Chapter 407 406. Turning Point

Everyone on the Chinese team's bench was very excited, and the atmosphere on the American team's bench... was also pretty good.

As the dream team, they were a little embarrassed to play against an opponent that they thought only had two players and were 7 points behind after one quarter.

But in the game itself, they have regained the initiative.

Only when Zhang San and the little giant were on the court at the same time could they compete with them. Without any one of them, even if the others had a big outbreak, they could still gain the advantage. They still scored 30 points in the first quarter.

Of course, some people are worried.

Kobe asked Okafor, "Is Jack getting stronger again?"

Okafor responded: "He's been improving faster than I thought possible."

What's the difference between this answer and no answer?
Kobe turned to Felton and said, "I feel like his sense of rhythm has gotten better. Without the help of the forwards, Dwyane, who is at a height disadvantage, can't defend him at all. Even with the help of the forwards, Jack's hit rate has increased rapidly after he adapted to Dwyane's confrontation. I may not be able to limit him even if I defend him, as I am a bit at a disadvantage in terms of speed."

Felton: "Really? Jack is awesome! He is truly the most gifted scorer of all time. He must be very happy to receive such praise from you. You are his benchmark and the player he likes to compare himself to the most."

"..."

Old blacksmith: You two get out of here!
What kind of team is the Bobcats? Is there anyone who can speak human language? How can such a lousy team win the championship? They are so lucky! The Pistons have not yet strengthened, the Heat have collapsed, the Spurs have fallen into the middle-class trap, and the Lakers and Bulls have not yet risen...

The old blacksmith went to talk to his teammate Ji Bugong about offense, so as to avoid being upset by these two brothers.

If it weren't for Fatty's good offense and Duncan's hard work on defense and good wing screens, he would really suspect that the two brothers were undercover agents sent by Zhang San from the opposite side.

After the intermission, both teams rotated their lineups.

Team USA: Paul, Kobe, Iguodala, Anthony, Howard.

Chinese team: Sun Yue, Zhang Yang, Zhu Fangyu, Du Feng, Yao Ming.

The Chinese team attacked first. Zhang Yang received the ball and advanced across half court. He was followed by Kobe more than a meter away from the three-point line. He changed direction and rushed to the three-point line. Seeing the movements of Iguodala and Paul, he retracted his feet, withdrew from the three-point line, and protected the ball. Kobe, who was not completely left behind by him on his left side, immediately returned to the front of him.

Seeing this, Yao Ming carried Howard to the low post on the right side, turned around and pressed Howard behind him to ask for the ball. His movements were much rougher than in the first quarter.

Zhang Yang steadily lobbed the ball to Yao Ming. As soon as Yao Ming received the ball, Anthony and Paul immediately double-teamed him. Yao Ming raised the ball and passed it to Sun Yue. Iguodala made the layup, but Sun Yue did not risk being intercepted by Iguodala and passed the ball to Zhu Fangyu, but chose to lob the ball!
The ball flew over a group of people in the three-second zone and fell into the hands of Du Feng on the left sideline of the three-second zone. Du Feng took a step forward and threw the ball, which flew over the fingertips of Howard who turned around to defend and fell into the frame!
39 to 30, the score difference is 9 points! Approaching double digits!
The connection between Sun Yue and Du Feng boosted the confidence of Zhang Yang and Yao Ming.

Liu Wei, Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi were all resting on the sidelines, as they were worried that others would not be able to keep up with their pace.

Zhu Fangyu is bold enough to throw the ball, so there is no need to worry about that.

But Sun Yue and Du Feng are very afraid that these two players will hesitate and disrupt the offensive rhythm. They don't need these two to play well, as long as they dare to shoot when the opportunity comes.

Unexpectedly, these two people not only did not back down, but also played such a beautiful passing and receiving cooperation.

This is the benefit of playing with momentum! No one is afraid just because all the players on the other side are world-class superstars. When they see an opportunity, they dare to think and act!

When it was the US team's turn to attack, Anthony passed the ball to Paul, who received the ball, took a step forward and made a mid-range shot, easily responding.

