Croatia was once part of Yugoslavia, and the Croatian men's basketball team also achieved good results when it was first established.

However, over the years, even the European Championships have not been able to understand, usually ranking seventh or eighth.

In the world championships, the ranking is even more seventeen or eighteen.

It is precisely for this reason that at the World Championships two years ago, there was no Croatian team.

Now the biggest player of the Croatian team, Kukoc, has also retired, and no young players have gone to play in the NBA in recent years, which shows the strength of the Croatian team.

I have to say that the men's basketball team was lucky, and it picked what can be said to be the weakest opponent among the eight teams that qualified for the group stage in the quarterfinals.

Of course, the lion fights the rabbit with all his might.

On August 20, after the quarterfinals officially started, the men's basketball team also played as a final, and it made efforts from the beginning of the game.

Doon scored 12 points early in the first quarter to give the men's basketball team an eight-point lead at 27-19.

In the second quarter, Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian both played to a certain extent, and the men's basketball team scored a huge score of 31-16 in a single quarter.

After the first half, the men's basketball team established a 23-point advantage and basically locked in the final four.

In order to ensure that there is no chance of advancing to the final four, the men's basketball team took the initiative to lower the pace of the game and strengthen the defense and rebounding at the beginning of the third quarter.

However, instead of narrowing, the margin widened further.

By the end of the third quarter, the score had reached 80-53, and the men's basketball team had established a 27-point lead.

In the previous three quarters of the game, Croatia did not score more than 20 points in a single quarter, and the men's basketball team now has a 27-point advantage, which is enough to show that tonight's game has been won in advance.

Originally, Younas planned to let the bench play a dozen in the fourth quarter, and then go to the main team depending on the situation.

This is mainly to save the physical strength of the main players so that they can have a better performance in the next semi-finals.

However, the leaders of the basketball center are more cautious when they see victory in sight.

forcibly intervened, requiring Doon and Yao Ming to continue to play to consolidate their advantage, and ensure that the men's basketball team can advance to the semifinals of the Olympic Games.

In this regard, Doon also opened his mouth to express his opinion, and after the final discussion, Doon led the team on the field, allowing Yao Ming to get time to rest off the court.

And Doon played more than four minutes on the court, once again helping the men's basketball team to consolidate the advantage of more than 30 points, Younas saw that there was still half a quarter left in the game, and the Croatian team had no possibility of winning, so it was decided to replace Doon.

It didn't take long for even Yi Jianlian to be transferred to the off-court break, while Yao Ming did not play again in the fourth quarter.

97-71, after the men's basketball team advanced to the semifinals with a huge advantage of 26 points, most of the men's basketball team jumped up from their seats, hugged each other, cheered and celebrated.

Doon wasn't so excited, after all, he had won more than one NBA championship, and he had already come through the storm.

Not to mention, Doon had already set his sights on winning a medal.

With the configuration of the men's basketball team today, if it can't advance to the top four, it can only mean that Doon's ability to lead the team is not good.

It turns out that Doon not only has the ability to lead the team to win the NBA championship, but also has the ability to lead the men's basketball team to the quarterfinals.

It's just that Dwan has to further prove what heights he can lead the men's basketball team to.

Breaking through the quarterfinals is only the first step, but there is still one more game to win a medal.

If he can win two games in a row, Doon will lead the men's basketball team to the highest honor, which is an exaggeration, and even enough to go down in history.

"Bang Bang Bang—" Doon clapped continuously, drawing everyone's attention away.

Then he exclaimed, "I know that after winning this game, everyone is very emotional.

At this moment, as a member of the men's basketball team and as a member of the semifinals, the feelings in our hearts are mixed.

Excitement, excitement, pride, joy, hesitation...... Well, it's really hard to put into words.

However, I must tell you that we still need to hold this breath in our hearts now, and we can't vent it now.

If you laugh or cry now, all these years of hard work may be in vain because of your selfish behavior.

I've heard people say, 'Don't underestimate the heart of a champion,' and I've heard that 'the runner-up is the biggest loser.'"

I have to tell you that the game is not over yet, we can go further and we have to persevere until the end.

Now everyone can laugh, but not laugh uncontrollably, you can celebrate, but you can't celebrate.

We have to get back to the mentality we had before the game, we have to keep training, we have to stay focused, we have to be calm for the next games.

We can play better, and we have every chance to get revenge on the Dream Team!

The game is not over and we are not losing!

I believe that after the last game of the Olympic Games, the leaders and the people will arrange a celebration banquet for us.

