Chapter 405 404. Zhang San: I prove that he didn’t foul me!

3-0, the Chinese team took the lead!

This time the American team quickly retreated to defend the three-pointer, but in vain!

Zhang Yang advanced at a steady pace, shooting as soon as he caught the ball, and his rhythm was even better.

When the American team was on offense, Kobe crossed half court to ask for the ball.

Seeing Zhang San throw one like that, the old blacksmith also wanted to try... Zhang San, you win!
As soon as Kobe received the ball, he was stuck by Zhang Yang. He couldn't get rid of Zhang Yang by his speed. He pushed Zhang Yang away by his strength, but Zhang Yang quickly returned to his position like a dog-skin plaster.

Kobe squeezed Zhang Yang to the three-point line, turned his back to prevent the ball from being stolen, turned around and rushed forward... but was defended by Sun Yue.

Kobe scored in the right corner, Kidd received the ball and shot a three-pointer...crossed the bridge!

Kidd knew it was not good when he shot it. He paid attention to it during training, but when the rhythm got right during the game, he didn't pay attention and used his usual strength of shooting three-pointers from the corner.

Fortunately, Anthony flexibly went around the basket, grabbed the ball before Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming, and made a tip-in on the second attack.

Normally, when Anthony grabs the offensive rebound next to Yao Ming, he should block the ball to show his respect, but this time Yao Ming really didn't react. Who would have thought that the opponent's open three-pointer didn't even hit the rim.

During the offense-defense transition, when Yi Jianlian picked up the ball and served it, Zhang Yang was defended by James. Yi Jianlian passed the ball to Sun Yue, who was immediately blocked by Kidd. The US team once again tried to press the entire court to create mistakes and start the bullying mode.

But Sun Yue did not advance after receiving the ball. Instead, he raised it up, avoided Kidd's defense and stole the ball. He waited for Zhang Yang to run back to the front court before passing the ball to him.

Seeing that Zhang Yang was about to rush out to shoot a three-pointer after receiving the ball, James quickly pulled Zhang Yang. The referee blew the whistle, and James was called for a pulling foul. The Chinese team had the ball from the midfield.

Coach K applauded. This foul was a very good tactical foul. From this ball, he saw the improvement in James' defensive awareness, which was a qualitative change compared to the World Championships two years ago.

The Chinese team continued to attack, Sun Yue served the ball, Yi Jianlian helped Zhang Yang to cover, and Zhang Yang received the ball around the pole.

Jonas on the sidelines was very satisfied seeing this. This team finally had the absolute backbone and stability that they had never had in previous world series.

Although there were international giants like Yao Ming in the past, Yao Ming was an inside player and could not hold the ball for a long time. Most of the time, the ball was in the hands of outside players whose offensive abilities were not outstanding in the world series. It was okay when playing against small countries in Africa and South America, but once they encountered strong teams in Europe and North America, the performance of the outside players was really hard to describe. Some of them could not even advance across half court, and they had no clear goals in handling the ball and made frequent mistakes.

It’s different now. When other players receive the ball and there is a defender in front of them, the first goal is to pass it to Zhang Yang. If Zhang Yang is double-teamed, then they will pass it to the open person. It’s a simple play but with a clear goal.

The mobility of the James and Anthony front line partnership was demonstrated. After defending the off-ball screen, they were able to immediately return to their defender after Zhang Yang received the ball.

Zhang Yang turned around and made a fake shot, and James came up to him immediately. Zhang Yang shot the ball towards James' crotch, then turned around and bypassed James, passing through the crotch!

Zhang Yang took a step inside the free throw line and made a quick stop jump shot before Howard could reach him...and it went in!
The fans at the scene cheered loudly and were extremely excited.

This is the first time that the Chinese men's basketball team has such a strong guard! Compared with Hu Weidong and Zhang Yang back then, they were far inferior!

However, the players of the American team did not care too much. Kidd, Kobe, Anthony, and Howard were all teasing King for being beaten by the bad boys again.

James had a smile on his face, but he was thinking: These people are making fun of me!
Due to James' poor performance in the 04 Olympics and the 06 World Championships, his teammates were not surprised at all that he was scored against by Zhang Yang, the strongest player on the outside.

The game had just started, and Zhang Yang scored two goals and the score was only 5 to 2. It was no big deal.

When it was the US team's turn to attack, Kobe scored two goals at the beginning to show his status in this Dream Team, and then, like Anthony, moved to the wing.

James received the ball at the top and saw Yao Ming moving to the basket. He waited for two seconds, started and broke through!

Without much effort, James crushed Zhu Fangyu and rushed into the paint... Why is the little giant still here?
James grabbed the ball and took two steps forward but failed to escape from Yao Ming's huge body. Then he jumped to the ground and finally got rid of Yao Ming's interference and made a jump shot... "Beep beep beep"... the referee blew a short whistle and started spinning the Hot Wheels with both hands.