Anthony and Paul were not defended by Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang was responsible for following Kobe and actively falling into the US team's defensive strategy.

During the intermission, Zhang Yang presented his views on the American team's offensive strategy to the coaching staff. The coaches agreed with his speculation, but saw through it and knew they had no way to defend.

After some discussion, they decided that on the defensive end, they would let Zhang Yang follow Kobe, which would at least make the opponent feel that the strategy was effective. Kobe would pull Zhang Yang away, and the others would play four against four. Zhang Yang would get a chance to rest. There was only one basic thing they had to defend - when Yao Ming was on the court, they would not let the opponent score at will under the basket.

For the rest, just do your best to prevent it.

Focus on the offensive end!
Zhu Fangyu and Wang Zhizhi's excellent long-range shooting touch, Yi Jianlian's attacking the rim and offensive rebounding, Sun Yue's support, Zhang Yang and Yao Ming's one-on-ones... it would be good if we can take care of these well.

Midway through the second quarter, the U.S. team narrowed the score to 46 to 49. After China scored at the start, the lead widened to 9 points, but the U.S. team caught up to the point where they could make up for it with just one goal.

Although the Chinese team tried their best to attack, their efficiency was still dragged down. They only scored 5 points in more than 12 minutes, and were unable to prevent the American team from efficiently scoring 16 points during this period, continuing the offensive firepower of the first quarter.

The Chinese team called a timeout, but still could not prevent the disadvantage from widening. After the timeout, Kidd stole the ball from Liu Wei. Kidd launched a counterattack and passed the ball to James who was running fast. James went into the paint and was surrounded by Zhang Yang and Yi Jianlian who was rotating in. The ball was passed to the wing. Kidd followed up to the left sideline, stood still and waited to receive the ball. He made a three-pointer and the US team tied the score!

接着美国队在替换安东尼上场的韦德的带领下，打出了10比5的比分，以59比54反超中国队5分！
The American team's style of play was simple and rough. Kidd and Paul rotated as point guards, and Kobe, Iguodala, James, and Okafor defended positions 2-4. Howard honestly stayed under the basket and tried to consume Yao Ming's energy, allowing Anthony and Wade to take turns to attack.

Relying purely on hard power, the American team scored 8 to 29 in more than 17 minutes!
In the more than 3 minutes after the timeout, the pitiful 5 points that the Chinese team scored were all scored by Zhang Yang against James.

It was the American team's turn to attack again. They were ready to press on and expand the score difference to double digits before the end of the first half.

Kidd, who was in control of the ball, suddenly passed the ball, not to Wade, but to Iguodala who was running back from the wing. Iguodala took advantage of James' off-ball screen, shook off Yi Jianlian who was switching defense, received the ball and went straight to the basket, flying for a dunk... but Yao Ming who pounced on him slapped him and grabbed him directly.

Cover and grab!

Zhang Yang received the ball but failed to initiate a fast break, but after reaching the frontcourt he faced James one-on-one, faced James's defense, took a step sideways and made a three-pointer!
57 to 59, the Chinese team narrowed the gap to two points!
James was very angry in defending this ball. Seeing that the score had been reversed and the advantage had been regained, he became agitated again after being cautious due to two fouls early in the first quarter. When the US team attacked, he went to the frontcourt and asked Kidd for the ball.

Wade has always been tough on James, so seeing this, he took Wang Shipeng to the mid-range shooting point on the left to make room for James. Kidd felt something was wrong but didn't know what to say, thinking that the score had already been reversed anyway, and the Chinese team had only scored 20 points in this quarter so far, so he let James go and passed the ball.

But James received the ball and just as he was about to run over Zhang Yang and break into the paint, the referee whistled! Traveling!

Before James made any movement to dribble the ball, his feet started moving. His right foot landed and his left foot just left the ground when the referee's whistle sounded immediately.

This traveling move was extremely low-level, so low-level that Kidd was speechless, Wade covered his face, and Zhang Yang, who was defending, was stunned.

James himself was silent. He rarely made such low-level mistakes in the NBA. He wanted to respond to Zhang Yang's three-pointer so much that his hands were not as fast as his feet.

