Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 108 European Trip (1)

Chen Fang never wants to experience the hardships of international flights again in his life.

The ten-hour direct flight from BJ to Munich, Germany, was probably the most uncomfortable experience in Chen Fang's life.

Nestled in the cramped space of the economy class, feeling the tinnitus and bumps, with nowhere to put your limbs, the pain is like torture.

Fortunately, both rows were filled with our teammates, and sometimes they could make room to go to the aisle to relax a little. Even so, everyone looked pale.

Especially the tall ones, Zeng Fanri is no longer moved by the pride of his body. He is one of the most uncomfortable people in the team, the other one is Fu Hao.

International flights usually take off at night. Chen Fang hardly slept that night. When he heard that the plane was about to land, he almost cried.

After getting off the plane, it took the twenty people in the group more than half an hour to move their feet.

At the exit station, they were greeted by embassy staff, and the arranged bus had been waiting for a long time.

It was already one o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived at the hotel.

Considering the fatigue from the journey, the coach forced the whole team to eat something and then go back to the room to rest and adjust to the 8-hour jet lag.

After entering the house and taking a shower, Chen Fang and Zeng fell asleep almost instantly.

When I woke up again, it was already late at night. I was awakened by the smell. I opened my eyes and found that I had been making instant noodles.

"Give me a bucket too." Chen Fang struggled.

"It's too painful." Chen Fang muttered.

"It would be nice to have a first-class cabin," Zeng said.

"Any business car will do." Chen Fang snorted.

I got up, went to the bathroom to wash up, and felt much better.

The noodles were ready, and the two of them ate and chatted. Zeng was asked the most often: since you are so accurate, why don't you shoot in the training match.

Chen Fang's answer left Zeng speechless: "We are all family, there is no need to shoot anyone in the face."

I didn’t dare go out after eating, I just stretched my muscles in the room. I endured it until dawn. The teaching assistant knocked on the door and asked everyone to go for breakfast together.

Germany is a country that attaches great importance to breakfast. Relatively speaking, their breakfast is the most sumptuous meal.

But despite this, compared to the rich variety of Chinese cuisine, it is still very simple.

All kinds of bread, all kinds of sausages, all kinds of cheese, all kinds of milk.

This is Chen Fang’s impression of German breakfast.

It's enough to not overeat but keep you full.

When you are abroad, you represent the country. Many disciplinary rules have been made known to you before you board the plane, but when you arrive, Leader Wu still solemnly reiterated them.

For example, you should speak in a low voice, litter or spit, etc.

The hotel has a gym, but it is small and simple. With the help of the embassy, the national youth team went to a high school and borrowed the venue and equipment.

It is not as luxurious as imagined, on the contrary it is very old and feels like it was built in the 1970s or 1980s.

The first day's training was mainly focused on recovery, because the match with the German U18 team was the day after tomorrow, and the national youth team had plenty of time to make adjustments.

The only trouble is the venue.

Germany is a football powerhouse; in comparison, basketball has a lower status. But even so, Germany is far ahead of China in talent cultivation.

There are three areas worth learning from.

First of all, starting from elementary school, the school forces you to learn a sport.

Second, the community will regularly organize community leagues, starting from the age of 6 and lasting for two years.

Third, the club will provide a career path for athletes after the age of 16.

Especially the third point. Even though Germany is a football powerhouse, their basketball is divided into five levels, one and two are professional, and three to five are amateur.

There is an annual intercontinental amateur league in 16 continents across the country, through which thousands of coaches select talented players, who are basically between the ages of 14 and 16.

The most important point is that the players are free and there is no training contract. Even if they are clubs, they can only sign short-term contracts.

The German Basketball Association will begin to pour resources and funds into the university league. The first and second leagues will basically obtain fresh blood through high schools and universities.

A talented basketball player must play at least 60 games a year.

Schroeder, who has already landed in the NBA, was playing in the second-tier league at the age of 16, entered the Bundesliga at the age of 18, and became famous for defeating the American college team at the Nike Summit on behalf of the world team at the age of 20. He then became an NBA player through the draft.

His growth trajectory is very clear and all the data is available, which makes it very convenient for NBA scouts to judge his abilities.

