Chapter 583 The American Team's Difficult Schedule

It’s a pity… The American team is always the American team, and Lao K is always Lao K.

After seeing the rhythm of the Japanese team, Lao K didn’t hide it anymore and directly brought out the American team’s signature lineup.

It doesn’t matter if you lose a game in the group stage?

For the former American team, it really doesn’t matter. After all, their strength is far superior to everyone else. Even if they lose a game when they are not in good shape, they will always win the championship in the end.

But this year is different… Once you lose in the group stage, it will not only boost the confidence of all opponents, but also damage your morale to a certain extent, and it also means that you will encounter Longguo in advance.

If you are a defeated team facing the Longguo men’s basketball team led by Lin Dong in the semifinals, there may be something unexpected.

The American team’s change of lineup is quite timely.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Wade replaced Kidd, Garnett replaced Bosh, and Kevin Durant, the super killer discovered by the Americans this season, replaced McGrady to play the No. 3 position.

Kobe and Wade form a two-guard combination, while Garnett and Duncan form the strongest inside defense. Not only does it greatly enhance the ability to protect the frame, but Garnett's flexible footsteps also allow him to swing between the inside and the front line at any time, and he can rush to the outside to defend an open 3-pointer at any time. Compared with Bosh, Garnett's experience is obviously richer, his court reading ability is more sophisticated, and his position filling is more timely and natural.

And Kevin Durant... This super rookie who almost won the regular season scoring title in his rookie season has the softest touch in NBA history. Although his will feels like a defect, he is still too young and lacks some domineering. But Lao K thinks that as long as this guy grows normally in the Supersonics, with the team atmosphere there and the probability of winning the championship, he will have a chance to become the second Lin Dong in the future and amaze the whole world.

As for this Olympics... Having his super scoring ability is enough!

Adjustment of the lineup and the addition of new forces.

The super lineup quickly suppressed the Japanese team.

The combination of Wade and Kobe is too powerful. Kevin Durant's shooting, known as the "Death Three-Pointer", is also frequently fired. With the height, wingspan and starting speed, even Sakuragi Hanamichi can hardly block it effectively. Others are basically giving it away for free. The Japanese team is completely unable to restrict it and the American team begins to take advantage of it.

Although Coach Anzai also made timely adjustments, constantly letting Sakuragi Hanamichi switch between the inside and outside, and constantly changing the formation and rhythm, sometimes running and sometimes fighting, in an attempt to disrupt the rhythm of the American team, try to delay the momentum of the American team, and try to make good use of the outside touch to maintain the leading advantage.

However, the gap in hard power, as the American team gradually entered the state, the 13-point advantage was eventually slowly eroded.

The outside blocking lineup composed of Kevin Durant, Garnett, Kobe and Wade made the Japanese team's outside touch drop sharply.

Let alone the La Liga players with slightly inferior personal abilities such as Sendoh, even Rukawa Kaede, under the serious single defense of these super giants, has a hard time getting a chance to shoot, and can only rely on Sakuragi's pick-and-roll to occasionally score two.

The Japanese team was forced to switch to positional warfare, replacing Sendoh with Kawata Masashi, forming a three-tower lineup with Sakuragi and Mori Shigehiro, using Rukawa Kaede to control the ball, and using Zebei Rongzhi's breakthrough ability to attack the inside, trying to slow down the game rhythm, while also playing some success rate and creating inside kills.

But it was still useless.

Zebei Rongzhi is only a quasi-all-star in the Champions League, and he has to be established in the team system. Otherwise, if he only talks about his personal ability, he will only be a water dispenser in the NBA. Even if he has tried his best, he can't break through these super giants.

At the end of the third quarter, the Americans tied the score.

This was a barely acceptable result for both sides. The US team naturally felt that they had already won, but for the Japanese team, being able to drag the game to the fourth quarter also meant that they still had a chance to fight.

In the fourth quarter, the Japanese team started the crazy shooting mode from the outside, using Rukawa Kaede's fast shooting speed to force shots, and using Sakuragi Hanamichi to ensure rebounds and secondary offense, trying to use luck to make a last-ditch effort with the US team.

Unfortunately, luck did not stand on the side of Japan.

Under Kobe's infinitely tight single defense and Garnett's super flexible switching defense, Rukawa Kaede no longer had the bravery of 7 out of 9 shots in the first quarter, and only 1 out of 5 shots in the entire fourth quarter.

