Chapter 1 The Opening Curtain

At 5:30 PM British time, the match between China and Spain, which was also the first match of this Olympic Games, officially kicked off at the London Olympic Basketball Arena.

There were about seven or eight thousand spectators at the venue, including several hundred Chinese fans.

With China's economic development, more and more fans are able to watch games abroad.

Some of these fans had the Chinese flag painted on their faces, some held small national flags in their hands, and some directly took large national flags and pulled them up together.

Just like the fans Tang Tian had seen during his Nike China tour, Chinese fans are among the most enthusiastic in the world.

And this was just the tip of the iceberg.

In China, countless fans were waiting in front of their TVs, waiting for the men's basketball team's opening game at the Olympics.

In a mountainous primary school in Chengdu, a large satellite TV receiver had been installed with the help of caring people.

Everyone squeezed into the classroom, watching the small TV above the desk.

Including Lin Yi, everyone's eyes were full of anticipation.

In fact, it wasn't just this one place; because of Tang Tian, the entire country was paying unprecedented attention to this Olympic basketball game.

For them, this was the game they had dreamed of.

A broadcast area was set up in the front row of the venue. This time, the all-around commentator Yang Jian and guest Zhang Weiping were responsible for commentating on the men's basketball game.

The players on both sides had arrived at the arena to warm up, and Zhang Weiping and Yang Jian also began to warm up for the game's commentary.

"Zhang, everyone is very concerned about Tang Tian. He joined the national team at the last minute half a month ago. What kind of help do you think he can bring to this Chinese men's basketball team?"

Yang Jian asked. His voice was very infectious. The shouts when he commentated on Liu Xiang's victory that year were an unforgettable moment for many fans.

"The help is definitely great. He can shoot three-pointers, and this is not just any three-pointer. Look at his three-point shooting percentage in the NBA Finals, which is over 50%. What kind of concept is this? This is the best three-point shooter in the world.

And then there's defense. You think Navarro is great? Fernandez is great? Our Tang Tian can arrange them clearly."

Zhang Weiping always spoke with a unique style, which made people unconsciously enter his context.

"Then do you think we have a chance of winning tonight?" Yang Jian continued to ask.

"Yes, definitely. Actually, don't look at the fact that they have the Gasol brothers, Ibaka, and so on inside. We also have Yi Jianlian. International competitions are not NBA games. Ah Lian may not be worse than them in international competitions. Then, Tang Tian defends their outside players to death, and we have a chance."

Zhang Weiping's optimism made people believe it.

"This is my sixth sense. I think these young men from the men's basketball team will definitely bring us surprises tonight."

Zhang Weiping added after speaking.

Yang Jian laughed heartily. It was always interesting to partner with Zhang Weiping for commentary.

While the two of them were chatting happily at the commentary table, the player introduction segment had already begun at the venue.

International competitions are different from the NBA. All 12 players from each team have to be introduced.

When the Spanish players were introduced, the cheers at the venue were overwhelming.

As the strongest team in Europe, Spain is very popular, and this time they are playing on their home continent, which is actually half of their home court.

When most of the Chinese players appeared, there was little reaction from the crowd except for the Chinese fans.

"Number 31, Tang Tian!"

When Tang Tian was introduced, there was a large area of cheers at the venue for the first time.

After Stern promoted the NBA to the world, Tang Tian, the rookie who dominated the Finals, was still quite well-known.

Tang Tian reached out and patted the fans, then waved to the audience.

The Chinese fans on the sidelines were all shouting and screaming like crazy.

This Olympic Games was not held on home soil, but the attention it received was no less than that of the Beijing Olympics.

The biggest reason for this was naturally Tang Tian.

Since Yao Ming's retirement, this was the first player who had given them unlimited hope for the future.

After the players on both sides were introduced, the team rosters were also submitted to the technical table, with the starting lineups for this game marked on them.

The roster was quickly passed on to the commentators from various countries by the staff.

Zhang Weiping and Yang Jian were both stunned for a few seconds when they saw the roster.

Chen Jianghua, Sun Yue, Tang Tian, Ding Jinhui, Yi Jianlian!

Wang Zhizhi, Zhu Fangyu, Wang Shipeng, Liu Wei, all of these core players from 2008 were not on the starting list!

"If I'm not mistaken, this is a lineup that the men's basketball team has never used in previous warm-up matches."

Yang Jian said in shock after reading the starting list.

"It seems that Deng Huade is prepared for this game."

Zhang Weiping said after being stunned for a moment.

Actually, not to mention the two of them, the Chinese audience watching in front of the TV at home were also dumbfounded when they saw the starting lineup on TV.

This lineup doesn't even have a center!

And none of the players they were familiar with were starting. This was so bold, and the risk was also very high.

The head coach of the Spanish team was Scariolo, the new head coach of Spain, who had only taken over the team in 2009.

When he saw the starting lineup of the Chinese team, his expression was quite surprised, and even looked like he was trying to hold back a laugh.

