So I am the god of basketball?

Chapter 292 Finals Preview
Come September 7st.

The first thing that comes out is big news:

The New York Knicks and Ewing are preparing to pardon him after "friendly negotiations."

Ewing's contract has one year left, worth $1400 million, but New York's management doesn't want to wait any longer.

As to whether this friendly negotiation is friendly or not, no one knows.

Anyway, the venomous New York media said: "New York's darkest era was when they renewed Patrick's contract with an annual salary of tens of millions. We all know that he is not worth that much money!"

New York fans also think that the management finally did something right this year!

Only Ewing was complaining: "I have dedicated my whole life to New York, and now this is the result!"

For Ewing, this was something he was very unwilling to accept.

Although he didn't win the championship, he led the Knicks to the finals twice, and many people spoke for him. This time, he didn't even make it to the finals.

This resulted in a significantly smaller number of people speaking for him this time.

If his highest achievement was just leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals, even if he dedicated his entire life to it, the New York Knicks would still have offered him a big contract.

This can only be regarded as a mutual understanding...

And the New York Knicks spent a lot of money.

If you simply say that the New York Knicks just gave you a big contract and never thought about recruiting players, that's two different things. The current situation is:
The New York Knicks are eager to win the championship, and Dolan is not stingy with his money.

But in the end, Ewing did not take the team with him as the absolute core to a bigger stage.

Barkley suggested to Ewing: "There is a very convenient way in front of you now. It depends on whether you are willing to take it!"

At this stage in his career, no one would offer Ewing a big contract.

Instead of getting a contract worth a few million, it is better to take a million less and fight again for your dream.

This is what Barkley wanted to say.

at least……

Don’t worry about how this championship came about. At the very least, you can turn around and mock, saying it’s not me who is not good enough, it’s New York that is not good enough!

And this place that absolutely guarantees that he can win the championship...

Needless to say!

Los Angeles Lakers!

And the Lakers definitely need veterans like Ewing to join the team. After all, the rotation at the center position is also a small problem for the Lakers.

There is a serious problem when Ben Wallace plays with Horry, which is that he cannot guarantee rebounds.

There is an important reason why this problem did not explode in this year's playoffs:
The Philadelphia 76ers didn't make the finals, otherwise this would definitely be a minor annoyance.

Obviously, Barkley thought of this, and just now he secretly encouraged Ewing to go to the Lakers. It can also be regarded as a small favor to Meng Lang, helping him to make up for this small problem without knowing it.

Ewing did not immediately respond to Barkley's words.

He needs to think seriously about whether what Barkley said is true.

Meng Lang didn't care about this matter. The Lakers' current style of play is mature and the players have reached their peak. The new season will be his third title defense journey in his career.

But in Meng Lang's own opinion, this is also the "title defending journey" that he has least to worry about.

In the Magic team, he had to worry about the "boss competition" with Shaquille O'Neal. In the Lakers, the retirement of "Magic" and "Human Highlight Movie" greatly reduced the team's strength, which added uncertainty to the new season.

This time, not at all.

Any player joining the Lakers at this time, especially a veteran like Ewing, is simply here to win the championship.

If Meng Lang cared about this kind of thing, he would be unworthy of his current status as the number one person in the alliance.

On the first day of his arrival in July, he went to Sydney to join up with the Chinese men's basketball team.

The 2000 Sydney Olympics, it’s coming…

When talking about this Olympics, many fans do not have a deep impression.

Because this was the only time in the 00s that the Chinese men's basketball team failed to qualify from the group stage in the Olympics... Look how high the Chinese men's basketball team set for themselves during this "golden decade".

Whether or not I can play in the Olympics is not a question that needs to be considered at all.

They are definitely beatable.

Moreover, they did not go to the Olympics just to be runners-up. They made it out of the group stage twice.

How unlike now!
However, if we really have to say something, the Chinese men's basketball team in 00 is worth mentioning.

When Sports Illustrated was doing an Olympic preview, each country would choose a sports team to describe. When writing about the Chinese men's basketball team, it did not write about table tennis and diving, but instead wrote about a Chinese men's basketball team that had never won a medal in the world.

The title they gave was: “moving great wall”!
That’s right, it’s the “Moving Great Wall”.

This is how foreign media defined the Chinese men's basketball team in 00.

