Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 122: World Youth Championship Landing in Athens
"Push forward, push forward!" A group of teammates shouted and cheered on the side.

On the court, Chen Fang was carrying Zeng Rifan, who was desperately hitting the ball towards the top of the penalty area.

Both of them committed fouls, but who would care at this time? In this way, Zeng Fanri finally pushed Chen Fang to the basket, but his hook shot was blocked by Chen Fang.

Chen Fang hugged the ball, laughed and jumped on the court.

"Fifty push-ups, hurry up!" Chen Fang shouted.

Zeng Fanri, however, was playing dirty: "Coach, coach, he committed a foul, didn't you see it?"

"What a shame, the inside player backed up to the outside player and got blocked!" It was a rare occasion for Fan Bin to have fun with his teammates.

"It's my turn!" Chen Fang waved to Hao and said, "Brother Hao, hurry up and die!"

Fu Hao put on his jersey and said domineeringly: "You have to do fifty push-ups."

Chen Fang threw the ball to Zhao Rui, then stood in the elbow area, and Fu Hao immediately followed.

"No, no, Brother Hao is cheating!" Chen Fang felt something was wrong, his back felt slippery, and he immediately shouted.

"I'll take it off too!" Chen Fang threw his jersey away, revealing his huge pectoral muscles and eight-pack abs, which drew whistles from his teammates.

Looking at Chen Fang, then looking at his own chubby body, Fu Hao felt inferior and shouted, "Can't I wear it?"

"Too late!" Chen Fang put one hand on Fu Hao's chest and reached out for the ball.

Zhao Rui passed the ball with a shake of his hand.

Chen Fang grabbed the ball with one hand, which caused a few whistles.

Using his front legs as support, Chen Fang first used his hands and shoulders to look for Fu Hao's weakness, and suddenly released the ball and hit him. Fu Hao was not paying attention and took a step back.

"Woohoo!" teammates immediately started to make a noise.

Chen Fang came down very quickly the second time. He took the initiative to move forward and pushed his shoulder up against Fu Hao's chest from bottom to top.

Pay attention to this detail. This kind of force is called root digging. When the strength is equal, it is difficult to make the opponent retreat whether it is pushing horizontally or pressing down.

Only this kind of force can raise the opponent's center of gravity and quickly connect for the third time to achieve miraculous results.

Chen Fang came down third very quickly, leaning forward and hitting Fu Hao with his back.

Fu Hao took another step back, he knew it was embarrassing, and immediately went to meet it with all his strength.

But at this time, Chen Fang exploded and turned around to avoid the impact.

At the same time, he stepped his outside foot toward the sideline, turned his hips and twisted his body to face the basket. Fu Hao had lost his center of balance, and now his center of gravity was on his feet, so he couldn't lift his feet.

Chen Fang has already jumped up with the ball, and when he turns around with his back to the ball, many players will switch their feet back and forth when turning around, and will instinctively use the front foot to exert force, which will cause your jumping height and the degree of leaning back to be weakened.

The correct way is to use your back foot to push off the ground first, followed by your front foot. This way your body will maintain balance and your upper body will be very stable at the moment of shooting.

Your attacks also become more powerful.

In his previous life, Chen Fang made a living by post-up shooting and three-pointers. His post-up shooting has always been his first choice for tough solutions.

During this time with the National Youth Team, Chen Fang has slowly regained his ability to make back-to-the-basket jump shots. Today's entertainment game was organized by him.

Seeing Chen Fang turn around and jump up, his whole body maintaining a graceful posture in the air with his front and back feet stepping on the clouds, Fan Bin couldn't help but lean forward.

As it landed, the ball went into the net.

"Haha! Do push-ups!" Chen Fang was very happy.

"Who else is there? I'm going to beat up ten of them!" Chen Fang was very arrogant.

"Tsk! Wudang, tone it down. No one will want to play with you if you keep going like this!" Sun Minghui laughed loudly, and then said to his teammate next to him: "I taught him how to do his back-to-the-basket jump shot."

"Haha!" The people around him were speechless.

Yes, that's right, I learned it from you, but now I am even better than you, don't you realize that? If you are still so proud of yourself, sooner or later the apprentice will kill the master!

Half a month ago, Chen Fang saw Sun Minghui hitting Zhao Rui from behind, and he got an idea. In the following time, the two of them practiced this often.

It was also because of Sun Minghui that Chen Fang's back-to-the-basket attack was quickly regained.

Sun Minghui's back-to-the-basket skills became famous in the national youth team. Although he is short, he has good jumping ability, so he likes to stay inside and force the opponent's guard to play.

