Basketball Dragon

Chapter 185 High Expectations

Italy's small lineup did have some troubles, mainly on the defensive end. Neither Yao Ming nor Wang Zhizhi, who came off the bench, could defend beyond the three-point line.

At this time, Li Hai directly dropped to the low position. Anyway, the Chinese team has the ability to shoot from inside. When Yao Ming is not on the court, Wang Zhizhi and Du Feng can also pull out.

For Li Hai's move, Italy has few solutions, but to strengthen the pressing.

Li Hai was not afraid of forcing Li Hai fiercely. He had seen a lot in the NBA and knew how to use his physical advantages and skills, so he directly let the Italian insiders go down for another rest.

And when the opponent double-teamed him, Wang Shipeng and Du Feng from outside hit three-pointers one after another, allowing the Chinese team to firmly grasp the lead. At the end of the half, the team led Italy by 46 points 40:6.

During the intermission, the team further clarified its tactics. The offense is mainly based on the inside line. If there is a chance for a three-pointer, it must be decisively shot. When defending, it must be extended to prevent the opponent's three-pointer.

In the second half, the Chinese team still started from Yao Ming. Yao Ming scored 4 points in a row in the paint, directly widening the score gap between the two sides to double digits.

Italy also understands where their advantages are, and they shoot three-pointers faster.

The Chinese team continued to attack the opponent's interior with fouls on their backs.

Italy's Barrez was hot and hit two consecutive three-pointers to close the score. Li Hai had an idea to switch to this decisive defender, but then Belinelli also hit a three-pointer under the cover of his teammates, and Li Hai concentrated Attention, let the opponent completely prevent death first.

As for Italy's three-pointer Li Hai, the Chinese team's three-pointer was not too bad. After Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian struggled in the interior, the Italian team's Li Hai's marking relaxed, and he immediately seized the opportunity to pay back a three-pointer.

In the third quarter, due to the strong performance of Italian defender Bares, they recovered 1 point, and the gap with the Chinese team returned to 5 points.

In the last quarter, both sides fought fiercely in the front, and their physical strength dropped a little, and their shooting percentage also dropped a little. The score was stalemate for a while.

But soon Yao Ming returned to the field and let the opponent's main center commit five fouls. Within a minute, Li Hai's breakthrough made the opponent's main power forward also commit five fouls.

Now Italy has no inside line at all, and the Chinese team is also relieved to completely expand the defense, focusing on three-point defense, and does not give the opponent a chance to catch up with the score.

At 2 minutes and 56 seconds, Li Hai's three-pointer brought the team's lead to 11 points.

Then Italy hit the iron with two three-pointers, and the Chinese team took the opportunity to seal the victory.

At 89:81, the Chinese team beat Italy and got a good start. Yao Ming scored a double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Li Hai scored 26 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

The victory of the Chinese team has made many people optimistic about the team's trip to the World Championships. However, the American Dream Seven and Puerto Rico fought fiercely for half the time to gain an advantage. In the end, they won the game at 111:100, but many people felt that times have changed. Well, even if the American team showed their determination to win this time, they did not play an absolutely dominant game.

The game between the Chinese team and the US team also made many people look forward to it.

This time the U.S. team has a very young lineup. Three young players, Wade, James and Anthony, are the captains of the U.S. team, making the team full of momentum.

Their 12-man roster is guard Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Kirk Hinrich, Joe Johnson, inside Chris Bosh, Brad Miller, Elton Brown Rand, Dwight Howard, forwards LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, Shane Battier, Carmelo Anthony.

In the evening of the second day, the match between the Chinese team and the US team officially began.

Both teams changed their starting players. The Chinese team replaced Wang Zhizhi at the starting power forward position, while the American team replaced Jamison and Brand with Battier and Howard. Only Paul, James and Anthony and the first game Still a starter.

The Chinese team expects Wang Zhizhi to perform at his peak and work with Yao Ming to suppress the inside line of the US team, because the inside line of the US team seems to be their weakness in the first game.

But the beginning of the game proved that this way of thinking was wrong. Wang Zhizhi now has no advantage in the inside offense, but the defense can't keep up at all. There is a difference.

Yao Ming's new player Shane Battier, who took the lead in scoring, took advantage of the Chinese team's defense and hit a three-pointer from the bottom line.

But the troublesome part of the US team is undoubtedly Chris Paul. Liu Wei can't keep up at all, let him bring the rhythm of the US team into full swing.

Before halfway through the first quarter, the U.S. team led by 6 points. The Chinese team quickly made adjustments and let Yi Jianlian replace Wang Zhizhi, who had not fully recovered.

Li Hai suddenly understood that to deal with the US team, the defense must start from the offense.

He made a match with Yao Ming, cutting and receiving the ball directly caused Howard to foul.

He secretly reminded himself that it was time to bring out his strongest attack power, and the Chinese team needed his attack power more than the Knicks.

After hitting the free throw, he greeted his teammates, and he wanted to attack with all his strength to help Yao Ming open up space.

Battier was defending him, and the US team let Battier start to do the dirty work, so that the others could try their best to play the offensive power.

Battier's defense is good, but his physical fitness is not top-notch, and he needs to cooperate with the team to be more efficient. But now the US team's defense is not very good. Their strong personal ability and because of the large number of players in rotation can be maintained at any time. Abundant physical strength and high-intensity confrontation.

After Howard missed the shot, Li Hai directly wanted the ball, advanced to the frontcourt and Li Hai forced a three-pointer without warning. Battier even blocked his face, but he was not disturbed at all.

When he is attacking with all his strength, he can see the defense very clearly.

Afterwards, under the cover of his teammates, he broke through and made a layup, and quickly caught up with the score behind. Seeing Li Hai's performance on the offensive end, the Chinese team also adjusted their defense and asked Li Hai to mark the opponent. Nominal power forward Shane Battier, rather than having him guard either Anthony or James as previously planned.

The U.S. team actually attached great importance to Li Hai, but they didn't expect that the Chinese team's unsatisfactory start directly stimulated Li Hai's attack power. They couldn't adapt for a while, and Li Hai made another three-pointer to help the team overtake the score. At that time, the US team took the lead in calling a timeout.

(End of this chapter)