So now, we must not be complacent, and we must not stop at the semi-finals.

As long as we win one game, we will be able to win medals, glorify our ancestors, and become the pride of the people of the whole country.

Win two games and go down in history. Even if you retire after the Olympics, you can lie on the credit book and eat it for a lifetime! ”

People are easily satisfied!

Two years ago, the World Championships were like this, and breaking through the quarterfinals was considered a success.

After advancing to the quarterfinals, the men's basketball team began to celebrate, the players were no longer nervous, and the subsequent competitive state was affected, and in the end, it was all up to Doon to work hard.

In order to prevent a repeat of the mistakes of the past, Doon must stand up and say a few words at this time to rectify it.

When Yao Ming and the others heard Doon say this, they didn't quite understand it at first, but then they gradually retracted their smiles.

Even the leaders of the basketball management center also cooperated with Doon's reprimand and kept nodding.

Seriously, in the first three quarters of the group stage, they played on par with the Dream Eight team, and even had a slight advantage, and won the world champion Spain, which really proves that the men's basketball team has two brushes.

In addition, in the quarterfinals just played, the men's basketball team bloodied the Croatian team by 26 points, and you must know that the Croatian team is still the third team in Group A.

This is enough to show that the strength of this men's basketball team is not trivial.

"Doon is right, the battle is not over yet, please comrades work harder......"

The men's basketball team was the first game in the quarterfinals, and soon the men's basketball team was interviewed and actively followed the next three games.

It didn't take long for Lithuania to defeat Greece 88-76 to advance to the semifinals and become the men's basketball team's opponent in the semifinals.

As for the two teams that will participate in the other semi-final, they are the Dream Eight team and the Spanish team.

This is not bad news for the men's basketball team.

Even if they lose to Lithuania, they still have a chance to compete with Spain for the bronze medal, and beating Spain in the group stage will undoubtedly give the men's basketball players more confidence and experience to win.

Of course, the next semi-final is the most important thing.

Defeating the Lithuanian team is guaranteed to be a silver medal, and if the men's basketball players feel a blast, they may have a chance to overturn the Dream Eight team and climb to the sky in one step.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it's August 22nd.

The Lithuanian team fielded the starting line-up of Sarunas Jascovisius, Rimantas Corknas, Ramnas Siskauskas, Ksistopov Lavrinovic, Robertas Jaftokas.

Although only point guard Jasco Waisius and center Jaftokas are NBA players, there is also Siskauskas, known as the No. 1 small forward in Europe, which is a luxurious configuration.

However, like the Spanish team, the Lithuanian team's outside height cannot match Doon's height, and there is no way to affect Doon's shooting.

Whether the men's basketball team can win tonight depends on whether Doon can play a 40+ performance in a single game again, and whether the men's basketball team can defend well and protect rebounding.

The game started quickly, and Yi Jianlian failed to give full play to his physical talent advantage tonight to help the men's basketball team jump the ball.

However, it was not a big problem, after the game began, Jasco Vitius singled Liu Wei and missed the outside three-point shot.

Yi Jianlian protected the rebound, and the men's basketball team took advantage of the situation to fight back.

Doon rushed to the front court first, but was fouled by the Lithuanian team tactically, but fortunately, Doon made a shot in advance.

The referee was his own again, and still gave Doon three free throws.

With Doon hitting all three free throws, he came out on top and helped the men's basketball team lead Lithuania 3-0.

However, the Lithuanian team also adopted the Spanish team's style of play, whether it was successful or not, it was to use defensive counterattacks and fast breaks to consume the physical strength of the men's basketball team.

In addition, the physical confrontation of the Lithuanian team is stronger than that of the Spanish team, and the men's basketball players consume a lot of physical energy.

And in order to be able to win the medal, Yao Ming also gritted his teeth and started to work hard in advance.

The interior line of the Lithuanian team is not as good as the Spanish team, in the first quarter of more than 6 minutes of playing time, Yao Ming shot 4 of 6, 2 of 2 free throws, scored 10 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block, and played remarkably.

It was also because Doon and Yao Ming played very well, and when the score came to 16-9, the Lithuanian team took the lead in requesting a timeout.

Yao Ming couldn't move a little, so he just took advantage of the pause to rest.

After the timeout, Doon and his substitutes continued to fight with the Lithuanian team for defense and speed.

There were more than three minutes left in the first quarter, and the two sides went back and forth, and the men's basketball team maintained a certain lead.