The characteristic of his back-to-the-basket jump shot is that he turns quickly. When turning, he completely resets his feet, then jumps quickly, and the shooting point is above his head.

Chen Fang's turning step was different from his. He used an authentic back-to-the-basket jump shot, which was in the same vein as Qiao and Ke's styles.

You won't use a jumping step to reset your steps, but instead turn around, reset the order of your front and back feet, and jump off by exerting natural force.

Both have their pros and cons.

The jumping turn is fast, but its disadvantage is that it has poor stability, and the accuracy and strength of the turn will be affected if you are not careful.

Resetting the front and back feet means that the displacement distance is short and the jumping height is insufficient. The advantage is that the upper body is stable, and the shot relies purely on the wrist to lead the arm to follow up with force, which is accurate and long.

The jump step is suitable for everyone, and the front and back feet are more suitable for players with excellent vertical jumping, solid core strength, broad shoulders, long arms and big palms.

This is the underlying reason why Kobe's back-to-the-basket stability is worse than Jordan's.

Broad shoulders mean stability at the moment of shooting, long arms mean a long shooting range, and big palms mean high accuracy.

Therefore, many basketball skills are limited to the individual. Don’t think that you can learn them all. Hard practice cannot replace them.

Because when it comes to hard work, no one can compare to Kobe, but Kobe's arm span, shoulder width and palms are only at elite level, far from reaching the level of god.

Zhao Rui had no choice. His shooting skills could not match the turnaround jump shot. Every time the two practiced, his face became darker.

The fun finally ended, and Fan Bin on the sidelines blew the whistle to attract everyone's attention.

"Starting today, take a good rest for three days, and then we will set off for Greece!"

"Yeah!" The whole team cheered.

There are still ten days left until the World Youth Championship.

※※※

The Chinese men's basketball team has never had a goal when participating in international competitions. First, it has not achieved many results, so it is difficult to set a goal. Second, they are all within the system, so it is difficult to force a military order.

Sitting on the shaking plane, Fan Bin closed his eyes. As a coach, he and the team leader could go to business class. Although it was worse than first class, it was much better than economy class.

However, Fan Bin had no choice, leaving the team leader helpless.

The entire team traveled to Greece in economy class.

As a coach, I know very well what level China is at internationally.

The U19 World Cup, as the first major competition after adulthood, has attracted talented players from various countries. Combined with advanced concepts, one can imagine how strong the team's fighting power is.

To put it bluntly, the best clubs in the CBA have no chance except to send foreign players to play for the U19 team.

Maybe there is a chance of reaching the quarterfinals, but winning a medal is just a pipe dream.

Looking back, Fan Bin is also very clear that the youth team's performance on the field has fluctuated greatly, and a dark horse may not be impossible. It all depends on how they are coached during the game.

With Chen Fang as his ultimate weapon, Fan Bin does have some ideas.

The first game is against Spain, which is the opening game and is not a good thing.

At the same time, he also studied through fragmented information and found that this Spanish team is not strong and is the worst among the six European teams participating in the competition.

Apart from the host Greece which advanced directly, Spain entered the finals with a record of 5 wins and 4 losses, ranking fifth.

On the contrary, Türkiye was the strongest team in this group, winning the U7 European Championship with 2 wins and 18 losses.

The Argentina team should be the weakest in this group, with 2 wins and 3 losses.

The level of South American basketball in 214 was not much better than that of Asia, and they were all rookies.

The status of basketball in this world is still dominated by Europe and the United States.

In Fan Bin's plan, he would defeat Argentina, face Spain head-on, take his chances with Türkiye, and finally give it a try in the knockout rounds.

The 16 teams are divided into four groups, ABCD, and will compete against each other based on their rankings.

A1对B4，B1对A4。16支球队获胜者进入8强。

In short, this is a resolute and outstanding cup competition with a large number of matches, and how to make good adjustments is the key.

Fan Bin was thinking, but Chen Fang was relaxing.

This time, he prepared very carefully and brought a neck protector and an inflatable pillow.

He missed Wu Zi.

In 15, Wu Zi's modeling career began to enter the fast lane.

She has made it out of the Shandong division of the New Silk Road China Model Contest and entered the national competition.

She also passed the auditions and entered the finals of the Elite Model Contest in China.

The two were basically separated in the first half of the year, relying on WeChat to survive.

I don’t know if it’s because of Chen Fang, but Wu Zi has gradually become more talkative, and a half-hour phone call every day is inevitable.

But starting from today, there were no more long phone calls. Chen Fang felt like something was missing and he felt uncomfortable all over.

