Pick Westbrook

Chapter 361 Rising to Eighth Place
The office of the coaching staff of the Chinese men's basketball team.

Du Feng reported: "The team has conducted a defensive counterattack drill this morning, including Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi. Both of them took the lead in participating in the defensive return run and fast break position."

Li Lai nodded and said, "70% of defense depends on hard work. Of course awareness is equally important."

"We are not used to defending fast breaks. In order to improve the players' awareness of returning to defense, we must continue this tactical exercise until the end of the London Olympics."

Li Nan then said another thing.

"Guide Wang Fei has already gone to London in advance to discuss with the local Olympic committee about the occupancy of the Olympic Village in advance."

"If there are no accidents, our players can live together in the same area, and the head coach's room will be slightly larger, which can be used as a temporary tactical room."

Guo Shiqiang continued: "The flight of the entire coaching staff and players has been booked, and the players have been reminded in advance."

"According to the coach's request, after the end of the Sri Lanka Cup, they will have a three-day vacation to say goodbye to their families, and then go to London to adapt to the environment in advance."

At this time, Du Feng, Li Nan, and Guo Shiqiang had clearly felt a little bit of pressure.

As the opening ceremony of the London Olympics approaches, such pressures are becoming more and more obvious.

Li Lai stretched out his hand at this time and said: "We all know the goals of the Chinese men's basketball team this year, and we all know what the fans expect of us."

"There are already many veterans in the Chinese team, and this may be their last trip to the Olympics."

"The overall situation of Chinese players is obviously a bit weak, so we will probably never encounter such a good era in the next five years."

"This is indeed the strongest time in the history of the Chinese men's basketball team."

"What we have to do is to help this group of veterans who still have dreams to create miracles and break the best performance of the Chinese men's basketball team in the Olympics."

"We carry not only the dreams of the players, but also the hopes of the entire Chinese fans and families."

"In this battle, we must do our best."

"I would like to send you a word to share with you."

"Perfection belongs only to God, we only need to pursue excellence!"

It was only at this moment that Guo Shiqiang was sure that Li Lai was really thinking about the Chinese men's basketball team. He also saw the cleanest and most selfless head coach.

Whether it is team tactics or player training, Li Lai selflessly taught the entire coaching staff every detail.

This is also the reason why Du Feng can improve and improve so much in just one year.

Guo Shiqiang put his hand on Li Lai's and said seriously: "We will help coach Li Lai to let the Chinese men's basketball team pursue excellence."

"Coach, lead us to win!"

Li Nan smiled and said, "Try my best and leave no regrets."

Du Feng put his hands on everyone's hands with a snap, "The Chinese team, they want to eat them!"

At this moment, Du Feng also felt for the first time that he had returned to the New Orleans Hornets. This kind of coaching staff culture is what he has always liked.

7 month 10 day.

The Chinese men's basketball team played against the Australian men's basketball team.

To Li Lai's surprise, the Australian men's basketball team sent their own youth team to participate in the Stankovic Cup.

This made Li Lai very upset.

He originally thought that he was already arrogant enough in the Sri Lankan Cup, but now he has encountered a team that is even more arrogant than me.

Guo Shiqiang reminded: "Although Australia sent a youth team to participate, they still defeated the Tunisian and Russian teams in a row."

"And there are several very good players in Australia's youth team who have played brilliantly in the Sri Lankan Cup."

“他们分别是防守悍将21岁的马修-德拉维多瓦，神射手24岁的乔·英格尔斯，突破犀利极为全能的23岁控卫帕特里克-米尔斯，以及澳大利亚队青年队的队长队内最老的球员26岁07年54顺位的布拉德-纽利。”

Li Lai really wants to tell Guo Shiqiang that the Australian players who have performed very well in this Sri Lanka Cup will be able to enter the NBA in the future, and many players will appear as starters.

This is the strength of the Australian men's basketball team. They are also worthy of being ranked fifth in the world. Even the youth team has very strong talents and potential.

FIBA has such an unwritten rule that only the top six teams in the world can be regarded as world-class teams.

As for ranking after sixth, it can only be regarded as a second-rate team or a low-rate team.

Of course, there is an exception to this, and that is the US men's basketball team, which is a super team.

It can only be a first-class team that can beat them.

This is the picture Li Lai wants to create for the Chinese men's basketball team.

