58-50, Dragon Nation leads by eight points, and Giannakis calls another timeout.
The current full-court press tactic is a bit untimely; if it continues, Dragon Nation's lead will further increase.
Giannakis decides to let Schortsanitis play, utilizing Schortsanitis's advantage to attack Dragon Nation's interior, first liberating their offensive capability in the paint!
Now they need to score, and Schortsanitis indeed has a significant advantage against Yi Jianlian.
Fighting for position with Yao Ming, this guy had to exert considerable effort.
However, against Yi Jianlian, Schortsanitis could easily push Yi Jianlian out of a favorable position and calmly receive passes from his teammates.
Schortsanitis repeatedly attacked the paint, and Yi Jianlian no longer dared to foul recklessly, as there was always a chance for "Little Shark" to get a 2+1.
Da Zhi guarded the perimeter against Greek players' drives, and the effect was also quite average. Greece immediately went on a 6-0 run, and the score became 58-56.
"Yi, why don't you switch to denying the inbound pass?"
Tang Long tentatively asked.
He worried that Yi Jianlian might be reluctant to deny the inbound pass, as Yi Jianlian was a proud player and might not choose to do so.
Tang Long could switch positions with Yi Jianlian, but if he moved deeper into the paint, the most direct impact would be on fast breaks. If both teams played half-court offense, the team's weaknesses would be immediately exposed.
"I can try, but this guy is really tough to move."
Yi Jianlian looked at Tang Long helplessly and said, "This guy is like a tank; when he moves, I feel the floor trembling!"
"He's not as agile as you are, so there should be opportunities."
The advantage of denying the inbound pass was that it could prevent the opponent from easily receiving passes from teammates.
However, denying the inbound pass also had its drawbacks. Once the player behind the defender received the ball, the defender could only watch them dunk at the basket.
Especially for players like "Little Shark," if he faced an open basket, this guy would definitely perform.
Seeing Yi Jianlian move to the interior, the Greek team first used a lob pass for "Little Shark" to complete a spectacular alley-oop.
Following that, they quickly moved from one side to the other, passing the ball to "Little Shark" with a bounce pass. "Little Shark" received the ball and made a hook shot layup!
With two consecutive successful interior plays, Greece took the lead again, and Schortsanitis started to get cocky.
He pounded his chest and roared at Yi Jianlian.
"Schortsanitis, don't provoke them!"
Papaloukas came over and pushed Schortsanitis.
It was unnecessary to provoke Dragon Nation at this moment; it would only make them more determined and aggressive out of anger!
Also, there was a popular saying in the basketball world this year: "Don't try to provoke a gentleman on the court, because they will show you how terrifying a gentleman with a butcher's knife can be!"
"Lukas, you're getting old, have your courage shrunk too?"
Schortsanitis not only disregarded Papaloukas's reminder but also expressed his displeasure.
Then he continued to provoke Yi Jianlian and other Dragon Nation players, even making vulgar gestures to stimulate their nerves.
Papaloukas watched with genuine anxiety.
If it were before the start of the game, Papaloukas might not have taken Schortsanitis's provocation of Dragon Nation seriously. After all, despite having Yao Ming and Tang Long, the other players in Dragon Nation basketball were far from top-tier.
Now, with this guy provoking them, the Dragon Nation players might be spurred on by shame, increasing their combat power and invisibly narrowing the gap between the two sides!
But Schortsanitis, after teaching O'Neal a lesson in the league, found Yao Ming occupying the position of the number one center.
Just as Yao Ming was struggling with denying the inbound pass, another player, Tang Long, emerged and firmly held onto the title of the league's number one center!
How could Schortsanitis be convinced? He had to show everyone at the Olympics who the number one center was!
Therefore, while others were focused on breaking Dragon Nation's tactics and probing their strengths, Schortsanitis alone harbored the desire to prove himself.
"Damn it!" Even the usually mild-mannered Yi Jianlian was enraged.
"Let's crush them!"
"If I don't crush them today, I'll quit basketball!"
Da Zhi also spoke fiercely.
When Dragon Nation launched their offense, Yi Jianlian, who had been roaming the paint, reached out for the ball and drove hard at Schortsanitis.
His weight and muscle strength were far inferior to Schortsanitis', yet Yi Jianlian repeatedly drove forward with his shoulder against Schortsanitis!
Bang!
Bang bang!!
After several exchanges, Yi Jianlian, facing the over 300-pound Schortsanitis, managed to advance one step.
His shoulder was already red, but he showed no signs of backing down.
More importantly, in this moment of extreme anger, Yi Jianlian maintained his composure. After repeatedly powering through, he passed the ball to Tang Long, who was roaming the paint.
Tang Long made the shot, scoring two more points.
60-60.
The score was tied again.
On the change of possession, although Greece was reluctant to rely on Schortsanitis, they had to admit that "Little Shark" was currently their most stable scoring option.
Spanoulis drove to the right and passed the ball to "Little Shark," who intended to repeat his previous move.
However, this time, Yi Jianlian displayed a tough attitude. As Schortsanitis pushed him away and prepared to dunk, Yi Jianlian charged back, like a tiger descending from a mountain, pouncing on Schortsanitis and pulling him down as he was about to dunk!
"Good heavens, do you know how dangerous your move was?"
Schortsanitis was startled, thinking he was doomed this time.
He had already jumped, and with someone grabbing him from behind, he was sure to get injured falling with his weight.
Yi Jianlian still maintained his sportsmanship. Although he pulled Schortsanitis down, he also shielded him, preventing him from falling.
However, Schortsanitis, blinded by rage, completely ignored Yi Jianlian's good intentions.
Yi Jianlian said nothing and was about to walk away, but Schortsanitis continued to shout. How could Tang Long tolerate this? He immediately rushed over.
"What are you doing? Want to fight? If you're not satisfied, let's have a one-on-one!"
"You?" Schortsanitis couldn't help but mock, "Tang, no offense, but if you can take one punch from me, I'll consider myself defeated!"
"Alright, then it's decided. After the game, we'll have a duel in front of the whole world. You punch me, I punch you, and whoever loses is..."
Tang Long flipped his little finger over and tapped it a few times, clearly implying that the loser would be a coward.
"We're the hosts, so you can go first. Are you scared? If not, get lost and stop showing off in front of me!"
Tang Long cursed, "Let me tell you, this place, the capital, is not for you to show off. Even the Dream Eight team doesn't have that qualification, so who do you think you are?"