However, the last ball of the first quarter of the Lithuanian team, Siskauskas lived up to the nickname of European Pippen, and in the case of receiving the pot, under the strict defense of Doon, he actually shot a three-point whistle at the last moment of offensive time.

Siskauskas hit a key three-pointer to chase the margin to five points, and with only four seconds left in the men's basketball team's final attack, Doon also wanted to try to shoot a response shot.

However, Doon was caught without the ball, and the men's basketball team did not take advantage of the four-second opportunity, and the ball was dribbled past half court before the time ran out.

The game quickly entered the second quarter, because of the fast pace of the game, the Lithuanian team played a full-court press on the defensive end, and the men's basketball team had some problems with dribbling past half court.

Younas had to dribble and replace Sun Yue, Chen Jianghua, and then Liu Wei to control the ball.

Although under the leadership of Doon's 11 points in a single quarter, the men's basketball team still rewarded some advantages, but the pressure of ball control in the second half will face a more serious problem.

In the past two years, some players have been sent to the NBA to practice, but only the wings have been strengthened, and the fundamental problem of dribbling over the half court has not been properly solved.

Younas admired Chen Jianghua, but Chen Jianghua's performance tonight was a disaster.

The spirit is not low, and the speed is also fast, but it is easy to lose the ball as soon as you go on the confrontation.

In just over four minutes of playing time, there were two mistakes and they were beaten into counterattacks, which made Younas dare not send Chen Jianghua on the court in the second half.

As a result, in the third quarter, Doon also had to do a reception in the backcourt and share some dribbling work.

Fortunately, in the third quarter, Wang Zhizhi stepped up, either made a layup or shot on the inside, shot 3 of 4, and scored 6 points.

It's not a lot, but it's crucial.

Wang Zhizhi's outstanding play helped Yao Ming reduce the pressure of the inside attack.

Yao Ming also seized the singles offensive opportunity created by Wang Zhizhi in more than 5 minutes in the third quarter, shooting 2 of 4 and 2 of 3 free throws, and also scored 6 points.

At the same time, Doon also scored 9 points through a combination of sudden shots.

The men's basketball team relied on Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi's inside scoring advantage, as well as Doon's singles advantage on the outside, firmly grasped the initiative of the game, and once extended the lead to 16 points.

It's just that in the fourth quarter, the men's basketball team's outside shooters affected their feel due to physical problems.

Doon's pinch shot failed to convert it into the score it deserved.

Doon ran low to replace Yao Ming and others to score, and because no one could pass the ball to Doon, the men's basketball team once had a scoring drought.

As a last resort, Doon can only hold the ball on the outside, and then use the block to kill the inside, either score by himself, or feed Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian.

The Lithuanian team realized the problem and immediately played a joint defense and shrunk the basket.

Doon's pass path was cut off, and after a mistake, he also decisively changed to a mid-range jumper to finish.

The Lithuanian team knew that the men's basketball team relied on Doon to attack alone, so they continued to let Siskauskas, who has the strongest offensive ability in the team, to single-handedly consume Doon.

As the point difference narrowed, Doon didn't dare not defend, so he could only bite the bullet.

I have to say that the offensive and defensive ends are all tied to Doon alone, which also makes Doon feel more difficult the more he hits the back.

Fortunately, the Lithuanian team bet on Siskauskas, and Siskauskas also received the defensive influence of Doon, and his hand felt seriously declined.

After a series of missed shots, Siskauskas switched to breaking inside to help Lithuania score.

But tonight, even if Yao Ming is tired and dies on the field, it is impossible to rest at the last moment.

And because of the full willpower, Yao Ming didn't slow down when he returned to defense.

It can only be said that everyone has potential.

Yao Ming can play 40 minutes in the NBA, and it is naturally not impossible to hold on to it in the Olympics.

Relying on Yao Ming to guard the inside line and protect the rebound, the men's basketball team held the last two most critical minutes.

Of course, Li Nan's key three points, and Du Enzao's foul and two free throws are also very important.

In the end, the game time ran out, and the score was fixed at 97-94.

The Lithuanian team stopped in the semi-finals with a difference of 3 points. The men's basketball team took this opportunity to advance to the finals and achieved the task of winning medals ahead of schedule.

It's just that more than an hour after the men's basketball team advanced to the finals, the Dream Eight team also defeated the Spanish team and the men's basketball team in the finals.

Although the men's basketball team, under the leadership of Doon, did not give up the idea of winning the gold medal, it was difficult for the men's basketball team not to feel the pressure as the Dream Eight team advanced. (End of chapter)