bull

Chapter 497 Confronting Italy

In the two warm-up matches with Ukraine, the Chinese team won a big victory.

Jonas also completed the final inspection, and he selected his favorite squad.

A few days later, the Chinese Basketball Association officially announced the squad for the Yokohama World Championships.

The names of most of them were expected, but Zhao Li was the only one who was surprised.

It is the tradition of the Chinese team to bring a newcomer to each competition, but Zhao Li's position was considered Chen Jianghua's until now.

Zhao Li is the last batch of players to be picked up by the national team. Chen Jianghua has already proved himself in the World Youth Championship, and he also performed brilliantly in the warm-up match.

Many fans criticized Jonas for excluding Chen Jianghua from the squad, but Jonas made the decision, no matter how you say it, the result is doomed and cannot be changed.

"Zhao Li, can I interview you?"

Bai Jidong dressed up as a reporter, and put his hand in front of Zhao Li as a microphone.

Zhao Li said, "Yes."

"This is the first time you have been selected for the national team. You have been selected for the national team at the age of 17. There is no precedent for this before. What do you think about it?" Hold it in your hand.

Zhao Li replied: "I am very grateful to the coach, thank him for selecting me into the squad, I am very excited, and I will show my best state."

Bai Jidong also had a lot of feelings, he watched Zhao Li grow up.

Looking back on that competition back then, if Zhao Li hadn't been a blockbuster in the competition, he would not have had the idea of ​​starting a fantasy academy.

It can be said that everything that followed came from that game.

Zhao Li's performance made Bai Jidong see that many talented children were buried, so he wanted to do something for them.

Not everyone is like him and has the opportunity to be appreciated by NBA teams. More people are like sand buried in the waves.

On August 8, the Chinese team arrived in Yokohama, and countless fans came to take the opportunity.

Among the fans who came to pick them up at the airport were many Chinese living in Japan, and there were also a large number of Japanese.

These Japanese came only for Bai Jidong.

Except for this year, Bai Jidong has traveled to Asia every year in the past, his footprints are all over Asia, and his influence is increasing day by day.

It can be said that he is the number one star in Asia.

Many people may not know basketball, but they must know him.

In the previous draw, the Chinese team was drawn into Group D, a group with the United States, Senegal, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, and Italy.

In the first game of the group stage, the Chinese team faced Italy.

As a strong team in the world, Italy is not afraid of China.

Before the game, their top star Marco Belinelli said: "The Chinese team is very strong, but we are not weak. The winner of this game will be Italy. You are optimistic. Isn't there two teams in basketball games? An ace can decide the outcome."

On August 8, the first match of the group stage was played in Sapporo.

Before the match, Bai Weidong observed while warming up, and he found that Italy's three-pointers were well shot.

Although the shooting reference in the warm-up state is of little significance, there is something wrong with the accuracy.

Even in the warm-up, they should have missed a few shots, but they didn't miss a ball, no matter who it was, they didn't miss a ball.

This is worth pondering.

Bai Jidong called Liu Wei to his side: "Pay attention to their three points tonight."

"With you here, what are you afraid of?" Liu Wei was very confident.

Bai Jidong smiled and said: "I'm not afraid of anything else, but I'm afraid of capsizing in the gutter. In short, be careful of their three points."

The Chinese team has Liu Wei, Wang Shipeng, Bai Jidong, Du Feng and Yao Yueban as the starting five.

With the jump ball at the start, Yao Yueban took the ball by virtue of his height advantage.

Bai Jidong received the ball, passed it to Liu Wei, and then used gestures to direct the others to move.

Liu Wei dribbled the ball to the right and threw it to Yao Yueban.

Yao Yueban made a strong back attack, hit twice in a row, turned over and hooked, all of his weight and height suppressed his opponent.

Joca Richard Mason, who was facing him, couldn't stop him and watched Yao Yueban score the ball.

Afterwards, Belinelli rushed forward with the ball from the backcourt, and Bai Jidong blocked him first, "This road is not smooth."

Belinelli is a rising star in Italian basketball, and his matchup with Bai Jidong is also the focus of tonight.

However, Bai Jidong didn't intend to leave a good impression on the new star, first he greeted with trash talk, and then he relentlessly pressed the defense.

Belinelli thought that Bai Weidong's defense could not kill him, but he was wrong.

Bai Jidong broke Belinelli's ball all his life, and launched a counterattack from the LOGO with the ball. His speed is unmatched.

This scene often happens in the NBA, and now, the world basketball world has to get used to this situation.

No matter what kind of game he played, Bai Jidong was a detached existence. His fast break exploded the scene, and a head-on windmill dunk set off a wave of climax in the scene.

Italy resumed the serve and Marco Modande held the ball forward.

Although the Chinese team has two stars who are stronger than the first level, the overall cooperation of Italy is even better.

First, Modandai broke through with the ball, and then passed the ball.

Their center spread out, Yao Yue couldn't defend halfway, Bai Jidong could only make up, and then Belinelli missed.

The center passed the pass to Belinelli, who raised his hand and scored a three-pointer, making a clean shot.

"Don't worry, if the center forward runs out, the defense must keep up. If I pass the switch, someone will fill my position. The rotation cannot be interrupted!"