Zeng Fanri, who was sitting next to him, yawned and said, "Go to sleep quickly. Close your eyes and open them again, and you'll get through it."

"Yeah." Chen Fang said perfunctorily.

On the plane, unless in the first class cabin, Chen Fang found it difficult to fall asleep. He was in a daze and had several dreams. In a daze, he heard noises around him, so he squinted and looked around.

"Awake?" Zeng was still yawning, his face gloomy.

Guessing that he was the same, Chen Fang secretly vowed that next time he flew, he would fly first class and never fly economy class again.

The crew announced that they were about to enter the landing phase and reminded passengers to fasten their seat belts. After a violent shake, the plane slowly came to a stop.

Chen Fang is here in Athens, Greece.

※※※

The hotel chosen by the National Youth Team this time is only fifteen minutes away from the competition venue. The hotel has complete infrastructure. They stayed here during the last warm-up match.

This is Chen Fang's first time here due to injury. The climate in Athens is not very hot at the end of June, usually between 24 and 30 degrees. Because it is a coastal city, it feels quite familiar to Chen Fang.

The slightly fishy sea breeze and the drop in temperature in the evening made the national youth team feel comfortable and washed away the fatigue from the long journey.

The national youth team came a week in advance in order to familiarize themselves with the climate and avoid acclimatization problems.

I made a reservation at a nearby high school's gym, and I've been staying there to keep in shape during this period.

Greece is the host country, and the basketball atmosphere in Greece is not bad. They have also achieved the great achievement of eliminating the US team.

On the streets, you can see posters promoting the U19 World Cup. For the Greeks, this is a good opportunity to win medals.

Compared with the ambitious Greeks, the Chinese National Youth Team was extremely low-key. After resting in the hotel for two days, they started normal training on the third day. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the Chinese National Youth Team chose to leave early and return late. Until June 6.25, the coaching staff announced a two-day break, waiting for the start of the game on the 27th.

The whole team fell completely silent. Compared to other teams that were constantly in the news, the National Youth Team was more like a tourist.

In the early morning of June 27th, Chen Fang woke up from bed, washed up quickly, and started to practice a set of boxing in the only open space in the house.

Next to him, Zeng Fanri also played along. Fortunately, he was in the same room with Chen Fang, and he also learned the true skills.

He fell in love with this way of morning exercise. In his own words: It seems that my nose has become much more sensitive, and I can now smell many smells that I could not distinguish normally.

Chen Fang joked and called him a dog.

There was a knock on the door, and the teaching assistant's voice rang out: "Gather for breakfast."

The two dressed neatly and went out to catch up with the team.

In the hall, the national youth team ate in silence. There were three other teams staying in this hotel, namely Croatia, Tunisia and Dominican Republic.

They were not a wealthy team, so they ended up together.

Chen Fang didn't believe it at first, but later he asked Zhang Shaohong. The boss smiled and told him that in China, if you are not in the adult group, the support money will not be much.

Just to get a passing score.

Compared to the United States, Spain, and Canada, everyone stays in the best star-rated hotels in Greece.

Of course, seeing their achievements, everyone can only feel jealous.

After breakfast, the whole team, led by an assistant, walked around the hotel as a way to digest the food.

All the games are scheduled at night to avoid the hot daytime.

The match between China and Spain was scheduled at 21:6 p.m., which was strictly speaking a bit late and not as comfortable as the one at 15: p.m.

But there is one advantage, I can have a normal dinner.

There is almost no rain in the Greek summer and it is always sunny.

As soon as the sun came up, everyone returned to their rooms.

Chen Fang curled up on the bed and chatted with Wu Zi. Maybe it was because he was too bored last time, so Zeng also brought a few novels and read them attentively.

This day was quite difficult to endure. It was impossible for Wu Zi to accompany Chen Fang all the time to kill time. Soon Chen Fang had nothing to do.

It was impossible for him to be so bold as to play poker in the room with Sun Minghui and his gang. Although it was a small bet for fun, Chen Fang still didn't like it.

First of all, his luck in gambling was very bad. Moreover, in his previous life, he had actually gambled once in order to turn his life around, but ended up penniless.

I slapped myself in front of the mirror twenty times and swore to God that I would never gamble again.

Even after rebirth, this oath is still valid for Chen Fang.

When the sun sets and sunlight begins to shine through the windows, it means evening is approaching.

The entire national youth team began to set off. After a hearty meal, they were going to the Athens Olympic Center.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, the national youth team's bus drove into the center and, under the guidance of the staff, came to the affiliated stadium to begin pre-match warm-up exercises.

