"Everyone, what is the historical status of Dragon Country basketball, what is its world ranking, and losing to an Asian team, do you want to be spattered by fans and the media until you doubt yourself?"
Even though Dragon Country had three superstars playing in the NBA, Tang Long, Yao Ming, and Yi Jianlian, in the eyes of these European players, their physical fitness was better, and their muscles were stronger. Asian players were generally thin and no match for them!
If they lost to an Asian team, their entire professional careers would be mocked to death!
"Coach, that Tang Long is too troublesome." As Calderon spoke, he glanced at Gasol: "Ask Paul, he knows this guy very well."
"Why ask me, I'm not on the same team as him."
"Alright, everyone, be more serious." Garcia slammed the tactical board heavily: "When we get on the court later, Gasol will draw attention in the paint. Others need to move more. It's hard to play against this big man Yao Ming in the paint, so you need to run, run without regard for your stamina."
When the starters got tired, he would replace them with reserves.
Although the Spanish reserves didn't play in the NBA, they still played for top European basketball clubs. In terms of strength, they didn't believe Asian players were qualified to compete with them.
After returning to the court, the Spanish players were indeed more active in their movement, which was reflected in their offense.
Through off-ball movement and several consecutive passes, the basketball returned to Calderon's hands.
At this moment, Dragon Country's defensive formation had been broken by Spain's movement. Calderon received the ball and drove into the paint, drawing Da Zhi, and then passed the ball to Fernandez, who was at the baseline.
Fernandez shot from the zero-degree angle.
Three-pointer made!
Following Sun Yue's missed jump shot, Spain launched a fast break, and Jimenez made a layup in the paint, scoring two more points for Spain.
Spain continuously narrowed the gap, and with Gasol's successful isolation play against Yao Ming for a layup, the score was tied at 23-20.
Yunas called a timeout.
When the Spanish players became more active in their movement, they indeed caused a lot of trouble for Dragon Country. In particular, Tang Long's defensive efficiency was lowered.
Making Tang Long run with the opponent directly disrupted Tang Long's rhythm in the game, which also directly affected the offense.
After the timeout, Yunas changed the defense to a zone defense. Coupled with the absence of the three-second rule in the paint, Spain could only shoot from the outside.
Spain's outside shooting touch was surprisingly cold in the first half. They couldn't score inside, and they couldn't make shots from the outside either, so Dragon Country quickly regained the lead.
At the end of the first half, Dragon Country led their opponents with a score of 46-37.
...
"Didn't they say Spain was strong? Why do I feel they are far inferior to the United States?"
During halftime, Sun Yue drank water and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had been tense since the start of the game.
But as the game progressed, he realized that Spain's players were not as fast as the American players, which made Sun Yue feel more confident in defending them.
"Tang, play center for the first five minutes of the third quarter, and rest for the last five minutes." As Yunas spoke, he looked at Da Zhi: "Da Zhi, you too."
"Okay."
Yao Ming opened his mouth, but since Yunas had already made his decision, he couldn't say anything.
After the halftime break, head coach Yunas replaced Yao Ming and Da Zhi with Chen Jianghua and Zhu Fangyu. Tang Long played center, and Yi Jianlian played power forward.
Spain also made adjustments, replacing Pau Gasol with Marc Gasol, and Calderon also rested on the bench. 138 Chinese Network
In the second half, Spain's continuous attacks were all defended by Tang Long. Chen Jianghua and Zhu Fangyu, with their abundant energy, each hit a three-pointer, making the score 51-37.
Marc Gasol was still quite inexperienced on the court at this moment. Facing Tang Long, Marc Gasol was passive everywhere and was blocked by Tang Long repeatedly.
Garcia's expression was helpless.
He couldn't call a timeout at the start of every period.
But now they were trailing by so much, and their opponent's Yao Ming was still on the bench. When Yao Ming came on, the offense would likely be even more difficult.
Garcia hesitated for a moment, and this time he didn't think for too long, directly calling a timeout.
After the timeout, Pau Gasol and Calderon returned to the court, and Reyes replaced Navarro.
Navarro had been invisible throughout the game, performing mediocrely. After Reyes came on, he revitalized Spain's offense. Fernandez and Calderon also regained their shooting touch at this time, and their shooting percentage on offense began to rise.
Just five minutes into the second half, Tang Long was replaced by Yao Ming.
At this time, the score was 55-43, with Dragon Country still leading by twelve points.
After Yao Ming came on, Gasol began to assert himself. Coupled with the frequent successful shots from the perimeter players, the latter half directly suppressed Dragon Country's offensive momentum.
Especially in the paint, Yao Ming, who had been playing high-intensity basketball continuously, began to have stamina problems, making him struggle defensively. He conceded a 2+1 play to Gasol and was also fouled.
At this point, Yunas moved Yi Jianlian to the paint to provide support.
Reyes and Calderon on the perimeter finally had opportunities to play, and the two of them began their shooting spree from beyond the arc.
Spain, with a 5-1 run and then a 6-2 run, narrowed the gap by the end of the third quarter, trailing 67-60.
...
"Yao Ming is still too tired. He's even struggling to move at the end."
The camera switched to the broadcast booth, and Yang Yi sighed: "It's not just Yao Ming, Sun Yue and Yi Jianlian are also struggling to keep up. Da Zhi is still resting on the bench. Yunas is clearly considering his stamina issues."
"Our next opponents are Angola and then Greece. The opponents' strength will be relatively weaker, so we can let Yao Ming and Tang Long rest appropriately. If we play such high-intensity games, even if we pass the group stage, stamina will be an issue in the knockout rounds."
Having won against the United States and still maintaining dominance against Spain, the three in the broadcast booth seemed to have already started considering how to play in the knockout stages.
"Regardless, we still need to win this game first," Yang Yi said. "We can see that Spain's momentum has picked up, and at this time, we must resolutely put out their fire."
...
Previously, when Dragon Country played against Spain, they also led in the first half and maintained their advantage. However, they lacked stamina in the second half, and their players repeatedly made mistakes, being dragged into overtime by Spain.
In overtime, Yao Ming and the others' stamina was even more depleted. At that time, he was playing with an injury, and in the end, Dragon Country narrowly lost to Spain in overtime, which was the closest Dragon Country had ever come to defeating Spain.
That game also made countless fans lament.
How could Tang Long allow such a situation to happen?
At the start of the fourth quarter, with the "Earth's War Song" activated, Tang Long and Yao Ming executed a tacit cooperation in the frontcourt.
Tang Long dunked spectacularly over Gasol!