When it was China's turn to attack, Zhang Yang received the pass from Liu Wei, raised his hand and faked a shot, and James flew!
Zhang Yang rushed into the paint, ran straight to the basket, took off under Iguodala's defense, and made a layup... Hit! He also caused Iguodala to commit a hand foul!
Zhang Yang also made the free throw, 60 to 59, the Chinese team overtook the score!

When the US team attacked, Wade waved for the ball before James, so James had to move to the wing and prepare to catch the ball.

Wade played one-on-one against Wang Shipeng, broke through to close range and made a quick stop jump shot... which went in, and caused Liu Wei, who was double-teamed, to foul, and he made the free throw, returning a 2+1 to Zhang Yang!

62 to 60, the American team once again took the lead!

With 19 seconds left, Zhang Yang directly received the serve and advanced. He had already scored 6 points in a row, and when he broke through, he was double-teamed by Wade and Iguodala, with James still chasing him from behind. He passed the ball to the wing, and Wang Shipeng received the ball and made a three-pointer...which also went in!

63 to 62, the Chinese team takes the lead again!

As Kidd missed a three-pointer under Liu Wei's defense, the whistle sounded to end the second quarter.

The Chinese team lost 26 points in the second quarter with a score of 32 to 6, but after halftime, the Chinese players were still full of fighting spirit.

They lost as much as 12 points in the second quarter, but that didn't break them.

In the final moments, Yao Ming made a big block, and Zhang Yang and Wang Shipeng scored 9 points in a row, beating the US team 9 to 3 and ending the first half with a 1-point advantage, showing tenacious resilience!
After the halftime break, the Chinese team attacked first. Wang Zhizhi scored 2+1 against Bosh at close range, helping the Chinese team to take a 66-point lead with 62 to 4.

But then Wade and Bosh scored two goals in a row to even the score.

Yao Ming did not play at the start of the second half, and the Chinese team's only inside defense was gone.

Fortunately, Zhang Yang then backed down James in the high post, turned around and made a shot, causing James to foul, thus stabilizing the situation.

Just as Zhang Yang was about to step onto the free throw line, the referee blew the whistle again!
He turned his head and saw the referee making a T gesture and pointing at James after blowing the whistle.

K on the sidelines silently signaled the assistant coach to make a substitution. James had two fouls in the first quarter, and just committed a defensive foul, which was already his third foul. He got a technical foul, which was his fourth foul! If he committed another foul, he would be sent off. K had no choice but to replace James.

James looked miserable when he was defending Zhang Yang tonight. His defensive characteristics were completely countered by Zhang Yang, and there was really nothing he could do.

But that doesn't mean he plays a bad role. On the contrary, he has the best overall performance among all the players in the three frontcourt positions of the US team.

His one-on-one performance is not as good as Anthony, and his long-range shooting is not as good as Bosh, but his defense is better than both of them.

His off-ball support is not as good as Iguodala, but he is better in fast break counterattacks and one-on-one defense. Iguodala was beaten even harder when defending Zhang Yang.

He is not as good as Okafor and Howard in protecting the rim, but he is more mobile and is the guarantee of the US team's defensive rebounds. When he is on the court, Yi Jianlian and Du Feng's success rate in grabbing offensive rebounds drops significantly.

He really didn't do his best in any aspect, and occasionally he would get carried away and harm the US team on the offensive end, but there was a reason why K gave him the highest playing time in the frontcourt.

Old K was speechless, and Zhang Yang, who was signaled by Jonas to take the technical free throw, was even more speechless.

Zhang San: Mr. King, why do you go to the referee to complain about the penalty? Is this a place where they will listen to your complaints? Didn’t you see that Lian Mei was applauded for her dunk in the second quarter, but the referee didn’t call the foul and she got a technical foul even though she didn’t complain? The referee was very sensitive tonight, and the whistle was very tight…

When he thought of this, an ellipsis popped up in Zhang Yang's mind. He remembered that the referee was so nervous, it seemed that he was the one who caused it... No, it was Howard who caused it! The technical foul free throw and the extra free throw were both made. Zhang Yang scored 4 points in one round, and the Chinese team took a 70-point lead again with 66 to 4.

