The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 705 Talented
Like Sabonis, Petrovic's three years with the Trail Blazers were definitely worthwhile.

They won all three championships not by sitting on the bench applauding, but by making real and significant contributions.

Petrovic has transformed from a skinny, somewhat hunchbacked, defensively inept, and physically weak European white defender in 1990 into a super sixth man who can stand on his own.

His physique became more robust, his thighs became much thicker, and his slightly hunched posture became straighter, even a bit too straight, which made him look a little stiff when dribbling.

He is now Croatia's undisputed number one core player, and in this game, he is the only player on Croatia's side who can go head-to-head with the Dream Team and prevent the game from looking too bad.

Facing Jordan's tough one-on-one defense, Petrovic could dribble with ease, drive to the basket normally, and entangle with Jordan near the three-point line. At the same time, Jordan dared not be careless, and any slackening or mistake would give Petrovic an opportunity.

Compared to Petrovic, the rest of the Croatian team were clearly inferior in terms of physicality and focus.

When facing other teams, they can pass the ball and make runs with ease, showcasing their offensive talents.

However, they couldn't keep up with the increasingly intense defense from the American team and started making a lot of mistakes.

However, it won't be easy for the US team to score against Croatia.

Croatian players are all very tall; except for Petrovic, they are all over 2 meters tall, some even over 206 meters.

Their center, number 11 Stojko Frankovic, is 2.18 meters tall with an outstanding wingspan, and he repeatedly delivered huge blocks to Jordan, Pippen, and David Robinson in the paint.

To be able to block those three shots and layups head-on, it's not just about height and wingspan; it takes real skill in anticipation and physical confrontation.

It's clear that this group of Croatian players is exceptionally talented, but they lack quality training and experience in high-level matches.

Players like Kukoc and Frankovic are like rough diamonds; just look at their slender builds and underdeveloped muscles to see that they haven't done enough strength training.

This was a common problem among European players at the time. Now, the training level and philosophy in Europe are about the same as those in the NBA in the late 70s and early 80s, a difference of 10 years.

At this point, Magic Johnson began to exert his offensive power. He first drew a foul on Petrovic, and then on the fast break, he made a classic one-man fast break to the basket, passing the ball to Pippen for a layup without looking.

It's clear that the US team is starting to take things seriously on both offense and defense. They're genuinely defending, and they're also playing seriously on offense, utilizing tactics and teamwork instead of relying solely on individual abilities.

In terms of offense, apart from Petrovic being able to control the ball and launch attacks, the rest of the Croatian players simply couldn't hold onto the ball. Basically, as soon as they passed the ball around or dribbled, they would immediately lose possession.

Another mistake, the US team gets the ball and launches a counter-attack, Croatia has no choice but to foul, dead ball, Croatian coach calls a timeout.

If they continue playing like this, the US team will reach double digits in steals in the first half, and Croatia will also reach double digits in turnovers.

Gan Guoyang, who was watching the game from the sidelines, was so angry that he cursed people, calling the Croatian coach an idiot.

"Pete is the only player who can compete with the US team, and he's a point guard. Why not just give the ball to Pete to control and play? Why do you have to stick to dogma and play teamwork? You can't even pass the ball properly, you can't even hold onto it, what kind of teamwork are you playing!"

"Coach Jiang, do you think this Croatian coach is stubborn? Look at their teamwork and passing; they've already made three or four mistakes in a row, and they're still slowly and weakly passing the ball. Aren't they just asking for a beating?"

"Pedrovic just now played a beautiful shot, one-on-one against Jordan and then passing to his teammates. He single-handedly orchestrated the offense, and afterwards Jordan couldn't even get the ball. What kind of team offense is that! Players from Portland don't die from exhaustion."

"If I were their coach, I would let Petrovic have the ball and attack from the very first offensive possession. If he can score, he should score himself; if not, he should drive and pass. He should always be the first option, and the ball must always get through his hands. This way, he's less likely to make mistakes and can pose a threat to the American team every time. Do you agree with what I'm saying, Coach Jiang?"

The Croatian national team's head coach is Zevikovo Lejubojevic, a former Yugoslavian star, a top scorer in European competitions, and a renowned coach.

