Coach Lee

Chapter 281 Who Is the Hero?
August, Greece, Santorini.

This small Plato "Land of Freedom", the buildings are all blue and white, lined with the blue Aegean Sea, the blue is clear and the white is pure, this is a blue and white paradise, and it is so beautiful.

Here, you can be a poet, a painter, the happiest princess and prince, or an excellent singer~
On a large reef, a group of shirtless and dark-skinned men faced the blue Aegean Sea, stretched their hands, and sang loudly.

"The sky is late~ the moon is like the beginning~
A Thousand Miles of Rivers ~Let me fly across~
Exhausted blood~Turn into dust and soil~
Just for you, a sweet glimpse~
Whoever belongs to the hero belongs to me~"

The momentum was so powerful that people couldn't help their blood soaring, and the blue Aegean Sea was startled by waves.

The Chinese Men's Basketball Team has arrived in Athens to prepare for the upcoming World Basketball Championships in Greece.

In this World Championships, the head coach is Bayi team coach Wang Fei.

Li Xiaoyong, Hu Weidong, Li Nan, Liu Yudong, Wang Dazhi, Fan Bin, Zhang Jinsong, Bart, Sun Jun, Gong Xiaobin, Yao Liang, Zhang Wenqi.

Basically the old team from last year's Asian Championships, of course there are also new faces.Captain Zhang Wenqi of the Shanghai Eastern Sharks and rising star Yao Liang.

In the past few days, here, everyone trains during the day, takes theory classes together at night, and watches videos of some opponents.

In spare time, everyone gathered around and watched VCD TV series together.

Everyone's favorite is "Tai Chi Master", which is currently on the rise in China.

Today's training is over, and when we got to the beach, everyone couldn't help singing.

"Oh hoo!"

"what!"

A group of people shouted strangely at the sea.Obviously, they really like this kind of preparation environment.

On the side, Wang Dazhi suddenly pulled Yao Liang's jersey.

"Xiao Yao, why don't you take off your jersey? Aren't you hot?"

Yao Liang glanced at Wang Dazhi's slightly raised abs, and quickly shook his hand, "No, no, I'm not hot."

Yao Liang didn't want everyone to see his entire abs, or even his ribs that would appear when he raised his hand.

Not far away, teammate Zhang Wenqi also greeted: "Xiao Yao, let's go for a swim, let's go?"

Yao Liang refused, "Uh, go ahead, I'll just watch you play."

These days, Yao Liang has a little low self-esteem.Of course, not because of the abs or anything.But because he saw the gap with this group of guys.

These guys are really abnormal in training, and those two NBA players are even worse, especially Li Nan.

Like a beach run.When no one else could move, that guy was just breathing heavily.

Now on the other side, Li Nan is having a swimming competition with Liu Yudong and the others.

"Aren't they tired?"

Yao Liang was lying on a soft sandy beach, with his head resting on his hands, looking at the blue sky.

Just as Yao Liang was looking at the sky and daydreaming, in the distance, Li Nan called his teammates over.

"Dayao can't do this, we have to help him. We are like this."

Yao Liang was thinking that starting from tomorrow, he would increase his training volume and develop his abdominal muscles. When he wanted to do this and that, something wet suddenly grabbed his feet.

"what!"

Yao Liang only had time to scream, and his hands were subdued instantly.

"Hey, hello, hello, what are you doing? What are you doing?"

Looking around, Yao Liang saw the smirking guy below.Seeing the direction they were going, he also knew his fate.

"Help, help, Director Wang, help!"

Yao Liang struggled a little, and the people below laughed even more happily.

"Xiao Yao, this is my brothers' love for you."

"Young people have to go through this hurdle to join the national team."

"Xiao Yao, just accept your fate."

"Ahahahaha~~"

One by one, the guys were making up random things, but the movements of their feet were very cheerful.

"Hey yo~ hey yo~ hey yo~"

Everyone held Yao Liang high, walked into the sea, and then,

"1, 2, 3! Oh!"

A flat throw.

"Pfft~~"

Others splashed into the water, splashing some water, while Yao Liang entered the water with a "poof~", causing waves directly.

While the Chinese team is working hard to prepare for the game, the United States on the other side of the ocean is not at peace.

On August 8, the NBA's labor and management sides started negotiations again, but failed to reach an agreement, and it was a hit and a break up.

The closure continues, the lockout continues, many players' contract issues are still unresolved, and some people have already begun to make new plans.

The players union has already negotiated and used a strike to boycott the management.

The American Basketball Association is not happy.

NBA stars all turned down national team recruitment.Who will go to the World Championships at the end of that month?

"The Basketball Association is not the NBA. These guys have no sense of national honor!"

The Basketball Association criticized these NBA stars, but in the end they had no choice but to choose players from low-level leagues.

After the training camp, their final 12-man roster is:
Center:

Amaya Idaho, Broncos (NBDL League);
forward:

Alexis Alba, Berlin (Germany),

Edwards, Rome (Italy),

Gerald King, Siena (Italy),
Sussel Suvers, Air Force (NBDL Alliance),
David Wood, Rockford Chargers (CBA League);
Guard:

Kravis, Michigan State University,

Longton, Duke University,
Garris, Super Fast Rack Team (CBA League),
Jimmy King Quaid, Thunder (CBA League),
Olivier, Huelva (Spain),

Hawkins, Olympiacos (Greece).

In this list are all players from low-level leagues.There are college students, NBDL players, CBA players, and many Americans playing in Europe.

However, even so, many people still believe that the US team is the favorite.

"There are so many people in the United States who know how to play basketball. If you send some out casually, the championship will be ours!"

"US basketball is ahead of the world!"

"There is no need for NBA stars to play, and the championship is still in our pocket."

The lottery grouping of the World Championships came out soon.

16 teams, divided into ABCD4 groups.The group stage will play 3 games in a single cycle, and the top 3 will advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals: Group E: AC, Group F: BD, 6 teams in one group.Play a single round-robin again, those who have played in the group stage will not be played, and will be directly counted in the record.Finally, the top 4 of the two groups will be taken.

Afterwards, the knockout rounds will be crossed until the champion is finally determined.

The grouping is as follows:

Group A: United States, Lithuania, Spain, Brazil,
Group B: Yugoslavia, Russia, Australia, Canada,
Group C: Greece, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Algeria,
Group D: Italy, Germany, China, Croatia
Many European media people also ranked the strength of the participating teams.

1. Team USA,

2. Yugoslavia,

3. Lithuania team,
4-8 are: Spain, Russia, Italy, Greece, Australia,
9-16: Argentina, Canada, Germany, Puerto Rico, Brazil, China, Croatia, Algeria,

Without NBA star players, the US team is still recognized as the strongest team in the world.

Yugoslavia lacks NBA players like Divac, but has the new European MVP Mr. Bodi Loga. They are still the world's top teams.

Lithuanian team veteran Sabonis did not participate, but Arturas Karnisovas, the shining star in Europe, made everyone very optimistic.

Not one of so many NBA players from Canada came, and their rankings are also at the bottom.

The European media people's forecast ranking of the Asian team China is only No. 14.

(End of this chapter)