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Chapter 270 When Qin Yue's teammate was Yao Ming

During the group stage, the Chinese team, led by Qin Yue, only faced a test in the match against Spain.

With the Gasol brothers and Ibaka, the Spanish team is also one of the favorites to win the gold medal at this Olympics.

However, Yi Jianlian's tough back-to-the-basket moves greatly reduced the offensive pressure on Qin Yue and Yao Ming on the court during this game.

what?
Yi Jianlian, who is so soft in the NBA that he can only beat the chair, can also be associated with the word "tough" in such a high-stakes matchup?
In fact, on the international stage, Yi Jianlian, who was given the right to play football, was indeed a star power forward in FIBA.

Historically, as the only saving grace for the Chinese men's basketball team after Yao Ming's retirement, the Spanish team's three towers combination still couldn't do anything against Yi Jianlian at this Olympics.

Of course, the main reason why the Chinese team was able to win five games in a row in the group stage of the London Olympics was that Qin Yue made a total of 28 three-pointers in the five group stage games.

How terrifying is Qin Yue, who can hit more than five three-pointers per game with a shooting percentage of over 45%?
After the game against the Chinese men's basketball team, Marc Gasol, who kept Qin Yue's jersey, shorts, shoes, and socks from that night's game but left Qin Yue with only his underwear, said: "FIBA really needs to consider extending the three-point line to the distance of the NBA, otherwise 'Big-Qin' will be invincible in FIBA."

Although FIBA's three-point line has now been extended to 6.75 meters, it is only 0.5 meters shorter than the NBA's 7.25 meters.

But on the basketball court, that 0.5-meter distance can make a big difference.

In the past two years, Qin Yue's long two-point shooting percentage in the NBA has consistently remained above 45%.

However, Qin Yue's career three-point shooting percentage is only 37.4%.

why?
Because at a greater distance, Qin Yue not only needs to change his usual way of exerting force, but also because 7.25 meters is, in a sense, a limit set by NBA basketball experts based on the cardiopulmonary capacity of basketball players.

Even in the small-ball era, apart from a very few players, most players, even after pushing their cardiovascular system to its limits, would find it difficult to maintain a three-point shooting percentage of over 40% in the NBA for an extended period.

It's important to understand that spot shooting and shooting after intense competition and extensive running are two completely different concepts.

The former, in particular, includes many basketball enthusiasts who can shoot at the level of professional players.

As for the latter?
Any basketball enthusiast who has ever tried running two laps of shuttle runs before immediately catching and shooting the ball would not risk their hobby by taking away someone else's livelihood.

However, FIBA's response to Marc Gasol's suggestion was simply that it had been read but not replied to.

The reason why FIBA ​​is unlikely to extend the three-point line in the short term is simple.

That is, on the international stage, a longer three-point line will inevitably lead to a significant decrease in the efficiency of each team in breaking through the zone defense.

In FIBA, breaking through zone defense has always been a major challenge.

Therefore, if an excessively long three-point line prevents teams from breaking down the opponent's zone defense for extended periods, the entertainment value of FIBA ​​games will inevitably decline significantly.

It can be said that the 6.75-meter three-point line is a threshold set by FIBA ​​basketball experts based on the technical characteristics of basketball players in the current era and FIBA ​​rules.

It just so happens that two players have emerged in the current era who are simply unstoppable on the international stage.

In Group A of the Olympics, the Chinese men's basketball team, led by Qin Yue, made an unstoppable run into the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, the new Redemption team, led by Durant, also won all five games.

This American team put on an astonishing performance during the group stage, averaging a 30-point margin of victory over their opponents.

During the game, when Durant and Anthony were on fire, the "MK20" duo, who could fire indiscriminately on the court, were like two sniper rifles with built-in "wall-penetrating" capabilities, capable of killing their opponents with a single shot regardless of whether they showed their faces.

On the contrary, Curry, who still lacks experience on the US team, only managed a mediocre performance of 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists per game in the group stage due to a lack of resources.

In Qin Yue's previous life, it wasn't until Curry received preferential treatment in Paris that he proved to the world that his offensive power in FIBA ​​was equally astonishing.

But now
As Durant and Anthony's younger brother, Curry's primary task is naturally to assist his two older brothers and carry their bags and shoes.

This, in turn, subtly fueled Curry's dissatisfaction with Coach K.

Back in his college days, Duke, under Coach K, had ruthlessly rejected Curry.

Therefore, despite the lack of evidence
Historically, many have speculated that the reason Curry did not represent the United States for nine years was due to his experience of being marginalized by Coach K during his tenure as head coach of the US men's basketball team.