Walking!

James initially thought that the defensive three seconds had finally arrived, but when he saw that the referee made a traveling gesture, he was about to argue when he suddenly remembered that there was no defensive three seconds in the Olympics, and FIBA ​​rules did not allow three big steps followed by a jump step. He had suffered losses in these two matters in the previous two world championships, and he suffered losses again today!

Whatever Howard was thinking was written on his face.

Hearing Howard's undisguised laughter, James retreated in silence.

When it was China's turn to attack, Zhang Yang continued to hold the ball and play one-on-one. Kobe couldn't stand it anymore and moved in from the wing in advance, trying to catch Zhang Yang off guard, but Zhang Yang, who had turned on the nanny mode, was highly focused and seized the opportunity to pass the ball!
Zhu Fangyu received the ball on the wing and took a three-point shot before Anthony arrived at the defense... and it went in!
When the US team attacked, James continued to hold the ball, broke through, and passed it to Kidd, who passed it again. Anthony ran to the left side of the free throw line with Kobe's screen and shot the ball...

Kidd's ability to control the game was fully demonstrated in this ball, helping Anthony create a very good rhythm difference. Zhang Yang switched defense very quickly, but Kidd still used the timing of the pass to help Anthony create time to raise his hands and jump.

It’s a pity that Anthony’s touch was average at the start tonight and he missed the mid-range shot!

Yao Ming held off Howard's rush and grabbed the rebound. After landing, he did not put the ball down. Instead, he flicked the ball to Zhang Yang behind him. Zhang Yang received the ball, turned around, and bypassed Anthony who was rushing blindly, and started a fast break!

After the game started, the fans at the scene who had been cheering suddenly raised their voices, making explosive screams.

Rush up!
Zhang Yang rushed up!

Anthony turned around to chase, but couldn't catch up. Kobe started from the bottom corner and chased, but he couldn't run across the court to block the shot like he did in the past. James did catch up, but rushed into the three-point line... Zhang Yang stopped a big step across the three-point line, stopped suddenly, and jumped...

A chase-down three-pointer made just like in training!

11 to 2, the Chinese team scored 4 goals at the start and led the US team by 9 points!
All the players on the American team thought that tonight's game was just for fun.

The Chinese team has Zhang Yang, but their American team also has Kobe and Paul, two players with higher MVP rankings.

The Chinese team has Yao Ming, while the American team has Howard, Okafor, and Bosh. They also have Anthony. Although the American team did not win the first two world championships, Anthony's personal performance was still very good, but he did not have many opportunities and ball rights. This year, Coach K greatly improved Anthony's treatment on the court.

And who else is on the Chinese team?
Although trailing by 9 points, most of the players on the US team still did not take it seriously. It was only after Zhang Yang scored 3 goals and scored 8 points at the beginning that the Chinese team took the lead. They felt that as long as they made an effort, they could quickly overtake the score.

But someone saw the crisis - Kobe.

He felt that Zhang Yang's touch was too good tonight!

Since the Chinese team does not have many players who can score singles with the ball under the defense of American players, with Zhang Yang, the ball possession and shooting rights will inevitably be highly concentrated, and Zhang Yang can play and shoot without any scruples. When his touch is too good... those players who have never scored more than 80 points in a single game do not understand the sense of crisis that Kobe feels at this time.

When the US team was on offense, Kobe asked for the ball for a one-on-one play. James grabbed the ball, squeezed it, and passed it to Kobe.

Kobe was focused and Zhang Yang couldn't defend him. Kobe used his excellent sense of rhythm and instantaneous burst of speed to pass Zhang Yang and rush into the inside.

Yao Ming moved out ahead of time and formed a pincer attack on Kobe with Zhang Yang.

Kobe passed the ball to Howard who was standing on the left sideline of the three-second zone.

The ball was fed beautifully, which put the score at Howard's fingertips. All he had to do was take a step forward and put the ball into the frame.

But Howard wanted to play hard. He slapped the ball forward, collected the ball, put his legs together, jumped with both feet, took the ball behind his head, and swung it forward towards the basket...

In order to block Kobe, Yao Ming moved to the right sideline of the three-second zone. He tried his best to turn around and shrink, but he was too late to interfere. However, just before Howard was about to press the ball into the basket, a slender arm stretched out from behind Howard's head and slapped the ball onto the basket!

Sun Yue rushed into the basket from in front of Kidd in the left corner and blocked Howard from behind!
Zhang Yang rushed forward to grab the rebound and wanted to counterattack again, but Howard was also an extraordinary person. After all, he had been dunked on by Kobe in his rookie year. He didn't even lose consciousness after being blocked. He quickly jumped to Zhang Yang and grabbed the ball.