Bai Jidong said loudly.

The teammates nodded one by one, and Bai Jidong gave the ball to Liu Wei; "Don't worry about me, just be yourself."

"be myself?"

Liu Wei understood this sentence as letting go of himself, and then he really let himself go.

As the No. [-] position, Liu Wei is no less aggressive than the No. [-] position.

Bai Jidong always believed that if Liu Wei was five centimeters taller, the Chinese team would not have to worry about anyone in the second position.

His pull-up jumper is sure to make three-pointers from the outside, and he is a pretty good outside firepower.

It's a pity that he is not tall enough, so he can only play the No. [-] position.

Now that there is Bai Jidong, Liu Wei can quickly find someone to support him when he encounters pressure.

Bai Jidong gave Liu Wei a pick-and-roll, and Liu Wei immediately broke through and hit a jumper with horse riding and archery.

"Strong shot, Liu Wei hit the ball well!"

CCTV broadcast the match, and the people responsible for the commentary were Yu Jia and Chen Qi.

Chen Qi is now an important basketball expert in China, and he is the first choice for any media that wants to broadcast a basketball game live.

As Chen Qika became more and more popular, he no longer commented on ordinary games.

Under normal circumstances, he will only appear in major competitions such as the World Championships and the focus of the NBA.

"Mr. Chen, what do you think the Chinese team should pay attention to in this game?" Yu Jia asked.

Chen Qi said with a smile: "The first is the breakthrough, and the second is the three-pointer. Italy's three-pointer is quite accurate. If you don't pay attention, you will suffer a lot later. Judging from the defense on the field, the Chinese team has already targeted Italy's three-pointer. Let’s deploy it separately and let’s see how it works.”

As soon as Chen Qi finished speaking, Modanda broke through Liu Wei, broke through the defense line of the Chinese team, and passed the ball to the outside. The defender caught the ball two steps away from the three-point line and shot directly into the basket.

"I'll guard against him!" Bai Jidong pointed at Belinelli, "Liu Wei, don't let that guy attack you casually."

"I will keep an eye on him." Liu Wei said with certainty.

Afterwards, Bai Jidong received the ball from the outside and faced Belinelli, "You shouldn't be playing against me, you are like a chicken."

"Chicken also has great strength." Belinelli didn't think that Bai Jidong could win against him.

"Then you really overestimate yourself."

With a cold snort, Bai Jidong used his first step to tear apart Belinelli's defense. His strong body crushed all the way, and he dribbled the ball for a layup, which caused Belinelli's foul and also made a layup.

"You may be the best rookie in Italy, but I am No.1 in the world, so put away your arrogance." Bai Jidong looked down on Belinelli.

Belinelli has nothing to say. A person who has ruled the NBA for two consecutive years is indeed qualified to say that he is No.1 in the world.

He gritted his teeth and said coldly, "Even if you are No.1 in the world, Italy will defeat China, that's for sure!"

"No, it's not certain, because it's just your wishful thinking, and we will still win in the end." Bai Jidong laughed.

Bai Jidong made an extra penalty and led the team back to defense.

Modantai came over with the ball, trying to attack Liu Wei again.

With the previous lessons learned, Liu Wei kept an eye out and didn't give Modander a chance to break through.

Modanda had no way to break through, so he looked for Mason on the inside.

Mason has a physical advantage against Du Feng.

Du Feng's weak body couldn't stop Mason's back attack, so he hooked Mason into the basket step by step.

As long as he entered Yao Yueban's defense zone, Yao Yueban's defense could make Mason pay the price.

When Mason made a shot, Yao Yueban's defense followed suit.

Mason's shot was affected and he missed the board.

Bai Jidong grabbed the defensive rebound and directly pushed forward to counterattack.

Liu Wei and Wang Shipeng ran so fast that they wished they could grow wings.

Bai Jidong spotted Wang Shipeng's position and passed the ball.

Wang Shipeng shot confidently and pocketed a three-pointer.

The Chinese team played brilliantly and forced Italy to call a timeout.

At the end of the timeout, Jonas did not make any substitutions, maintained the main lineup, and then arranged a high-intensity defense.

Belinelli made a run at the left three-point line through a double screen in the paint.

Bai Jidong followed and interfered with his shooting.

Missed a three-pointer and Italy grabbed an offensive rebound.

The inside line that grabs the ball is given to Belinelli, and Belinelli passes it back to Modanda.

Modandai reorganized the offense and stretched out a hand to let the inside line pay attention to cover.

Subsequently, Modandai started from the strong side with the ball.

Liu Wei followed Modandai, but the latter still used his physical fitness to throw the ball in.

Liu Wei has defended the ball in place, and Modan can score on his behalf. It can only be said that his personal ability is too outstanding.

Bai Jidong said to Yao Yueban: "Their rebounds are fierce, you can suppress their arrogance." "Don't worry, leave it to me!" Yao Yueban said.

Yao Yueban's low-post attack was invincible. Italy used two double-team throws and ended up with a foul.

PS: In yesterday's Bravefire battle, the Warriors were really strong and terrifying. I feel that this round of the series will play up to six games, and the Warriors have a high probability of resolving the battle within five games.

(End of this chapter)