Back to the topic, if you want to find a football field, it is very simple, but if you want to find an indoor court, you will have to travel a long way.

Time was consumed by the journey, and the training for the second day only lasted for one afternoon. Master Fan only roughly practiced the tactics to be used tomorrow and ended it hastily.

At the regular meeting that evening, Master Fan announced the starting lineup for tomorrow's game.

Zhao Rui, Sun Minghui, Hu Jinqiu, Fu Hao, Shao Yinglun.

It was a bit surprising that Chen Fang was not in the starting lineup, but Chen Fang personally had no objection. The national youth team's tactics actually require more attempts and errors, and this is the significance of the warm-up match.

There was no conversation that night. After getting up in the morning, we had breakfast and got on the bus to head to the competition venue.

The venue for the match against the German U18 team is the Bayern Munich Basketball Club.

After arriving, under the guidance of the staff, the National Youth Team came to an indoor stadium.

The stadium is not big, and it feels not as spacious as the blue stadium in Chenfang. It is obviously a training ground.

Soon, their guesses were proven wrong, this was the venue.

There are no stands, just a simple scoreboard and countdown timer.

Since we are here, we might as well make the best of it. The whole team began orderly warm-up training.

Half an hour later, a group of people came in, led by a bald middle-aged man. With the help of an interpreter, the coaches from both sides shook hands and established a relationship.

Chen Fang took a look and said to Zeng, "You are in trouble."

Germans are naturally big-boned, and among the dozen or so people who came in, none of them looked thin.

Some of them even had beards on their faces.

"18 is a bit old!" one team member said jokingly.

Germany also started warming up. The game was scheduled for ten o'clock, but it was already nine fifty. Just when Chen Fang thought it would be delayed, he didn't expect that the two-meter-uniformed referee blew the whistle before the clock hanging on the wall reached ten o'clock.

The game is about to begin.

It all feels like a joke, but it's real.

I can only say that foreigners are not so polite. They did not take this national youth team too seriously and just treated it as an ordinary game.

The opponent is overall strong, but actually a little shorter, but his fighting style appears very tough.

In the first five minutes of the game, the National Youth Team had already received four fouls. Chen Fang discovered that the referee's penalties for physical confrontations were relatively light, but he was very harsh on the hands and feet when both sides moved. The four fouls by the National Youth Team were all caused in this way.

This problem is a genetic defect in Chinese basketball.

In general, the reason why Europe and the United States will not be like this is because the system is here. Even if it passes, the secondary defense of teammates will handle it well. Everyone relies on the overall defense to play.

However, the domestic tactical quality is relatively low. Many times, if someone passes you, you will score. Then both your teammates and coaches will think it is your problem.

This leads to an inner state of imbalance when defending, and once one finds oneself being broken through, one will instinctively use other means to resolve the issue.

This type of defense has the strictest penalty standards in the entire FIFA system.

To put it bluntly, there is also a chain of contempt among referees.

Once the referee finds out that your entire team has this problem, it will be extended to all penalty standards.

Therefore, when the Chinese team plays in international competitions, they suffer losses at the hands of the referees in almost every game.

Most of the so-called conspiracy theories are just excuses.

There are countless examples of defensive scandals in domestic amateur competitions. This team may be slightly cleaner than the island teams in Southeast Asia.

The base soil will radiate the entire sports environment. As someone who has played street basketball for so many years, Chen Fang is very clear about this.

Zhao Rui was called for a foul again, and he now has three fouls on his back.

Master Fan immediately made a substitution, with Chen Fang replacing Zhao Rui.

On the court, waiting for Germany to take free throws.

Off the court, Chen Fang discovered that the opponent's No. 96 and No. 42 were one level higher than the others.

Chen Fang doesn't pay much attention to European basketball, otherwise he would be able to recognize who these two people are.

No. 96 is Andreas Obst, the key man who helped Germany eliminate the United States and advance to the finals and win the championship in 23. He scored 24 points and made 4 three-pointers in that game.

No. 42 is even more famous. It is Moritz Wagner, an NBA player. He also has a younger brother who was equally outstanding in the future. He was selected by the Magic and was selected into the first team of the best rookie of the year.

He and his brother were the future core figures of Germany, known as the Wagner Fortress.