After the free throw, Zhang Yang turned around and saw Kobe and Okafor walking into the court. He knew that the opponent would not let Iguodala defend him and would definitely replace him with the old blacksmith.

Iguodala was also replaced along with James, while Kidd, Wade and Bosh continued to stay on the court.

The American team attacked and Wade held the ball and played one-on-one.

When Kobe came on the court, the pressure on Wade's defense was immediately reduced, and the offense became more excited. He broke into the inside, took three steps, faked a shot and made a real pass, and Kobe received the ball and made a layup.

It was China's turn to attack, and Zhang Yang continued to play one-on-one. Kobe was obviously much better than James in one-on-one defense, so the difficulty of his attack increased again. He had no choice but to think about it and just shoot!

Tonight he didn't think about the continuity of the offense, the hit rate... he didn't even care that much about winning or losing. Playing against the Dream Team with Kobe and Kidd, he went into the game with the idea that he had to win. Even he would be crushed by the pressure.

His plan from the beginning was that if he could win, it would be great, but even if he lost, he had to fight with all his energy and spirit, hoping to have a positive impact on the growing teenagers in the country!
There is Okafor under the basket, Kidd on the left, and Wade on the right. Zhang Yang chooses to make a quick stop jump shot in the high position... and it hits!
15 points in the first quarter, 9 points in the second quarter, and two goals and 6 points in the third quarter so far, Zhang Yang's personal score has increased to 30 points!

Kobe defended this ball very well, but Zhang Yang still seized the opportunity and completed a jump shot.

Kobe once again felt Zhang Yang's improvement in controlling the details of rhythm.

As a rhythm flow master, Kobe has always felt that Zhang Yang is very talented in this area. Before he was 20 years old, his rhythm flow play had already reached the top level. However, he felt that if Zhang Yang wanted to go one step further and become a true rhythm flow master, it would probably take him a few years to hone his skills.

This is his experience. When the rhythm-flow play reaches Zhang Yang's level, the only thing that can be improved is the control of details... In fact, it means extremely solid basic skills, coupled with rich competition experience. On the premise of controlling one's own body shape, one can instinctively seize the loopholes in the opponent's defense, attack first, and play with a poor rhythm.

This kind of instinctive reaction is the most difficult. Nash didn't really achieve his peak performance until he was over 30. Even someone as talented as Kobe only practiced it when he led the team alone and made a lot of shots in the two years from 05 to 07. He didn't achieve his peak performance until he was or years old.

The old blacksmith didn't expect that Zhang San, who just turned 20 years old, had already touched the threshold of controlling details!
In Kobe's eyes, Zhang Yang's improvement in rhythm-flow offense is actually just the help of Zhang Yang's new passive effect of "technique is shooting", which makes his reaction faster when playing one-on-one.

If Kobe had looked more broadly, he would have seen that Zhang Yang's "improvement" was not only in his rhythm-based play, but also in other singles play styles, and his reactions were also a little faster than before...

Next, led by Zhang Yang's fierce attack, the Chinese team fought several rounds of tug-of-war with the American team, competing for a 4-point difference.

张杨3投1中，加上2中2的罚球拿到4分，加上王治郅的一个底线中投、轮换上场的易建联的一次补扣、王仕鹏切入接球造成犯规两罚全中，与韦德的5分、基德的3分、科比的两分打了个平手。

When the US team called a timeout halfway through the third quarter, the score was 78 to 82!

The fans at the scene enjoyed the show very much, and the Chinese players also enjoyed the game very much. Only the American players wanted to curse.

The other side was simply a group of indestructible cockroaches! Under Zhang Yang's leadership, each of them fought for their lives.

After the timeout, the American players were relieved to see that Zhang Yang did not continue to play. Several players did not expect that they would be under such great pressure because of a player from the opponent.

However, several players have had this feeling. In the last Olympics, there was a mountain in the autonomous region of Puerto Rico, which belongs to the United States. There was a player named Arroyo who also hammered the US team's outside line alone.

