Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 383 World Championships, here I come!
National Basketball Management Center.

On the training field, naturalized player Li Kaier trained with the national team for the first time.

Playing the power forward position, Lee Kyle, defined by Andy as a point guard, appeared to be in complete control and became the most outstanding player in half-court offense.

He led a rotation lineup and the starters in a 10-minute intense match, and ended up winning by 6 points.

Sitting on the sidelines, Chen Fang and Andy exchanged opinions. Andy kept gesturing and making corrections on the tactics board, while Chen Fang listened attentively and occasionally expressed his own views.

Head coach Li Nan was also on the side, absorbing valuable tactical insights through Sun Lexian's translation.

In the next match, Yi brought his main team to face Chen Fang's group.

This is also the highlight of today's training; all the leaders are here, and everyone is present.

The main players are: Yi Jianlian, Zhao Jiwei, Guo Ailun, Zhai Xiaochuan, and Zhou Qi.

This lineup is also the five players most recognized by the coaching staff and leaders, which balances offense and defense, but lacks impact in transition.

Chen Fang did not completely inherit the four people led by Li Kaier, but instead chose Sun Minghui, Shen Zijie, Hu Jinqiu, and Abu.

As soon as the whistle blew, Guo Ailun came up to try and bite Chen Fang, who was receiving the serve, but was firmly blocked by a side turn. Chen Fang turned around and took a step but did not accelerate. Instead, he paused for a moment.

When Guo Ailun closed in again, trying to interfere, Chen Fang naturally exerted his strength, and as he caught the ball, his shoulder bumped against Guo Ailun's side.

There's a technique to this strike; you have to hit the opponent's balance point and disrupt their balance at the moment of impact.

Guo Ailun was clearly unaware when he felt a surge of power come at him, and he was thrown sideways uncontrollably.

The dozens of people on the sidelines who witnessed this scene were immediately in an uproar.

The national team members, especially those watching Chen Fang play live for the first time, looked at each other in surprise. Everyone knew that this trip to the national team was just for practice, but they didn't expect that Guo Ailun, who was a force to be reckoned with in the CBA, would suffer a defeat in their first encounter.

He secretly admired their skill, and at the same time, his spirits lifted immediately, and he began to watch the game intently, looking forward to the next exciting moment.

Chen Fang continued to push forward, and after crossing the center line, he stopped accelerating, glanced at Guo Ailun who was struggling to get back on defense, and waited until Guo Ailun passed him before passing the ball to Sun Minghui.

Sun Minghui moved to the flank, where he was defended by Zhao Jiwei. In positional warfare, the opportunity to act is fleeting, and even if there isn't one, one can immediately judge whether to pass or not.

After dribbling twice, Sun Minghui passed the ball back to Chen Fang at the top of the arc.

At this moment, both the inside and the frontcourt players are running actively. As is customary, it will start with a pick-and-roll. Shen Zijie moves up to set a screen for Chen Fang, who just happens to receive the ball and dribbles down to the three-point line in a flash.

At this moment, Abu had already slipped from the weak side baseline toward the open penalty area. He didn't expect Chen Fang to pass the ball, because from his perspective, there were three people in the passing lane, so the ball simply wouldn't be passed to him.

His positioning was simply fulfilling his duty as a forward.

But Chen Fang saw it; he caught it the moment Abu moved off the baseline.

Dribbling down to the three-point line gives you information about the dynamics of the court.

Zhai Xiaochuan and Yi Jianlian instinctively moved forward to double-team, but just as they stepped forward, Chen Fang suddenly collected the ball. As soon as he collected the ball, Zhai Xiaochuan accelerated and lunged forward, creating a clear gap in the paint.

Chen Fanggang pulled back his raised hands, lowered his hips, and flicked his right hand to throw the ball through the opening.

Abu arrived just in time for the basket, and the ball hit his face. The player's instinctive reaction was to catch the ball, jump up, and look for the rim and backboard in mid-air.

"Great shot!" The crowd shouted from the sidelines, and the leaders clapped and laughed along.

Chen Fang had already retreated to defend, and he pointed at Abu, indicating that his positioning was good.

This was also the first time Chen Fang had shown his assists, which were rarely noticed or remembered, in front of the national team.

Before entering the NBA, Chen Fang was known for his triple-doubles. Even now, his focus on scoring, combined with his excellent passing vision, reminds people of his all-around abilities.

"When he was specially recruited into the national youth team, it was because of his passing skills," Fan Bin said with great emotion.

The main attack begins, and Zhao Jiwei gestures to aim for a bull's horn.

Before they even got into position, Chen Fang pushed Sun Minghui forward to bite Zhao Jiwei. In the moment of forced passing, he accurately read the passing route and intercepted the ball with a quick reach.

