Chapter 42 More Excited

But after seeing this grouping, Tang Tian felt more excited.

Wanting to reach the podium, or even the highest podium, meant having to defeat all opponents.

Only such a grouping could achieve this; only after bloody battles could they truly be tempered and grow.

Relying on luck to reach the quarterfinals, like in the previous Olympic Games, would basically mean stopping there.

Only by breaking through in the group stage could they go further in the subsequent matches, even reaching the podium.

Iron is tempered into steel; the Chinese team now needed to go through such a process!

The men's basketball team was training in Ningbo. When Tang Tian arrived, he also saw the national team teammates who were training.

The national team hadn't completed the final roster cut yet; there were 16 people participating in training.

Besides Yi Jianlian and Guo Ailun, most of the remaining people were selected according to Tang Tian's previous requirements.

Kellanbaike, Zhai Xiaochuan, Zhou Peng, Liu Zhixuan, Wu Qian, Zhu Yanxi, Gu Quan, Xirelijiang, Ren Junfei.

This was truly bringing together all the 3D players that China could currently field.

Besides these 11 people, the remaining 5 people, Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin, and Zou Yuchen were stars of hope.

The last two people were Zhao Jiwei and Ding Yanyuhang.

These 16 people plus Tang Tian, a total of 17 people, would participate in a European training camp after a period of training, and would eventually be reduced to 12 people.

In addition to the players, the head coach was also specially selected by Yao Ming, Li Nan, who had retired not long ago, was basically a puppet coach, listening to Tang Tian's words.

After Tang Tian arrived at the team, he greeted Li Nan, and then gave a speech in front of the players.

"Four years ago, I played for the fans in the London Olympics. Four years later, I am still fighting for the fans, because I know that there are hundreds of millions of fans behind us, and they will be waiting in front of the TV. This time, I don't want to let them down again. Each of you is the same."

Tang Tian's speech was not long, but the emotion was very strong.

His sense of national honor was stronger than everyone else present, not to mention that he had promised Yao Ming to have the number 13 jersey appear on the podium.

Tang Tian was the boss of the NBA championship team, the most awesome basketball player in the world.

Everyone present listened to his words, and even became very excited because of it.

Just like Yao Ming back then, the team had a strong point that was strong against any national team, and his presence would make people feel at ease.

And what he said was enough to make people excited.

After a simple meeting, Tang Tian took the lead himself, and the whole team began to train.

Except for full-court scrimmages, the remaining training content was all reduced, with only three parts: defense, three-pointers, and pick-and-rolls.

The style of play of this men's basketball team had been determined before the selection of players: one star and four shooters.

Tang Tian was that star, and the rest were shooters.

Open three-pointers, off-ball movement three-pointers, pick-and-roll three-pointers, fast-break three-pointers...

The main thing the others had to do was to throw the ball from the three-point line into the basket.

Of course, and play good defense.

After Yao Ming took office, the national team quickly completed the replacement of players, and the red and blue teams allowed these young players to grow rapidly.

Even in training, they were full of fighting spirit. Such a team, although lacking in experience, was not necessarily weak in combat effectiveness.

After watching a few days of training, Tang Tian was even more confident in the goals he had set at the beginning.

Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. For these national team teammates, when they got to the Olympics, one word was enough: go all out!

In the next month, the men's basketball team successively completed training camps and warm-up matches, and completed the roster selection one week before the start of the Olympic Games.

The final 12-man roster for the men's basketball team was also released.

Point Guards: Guo Ailun, Zhao Jiwei

Shooting Guards: Ding Yanyuhang, Wu Qian

Small Forwards: Tang Tian, Kellanbaike, Zhou Peng, Zhai Xiaochuan

Power Forward: Yi Jianlian

Center: Zhou Qi, Zou Yuchen, Wang Zhelin

This lineup had a lot of forwards, especially small forwards, which meant that a lineup of one big and four smalls would be used in many games.

After the roster was confirmed, the men's basketball team boarded a plane to Brazil that day.

Yao Ming was also on the plane. As the chairman of the Basketball Association, he also served as the team leader this time.

It could be seen from the team composition that this Olympic Games, the Chinese men's basketball team had really put everything into it, just to fight for it!

The fans were also looking forward to it like never before.

Because there was Tang Tian, this was the strongest team in the history of the Chinese men's basketball team.

The best record of the men's basketball team in the previous Olympic Games was the quarterfinals, and it was the eighth place. This time, they were really looking forward to making a breakthrough!

Brazil had been in economic turmoil in the past two years, and the economy, environment, and public security were not good.

The most direct point was that many national teams that arrived early had successively sent out Olympic selfies.

The beds for the athletes to sleep on were all normal human size, and many people simply couldn't sleep on them.

Especially for basketball players, they were the tallest on average among the Olympic delegations.

Yao Ming also knew this, and had arranged a local hotel for the men's basketball team before departure, and all expenses were paid out of his own pocket.

It could be seen from this point that although Yao Ming could not play, he also regarded himself as a member of this team!

There was nothing wrong with such a practice, but it also attracted a wave of ridicule from the local Brazilian media, and even foreign media.

The conditions were poor for all national teams, but there were only two countries that moved the entire team out to live outside.

In addition to the Chinese team, the remaining one was the American team.

The American team was all stars worth millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars, and their accommodation conditions were definitely different from other countries, or even other American projects.

Basically every Olympic Games, they would book hotels outside to live in.

This had also become a convention.

But now, the Chinese team was doing the same as the American team, which made them couldn't help but complain.

The American team had that strength, but the Chinese team, except for Tang Tian, were all a group of unknown people, and the Chinese men's basketball team had a very poor record over the years.

There was no harm without comparison, and while fans compared the two teams, they really ridiculed them to the extreme.

Things like "rich and stupid," "really taking themselves seriously," and "will become a spectacle of the Olympic Games" emerged one after another.

It could be foreseen that if the Chinese men's basketball team could not make a breakthrough in this year's Olympic Games, it would really become a big joke.

However, the players of the men's basketball team had a very stable mentality, because Tang Tian was very stable.

Tang Tian was the kind of person who dared to tattoo the championship trophy on his arm before the start of the playoffs.

Now, this view of the foreign media made him even more excited.

Just like winning the championship at the beginning, the breakthrough of the men's basketball team in the Olympic Games was something he had to do.

As long as it was done, then these ridiculed words would be the best foil.

A week passed quickly, and on August 7, under the global attention, the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games officially kicked off in Rio.

Tang Tian appeared as the flag bearer of the Chinese delegation, which attracted a burst of thunderous cheers from the scene.

His popularity was now global.

Tang Tian also waved to the fans, which drew an even greater response and cheers.

The Rio Olympics had opened!