As Jiang Xingquan listened to Gan Guoyang's complaints, his expression was complicated. He didn't know how to respond, and he felt that Gan's words had a hidden meaning.

According to the traditional basketball education Jiang Xingquan received, no player can be above the team and the coach; team basketball is a consensus among most coaches in China and Europe.

But Jiang Xingquan really didn't know how to refute it, especially after the battle in Lithuania, Gan Guoyang was a god of war.

Moreover, when it comes to facing the United States, I really can't think of any other good way besides giving the ball to the strongest player.

Croatia is already very strong, but look at their so-called team attack; basically, as soon as they pass the ball too much, they immediately make mistakes.

Every mistake they make is either a foul or a quick counterattack for the opponent. The US team's counterattack ability is simply giving them points.

If it were the Chinese team, and they played a team attacking style, passing the ball around in the half-court and having everyone get a turn, they would definitely be worse off than Croatia.

Jiang Xingquan's mind cleared up, and after a moment's thought, he nodded at Gan Guoyang and said, "That makes sense, it makes a lot of sense."

The game resumed after a timeout, and the US team had possession of the ball.

In fact, under FIBA ​​rules, the US team doesn't have many options for positional warfare.

It's nothing more than low-post isolation plays in the paint and one-on-one situations with the ball on the perimeter; there's nothing fancy about it.

After all, the Dream Team has only been together for a short time, so the coaching staff cannot arrange too many complex positional tactics for the team.

There's absolutely no need for that. Just relying on counter-attacks, there's no team on Earth that can hold out for an entire match.

However, the team's weakness in positional play was indeed a minor flaw, as David Robinson received the ball in the low post and attacked Frankovic.

As a result, the referee called a charging offensive foul on Robinson. Since he couldn't turn his back, he could only turn around and face the basket.

The FIBA ​​three-second zone is trapezoidal and much larger than the NBA's, especially at the bottom edge, which means that the inside players receive the ball far from the basket.

NBA big men are not used to this, and David Robinson can only rely on pull-up jumpers or cut inside to attack the basket in games.

His one-on-one scoring efficiency was not high; on the contrary, Charles Barkley was the more consistent low-post scorer for the Dream Team.

After watching the game for more than ten minutes, Gan Guoyang knew that Croatia still had no chance against the United States, as their attack lacked any consistency.

After the timeout, Croatia did change their strategy, focusing on Petrovic, who successfully drew a foul and went to the free-throw line.

However, Petrovic missed a three-pointer on a fast break, and the US team instead launched a counterattack.

The US team further intensified their defense against Petrovic, double-teaming, surrounding, and interfering with him.

Petrovic can keep the ball in place, but it's incredibly difficult for him to score or create chances for his teammates.

Regardless of other aspects, Berman is truly skilled at building defenses, and the US team's defense can be described as impregnable.

They are all tall, fast, and agile, both inside and outside, and each one is ruthless in their attacks, with each player excelling at steals.

The ability to seize the opportunity allows for a counterattack and a rapid offensive, putting immense psychological pressure on the attacking side.

However, Croatia did not collapse in the first half, and their defense was just as solid.

Faced with the Dream Team's relentless counterattack, they did not allow their opponents to score easily.

While some of their defenses were fouls, they also managed to successfully counter the US team's less-than-perfect fast break plays.

By playing against a high-level team like Croatia, the US team also exposed some of their weaknesses.

For example, positional warfare relies on a single offensive tactic and is heavily dependent on rapid counterattacks, but coordination during these counterattacks is often poor.

Many times, players simply take the ball and charge straight in, since they are all highly skilled All-Stars in the NBA.

Gan Guoyang watched very carefully. Tonight's game would definitely be of great reference value, and he wanted to remember all the problems of the American team.

Meanwhile, Leitner, the little spy, would also provide him with intelligence. Combining this intelligence, Gan Guoyang would have to come up with the best contingency plan to deal with the Dream Team.

Regardless of whether we meet again or not, it's always good to be prepared. Otherwise, if we lose too badly, we'll be haunted by Barkley and Jordan for the rest of our lives, which is a terrible thought.