As for Zhang Yang, it was inevitable that he had some negative emotions when he was substituted, but after he sat down and the whistle sounded for the game to continue, he felt relieved. He had played for two and a half quarters in a row, had 20 successful shots, scored 11 goals, including 4 three-pointers, plus 9 of 8 free throws, he had already scored 34 points. He did not consider continuity, but he was indeed tired.

The burden of the Chinese team's outside offense falls entirely on him. He will play if he can, but if he continues to play when he is too tired to play, he will become a drag. As long as he is on the court, his teammates will definitely give him the ball, and he will lose his subjective initiative.

At this time, he can only trust his teammates, just as his teammates trust him.

As expected, Zhang Yang was just substituted in, and even though Yao Ming came on, the Chinese team was beaten 8-2 right after the timeout.

Kobe took the lead with a long two-point shot, followed by Anthony and Felton each making a three-pointer, and the US team overtook the Chinese team by two points with 86 to 84.

As soon as Zhang Yang came off the court, China's offense was interrupted.

After Yao Ming came on the field, the American team did not dare to go to the basket, but Felton, Kobe, Anthony and Bosh formed a circle and shot from the outside, and the Chinese team had no way to stop them on the defensive end.

Of course, the Chinese team had no way to defend in the beginning, but at that time they could rely on offense to compete with the American team and prevent the score from being overtaken so quickly.

Yu Jia, the commentator of the court TV station, sighed: "The athletes have done a great job to be able to hold on until now. Yang Yang, Yao Ming, A Lian, Da Da, Liu Wei, Zhu Fangyu, Wang Shipeng...they have performed very well tonight."

Zhang Weiping even started to offer suggestions: "Yang Yang is still young, just turned 20. I think we should train a player who can disrupt the second lineup and take on the outside singles when Yang Yang is resting..."

Just when people thought the Chinese team was going to collapse, veteran Li Nan, who came on as a substitute for Zhang Yang, stepped up, received the ball and made a three-pointer against Anthony's defense!
This goal set off a wave of offense for the Chinese team in the second half of the third quarter.

Next, Liu Wei made a mid-range shot; Yao Ming made a hook shot against Howard in the low post; Zhu Fangyu missed a three-pointer but Yi Jianlian grabbed the offensive rebound and passed it to Yao Ming, who received the ball and made a layup, causing Bosh to foul and scored 2+1; Zhu Fangyu made a three-pointer at the end of the quarter... and got 13 points!
Of course, during this period, the US team still took the initiative and scored 1 point higher than the Chinese team.

After three quarters, the Chinese team held on to the score and entered the intermission with a 97-point deficit to the United States at 100 to 3.

It was clearly the American team that held the initiative, but during the intermission, the Chinese team's bench was happier than the opponent.

Originally, the American players had no negative feelings about the Chinese players' "fighting to the last", and they were happy that they were still able to suppress the opponent even though the opponent played so well.

But the American players were not in such a good mood when they saw the other side celebrating.

Because they thought at the beginning that they could defeat the opponent with just a casual fight. Not only the players thought so, but the coaching staff also had this attitude when preparing for the game. The media, experts, and even the fans of the Chinese team all thought so.

After three quarters, they were only leading by 3 points and were behind for most of the first three quarters... The Chinese players' happy expressions made the American players feel like they were slapped in the face!

After the intermission, the US team sent out a combination of Paul, Wade, James, Bosh and Howard.

On the Chinese team side, Zhang Yang returned to the court after resting for half a quarter.

He was extremely excited now, he didn't expect that he could actually hold on for that half quarter, allowing him to have a complete rest for half quarter, he felt just right now!
Playing with him were Sun Yue, Zhu Fangyu, Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi, who cooperated well with each other.

Yao Ming guarded the basket for half a quarter and scored 7 points in the second half, and then it was his turn to rest.

At the beginning of the final quarter, the American team attacked first. Paul made a mistake when he came on and missed the three-pointer after the screen!

Looking back, Zhang Yang suddenly passed the ball to Sun Yue, Sun Yue passed the ball to Yi Jianlian, Yi Jianlian cut into the basket, and his dunk was blocked by Howard who had retreated back. However, the referee blew the whistle, and Howard committed a defensive foul, his fourth foul!