In the 00 Olympics, the original Chinese men's basketball team sent out a lineup of three centers + the golden generation, with complete personnel and a reasonable lineup structure.

Compared to the 2008 generation, the “golden generation” of outside players have the same shooting accuracy, but their ball control abilities are stronger.

The inside line is Wang Zhizhi at his peak + Yao Ming in his prime + Bater. ——Yes, the earliest "moving Great Wall" refers to Wang Zhizhi, Bater and Yao Ming. Yi Jianlian has nothing to do with it.

Moreover, it is said that the Chinese men's basketball team was divided into the group of death in 2008, but in fact the grouping of the Chinese men's basketball team in 2000 was even more fatal. The opponents in the group stage were the Dream Team + all the top teams in Europe, among which only New Zealand was relatively weak.

But the Chinese men's basketball team beat New Zealand and European champion Italy in the group stage.

This victory over Italy was also the last time that the Chinese men's basketball team defeated a strong European team in the world series, and that was without the home-court advantage.

Although they won two games, the Chinese men's basketball team failed to qualify due to the win-loss points.

Seeing this, some fans may be confused.

What's the story behind this?

Isn't there any extra win points?

But in fact, the Chinese men's basketball team is far more regrettable than this!

Because the Chinese men's basketball team could have won the game against France!
The Chinese men's basketball team once led their opponents by 16 points during the game.

Even with 7 minutes left in the second half, the Chinese men's basketball team was still leading by 15 points.

And at this moment, something outrageous happened...

Veteran coach Jiang Xingquan probably felt that they would definitely win, so he replaced some of the main players.

After France's No. 6 Rigado made two consecutive three-pointers, he still didn't care.

Later, Coach Guo made three consecutive turnovers in one minute and assisted the opponent with three three-pointers. In the end, France's No. 3 Rigato scored six consecutive three-pointers.

At this time, it was too late for the old coach Jiang Xingquan to send out all his main players.

The Chinese men's basketball team lost the third win in the group that they should have won.

If they really win, the Chinese men's basketball team can at least rank sixth in the Olympics, and even have the possibility of entering the Olympic finals.

This also became the lifelong pain of veteran coach Jiang Xingquan.

I can only say that opening champagne at halftime is really bad for one’s character!
Meng Lang was also confused when watching the replay of the game.

Head Coach: Jiang Xingquan
Center: Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, Battelle; Forward: Liu Yudong, Zhang Jinsong, Hu Weidong, Sun Jun, Zheng Wu;
Guards: Li Xiaoyong, Li Nan, Guo Shiqiang, Li Qun.

This was the lineup of the Chinese men's basketball team in 00. Meng Lang arrived and replaced Li Qun's position.

In fact, there is another forward position that Gong Xiaobin can play.

But this guy missed the 99 national men's basketball team because he had a love affair in the team. He also missed the Olympics because of a quarrel with Jiang Xingquan.

If he were there, the Chinese men's basketball team would be even stronger.

Of course, it is strong enough even now. The starting lineup that the Chinese men's basketball team can send out is: Meng Lang at number one, Li Nan at number two, Hu Weidong at number three, Wang Zhizhi at number four, and Yao Ming at number five.

To be honest, this lineup should be considered the best lineup in the entire history of the Chinese men's basketball team.

At most, Li Nan would be replaced at the No. 2 position by Hu Weidong, and Yi Jianlian would be put at the small forward position.

People in China are also looking forward to this Chinese men's basketball team.

Meng Lang went there early because he also wanted to make a big splash in this session.

But if you want to put on a stunning performance, the first thing you need to do is to develop enough tacit understanding with your teammates.

After a month of training, August arrived and the Sydney Olympics also came.

As before, the Chinese men's basketball team was placed in the death group, facing the "Dream Four Teams", Italy, France, New Zealand and Lithuania.

Speaking of which, Lithuania is really a nightmare for the Chinese men's basketball team.

From 00 to 08, we never won against Lithuania.

But the "European Caesar" who was born in Lithuania in 08 thought he knew Lithuania well enough and deliberately lost the last game of the group stage just to meet Lithuania.

then……

There's no after that!

Since Meng Lang is on the Chinese men's basketball team this time, the team is more anticipated than before.

The biggest difference between basketball and football is that basketball is a game for five people, while the number of players in football is more than twice that of basketball, not to mention the venue.