Zhang Yang pulled the ball to avoid Howard and had already lost the opportunity to start a fast break, as James was already blocking him.

Kobe, Anthony and Kidd have also retreated to defense.

Zhang Yang was not in a hurry. He protected the ball and advanced across half court despite interference from James.

After being scored by Zhang Yang continuously, James' defense was no longer as calm as at the beginning of the game and he directly blocked the opponent.

But this defense is not a foul. There is no NHC in the FIBA ​​rules! Zhang Yang was able to interfere with Kobe so much from the outside, which was a good move.

However, Zhang Yang still seized the flaw in James' defense, changed direction, pulled the ball, pressed forward, and broke through!
James' basic footwork on the defensive end was indeed too unreliable, and he was out of rhythm with Zhang Yang, leaving a gap in his body position and was passed. Anxiously, he pulled Zhang Yang's pants, and Zhang Yang lost his balance and fell to the ground, and the referee blew the whistle.

Before James could make his usual complaint, Zhang Yang jumped up from the floor, stared at the referee with wide eyes, wanted to say something but the words were stuck in his throat, and finally he shut up and groaned.

referee:?
He has been a referee for so many years, even officiating at the Olympics, but this is the first time he has seen someone who has been fouled react like this.

The technical desk whistled long and low, reading out the names of James and Wade.

There were only 5 fouls in the Olympics. James had a tactical foul at the beginning and now a pulling foul. He was in a foul crisis and was replaced.

Watching James clench his fists as he walked toward the bench, forgetting to high-five Wade who was on the court...

Zhang San: Referee, come on, he didn't commit a foul, it was my foot that slipped, he didn't pull me, if you really want to, you can just give me a foul... King, come back soon...

...

Wade came on the court and looked at Kobe. Both of them are extremely competitive players, and they instantly understood each other's thoughts - they can't play randomly, something bad is going to happen!

The referee signaled the Chinese team to serve the ball in the frontcourt, and Wade and Kobe called on their teammates to quickly get into defensive positions.

Zhang Yang made a circle and received the serve from Sun Yue. When he saw Wade standing in front of him, his heart sank.

Before, when he faced off against James, it was equivalent to 5 out of 2 players on the American team being poor on the defensive end... James' defense must be very good now. He started to get anxious during the 06-07 season and began to strengthen his defense early. He was selected to the best defensive team last season. Judging from his efficiency alone, he has become the player with the highest overall defensive efficiency at the small forward position in the NBA.

His actual defensive performance has also been recognized by the head coaches of various teams. His pressure defense is very fierce. Deron, Iguodala, Maggette, Artest and other violent players with hot physical fitness are all defeated when they meet him. He can also suppress ordinary starters who hold the ball and have no special skills.

But his flaws are also very obvious. His defense relies too much on physical fitness, his basic skills are not good enough, his footwork is poor, and after being passed, he has only one option which is to chase and try to block the shot. He rarely returns to the correct defensive position. This is one of the types of defense that Zhang Yang is best at dealing with.

James defended Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang had very good personal offensive conditions. With Yao Ming restraining the player on the left side of the three-second zone, Howard did not dare to expand to the other side at close range. He could only be joined by Kobe or Kidd to assist in double-teaming. Anthony was the power forward of the American team and had almost no ability to connect defense, provide backup defense or assist in assisting defense... Zhang Yang had particularly good offensive opportunities.

Now, the US team's forward and guard line has become Wade, who is at the second-tier defense level in the NBA, and Kobe, who is at the first-tier defense level. They are all big guys who have comprehensive skills, solid foundation, and can defend with both violent and skillful styles.

The pressure suddenly increased, but Zhang Yang did not stop and continued to attack!

Zhang Yang broke through, attracted Kobe's double-team, and passed the ball to Zhu Fangyu on the wing. Kidd got in position in time and Zhu Fangyu passed the ball to Sun Yue.

After Zhang Yang passed the ball due to Kobe's double-team, Wade immediately retreated and blocked Sun Yue who was rushing forward to receive the ball. Sun Yue relied on his height advantage to make a strong shot from close range on the right side.

Wade failed to block the shot, but his strong resistance made it impossible for Sun Yue to exert his strength in his lower body. His height advantage was like a rootless duckweed, and his jump shot missed!

Howard grabbed the defensive rebound, passed it to Kidd, and Kidd pushed for a fast break!
Kobe and Wade flew on both wings, and Howard followed in the middle... This was definitely a deluxe version of Zhang Yang's fast break. Kobe received the ball, attracting the retreating Zhang Yang and Sun Yue to double-team him. Kobe went all the way around the basket and tossed the ball behind his head. Wade jumped high, dunked the ball with both hands and slammed it into the basket!

4 to 11, as soon as Wade came on, the US team's scoring drought was instantly broken!

(End of this chapter)