Halfway through the first half, the US team suffered an unexpected setback when Magic Johnson twisted his leg and had to be carried off the court by his teammates.

He is the best performing player for the Dream Team so far in the first half, the true offensive engine, the most incisive point guard on the counterattack, and the player that Croatia cannot match up against.

After Johnson left the court, the Dream Team's offense came to a standstill, and they went four or five possessions without scoring.

Drexler, who came off the bench, missed a three-pointer, Ewing missed a mid-range shot, and Malone missed a mid-range shot.

Croatia continued to struggle to score from open play, but Petrovic drew fouls and scored repeatedly.

He stepped to the free-throw line several times, using his free throws to help Croatia score and gradually close the gap. Meanwhile, Frankovic successfully defended Bird and delivered a powerful block to Karl Malone!
This center, wearing jersey number 11, has already delivered 4 blocks in 10 minutes; at this moment, he seems to have been possessed by Forrest Gump.

At this point, fans realized that Croatia was very strong, and the US team was not invincible.

However, with the US team's poor attacking performance, Croatia has been unable to solve its problem of not scoring from open play.

They couldn't score, they simply couldn't score, and every time they missed a shot, it gave the American team a chance to counterattack.

As the Croatian players' stamina gradually declined, while the American players remained highly motivated and their offensive touch improved, the score gap widened further.

The US team wasn't gaining points quickly, but the problem was that Croatia didn't move at all, maintaining their 13-point lead for a long time.

Meanwhile, the US team began to play more and more relaxed. After Bird came on, although his offensive performance was not good, the US team had more confidence to play slower with him on the court.

Pippen became the true commander on the court, assisting Drexler and Malone to score layups in succession, and the US team began to find its rhythm in positional offense.

Petrovic finally broke his goal drought from open play with a mid-range shot, but a glance at the scoreboard showed they were already trailing the US team by almost 20 points.

At this moment, Petrovic missed Portland's Forrest Gump terribly. He thought that if Croatia had a Forrest Gump, the US team would already be behind.

Gan Guoyang's playing style and technical characteristics are more powerful in FIBA ​​than in the NBA.

Moreover, if Forrest Gump were there, he could definitely keep Pippen in check.

After Johnson left the court, Pippen played exceptionally well, his playmaking revitalizing the Dream Team's positional offense.

Continuous breakthroughs and passes, beautiful diagonal passes, and teamwork with Malone and Drexler left Frankovic with no chance to block shots.

Looking at Pippen's organizational talent, Gan Guoyang nudged Sun Jun, who was sitting next to him, and said, "See that big-faced guy? He's really good at organizing. You should learn from him."

"Which horse-faced guy?"

"That number 8, Pippen."

Gan Guoyang watched and commented on the entire match from beginning to end.

This is different from the comments of ordinary sports commentators. Forrest Gump really fought them head-on, and he defeated them all.

Gan Guoyang had commented on the Copa America, but the intensity of the competition was low then, and the opponents were relatively weak, so the Dream Team didn't get to show many of their strengths.

Today's match against Croatia truly showcased the Dream Team's abilities, making this game a valuable reference.

As the match progressed, the intensity of the competition between the two sides decreased, as the Dream Team gradually opened up the game, and Croatia began to crumble.

Jordan made a layup under the basket, and Pippen switched hands mid-air and made another layup on the counterattack. The moves were elegant and beautiful, and he played the defender with ease.

However, before the end of the first half, Petrovic assisted Toni Kukoc for a beautiful reverse layup, scoring a buzzer-beating basket – quite impressive.

Despite trailing by a large margin, the talent and brilliance of the young Croatian players still shone through. Kukoc was almost silenced by Pippen in the first half, and this last-minute attack became one of his most outstanding performances of the game.

This also proves that Croatia is not prepared to give up easily.

At halftime, Croatia trailed the USA by 17 points, which was already a very lenient margin.

After the start of the second half, Petrovic drew another defensive foul on Jordan, but Jordan immediately drew an offensive foul on Petrovic in return.

The two are now locked in a fierce battle.

Then, the American team started making mistakes again, missing their attacks.