Spain's strongest point was their inside game. Now, the Chinese team's starting inside players were Yi Jianlian, who mainly played the power forward position, plus a short forward who was just over two meters tall?

Were they giving up?

Besides this, he couldn't think of any reason for the Chinese team to send out this lineup.

It was foreseeable that the Gasol brothers would be able to get whatever they wanted inside tonight.

This was really going to be a boring game.

He, who had habitually stood on the sidelines, turned around and went back to the bench to sit down.

The pre-match warm-up ended, and the starting players from both sides took the field one after another.

For the Spanish team, the Gasol brothers were the starting inside players, Fernandez was the small forward, and Lull and Jose Calderon were the guards.

Gasol and Yi Jianlian were in the center circle for the jump ball.

Yi Jianlian's height and wingspan were not as good as Gasol's, but his jumping ability and speed were better.

After the referee blew his whistle, Yi Jianlian tipped the ball back to his own half, giving the Chinese team the opportunity to attack first.

Chen Jianghua dribbled the ball to the frontcourt.

Ding Jinhui and Yi Jianlian successively provided off-ball screens for Tang Tian.

But the effect didn't seem to be very good.

The Spanish team was obviously prepared before the game, and the quality of the two players' screens was not high.

In the end, Tang Tian was followed by Gasol and didn't have a chance to catch the ball.

Chen Jianghua passed the ball directly to the inside.

Tang Tian's movement was just a feint. The Chinese men's basketball team's offensive endpoint in this round was Yi Jianlian.

Gasol stabilized his lower body and stood against Yi Jianlian. Yi Jianlian finally chose to turn around and fade away.

Gasol's wingspan was very long and interfered with the shot.

"Clang!"

Yi Jianlian's shot failed to go in.

Yi Jianlian focused on practicing three-pointers and defense during the season. His other abilities had not improved much compared to a year ago.

Scariolo couldn't help but laugh when he saw this.

Yi Jianlian had no advantage against Gasol at all.

If the Chinese team kept playing like this, would they be able to score 60 points in a game?

It wasn't that he looked down on this Chinese team, but that this Chinese team was simply unwatchable.

The Chinese team's first attack didn't go in, and Gasol turned around to grab the defensive rebound.

Calderon dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, directly signaled Gasol to drop to the low post, and then directly passed the ball to him.

The Spanish team's tactical thinking was very clear: to play to the team's inside advantage.

Especially Ding Jinhui, the inside player who was just over two meters tall, was the team's biggest breakthrough point.

Gasol backed against Ding Jinhui. He exerted force to try to force his way in, but he couldn't move him!

Ding Jinhui's lower body was as stable as Hayes in the NBA.

The thing that Gasol hated most in the NBA was this kind of black, rough, and tough player, who had no royal demeanor at all.

He directly chose to turn around and hook the ball from the free throw line.

This was one of his important offensive methods for establishing himself in the NBA.

However, just as he was about to shoot, a figure quickly came to help defend.

It was Yi Jianlian!

After losing weight, his speed was obviously faster, and this help defense came very timely.

However, Gasol had NBA All-Star-level coordination ability, and directly changed his hook shot into a lob, passing the ball to the basket with one hand.

If Yi Jianlian came over, Gasol would definitely be open.

"Pa!"

However, before his ball could be passed, a figure suddenly jumped up from behind Yi Jianlian and directly grabbed his pass!

It was Ding Jinhui!

The Pitbull!

His strength was not considered anything special on the international stage, but his aggressiveness was definitely among the best!

Moreover, the team had also practiced this aspect of tactics before the game, and the ball was directly intercepted!

A burst of cheers erupted from the Chinese fans at the scene.

This defense was beautiful!

After Ding Jinhui intercepted the ball, he protected it. Tang Tian had already moved to his side, and he passed the ball to him.

The Spanish team was slowly retreating to defend at this time.

They had two heavy big men, and with the ball in Tang Tian's hands at the moment, it was impossible for the Chinese team to launch a fast break right away.

However, the next second, they paid the price for their misjudgment.

After Tang Tian took the ball and turned around, he saw Chen Jianghua and Sun Yue, who had already launched a fast break at the first opportunity, and directly made a long pass from the backcourt.

Tang Tian's passing ability value when he was drafted was 40. In his rookie season with the Spurs, although he didn't specifically practice this aspect during individual training, the Spurs' team play style included a lot of passing content in daily training.

Just like his catch-and-shoot three-pointers at the beginning, because the starting point was low, and he was a coach himself, his improvement was very fast. It had already exceeded the NBA entry-level attribute value of 60, which was why his average number of assists per game could exceed 1 last season.

With the hard training during the offseason, plus the 15% passing stability bonus from the Art of Fingertips, his total passing ability value had now exceeded 70, reaching the mid-to-upper level of the NBA.

This long pass spanned the entire court. More importantly, the Spanish team had not even retreated to the backcourt yet.

