Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 110 European Trip (3)

The second half of the game was beyond the expectations of both sides.

Germany used their full lineup and brought out the starting five.

But the national youth team's strategy was to attack each other. Halfway through the third quarter, both sides discovered their own problems.

Germany found that it could not speed up, otherwise it would always be chased and beaten.

China found that if they continued like this, they might not have enough energy for the fourth quarter.

Fan Bin grabbed Chen Fang and gave him instructions: "Steady the tempo. I'm going to replace Fu Hao and Zeng Fanri with Sun and Yinglun. You lead the four of them and play a run-and-gun game."

"clear."

After Chen Fang came up, he replaced Brother Hao.

Now the five Chinese players on the field have decreased in height and hardness, but their attack has almost reached its peak.

Zhao Rui on the left, Sun Minghui on the right, with Shao Yinglun and Hu Jinqiu who have the ability to break through, these four people are all scorers.

Fan just wanted to see what damage value Chen Fang would get with this lineup.

The scene changed drastically immediately.

The pressure that Germany put on the Chinese national youth team increased exponentially. Wagner scored easily under the basket. With his 211cm height and strong physique, Hu Jinqiu was just a paper man in front of him.

However, the offensive trident formed by Chen Fang made it impossible for the German U18 to defend against it.

Sun and Zhao's repeated movement and sliding back and forth to the bottom corner can be solved by a 23-man zone defense, but facing Chen Fang at the top of the arc, the two German players are completely unable to suppress them.

Hu Jinqiu had made two consecutive shots from the free throw line, allowing him to vent his frustration in defense.

This is the situation. Both coaches want to change it, but they can't.

Now, it all depends on who can last longer.

When Hu Jinqiu scored again, Chen Fang's assists reached ten times.

10 points and 10 assists.

But Chen Fang was not satisfied, and the situation forced him to do more.

Germany changed its formation and began a 122 full-court press.

Obst's tenacity represents Germany's will. Even though he was left behind and attacked, he still spared no effort to interfere with Chen Fang.

It is so difficult to get rid of a person who weighs 95KG and is 196cm tall.

Sun Minghui took the initiative to ask for the ball and took on some of the functions of a point guard, but the situation did not improve.

Two mistakes by Zhao Rui and Shao Yinglun allowed Germany to score another five points and also resulted in a foul.

Zhao Rui was substituted out as he had already committed four fouls.

Fan Bin is not angry about this. When competing with European teams, fouls are the norm.

Losing Zhao Rui and replacing him with Zhao Yanhao did not make the National Youth Team lose its attack, but its defense was as thin as paper and could be broken with just a poke.

Chen Fang held the ball and asked Hu Jinqiu to set a pick-and-roll for him. He then went inside and after attracting two people, he passed the ball to Sun Minghui in the corner on the same side.

Sun Minghui made a wide-open three-pointer and recovered three points.

"Let him break through, don't help defend, defend his shooting!" Herbert suddenly gave the order.

He has a judgment that needs to be proven.

In the next round, Germany's defense changed. Chen Fang went inside again through a pick-and-roll. This time, Germany did not come up to help defend, but watched No. 21 walk inside.

Chen Fang was a little surprised, but it would be wrong not to attack at this time, so he made a layup towards the basket. At this time, Wagner's rim protection came into play.

Chen Fang was forced to hit the rebound high, but the ball went straight out of the basket.

Germany grabbed the rebound and moved forward. Three players made an exquisite pass in the frontcourt, and Obst finally scored.

Chen Fang was still disturbed by Obst. Sun Minghui was advancing with the ball. He ran without the ball. Under the cover of his teammates, after he got the ball, Obst had already caught up. Chen Fang chose to break through, and strange things happened again. He found that no one came to assist in defense, only Wagner in the inside was waiting.

Helplessly, Chen Fang passed the ball back to Zhao Yanhao at the top of the arc.

But Zhao Yanhao was blocked by someone and couldn't take the next step after getting the ball.

Sun Minghui reacted immediately and went to provide support.

After getting the ball, the shot clock was almost up, so he made a hasty shot but missed.

Germany grabbed the rebound and quickly converted it into a fast break.

Fan Bin finally realized something.

He called a timeout.

"Chen Fang, you play shooting guard, let Minghui organize the team, shoot more, don't break through."