For Qin Yue, who is determined to lead the Chinese team to defend their title, Coach K's dislike of Curry is definitely a great joy.

It's no exaggeration to say that if Coach K started using Durant and Curry, as well as the pick-and-roll between Anthony and Curry, extensively during the game, even Qin Yue wouldn't know how the Chinese team could possibly beat this redemption team.

One day after the group stage ended, the Chinese team faced Argentina in the quarterfinals at the London Olympic Basketball Arena.

Compared to the Argentine team that won the championship in Athens eight years ago, this Argentine team, with its severely aging players, can only be described as completely different from what it used to be.

On the night of the game, neither veteran Nocioni's obvious shoulder and elbow strikes nor Scola's various Oscar-worthy dives could stop Qin Yue's scoring momentum for the Chinese team on the court.

Moreover, it should be noted that Qin Yue on the FIBA ​​court is not subject to the "Qin Yue Rules".

How terrifying is GOAT without the constraints of the "Qin Yue Law"?
这一晚，全场28投16中，其中三分球12投6中，罚球20罚19中的秦岳，就用他总计砍下57分18篮板5助攻4封盖的逆天表现，深深震撼了现场的英国球迷。

Although the British have never been interested in basketball.

But for Qin Yue, the basketball god, the fans at the scene actually chanted "GOAT, GOAT" for him as he stepped to the free throw line.

On the court, Ginobili, who scored 28 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds for Argentina, still couldn't prevent Argentina from being eliminated. After the game, he said: "In this game, I felt like we were fighting against an invincible god."

Shortly after China eliminated Argentina, the United States, led by Durant and Anthony, thrashed Australia 118-81, a team that had vowed to show the US the intensity of FIBA ​​matches.

"Is this the intensity the Australians are talking about?" Durant asked with a puzzled look at the press conference, feeling that he had barely broken a sweat.

"Perhaps Andrew Bogut thinks this level of competition is already quite intense?" Anthony chuckled from the side.

In this life, affected by Qin Yue's appearance, Bogut, who lost the title of number one draft pick, not only lost the huge amount of resources that the Bucks invested in him in the early part of his career.

Furthermore, due to Bogut's foul mouth, he is disliked wherever he goes, and this former "White Duncan" has long since been reduced to an ordinary NBA blue-collar center.

So far in his career, Bogut has averaged only 7.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the NBA.

This summer, Bogut didn't receive an offer from Minnesota until the Olympics started.

However, even so, Bogut still did not restrain his personality of always talking big despite lacking ability.

Therefore, after the US team's resounding victory over Australia, Bogut, who had vowed before the game to make the US team experience a high-intensity match, naturally became the target of criticism.

"The Olympics should give Andrew Bogut a separate circus competition, because he'd definitely win the clown competition." — The New York Times

In the semifinals, China will face France.

This is a team that has consistently performed well against strong opponents but struggled against weaker ones in international competitions. Qin Yue recalls that the French team, which often put up a good fight against Asian teams in major tournaments, was surprisingly a strong contender for medals in international competitions during this period.

However, it must be said that when facing strong teams, the French team's highly effective defensive execution did cause considerable trouble for the Chinese team on the night of the match.

The Chinese team received home-team treatment in their semi-final match against France.

Because British people's dislike of the French is always politically correct, whenever a French player gets the ball, British fans in the stadium, together with Chinese fans, will try to interfere with the French player in various ways.

On the Chinese team's side, when Qin Yue received the ball, some British fans even shouted in Chinese, "Fuck him!"

The final score was 78 to 67.

In this retro, slow-paced game, the Chinese team, with the absolute dominance of Qin Yue and Yao Ming in the paint, defeated the French team and successfully advanced to the men's basketball final at the London Olympics.

"The Chinese team, led by the 'Messiah,' saved the world!" — The Times

What? A basketball game can earn a headline like "Saving the World" in The Times?

of course.

After all, the Chinese team defeated the French team in the semi-finals.

No joke, at the London Olympics, the British were more concerned about how many gold medals the British team could win than how many "Waterloo" the French would suffer.

In any case, whenever French athletes participate in a competition, the British audience will spare no effort to ridicule them with boos.

Perhaps this is very un-Olympic.

But this is very British.

On August 12, in the third-place match where the first team to advance had already qualified, the Spanish team, which had been defeated by the American team, enjoyed the same treatment that the Chinese team had received the day before.

On the court, the moment Spain defeated France 80-69, the entire London Olympic Basketball Arena instantly transformed into a sea of ​​joy.

