no one wants to run into the outside line of the dream team, no one wants to meet the inside line of the Chinese men's basketball team, and no one wants to run into Russia's suffocating defense.
The Australian men's basketball team has an illustrious history, they have participated in the men's basketball world championship seven times, and once finished fifth; 11 Olympic Games, with a best result of 4th place; He is the undisputed king of Oceania, participating in the Oceania Men's Basketball Championship 16 times and winning the championship 15 times.
After finishing fourth in the Sydney Olympics, the Australian men's basketball team unexpectedly lost to New Zealand in the Oceania Championships, thus disqualifying for the next World Championships. After this heavy blow, the Australian Basketball Association invited Guldian to transform the national men's basketball team.
In Gurtian's hands, the door of the Australian men's basketball team was opened to more young players, and the final selection of tall players such as Helwell, Kickert and Hinder effectively improved the history of the Australian team's lack of interior height, and Baylor University point guard Bruce, known as "Little Nash", can also inherit Hill's mantle.
The Lithuanian men's basketball team is a veteran powerhouse in the world of basketball, many ace players in the Soviet Union, such as Younas, who had just been forced away by Chamberlain, entered the Soviet Union from Lithuania, and since 1990, Lithuania, a small European country, has been facing the world with a strong image in the world basketball world.
From 1992 to 2004, the Lithuanian men's basketball team won three bronze medals and a fourth-place finish at the Olympic Games, and they also won gold at the 2003 European Championships. But the former king of Europe is now in decline. The Lithuanian men's basketball team doesn't have the same international superstars as Spain or Germany, but they have no shortage of talented players in all positions, playing European basketball that emphasizes teamwork more than any other team.
In second place among the men's basketball teams of all countries is the Spanish men's basketball team, they are a traditional powerhouse in European basketball and are considered to be the strongest team that can challenge the dream team.
As early as 1935, at the first European Basketball Championship, the Spanish men's basketball team won the third place. In 1984, he reached the final of the Los Angeles Olympics, losing to the United States team and winning the silver medal. He won the gold medal at the 2006 World Championships. In the 2007 European Championships, he lost to the Russian men's basketball team and won the runner-up in the men's European Championships. The team has emerged NBA-level players such as Pau Gasol, Navarro, Calderon, etc., and there are also future stars such as Rubio and Mark Gasol on the team, and will still be among the world's strongest basketball teams in the future.
The Argentine men's basketball team first reminds people of Ginobili who plays in the NBA, but the scary thing about this team is not that it has some of the best stars in the NBA, but their intriguing overall style of play and offensive speed.
"Fast" is the most prominent feature of the Argentine men's basketball team, and it is "fast" that makes Argentina's overall style a perfect embodiment.
In the 2007 Copa America, although Ginobili failed to join, although the United States team did their best, but the Argentine men's basketball team led by Scola still played their own style in the Copa America, and the final second place in the cup also gave them a lot of confidence in the goal of defending the championship in the Beijing Olympics.
The German men's basketball team has emerged in recent years, with NBA star Dirk Nowitzki and Clippers center Carman on the team. The Beijing Olympics was the first Olympic Games in which the German men's basketball team participated, and they were in Group B with the Chinese team. They don't have the slightest Olympic experience, which will be the biggest obstacle for Germany to qualify.
In addition, there are Iran men's basketball team and Angola men's basketball team in the top 12, these two teams have nothing to say, they are here to play soy sauce, and the eleventh and twelfth places are undoubtedly these two teams.