"I understand!" Chen Fang still didn't quite understand, but he obeyed the coach's arrangements.

When they sat down again, Fan Bin said to Leader Wu, "Chen Fang didn't make a small lob."

"So that's it!" Team leader Wu suddenly realized.

Small header is a must-have skill for small defenders.

After breaking through, when facing a tall inside player, he usually uses a jump shot to solve the problem.

But Chen Fang started playing basketball seriously in college in his junior year of high school, and by then his height was close to two meters, so he didn't need this technique to score.

Chen Fang had suffered several ankle injuries at that time, so he didn't like to go inside and would rather choose to shoot from the outside or mid-range.

After his rebirth, he has been concentrating on regaining his original skills, without even realizing it.

But today, a German discovered the weakness.

Herbert believed that Chen Fang had the ability to shoot and break through, but he assumed that he did not have the skill to finish with a layup. Sure enough, he found that out after a try.

Back to the shooting guard, Chen Fang quickly used a fake shot to catch Obst, then took two steps forward and shot.

The ball fell steadily into the box.

"His mid-range shot is also a problem." The partner said helplessly to his partner.

"We can only impose some restrictions, but it is impossible to suppress it completely," Herbert replied.

The third quarter soon came to the final round, with Germany leading.

67:63.

Chen Fang first went to find Hu Jinqiu and provided cover for him, then he quickly ran out while the Germans' attention was on Jinqiu.

Sun Minghui had been staring at Chen Fang, and as soon as he saw him running out, he immediately passed the message over.

Obst's breath was right behind him, and Chen Fang rushed towards the direction of the ball.

Catch the ball, take a step sideways, jump directly, twist your body in the air, face the basket, and shoot.

Obst stretched out his hand desperately to block the shot, but it was of no avail. He could only watch Chen Fang shoot.

The two landed at the same time again. When they saw the ball go in, Chen Fang repeated his old words: "It's still too slow!"

"It'll be faster next time," Obst responded with a shrug.

"Wait for you!"

After this goal was scored, the third quarter ended directly because there was no countdown.

67: 66.

Entering the fourth quarter with a one-point gap.

After coming down, many teammates patted Chen Fang on the shoulders to cheer him up.

Without Chen Fang, we would have lost miserably today.

I didn’t expect that the German U18 team, which had not even made it to the World Youth Championship, was so strong.

There is almost no gap in strength among European teams, it all depends on their performance on the spot.

"Rest." Fan Bin made the arrangements.

Chen Fang sat down and drank some water, with Zhao Rui, who looked very depressed, next to him.

"It's okay, we still have five games!" Chen Fang patted his thigh and comforted him.

"Six games, I can still play." Zhao Rui said dissatisfiedly.

"Okay, let's go together!"

The game continues to start.

Everyone turned their attention back to the court.

In the fourth quarter, it was obvious that China's physical strength began to decline, because the physical energy consumed in the confrontation was enormous.

After three minutes of play, Germany was in a crushing situation, and the one-point gap suddenly became eight points.

Chen Fang looked at Fan Bin again and again, but the coach was like Buddha, with no reaction at all.

Leader Wu coughed, Fan Bin looked at him calmly, then shook his head slightly.

"I'm out of energy!"

Almost all five players on the court began to have problems with shooting, dribbling, and passing.

Of the eight points just now, six were due to mistakes.

"Give up. The purpose of training has been achieved."

A few minutes later, Chen Fang also realized that the coach had given up the game. Zhao Rui whispered beside him, "What a crow's mouth."

"Alas." Chen Fang could only sigh.

He was a little confused. He didn't think they would definitely lose, but the coach had already made the decision and he could only sigh in despair.

In the end, Germany beat the Chinese National Youth Team by 17 points.

After the end, both teams came on the court to shake hands, and Chen Fang was held tightly by Obst.

“I hope we’ll have a chance to meet again.”

"Hope!" Chen Fang smiled weakly.

Leaving the stadium and getting on the bus, the atmosphere inside the car was very silent due to the defeat.

Fan Bin did not explain. The purpose of this warm-up match was to confirm the final lineup and hone skills and tactics. As for winning or losing, it was the final consideration.

Back at the hotel, the teaching assistant reminded everyone that the rehabilitation therapist would go to each person's room one by one to do rehabilitation, and not to wander around.