113:104, the US team finally won its first Olympic victory.

After all, it is now recognized as a team second only to the United States and Dragon Country, and is at the top of the first echelon with Spain, Serbia, Lithuania, etc. The result of the game is not beyond the expectations of most people.

Japan felt that it was an honorable defeat and gave a lot of applause, but for Americans, this really sounded a wake-up call for them.

After all, the American team, which was full of superstars, was actually led by Japan in the first three quarters. Such a competitive state is really a bit worrying, and it also made Americans realize that their opponents in this Olympics may not only be Dragon Country...

At the same time, Dragon Country easily defeated Australia with a score of 109:82.

It seems that there was no suspense in the game from beginning to end, but it still made all the teams that regarded Dragon Country as their imaginary enemy see many clues.

Yao only played 20 minutes in the first half. Last season, he had begun to gain weight to a certain extent in the Lakers. After all, the Lakers thought that the main opponent would be the Cavaliers in last year's finals. They needed a heavyweight center who could withstand Shaquille O'Neal. This was actually one of the main reasons why the Lakers lost to the Supersonics in the Western Conference Finals.

Because Yao Ming's weight gain caused his speed to drop further, he was not adapted to the fast break of the Supersonics' small ball tactics.

And this shortcoming also continued to the Dragon National Team.

As long as Yao Ming was on the court, the overall offense and defense rhythm of Dragon Country would slow down. In the second half after Yao Ming left the court, the five-small lineup composed of Lin Dong, Yi Jianlian, Zhu Fangyu, Sun Yue, and Wang Zhizhi looked quite smooth in the overall rhythm. Both the offense and defense were in complete control of the rhythm. There was no sign of Lin Dong exerting any strength. He didn't even attack much, just controlling the court and passing the ball, but he easily won the game.

This is a team that is completely different from the all-round strength of the US team. Instead, it is a team that is more mysterious.

Because you can see the strength of the US team with your naked eyes, but Lin Dong's strength is bottomless, so you naturally can't guess where the limit of this team is...

On August 12, the second round of the group stage came.

Three games that attracted a lot of attention, Dragon Country in Group A vs. Serbia, the United States in Group B vs. Lithuania, and Japan vs. Spain.

Compared with Dragon Country, the Serbian men's basketball team has always been a mountain that has never been climbed. It is not only a problem of team performance, but also a natural enemy.

The traditional Dragon Country men's basketball team often pays the most attention to the inside line and 3 points, and the strongest points are also these two points, but Serbia's overall height makes it difficult for Dragon Country to play its advantages in the inside line, and its exclusive high-position zone defense is the nemesis of the outside 3 points.

But this year, everything is destined to be different, because of Lin Dong!

When standing on the court and looking at the jerseys of the five Serbian players, Lin Dong really felt a little touched.

In another world, also in a world-class arena, he, the so-called "Dragon Jordan", was prevented from making 8 mistakes by Serbia's high-position defense, so that this country and these players seemed to become a demon in his heart.

And it was that game that allowed him to inherit Nowitzki's spirit and made him a better person after breaking through.

And now...

In the game, Lin Dong showed absolute dominance. Perhaps because of his heart knot or some kind of obsession, he gave up the team's play and turned to attacking himself.

He made 21 of 24 shots, 8 3-pointers and 12 free throws, scored 61 points, and sent out 13 assists, 11 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 blocks. He almost attacked from the beginning to the end by himself.

119:93, Dragon Country easily defeated Serbia with a huge advantage of 26 points.

In Group B, the battle was obviously much more intense.

As a traditional European powerhouse, Lithuania has been improved overall in the Champions League due to the addition of Lin Dong, which has obviously also benefited Lithuania.

The typical team basketball concept is fully reflected in this Lithuanian team, which is very different from the style of the Japanese team in the last game, which mainly relied on the sharp knives such as Sakuragi and Rukawa Kaede to play.

The change in the opponent's style also made the Americans somewhat uncomfortable, and they were once in a tough battle. Although they quickly adjusted with the ability of the super giants and easily defeated Lithuania with a score of 97:85, it is obvious that the offensive state of the US team was greatly tested in this game.

Especially in the third quarter, Kobe's distribution of ball rights caused McGrady to complain. After a few words on the court, the two of them turned into blacksmiths. Under the overall defense of Lithuania, the two of them made a total of 2 of 9 shots in a single quarter. Obviously, their state was affected by the spray, and at the same time, they were also very uncomfortable with the regional pressure that Lithuania gradually showed, which was different from the NBA team. The offensive end was not as smooth as in the second half of the last game against Japan.