After Sun Yue jumped up to catch the ball, he rushed to the frontcourt and took off into the air.

"Bang!"

A powerful two-handed dunk.

"That's right! Sun Yue! Play him!"

Zhang Weiping shouted excitedly from the commentary table.

Yang Jian was a little stunned at this time.

Was this the speed and awareness of the fast break that he knew from the Chinese men's basketball team?

However, he quickly turned his gaze to Tang Tian.

It was obvious that Tang Tian's passing guided this fast break.

The Chinese team's attack was beautiful, but Scariolo's expression didn't change much at this time.

He didn't immediately realize what was wrong. Instead, he thought that the Chinese team was lucky with this ball.

Gasol arrived in the frontcourt and continued to ask for the ball to play against Ding Jinhui. This time, he chose to turn around towards the baseline.

However, Ding Jinhui was sticking very closely, and he felt very uncomfortable when he shot.

"Clang!"

The ball hit the back rim and bounced up.

Yi Jianlian and Gasol competed for the rebound under the basket.

There was a big difference between FIBA (International Basketball Federation) and the NBA in the rules regarding goaltending.

In the NBA, you can only jump up to grab a rebound after the basketball leaves the imaginary cylinder of the basket, otherwise it will be considered goaltending.

But under FIBA's rules, as long as the basketball hits the rim and comes out, players can jump up to compete for it immediately.

Theoretically speaking, many balls will bounce into the basket. The NBA's rules are relatively more reasonable, but FIBA is the rule.

Under this rule, the focus of the competition is not on rebounding awareness, but more on positioning and jumping ability.

Yi Jianlian had good positioning, and his jumping ability was much stronger than Gasol's.

After Yi Jianlian grabbed the rebound, he looked for Tang Tian again.

Tang Tian turned around and made another long pass.

This time, it was Chen Jianghua who caught the ball. He was very fast, and before Calderon could chase back to defend, he made a layup.

4 to 0!

The Chinese team caught the Spanish team off guard at the beginning!

At this time, the domestic fans had completely gone crazy. This feeling was that the Chinese team was beating Spain!

爽! (Shuang! - Awesome!)

Although the game had just begun, it was still difficult to suppress the feeling of awesomeness!

"Retreat, pay attention to the retreat!"

Scariolo realized at this time that the Chinese team's fast break was a problem, and stood up to shout at the Spanish outside players.

Calderon advanced to the frontcourt again. This time, Gasol dropped to the low post and reached out for the ball.

Calderon passed the ball in, and Gasol used brute force to push against Yi Jianlian.

Yi Jianlian's strength had weakened after losing weight, and Gasol was a heavy center, so he couldn't hold him off.

Gasol pushed to the inside and directly turned around to make a bank shot.

After the ball went in, Gasol roared excitedly at the sideline.

Gasol also rushed over at this time and gave his brother an enthusiastic chest bump.

The crowd cheered.

This ball finally allowed them to vent the resentment they had felt since the beginning of the game.

However, while they were bumping chests, Yi Jianlian quickly passed the ball from the backcourt, and the ball went to Tang Tian's hands. Tang Tian made a long pass to Chen Jianghua.

The Chinese team directly launched a fast break on the spot!

The Gasol brothers didn't have time to retreat, and the Chinese team had a 4-on-3 advantage after the fast break reached the frontcourt.

Chen Jianghua passed the ball to Tang Tian, who caught the ball and shot it directly from a step away from the three-point line.

"Swish!"

He shot it and it went in!

7 to 2!

"Beautiful! Beautiful!! Beautiful!!!"

Zhang Weiping shouted "beautiful" three times in a row from the commentary table, his voice trembling.

Even during the 2008 Olympics, he had never seen the Chinese team take such a big initiative at the beginning of the game.

This wasn't a question of the players' ability or performance, but that the Chinese team's lineup and tactics were effective.

Positional warfare?

It didn't exist. The Chinese team put on this lineup to compete with the Spanish team in defense and fast breaks!

What was positional warfare?

And even if you scored, I would still take advantage of the slow speed of your two inside players in retreating, push the ball to our half more quickly, and then have a multi-on-less advantage in the frontcourt!

But another very important point was Tang Tian.

Tang Tian hadn't shown much passing talent with the Spurs, but his long passes with the national team were really making the fans wet.

If Yao Ming was still playing and had such a good passing guard, then the Chinese team would really take off.

Seeing that the momentum was not right, Scariolo replaced Gasol with Ibaka.

Ibaka's speed in retreating was faster than Gasol's, but he had basically no offensive ability in positional warfare.

The Spanish team's tactical idea was to drop into a set offense and play their inside advantage. This adjustment instead caused their inside offensive efficiency to decline, giving the Chinese team more counterattack opportunities.

In the unbelievable eyes of all the spectators, at the end of the first half, the Chinese team led the Spanish men's basketball team by 14 points with a score of 40 to 26!