Due to the influence of Chen Fang, the amount of pre-match warm-up has increased a lot. Chen Fang studied under Jiang Hao and Lin Hai.

Jiang Hao directly explained to Chen Fang that the warm-up session before the NBA game takes less than an hour and a half.

During this period, all organs in the body should be activated, not just the joints and ligaments.

For example, three sets of high-intensity 45-second skipping rope to activate the elasticity of the ankles, and 25-meter acceleration runs to activate the heart and lungs.

Various weight-bearing stimulating strength training to activate muscle groups, and high-intensity dribbling to activate the arms.

Systematic and scientific warm-up can help you to perform at your highest level faster and better during the game.

At first it was just Chen Fang and Zhao Rui, but soon it was the whole team.

Fan Bin accepted it all and said without hesitation: "Good things should be shared."

Before the warm-up training was over, Fan Bin and the coaching staff went to watch the match between Argentina and Turkey.

The whole team stayed in the training hall, waiting quietly.

Zhao Rui is still shooting, and so is Zhao Yanhao. Everyone is using exercise to relieve their inner stress.

There may only be one international competition in a lifetime. Maybe in the future, when we look back on this period of time, we will have many regrets.

Everyone hates regrets, and no one wants to have any regrets.

Chen Fang was the only one in the team who sat quietly on the floor, with his eyes closed and regulating his breathing.

This was passed down to him by Mr. Zhao, but he didn't tell him the name of the formula.

There are six methods of regulating breathing in Taoism, namely, inhale, exhale, close, swallow, soften, and concentrate. The most difficult of these is concentrate, and to achieve concentrate, one must start with inhale and exhale, and go deep step by step.

Seeing Chen Fang's rapid progress and his determination to pursue the Dao, the old man made an exception and passed on his skills to him, but said that if he did not reach the Swallowing Realm within a year, there was no need to continue practicing.

This made Chen Fang feel urgent, and he would regulate his breathing and meditate after exercising every day.

Everyone was used to it and asked Chen Fang about it once, but he shook his head and didn't answer.

Not to mention that Mr. Zhao said that it should not be passed on to outsiders, even if he didn't say so, Chen Fang would not teach it to outsiders.

Why? Because he worked hard to get this, how could he share it with others?

Mr. Zhao didn't mention the benefits of practicing this, and Chen Fang didn't ask.

Some things are simply indescribable.

At this moment, Chen Fang's inner world is blank.

He was completely empty, and the functions of his entire body were slowly dissipating. Compared with the speed of others, it was extremely slow.

Suddenly he heard someone calling his name. Chen Fang slowly opened his eyes and saw Zhao Rui.

“It’s time to enter.”

"Yeah." Chen Fang stood up and walked out.

Zhao Rui looked at Chen Fang's back, feeling somewhat suspicious. The moment Chen Fang opened his eyes, he could indeed feel the light in his eyes.

Substantial sharpness.

Chen Fang let out a long breath and felt his organs slowly boiling.

The effect of this breathing regulation was exceptionally good, and I felt an indescribable sense of refreshment all over my body.

Türkiye and Argentina have left the field, and Fan Bin is waiting for them on the bench.

Looking at his players, he named the starting lineup.

"Chen Fang, Zhao Rui, Shao Yinglun, Hu Jinqiu, Fu Hao."

After he finished speaking, he clapped his hands and said, "Let's go to the court and take a picture."

This is a routine part, the first time the game starts, taking a group photo of the whole team.

Everyone, wearing traditional Chinese team uniforms, stood in two rows, with everyone in the front row squatting.

The event photographer will take photos.

Chen Fang originally wanted to go to the side, but was ordered by Fan Bin to squat in the middle. On his left was Zhao Rui, on his right was Sun Minghui, and behind him stood Hu Jinqiu, Fu Hao, and Zeng Fanri.

Thus, this group photo of the Chinese team at the 2015 U19 Men's Basketball World Youth Championship was born.

This photo has been frequently used and appeared in major media along with the national youth team's performance.

A week later, online and print media reprinted the article crazily.

The six people in the center are also known as the Six Tai Sui of China.

The entire team is also jokingly called the Six Dings, Six Jias and Twelve Gods by netizens.

And this year's national youth team is called the natal team.

And Chen Fang also got a new famous nickname.

Tai Sui Star God.

There is also a new meme on the baseball field.

Are you messing with me? You're in trouble! Are you not wearing red underwear?

Playing basketball, wearing red pants, what a man!
　Thanks to heart0604 for the 5000 reward. To be honest, I have never received a reward before and I don’t know the thank you process. If it is convenient, please send me a private message and add me on WeChat.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)