The reason why they can win is purely because the individual strength of this American super team crushes the opponent.

When Japan plays against Spain, the former has the best defensive inside line and three-point shooter in the world, while the latter has the inside twin towers with Gasol and Gasol controlling the court to deal with Sakuragi, and also has the high-position zone defense of traditional La Liga team basketball to limit Japan's outside line.

At the same time, although Japan lost to the United States and Spain won Germany, ranking ahead of Japan in the standings, but Japan almost has a hand in the second half of the schedule against Germany, while Spain is considered to have no chance against the United States. In fact, the two sides are at the same starting line, so naturally no one dares to let this game go.

Moreover, Japan is the third strongest team after Longguo and the United States in the eyes of most people, while Spain is the third team ranked by the International Basketball Federation. Regardless of strength, mentality, competitive state, etc., it can be said that each has its own advantages.

The competition for rankings is destined to be a battle between dragons and tigers, and finally sent the first overtime of this year's Olympics to the global audience.

The two sides have been tied since the first quarter, with both sides defending more than attacking, 21:20, Japan entered the second quarter with a 1-point advantage.

The stalemate continued in the second quarter, and the scores of both sides were reversed, 20:21, and entered the second half with a score of 41:41.

In the third quarter, Spain's outside shooting suddenly opened up, and a 9:0 climax caught Japan off guard, leading by 8 points at 71:63 into the final quarter.

But the tide turned, and in the final quarter, Rukawa and Sakuragi played pick-and-roll, and their shooting was accurate. After a desperate attack, Rukawa made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer before the end of the game, tying the score again at 95:95, and both sides entered overtime.

At this time, the advantage of physical strength was reflected.

The physical strength of this Japanese team was obviously better than that of Spain, especially Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa, who were used to playing 12-minute games in the NBA, and the former was also a famous physical king, often fighting against heavy centers who weighed more than 10 kilograms for 48 minutes in the NBA.

On the other hand, although Gasol and Gasol are also familiar with the NBA's 12-minute game system, they are two traditional big men in the interior after all. Their physical strength can only be considered acceptable. In addition, they fought too hard against Sakuragi, and their physical strength had already dropped a lot. They could neither jump up nor push Sakuragi under the basket, and were completely beaten.

Without the inside support, the Spanish inside line finally lost in overtime, and finally lost to Japan by 6 points 107:101. In the group stage, they won one and lost one, and accumulated 3 points. They ranked second in the group with Japan, Argentina, and Lithuania, who also won one and lost one and accumulated 3 points. The competition was quite fierce. Only Germany lost both games, and they had to face strong teams such as the United States and Japan in the later stage. It seems that there is no chance of qualifying.

After two rounds of competition, Longguo and the United States are both firmly at the top of the group.

The final rankings could not be seen in the two rounds, but after the third round on the 14th, the overall situation of the two groups had gradually become clear.

On August 14, Longguo VS Greece, Lin Dong put away his crazy attack mode when playing against Serbia and switched back to Longguo's current two mainstream play styles.

When Dayao was on the court, he insisted on positional warfare, with Chen Jianghua or Sun Yue controlling the ball, and Lin Dong played the No. 3 position, cooperating with Dayao to create damage to the opponent's inside line and hit the success rate.

When Dayao was not there, Longguo switched to a five-small lineup to play a small ball in space, and Lin Dong switched to a position control and coordination, using rhythm and a "fast" word to drag the opponent to death.

With the running-in in Mobis, the two regular lineups are already handy for the Longguo team, at least when facing opponents of this level, there is no flaw.

At the same time, whether it is the Greek coach Jonas or the Greek team, they are no strangers to the current Longguo team.

The former has also coached Lin Dong, Zhu Fangyu and others, while the latter are almost all regulars in the Champions League.

In this year's Champions League, Mobis first advanced to the finals by stepping on two Greek teams, Olympiasko and Moscow Central Land Club, so everyone is too familiar with the personnel configuration of this team, whether it is tactics or personal abilities, and knows it well.

So another 102:73 victory, Dayao played only half the game as usual, and Lin Dong steadily controlled his personal score, with only 21 points but 19 assists, which made the whole Longguo team blossom and morale high.

So Longguo has won all three games and is firmly ranked first in Group A, and got a ticket to the quarterfinals in advance.