The British enjoyed watching the French become furious after their defeat.

However, on this night, basketball fans from all over the world were clearly more concerned about the upcoming showdown.

From Indianapolis in 2002 to London in 2012, the Redemption Team, which had not won a single championship in a major international tournament for a full decade, shouldered the heavy responsibility of helping American basketball regain its glory long before the London Olympics began.

Before the game, Durant said in an interview, "Considering that this will be his last time playing in an international competition, this is also my last chance to beat him and his team on the international stage."

Durant, eager to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, feels it is his duty to restore the glory of American basketball.

But Qin Yue, who wanted to tell Durant that "failure is a constant in life," responded to Durant by saying: "Can American basketball regain its glory in the future? My answer is that even without me on the international stage, they can definitely regain their former glory."

On the night of the final, the tense atmosphere between the Chinese and American teams made fans of this era feel the difference of this final almost from the pre-match warm-up.

However, one player on both the Chinese and American teams seemed uninterested in the final.

This player is none other than Curry, who has never been favored by Coach K.

Compared to the previous group stage.

During the knockout stage, Curry, whose playing time was reduced to around 15 minutes per game by Coach K, couldn't feel the joy that basketball brought him at all.

As a three-time NBA champion and the player whose performance on the Warriors last season was second only to Qin Yue, Curry couldn't understand why Coach K would rather put Westbrook and Rose on the court and miss shots than use himself.

To this, Qin Yue could only say...
Since it was Coach K who rejected Curry back then, why would Coach K give Curry the chance to embarrass himself now?

As everyone knows, wherever there are people, there is a world of its own.

Where there is a world of its own, there will naturally be human relationships and social customs.

Perhaps it would be very impolite to say this to Qin Yue and the Chinese team.

But in the past two major tournaments, the Chinese team has always been able to defeat the American team. Isn't that because the American team has never been able to effectively utilize their star players?
That was the case in the past.

That night was no different.

On the field, after warming up, the Chinese and American teams officially announced their starting lineups.

Team USA: Howard, Durant, Anthony, Wade, Westbrook.

Team China: Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, Wang Shipeng, Qin Yue.

In the center of the court, Qin Yue, who noticed that the US team had simply abandoned Curry in the final, immediately gave his teammates a meaningful look as Yao Ming prepared to jump the ball.

In the opening attack, Qin Yue directly switched Durant to Qin Yue through a screen and then went one-on-one against Durant for five consecutive possessions.

On the basketball court, single-player picks are not only an offensive tactic that targets the opponent's defensive weaknesses.

At the same time, single-player shooting can also weaken the opponent's offensive players' shooting touch.

On the other hand, facing Coach K's lineup that deliberately gave up offensive space, the Chinese team, led by Qin Yue, tormented American fans watching on TV with various zone defenses.

On TNT, after the US team was given an 8-2 start by the Chinese team, Barkley said, "We all know that playing alongside 'Messiah,' even someone like Kwame Brown could be compared to Shaq. So now the question is, what if 'Big-Yao' were playing alongside 'Messiah'?"

What would happen if Qin Yue's teammate was Yao Ming?

On the court, under Qin Yue's relentless pursuit and interception, Yao Ming, who always planned his moves carefully in the three-second zone, appeared like Optimus Prime in front of the players responsible for attacking the basket for the American team.

Don't ask, the answer is that even though Yao Ming is from Shanghai, he still ate the delicious hot pot offered to him by the American team players.

Furthermore, the fact that only Howard can protect the rim in this US team lineup fully exposes how weak their interior defense is on the international stage.

At the London Olympic Basketball Arena, when Yao Ming once again received a pass from Qin Yue and slammed the ball into the basket with the power of a giant, the American fans watching on television, who had been full of expectations for this redemption team before the game, were suddenly reminded of the fear they had felt in the past two major tournaments when they were dominated by Qin Yue and the Chinese team.

During the first quarter, when Team USA called a timeout, Reggie Miller, who was commentating with Barkley, said in despair, "Our star players are nothing compared to 'Big-Qin' and 'Big-Yao'."

……

①: MK-20 is a real-world sniper support rifle. In this Olympics, Durant wore number 5 and Anthony wore number 15, so combining the first letters of their names naturally resulted in the "MK20" combination.

PS: As expected, Ah Qiao's prediction came true. Without Curry, this Warriors team really can't beat the Timberwolves. It's likely the Timberwolves will take the Warriors 4-1 next. Also, this prediction is just for fun, but Ah Qiao still thinks the Cavaliers and Thunder will both win tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)