Therefore, on the football field, the improvement that a player can bring to a team is relatively limited.

It’s different on the basketball court, where one “superstar” is enough to make a playoff team a championship favorite.

The same goes for the Chinese men's basketball team.

They already had the ability to make it into the top 6, and with the addition of Meng Lang, this Chinese men's basketball team will definitely be in the championship race, if not the championship for sure.

As for whether he can really win the championship...

You'll have to fight to find out.

The first opponent of the Chinese men's basketball team in the 00 Sydney Olympics was none other than the powerful "Dream Team ".

It is worth mentioning that foreign media called this game a "final preview."

Even the American media said that the biggest rival of the "Dream Team" in the Olympics has arrived...

Barkley even praised them: "First of all, I must support the Dream Team, but... the basketball environment now is really different from our time. Dream has shortened the gap between international basketball and the NBA, and basketball is such a game. Sometimes one person is a team!"

“Starting: Gary Payton, Ray Allen, Grant Hill, Garnett, Mourning;
Substitutes: Kidd, Tim Hardaway, Alan Houston, Carter, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Antonio McDyess, Vin Baker;”

Originally, they won the first two games of the Olympics by a large margin, but the gap between them and their opponents became smaller and smaller. The 85-76 victory over Lithuania in the group stage was the first time since the United States formed the "Dream Team" that it did not win by double digits.

The biggest shock to the Dream Team was their narrow 85-83 win over Lithuania in the semifinals.

If Lithuanian star Sarunas Jaskevicius hadn't missed the buzzer-beating three-pointer before the end of the game, the Dream Team 4 would have even been eliminated in the semifinals.

The Dream Team 85 only won the gold medal by defeating France 75- in the final.

Although the Dream Team 2000 successfully defended their title at the Olympics, it was also from that time that the Dream Team began to lose its invincible aura.

Of course, the original "Dream Team 4" did not include Hill.

This time, Hill was in the lineup.

but……

Grant Hill's role is not irreplaceable. At least Vince Carter and Hardaway can take on the responsibilities that he should have borne.

It can be seen that the Chinese men's basketball team really has a chance this year!
This opening match will also test this.

The game started quickly, and the Chinese men's basketball team took the initiative. Meng Lang faced Gary Payton with the ball.

"The Glove" is really a bit of a pain in the ass. It was so hard that they didn't have to play against Meng Lang this year, but they didn't expect to meet him again on the Olympic stage.

Relying on his height and wingspan, Meng Lang easily scored the first goal.

2-0.

The "Dream Team 4" counterattacked, Payton took the ball to the frontcourt and passed it to Ray Allen.

Facing Li Nan, "Gentleman Sword" raised his hand and shot, and the ball hit the target steadily.

The "Dream Team" took the lead.

Meng Lang still took the ball himself, facing Gary Payton, paused for a moment, and then completed a three-point shot directly against Payton.

5-3!

Gary Payton was speechless. He looked at Hill next to him and asked, "Why don't you defend this guy?"

This is too bullying!
Payton has a height advantage at the point guard position, but he had no temper at all when facing Meng Lang.

Even more worried than him was Tomjanovich on the sidelines.

Because from the look on Meng Lang's face, it seemed like he had the idea of ​​overthrowing the entire "Dream Team"...

Each quarter of an Olympic men's basketball game lasts only 10 minutes.

The whole game only lasts 40 minutes.

As for Meng Lang's physical fitness...

He had no doubt that Meng Lang could carry the entire match.

This is something he will never allow.

Double-team him, you must double-team him hard!
Chuck Daly signaled that after Meng Lang got the ball, Hill on the wing should immediately use the double-team tactic with Payton.

Meng Lang saw all of this. The ball passed to Hu Weidong, who had 800 degrees of myopia, and he took an open three-pointer and made it in.

8-3!

This was what Meng Lang had agreed with them before the game started. If there was an opportunity to shoot a three-pointer at the start of the game, they must take it. Only by shooting from beyond the three-point line could the rest of the game be easier to play.

The ball was in Grant Hill's hands, and he made a graceful acceleration breakthrough. Although Hu Weidong kept up with his speed, he was unable to effectively interfere.

Yao Ming had to make a tip-in, and the ball flew from Hill's hands into the basket.

"Bah!"

Alonso Mourning dunks!

(End of this chapter)