Kukoc received the ball on the fast break and dunked, narrowing the gap.

Croatia also began to launch some beautiful positional attacks.

Besides Petrovic, there are other players who can score with the ball.

The point difference was once narrowed to only 13 points, a gap that made the Dream Team nervous and the Croatian players excited.

At this moment, two people stepped forward: Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan.

Barkley received the ball in the paint twice and scored with strong attacks, once with a dunk and once by knocking his opponent to the ground.

Every time Barkley received the ball, fans on the sidelines would hurl insults at him. One fan yelled, "F*** your mother!"

Or yell, "I'm going to shit my ass in your mother's milk!"

In short, the behavior of foreign fans is so bad it's hard to describe.

Barkley yelled back at the audience and received a technical foul.

At this point, Bellman came over to ask what had happened, and Barkley told the coach what had happened.

So, Berman deliberately moved closer to the baseline, closer to the fans who were swearing, and started swearing back.

Berman's prowess in swearing has always been underestimated. In fact, his dominance in the world of profanity is no less than, if not greater than, Gan Guoyang's dominance on the NBA court.

What's even more amazing is that this guy knows a little Spanish and is fluent in Spanish swear words. Since the stadium doesn't need him to direct the team, he just focuses on arguing with the fans. Eventually, other fans couldn't stand it anymore and told those fans to stop arguing, saying that they were getting insulted because the players were insulting them. In the end, the fans had no choice but to shut up.

Jordan first hit a three-pointer, and then in the latter part of the second half, he began to take over the Dream Team's offense.

He drives to the basket and shoots; he's not always accurate, but Croatia's defense clearly can't stop him from attacking.

Croatia's defense gradually couldn't withstand the repeated onslaught, and their attack went cold again, failing to score from open play.

Gradually, the score difference returned from 13 points to 20 points, and then continued to slide towards an even larger gap.

Croatia's small glimmer of hope flickered briefly before being extinguished, and the outcome of the match was no longer in doubt.

The game then progressed much faster, and the United States ultimately defeated Croatia 103-70, a 33-point advantage.

However, Croatia played really well, making the Dream Team look rather awkward in many rounds of the match.

Their positional defense was particularly outstanding, leaving Jordan, Barkley, Robinson, and Malone struggling.

However, the Dream Team's overall strength was still too great, and the players' individual abilities were far superior. Throughout the game, Berman didn't call a single timeout, and instead spent the entire game arguing with the fans on the baseline.

Croatia impressed, but Jordan said in a post-game interview, "I'm more interested in China's game today. I want to see how Forrest Gump performs."

Gan Guoyang is closely watching the Dream Team, and the Dream Team is just as closely watching Agan. They are eager for the Chinese team to enter the knockout stage and meet them in the competition as soon as possible.

In the afternoon, the Chinese team played against Puerto Rico, which turned out to be an unexpectedly slow-paced battle of missed shots.

In the previous match against Lithuania, the Chinese team focused on a fast-paced style of play. However, in this match, they tried their best to slow down the pace, reduce the number of attacking rounds, and play a positional game against Puerto Rico.

Gan Guoyang took on the role of center, constantly attacking in the low post, drawing fouls, and assaulting the Puerto Rican team's paint.

The match was extremely intense, with the Chinese team trailing in the score throughout, remaining down by as many as 7 points until the last two minutes of the game.

Just when people thought the Chinese team was going to lose, Gan Guoyang suddenly unleashed a three-pointer from beyond the arc, hitting two consecutive three-pointers and narrowing the gap to 1 point.

Then, during a defensive play, Gan Guoyang made a crucial steal and assisted Sun Jun for a layup, successfully putting the team ahead!
Puerto Rico had been outplayed by the Chinese team for the entire game and had lost their offensive rhythm, missing their final three-point shot.

China ultimately defeated Puerto Rico 78-77, a narrow victory by one point, securing their second win in the group stage.

Gan Guoyang played almost the entire game, delivering another super triple-double with 40 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 blocks.

After the match, Jiang Xingquan grabbed Gan Guoyang's arm and said, "Take a break for the next match. I really need to rest, otherwise the higher-ups will make me take a break."

(End of this chapter)