Chen Fang returned to the room and let Zeng take a shower first. He took out his mobile phone. Before going abroad, he had subscribed to a one-month global package at Sun's suggestion. There were more than a dozen unread messages, including one from Wang Zhen about the progress of the filming, one from Sun Lexian about the new store, and greetings from his parents.

The most are from Wu Zi's side. She sends some voice or text messages to Chen Fang every day, which are all daily sharing.

Chen Fang replied to each one, and just as he put down his phone, Wu Zi's profile picture started to flicker.

I calculated the time in my head and it should be almost dinner time in China.

"What about the game today?" she asked.

"Yes, but I lost."

"It's okay, you're the best."

The two of them cooked porridge for a while. Zeng came out after washing up and saw Chen Fang's phone beeping. He smiled and said, "Sure, I'm willing to spend on the global package."

Seeing that Chen Fang ignored him, he leaned over to take a look, but Chen Fang dodged him.

"It must be with my girlfriend. Gee, she's already got one at 16, great!"

Chen Fang hurriedly said goodbye to Wu Zi, put down his phone and asked, "Do you have it?"

"As for women, once a man has status, it will be easy to get them. Why bother looking for them?"

If you have ever thought about this, most men have thought so.

"Is that true?" Chen Fang asked back.

"Tsk, bro, a real man never considers the word sincerity."

"Hey, Brother Ri, come and tell us!" Chen Fang became interested.

Zeng Fanri showed his fear. He chuckled twice and said, "You are still young. You will know after a few more times."

I guess this guy just heard it from others and has no practical experience.

Chen Fang laughed and went into the bathroom.

While I was washing, I heard Zeng knocking on the glass: "Are you done? The rehabilitation therapist is here."

"Right away," he shouted.

The therapist just used a fascia knife to comb the disordered fascia lines after exercise. The process was painful, but the effect was really good. After the therapist left, the two of them lay on the bed, still savoring the experience.

"Tell me, why did the coach give up early?" Zeng asked.

Chen Fang thought about this question on the way back. He said, "Maybe it's a sign of weakness. Losing all the friendly matches will make the opponents in the same group relax their vigilance."

"I have the same guess."

"But I don't like losing five more games." Zeng said.

"Me too." Chen Fang agreed. He didn't like losing, especially when he had a chance to win.

"Then let's call a few more people and go talk to the coach together?"

"Don't." Chen Fang immediately shook his head.

The blood of the Blood Book Sect hasn't dried yet. Chen Fang is well aware of the dangers involved. The coach must be particularly sensitive to this kind of collaboration.

"Who had this idea?" Chen Fang reacted quickly. He stood up on the bed and asked.

"I don't know, I just said it casually." Zeng was shocked by Chen Fang's expression.

"Come on, have you forgotten the blood oath?"

"Uh!" Zeng Fanri finally remembered and his face changed.

"Maybe we are just overthinking it, so let's wait and see what happens."

"Ah."

Someone knocked on the door, and it was the teaching assistant who opened it.

He came to deliver takeaway and reminded us to have a review meeting at 4pm.

Now the meals for the national youth team are prepared by a local Chinese restaurant. The taste cannot compare with that in China, but at least they are accustomed to it.

Today it's potatoes, beef, chicken legs, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

"Where are we going next?" Chen Fang asked.

"France."

※※※

The French style is completely different from the German style.

Maybe it’s because there are mostly black people, they are more Americanized and more likely to fight alone.

The game had entered the third quarter and the National Youth Team was trailing 45 to 52.

The best performer among them was Zhao Yanhao, who made four of five three-pointers and scored a team-high 12 points. His touch and positioning were excellent today, so Fan Bin let him play for a little longer.

Chen Fang was resting on the sidelines, with Zhao Rui still beside him.

Now Fan Bin's use of defenders has basically been established.

Zhao Yanhao and Sun Minghui, Chen Fang and Zhao Rui.

There will be substitutions occasionally, but the opening combination must be Chen and Zhao, and then five minutes later, Zhao and Sun will be substituted depending on the situation.

Compared with Germany's overall suppression, France used more star players to create opportunities.

Among them, Ntilikina and Cabaro on the back line made the national youth team's outside line a mess.

Chen Fang seldom paid attention to European basketball, but he also knew that the French youth training team would be the strongest in Europe in the future, and could be said to be on the NBA selection list, with a large number of players selected for the NBA.

