pinnacle of basketball

Chapter 535 The Dark Horse
The Chinese team and the Japanese team rarely meet in international competitions, but this does not mean that there is no grievance between the two teams.

In any case, China and Japan will not coexist peacefully.

Not only basketball, but in other sports, every time the Chinese team and the Japanese team meet, they will always have an astonishing difference in points.

The two teams have played against each other very rarely in international competitions, but in the last five matches, the Chinese team has won a big victory. Although the Japanese team has made great efforts in planning players in recent years and has recruited many foreign players in a row, the Chinese team seems to have a buff in the match. No matter what the team lineup is, they can always crush the Japanese team.

This encounter in the semi-finals is definitely bad news for the hosts.

They have a good record in the confrontation with the other two teams, but the Chinese team is a mountain they can never overcome.

Although captain Kudo Fuji played in the European League, and many players in the team played in various professional leagues, but after all, no one reached the height of Mu Chenfeng. Even Kudo Fuji was crushed by Zhang Jianing in the European League.

The two have played against each other several times in the European League. Zhang Jianing is perfect against Kudo in terms of various statistics and team records, and it can be said that he is a natural opponent.

Such a hand-to-hand record will inevitably lead to emotional changes between the two when they meet again.

The host's games are arranged to play in a relatively late position, and the Chinese team can be regarded as borrowing the light of the Japanese team to watch other opponents' games in advance.

The Philippines and New Zealand, one of these two teams will enter the finals. If nothing happens, the Chinese team will beat the Japanese team. Then the winner of this game will be the final opponent of the Chinese team.

The Philippine team has always been the favorite to win the Asian Cup, and this year is no exception. The players recruited by the team are all players who play in the world's top leagues, including NBA players and European league players.

This kind of team building, the idea of ​​the Philippines is well known, and their goal is the Olympic ticket.

They have indeed displayed the energy of this team. They averaged 35.3 points per game against their opponents in the group stage, ranking first among all teams. They are also the first team to secure a place in the knockout round. Three players in the team averaged more than 20 points per game. Their average score is as high as 122.5 points per game, which is unmatched.

But it was such a team that encountered a tenacious resistance from the New Zealand team in the semi-finals.

After halftime, the Philippines fell behind by as much as 15 points. If you don't look carefully, it's hard to imagine that the Philippines is behind.

New Zealand is not considered a strong team. Although the players in the team also play in professional leagues, most of them cannot be named. However, it is such a "civilian" team that has plunged the Philippines into an unprecedented passivity.

11中3、15中4、10中2。

The shooting percentage of the top three scorers in the Philippines is terrible, which is also the reason for New Zealand's lead. They usually defend with almost impregnable walls to contain the opponent's offense.

The New Zealand team is definitely the biggest dark horse in this Asian Cup. Who would have thought that a team ranked outside the 20th place in Asia could win all three games in the group stage. Although it is not as exaggerated as the Philippines and the Chinese team, it has been smooth sailing all the way.

The quarter-finals played the strongest battle and successfully advanced to the semi-finals.

In the semifinals, they overwhelmed Asia's No. [-] Philippines again.

"This dark horse has something to offer." New Zealand caught the eyes of the Chinese team in an instant. They had always regarded the Philippines as their opponent in the final, but now it seems that New Zealand is more likely to advance to the final.

"It's no accident that the Philippine team can be suppressed like this." Even Mu Chenfeng praised the New Zealand team's defensive strength. Their integrity is far above other teams. Although they are slightly lacking in individual talent, New Zealand's players made good use of the overall team to make up for their own disadvantages, perfectly interpreting team basketball.

"But I don't think the Philippine team will just grab it like this. After all, there is still half-court time." Qiu Fei said slowly.

"That's right, such a leading score is not enough to ensure New Zealand's victory. Besides, the Philippine players can't feel so bad throughout the game. They will definitely recover in the second half. It depends on whether New Zealand can block their impact at that time."

Sure enough, Li Tianlong's words were right, and the Philippine team really organized a wave of effective counterattacks at the beginning of the second half. Trident led the team to counterattack, blasting an 8-0 offensive climax in one fell swoop, reducing New Zealand's advantage to single digits in an instant.

"I can't let the opponent score anymore. If the opponent can't be restrained at this time and let the opponent get up, the game will be difficult to play."

Although the players of the New Zealand team are not well-known, they have rich experience in the game. Leaving repaired the team's defensive loopholes and used the second and third defenses to curb the scoring momentum of the Philippines.

The contrast stabilized once again, and New Zealand gradually took control of the situation.

"There is only one last chance left for the Philippines. If they still can't catch up with the score in the next wave of offensive climax, the game will be won by New Zealand with a high probability." Zhang Jianing said slowly.

At the end of the third quarter, the second wave of the Philippines’ offensive climax hit, but New Zealand had already prepared for it. The Philippines frequently attacked the basket, but the results were not satisfactory. In just 3 minutes, the Philippines played a crazy offensive rhythm. They took 11 shots, but only hit 2 goals.

The sudden cold feeling of the Philippines happened just when the points were being chased. As a result, the point difference was not only not narrowed, but was pulled apart, and the point difference returned to 15 points.

"It's over." Zhang Jianing asserted.

"Not yet, isn't there another episode?" Su Mengyao continued.

"The third quarter is the last hope of the Philippines. The two waves of offense they organized in this quarter failed to narrow the point difference, and they have no chance in the last quarter. The overall defense of the New Zealand team is their greatest weapon. We should think about how to deal with it."

In the fourth quarter, the state of the Philippines finally got a complete awakening and started chasing points crazily. Although New Zealand's overall defense was good, in the fourth quarter, the strength of the defense also declined, causing the Philippines to continue to erode the point difference.

Fortunately, New Zealand established a big enough advantage in the first three quarters, but the Philippines still failed to overtake after frantically chasing points. As the Philippines missed the last shot, New Zealand successfully entered the final with a 1-point advantage.

(End of this chapter)