Yi Jianlian made both free throws amid the cheers of the fans, 99 to 100, narrowing the gap to 1 point!
Immediately afterwards, Wade's mid-range shot also missed. Sun Yue protected the defensive rebound and wanted to pass the ball directly to Zhang Yang, but Wade blocked the ball immediately after the shot missed, and together with James, he defended Zhang Yang's counterattack. Sun Yue chose to advance boldly and start a fast break!

The US team did a good job of retreating, with Howard and Bosh blocking the middle.

Paul was in position to defend Sun Yue when he entered the three-point line, and reached out to grab the ball to force Sun Yue to stop. At this time, Zhang Yang ran back from the left side, and Sun Yue quickly passed the ball.

Zhang Yang received the ball, took a step forward, stopped suddenly, stepped back and shot a mid-range shot... but was tackled by James.

James was fouled out for 5 fouls!

This time, Zhang Yang did not complain about James's departure again. Instead, he was very happy. This guy has great stamina! His stamina declined, and his speed also declined, but James could still run at full speed.

James has good physical strength and his playing time is not much. He played for less than 20 minutes in the first three quarters.

In the previous ball, even if Wade didn't help, it would be difficult for him to get rid of James. If Sun Yue hadn't taken the initiative to advance, he would have been ready to fight a positional battle.

As for Old K, this is really a dilemma. He has committed 4 offenses. Doesn’t he need to be more careful?

Little did he know that James was also dumbfounded at this time. He thought he still had two fouls. When he saw the referee's gesture of penalty, he remembered that there were only five fouls in the Olympics...

Zhang Yang went to the free throw line and only made one of the two free throws, but it also helped the Chinese team tie the US team at 1 to 100!
However, the US team has no shortage of superstars. After James was sent off, K was upset and replaced him with Kobe to strengthen the outside defense.

On the other side, Jonas was unusually bold and took advantage of Zhang Yang's free throw to replace Wang Zhizhi with Yao Ming.

The game continued, the American team attacked, the score was tied, Kobe stood up, singled out Zhang Yang, broke into the inside, and with Yao Ming's backup defense, he turned flexibly and made a pull-up shot under the basket!
TNT sports commentator Barkley shouted-"In the critical moment, you can always trust Kobe Bryant!"

But looking back, Yao Ming, who came back on the court, caused Howard to foul in a low-post single play!
Howard also committed 5 fouls!

Jonas replaced Yao Ming in advance because he saw that Yi Jianlian caused Howard's fourth foul and wanted to take a chance, and he succeeded!
Howard was bullied badly by Yao Ming on the defensive end, but he was already the best defender of Yao Ming on the US team. Bosh and Okafor, who had lost weight, had a hard time even doing basic positioning when facing Yao Ming!

As for the fact that their offensive performance is better than Howard... Each of the four positions on the outside of the US team has an offensive advantage, and they really do not lack the offensive firepower contributed by the two of them when they play center.

Old K gritted his teeth and replaced Okafor. An idea came to his mind, but he immediately threw it aside - the opponent replaced Yao Ming in advance, which might be the turning point of tonight's game.

Yao Ming made both free throws, raising his personal score to 24 points, helping the Chinese team tie the US team again with 102 to 102!
Originally, the American team was planning to launch a fierce attack at the beginning of the final quarter to widen the score gap, but they were beaten 5 to 3 and the score was tied by the defense. After being angry, they launched a fierce attack again!

In the next five rounds, the US team scored three goals. Wade made a sudden pass to Bosh, who received the ball and made a long two-pointer; Paul made a long two-pointer with the help of a screen; Wade made a sudden pass to close range and caused Sun Yue, who was defending, to foul, and scored 5+3, getting 2 points.

But during this period, Yi Jianlian scored a three-pointer from the top of the arc, one meter away from the three-point line, and Yao Ming made a tip-in to score two points. In addition, Zhang Yang seized the counterattack opportunity of the US team and hit a three-pointer against the defense, which was his fifth three-pointer of the night...

打到4分50秒美国队叫暂停时，中国队以110比109反超美国队1分！
(End of this chapter)