He hopes that the Chinese men's basketball team in the future will also have the same aggressive capital as the Australian men's basketball team. Only the second team can beat the Stankovic Cup, and there will be so many young players who can go to the NBA for years.

At that time, the Chinese men's basketball team could also proudly say that we also belong to the best in the world!
Of course, it is still too early to say this, the meal has to be eaten bite by bite, and the road has to be walked step by step.

At least after Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming, the Chinese men's basketball team has not seen a definite future.

This is why Li Lai must bring Guo Ailun to the London Olympics.

He believes that the opponent is the possible future of the Chinese men's basketball team.

"It's just that Australia really thinks sending these young players can solve us?"

"Who are they underestimating?"

Li Lai stared at the court suddenly and said.

Du Feng knew that it was his coach who was going to be ruthless again. Li Lai always thought he could be arrogant to others, and when he saw others being so arrogant to him, he was very angry.

Although Du Feng didn't know where Li Lai's courage came from to dare such a double standard, but what he saw, those teams who dared to be arrogant in front of Li Lai really didn't have a good fruit.

"Australia is going to be miserable tonight."

Game start.

The starting lineup of the Chinese team: Liu Wei, Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming.

Australia's starting lineup: point guard Patrick Mills, shooting guard Matthew Dellavedova, small forward Brad Newley, power forward Joe Ingles and center Chris Anstley.

Game start.

Yi Jianlian made a strong jump ball and took the ball from Chris Anstley.

The Chinese team attacked.

Liu Wei signaled to press into the inside line, and Yi Jianlian restrained him at a 45° angle on the right.

Yao Ming got a very good offensive opportunity by taking a strong position in the interior, and Liu Wei passed the ball quickly.

Yao singled out Chris Anstley.

boom!
smash the ball!

One library!Top man!

Swish!
The little hook turned around and scored.

"Although Chris Anstley has a height of 213cm, he is not an excellent defensive player, and it is difficult to match Yao Ming in terms of size."

"If Australia continues to use such an easy defensive strategy to limit Yao Ming, they may be defeated by Yao Ming alone tonight."

Su Qun said with great confidence.

Switch offense.

Joe Ingles received a pass from Patrick Mills after halftime and raised his hand for a three-pointer without hesitation.

Zhu Fangyu had made up the defense in time, but Joe Ingles insisted on shooting against Zhu Fangyu's defense.

Swish!
hit!

Zhang Weiping was a little worried at this time and said: "Australia has shown a very sharp attack in this Stankovic Cup."

"Especially Joe Ingles, a player who can shoot from almost any position and any defense."

"Australia were able to win two consecutive victories over Tunisia and Russia because of his outstanding performance."

"The Chinese men's basketball team needs to find a way to limit him."

Yi Jianlian raised his hand at Zhu Fangyu on the court, indicating that the ball just now was his problem.

Although Joe Ingles played as a power forward, he is actually only 204cm tall and is a standard combo forward.

But Joe Ingles' physique is not strong, so most of the time he plays power forward on the court, but to the great surprise of Australian coach Gore.

When he mentioned Joe Ingles to the power forward position, because of the opponent's excellent mobility and shooting touch, he completely opened up the space on the court and brought the Australian team's offense to the extreme.

Yi Jianlian glanced at Li Lai at this moment and asked.

This is a tacit understanding that the two have formed for a long time. Even if the two have not been on the same team for a year, it does not affect this tacit understanding.

Li Lai nodded, staring with both eyes.

Yi Jianlian knew that the coach was going to get serious, so he nodded very solemnly.

The Chinese team attacked.

Yao Ming continued to play singles with the ball inside, and Chris Anstley knew from the ball just now that he was not Yao Ming's opponent.

The title of NBA's No. [-] center is really not for nothing.

So Chris Anstley immediately yelled towards the court: "Come over here and double-team!"

As a power forward, Joe Ingles knew very well that he should go to double-team the most at this time, so he rushed over without hesitation.

But with his size and defensive ability, the restrictions on Yao Ming are really minimal.

However, Yao Ming did not intend to force singles at this time, but passed the ball directly to the right.

Joe Ingalls thought inwardly, and when he turned around, he saw a black shadow approaching.