So he was very clear about the opponent's level, so he wanted to compete with this group of people even more.

But Fan Bin began to intentionally or unintentionally reduce Chen Fang's playing time. It was not until halfway through the third quarter that Chen Fang had only played for ten minutes.

In the National Youth Team, Chen Fang changed his habit of scoring points at the beginning of the game. He knew very well that in such a team, you must first do your job well, organize the offense first, and then think about other things.

So now he only has 5 points and 6 assists, which seem to be very thin statistics.

But compared with his playing time, Chen Fang's plus-minus value is extremely high.

Cabaro once again used singles to face-shoot Sun with a three-pointer, and Fan Bin called out Chen Fang.

"Get the points first." His instructions were concise.

"understand!"

Chen Fang and Zhao Rui came on the field, replacing Sun and Yinglun. So the national youth team now has three defenders, with Hu Jinqiu and Zeng Fanri in the interior.

The first time he received the ball, he faced Ntilikina.

Ntilikina was very careful to keep a reaction distance to the skinny but fast-moving No. 21, but the next second, he saw Chen Fang pull up for a three-pointer.

He was startled and had no time to reach out, so he could only turn back to see the result.

And Chen Fang has retreated to the center line.

"Good shot!" Fan Bin clapped his hands and cheered. He scored as soon as he came on the court. His ability is beyond reproach.

France had the ball. Under the screen, Cabaro received the ball in the elbow area and made a quick stop and jump shot to recover two points.

The Chinese national youth team started quickly, chasing after France. Chen Fang accurately found Zhao Rui who was running fast and passed the ball in advance.

At this moment, Zhao Rui showed his fearless character. He even dared to make a layup under the escort of two black guys.

Dudu!

The ball didn't go in and two free throws were made.

The free throw was made steadily and the National Youth Team recovered two points.

50:54.

In the next round, France missed a three-pointer. Chen Fang held the ball and called out a diamond tactic, passing it to Zhao Yanhao who had an open three-pointer, making the latter's statistic become 6 out of 5 three-pointers.

Now only one point left.

France called a timeout. France's head coach Zoye kept an eye on No. 21. He recognized that this talent was the engine of the national youth team.

"Play 1-on-, Ntilikina, don't let him get the ball again."

"Good coach."

One-on-four is a simple yet rare defensive strategy.

If you find that the opponent has someone who is very difficult to defend one-on-one, you will use this.

Sometimes, there will be a situation where 2 people are watching and 3 are in contact, and 2 people will focus on this point, and the others will let go.

Chen Fang suddenly found that he could not catch the ball.

This black man was superior to me in terms of explosiveness and strength, and it was difficult for me to get rid of him easily.

Helplessly, Zeng gave the ball to Zhao Rui and let him cross half court.

Chen Fang winked at Zeng, who immediately provided him with off-ball screen.

But Ntilikina's defense is extremely strong in this age group in the country. He can directly resolve the situation with a perfect squeeze screen.

Chen Fang had no choice but to go to the front court to look for opportunities.

But the next second, Ntilikina made it difficult for him to even move.

Chen Fang suddenly stepped back, swung left and right, and rushed out in one step. Then he shouted to Zhao Rui who was holding the ball: "Give it to me."

The ball was passed in advance, and before Chen Fang could stand still after receiving it, Ntilikina came close to him.

Put the ball at your waist, step forward with your other foot, and lean your whole body towards the other person.

But Ntilikina dodged the attack by taking a step back, then immediately moved closer and used one hand to interfere with his release of the ball.

And the other hand poked directly into his waist.

"Chinese, I take you over!" Ntilikina said some trash talk as usual.

This is his playing style. With his excellent physique and awareness, he can often crush the opponent as long as he is asked to defend alone.

But he was destined to hit a wall today.

Chen Fang immediately got excited.

Damn Hei Ge is bullying me too much!
You actually looked down on me!
He passed the ball behind his back, half turned around, and did a McGrady-style behind-the-back dribble. Finally, he made two consecutive step-back moves and faced Ntilikina.

But before Ntilikina could get forward, Chen Fang lowered his center of gravity and dribbled the ball between his legs, followed by a drag step, and suddenly stepped to the right, dribbling as if he was about to break through, but suddenly pulled the ball back in front of his body, and changed hands between his legs to hold the ball with his left hand.