It is precisely because of the performance of Wagner and Obst that the German U18 team is now suppressing the Chinese Youth Team.

When Obst made the free throw, the score was 14 to 5.

Master Fan was mentally prepared for this situation.

In this warm-up match, all the teams were strong, and he was mentally prepared to lose them all.

He just wanted to see if this national youth team could adapt to the European style of play in advance and have more chances of winning in the World Youth Championship in June next year.

Chen Fang was advancing with the ball, but Germany still used a combination of defensive and pressing tactics, which was very uncomfortable.

First of all, in terms of the intensity of the confrontation, the National Youth Team suffered an overall disadvantage, and may have been at a disadvantage.

Second, leading the defense and pressing throughout the court will make the player with the ball feel tense and stressed.

This style of play also places high demands on the players, who must always pay attention to the positioning of their teammates. This is not achieved through temporary command by the coach on the sidelines, but rather by looking at the movement trajectory of the ball holder and whether there are any mistakes in the support of his teammates.

If there is, it will become pressing; if not, it will be leading defense.

Chen Fang didn't know the secret, but he knew how to solve it.

UI.

After going through so many things, I just went through it and stopped.

Seeing someone coming, Chen Fang suddenly accelerated, judged the opponent's position with his peripheral vision, and suddenly dribbled the ball with his back and changed hands, completely getting rid of his opponent.

After crossing the center line, he did not stop. Instead, he took advantage of the 5-on-4 opportunity and went straight to the basket.

The German team has extremely high quality. They did not use two people to double-team the player. Instead, one person faced the opponent while the other cut the passing route.

If Chen Fang passed the ball at this time, it would solve this problem, but it would not be an assist, so Chen Fang used his speed to force his way inside.

As soon as he made contact, he felt a strong attack, but he used this force to turn half way, luring his opponent to change positions. Then he reset his steps and cut in again along the opponent's left side.

At this step, you reach the free throw line.

Germany's backup defense came up immediately, and as the saying goes, where there is backup there are loopholes. Chen Fang passed the ball to Sun Minghui in the bottom corner with a shake of his hand.

As soon as Sun got the ball, he decisively took a three-pointer.

Seeing the three-pointer made, Master Fan applauded.

Replace it with Chenfang and you will see immediate results.

At the same time, I felt half relieved from the anxiety that had been hanging in my heart.

Chen Fang's attributes have not diminished. Facing foreign players who are two years older than him, he is still able to break through and pass.

The German U18's two internal and external fulcrums are very strong. Whether it is the pick-and-roll cooperation between the two of them or the cooperation with other teammates, it is extremely dangerous.

Seeing the defense being torn apart again and Germany easily taking two points, Fan couldn't help but say to Wu: "Our level is just one level lower."

"The quality is really good, it's all thanks to the cooperation among the three of them, ah." Fan Chang sighed.

The National Youth Team has three players cooperating, but it must be based on clear tactics.

But the German U18 has always had three or even four players cooperating.

Screen, pick and roll, pass and cut, and pull out are always there.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 21 to 14, with the National Youth Team trailing by 7 points.

This was when Chen Fang had already directed the offense very well, and this was only the first quarter. By the second half, when his physical strength declined, the situation would be very dangerous.

The road ahead is long and arduous, this idiom flashed through Fan Bin’s mind.

This national youth team may have some outstanding players, but its tactical qualities, especially defense, are clearly lacking.

To be honest, Fan felt a little disappointed, but also a little relieved.

When the answer is revealed, there is inevitably a sense of loss in one's heart.

The only expectation now is whether Chen Fang can inject some better chemical reaction into this national youth team.

　The record of the 2015 U19 National Youth Team can be checked, and they ranked second to last in the World Youth Championship. In fact, this session produced several future national players, and all of them entered the professional field. But why is there such a result? There are two problems. 1. There are no defensive inside players, neither Jin Qiu nor Fu Hao, and there is no inside player who can protect the frame. 2. The overall defense is very poor, and it is a strange situation of transfusion and bleeding at the same time. If Zhou Qi was still there at the time, and was not promoted to the national team, the ranking might be much better. In this European warm-up match, I will also focus on some of my feelings about basketball, without taking up too much space, and combining it with facts. In addition, in terms of names, save as much as possible, after all, it costs money.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)