Yi Jianlian went in from the right side, and riding Joe Ingles was a dunk.

boom! ! !
The Chinese fans at the Tianhe Stadium were in an uproar, and the atmosphere reached its peak.

Yu Jia said excitedly: "This is the United Arab Emirates, the most talented player in the Chinese men's basketball team. Dunk dunks are just like playing."

"Hey, just to play."

Zhang Weiping agreed and said, "That's right, play him for the Australian team."

Australian head coach Gore has found that Joe Ingles' double-teaming effect on Yao Ming is almost negligible, and he also lost his defender Yi Jianlian, which is simply not worth the loss.

So he changed his defensive strategy at this time and let Matthew Dellavedova on the outside jump to the inside for double-teaming.

Gore couldn't help smiling slightly at this time. He really wanted to say that the Chinese men's basketball team didn't know Dellavedova's defensive strength, so he would definitely think that such a double-team choice was not even as effective as Joe Ingles.

But in fact, Gore can say responsibly that Dellavedova's defense is very similar to a notorious player in the NBA. You think he can't do it, but he can surpass your belief on the defensive end.

"That's right, that player is Beverly, nicknamed Mad Dog."

Gore looked at the coaching bench of the Chinese team with a smug smile on his face, but his smile froze immediately after seeing that familiar figure.

"I almost forgot that Mad Dog Beverly is also Li Lai's player in the Hornets!"

on the field.

The images that freeze Gore's smile continue to appear.

Yao Ming suddenly weakened his offensive firepower, but moved to the waist to restrain him. At this time, Yi Jianlian took the initiative to kill Joe Ingles in various singles.

Although Yi Jianlian's inside singles are not as good as Yao Ming's, Joe Ingles' defense is really bad. He is forced to move to the power forward position, and it is even more impossible for him to defend the 212cm tall Yi Jianlian.

At this time, Gore also discovered the offensive strategy of the Chinese team, which is to focus on the basket.

Because of Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian's twin towers, Gore can only defend and limit one of the players anyway, so one of them will always explode on the court.

The first quarter is over.

The Chinese team led with 28:22.

Already crying, Gore said, "If my core Australian Andrew Bogut, nicknamed Bai Duncan, was here, how could you allow Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian to be so presumptuous!"

What made Gore even more speechless was that in the second quarter, the Chinese team took Wang Zhizhi, and the fuck continued to beat the inside line of the Australian team.

In the end, Gore had no choice but to defend the Chinese team's inside line with three people. In this way, the offense of Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi was finally limited.

But the three of them started playing pass again.

Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, and Sun Yue hit three-pointers one after another.

What scares Gore even more is that he didn't understand the reason why Yao Ming suddenly stopped attacking in the first quarter and turned to Yi Jianlian for the main attack.

"They're consuming Joe Ingalls!"

For this reason, Joe Ingles, who is the scoring leader of the Australian youth team, will definitely be beaten by Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi as long as he plays in the first three quarters.

This also caused him to be affected by physical strength in the fourth quarter and shot consecutively, which finally caused the Russian team's internal and external offense to be completely unbalanced.

Fortunately, Patrick Mills hit three consecutive three-pointers from the outside to help the Australian team stop the bleeding, but it only made the game less ugly.

In the last 3 minutes, the Chinese team suddenly brought up the 221cm Zhang Zhaoxu.

After Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and Wang Zhizhi finished hammering the inside line of the Australian team, Zhang Zhaoxu continued to hammer.

The Australian team's centers Chris Anstley and Joe Ingles were about to be beaten to tears, and they looked at the Chinese men's basketball team with a look of lovelessness on the court.

"Don't meet us at the London Olympics, the main player of the Australian team, my big brother, will definitely make you feel overwhelmed!"

The game is over.

The Chinese team beat the Australian team 110:92.

Before the game, everyone was guessing that it would be a close game, and it would be extremely hot-blooded and anxious. Some even predicted that the Australian team would have the upper hand on the court.

But the result of this game made countless people's eyes wide open. Li Lai was deliberately bullying the young players of the Australian team who were not experienced enough.

Faced with the Chinese team's extremely terrible play against weaknesses, the young Australian players did not respond quickly.

After the game, some attentive fans were shocked to find that the Chinese team has jumped to the eighth place in the latest men's basketball strength ranking released by the International Basketball Federation.

(End of this chapter)