The continuous changes in direction and shaking caused Ntilikina's center of gravity to jump repeatedly in a very short period of time. He instinctively retreated and looked for a safe distance.

But Chen Fang was furious and dribbled the ball inside and outside at a high frequency like a pendulum, forcing the opponent to retreat.

Suddenly, he took a cross step and pretended to break through. Ntilikina immediately lowered his center of gravity to his back foot, but was horrified to see Chen Fang quickly gather the ball and jump up directly.

He jumped so high that when Ntilikina reached out, he couldn't even reach his chest.

Chen Fang shook his wrist and pressed his fingers, and continued to shoot after landing. Seeing the ball go into the basket, Chen Fang made his favorite but also the least celebrated action.

Blow gun with both hands.

Turn your hands into pistols and blow towards your lips.

At the same time, he shouted to Ntilikina in English: "I can shoot without missing a single target. What can you use to defend me? Your head?"

Off the court, Team Leader Wu was a little surprised to see Chen Fang suddenly get excited and yell at the black man who was defending. He wanted to get up but was stopped by Fan Bin.

"Don't panic."

Ntilikina has also come into his own. He is a gifted player. At the age of 16, he can skip the level and play in the French U18 team, which shows his strength.

Everyone thought that he would definitely be able to participate in the draft and be selected, but unexpectedly, he was criticized by a Chinese person today.

He took the initiative to ask for the ball, faced Chen Fang, with a heavy heart, swayed left and right after three threats, and then broke through.

He hit Chen Fang with a small left-handed throw.

"Let's practice. Haven't you eaten?" He started talking trash.

But before his words had faded from his ears, Chen Fang got the ball again on the wing with the help of his teammates.

Chen Fangsan threatened his opponent and suddenly sank the ball to the left, while stepping out with his left foot. After mobilizing Ntilikina's defense, he directly withdrew his left foot, stepped on the ground halfway, and exerted force with both feet almost at the same time.

Chen Fang used a fake breakthrough and then a real shot to create shooting space.

Although it's only a tiny bit, it's enough for Chen Fang.

He raised his hand and shot. The ball rolled quickly and hit the front frame and went in.

"Is it okay? If not, get someone else!" Chen Fang said as he stepped back.

Ntilikina couldn't stand it, so he asked for the ball again, but this time, he was double-teamed when he broke through. His intention was too obvious.

As a last resort, Ntilikina could only pass the ball to Cabaro on the outside, but the latter saw that there was no time to attack and shot hastily.

"If you can't do it, don't rush in and let your teammates down!" Chen Fang scolded whenever he got the chance.

Ntilikina's eyes were filled with anger, but at this moment, he could only hold it back.

Speaking with the ball is not just empty talk. If someone criticizes you on the court, you can use points to shut him up.

Chen Fang received the ball again through running, made a fake shot and dribbled past Ntilikina, then dribbled forward, attracting Cabaro's help defense, and he immediately crossed the ball to Zhao Rui at the top of the arc.

Zhao Rui received the ball and made a quick shot, then rushed inside. After attracting a double-team in the inside, he saw Chen Fang slipping to the corner and made a ground pass to him.

Chen Fang shot as soon as he received the ball, but it was too late for Ntilikina who was running over.

Three point hit.

Seeing Ntilikina running towards him, Chen Fang patted his shoulder comfortingly: "Hurry up next time, you're too slow."

Because of the excitement between Chen Fang and Ntilikina, Chen Fang's desire to perform was stimulated, and the National Youth Team entered the fourth quarter with a 62-point lead of 56 to 6.

Chen Fang, who had come down to rest, said directly to Zhao Rui: "I must fuck that black man today."

"What did he do?"

"He fucking poked me in the kidney and trash-talked me." Chen Fang was furious and very excited.

As a result, the entire team understood why Chen Fang suddenly became furious.

Fan Bin had a blank expression on his face. He had originally wanted to let Chen Fang rest in the fourth quarter as planned, but that was obviously impossible under the current circumstances.

He also has to consider the emotions of the players.

Team Leader Wu glanced at him, and Fan Bin took off his glasses and wiped them.

Young people are prone to making mistakes like this.

　I chose the wrong venue. Fortunately, I reacted quickly. It was really good to see BJ play against Guangdong yesterday...! It's a pity for Allen. I hope it's just a temporary thing. Otherwise, it's a pity!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)