As soon as the ball was intercepted, Chen Fang ran forward. He didn't go at full speed, but his route was very strange. He first went diagonally, drawing the defender's attention, and then suddenly accelerated into a straight line. After entering the three-point line, he suddenly made a back dribble and turned around, shaking off the chasing Guo Ailun. He almost handed the ball to the fast-breaking center Shen Zijie. The latter lived up to his nickname "Big Bird". He took off in one step, gliding over the defender and hanging on the rim with both hands to finish the attack.

In the next possession, Chen Fang signaled for a full-court press, and the starters were caught off guard. With the last seconds left, Chen Fang passed the ball to Guo Ailun, who was making a run.

Guo Ailun attempted to accelerate down the wing and cross half-court, but was double-teamed and blocked by Abu and Sun Minghui, forcing him to pass the ball across to Yi in the middle.

Zhao Jiwei was entangled by Abu and watched helplessly as Chen Fang made another steal and intercepted him.

Then another shocking scene unfolded. While still in the air, Chen Fang tossed the ball to the right. The ball wasn't fast, but the landing point was perfect. Hu Jinqiu, who had turned around, was led into the paint by the ball. He caught the ball and went for a layup, showing off his second two-handed rim-hanging move.

Off the field, both coaches and leaders felt very familiar with the situation.

Isn't this exactly the scene from the best warm-up game, where you make mistakes when double-teamed and get caught on fast breaks?

We can do the same with relationships, as long as the person is Chen Wang.

As for Li Kai'er, he won against the starters by passing and connecting the ball in positional play, coupled with the players' good mentality and smooth shooting.

After watching these rounds, the most obvious thing is that they completely overwhelmed the opponent.

As long as Sun Minghui controls the ball handler, Chen Fang will appear in the passing lane. My God, this is only his first time playing, and he already seems to know Zhao Jiwei and Guo Ailun inside and out.

Chen Fang signaled to retreat on defense, not to press, but to leave Sun Minghui to lead the defense throughout the court to put pressure on the ball handler.

Then he gave Abu a look, signaling him to go to the other side to intimidate another defender.

Just as the main players crossed half-court, Zhao Jiwei came up to support Guo Ailun. The latter wanted to pass the ball, but he seemed to be distracted and subconsciously looked for Chen Fang.

When Guo Ailun saw Chen Fang in the middle, he didn't dare to pass the ball, so he decided to challenge Sun Minghui one-on-one.

Don't be fooled by Sun Minghui's seemingly low status in the national team. That's because his strengths are the ones that Li Nan values ​​the least, but that doesn't mean he's not good enough.

The two have been rivals in the league, and now that they are playing together with Chen Fang, Sun Minghui is particularly focused. Guo Ailun was repeatedly faked out with his crossover dribble, and was forced to make a strong drive instead.

Shen Zijie was protecting the rim alone in the paint when he saw Guo Ailun make a strong drive to the basket, and he immediately blocked the shot with a devastating block.

The ball bounced off the backboard and was caught by Chen Fang, who was providing full-scale help defense. He turned to the left instead of moving to the more open right side.

When Zhao Jiwei saw Chen Fang approaching, he stepped forward without thinking to block him, hoping to delay his teammates and give them more time to retreat. But just as he lowered his center of gravity, Chen Fang disappeared in a flash.

I heard a chorus of exclamations from outside the arena, but when I turned around, I could only see Chen Fang's back.

Two seconds ago, Chen Fang feigned a change of direction with a push, but then forced a turn midway, easily getting past Zhao Jiwei who had spread his legs wide.

After passing the middle, Chen Fang continued to push forward with the ball. Three starters had already retreated to defend, with Yi behind him. Zhou Qi had already taken up position under the basket to protect the rim, while Xiao Chuan was still desperately holding off Abu who was making a fast break.

Hu Jinqiu was in front of Chen Fang, but instead of going to the wing, he mindlessly headed towards the basket.

Chen Fang made his decision in less than a second.

He took a step forward, made a half-turn and pulled back, pretending to land in position, letting Yi slip past him. Just before Zhao Jiwei could cover, Chen Fang suddenly gathered the ball and shot from two meters out at the top of the arc.

This was Chen Fang's first time shooting, but he felt great. With a light and easy touch, he made the shot, and as soon as the ball left his hand, he turned and ran back.

He even had the mood to reach out and give a high five to Zhao Jiwei as they passed by.

Seeing Zhao Jiwei, whom Chen Fang had targeted, truly made me numb; I only had one thought in my mind.

Why are the differences between people so huge?

"Completely no competition!" Yao, sitting there, couldn't help but sigh. With two or three substitutes, Chen Fang was dominating the main force.

9-0, the starters have played for 4 minutes and still haven't scored.

This situation continued until the next possession, when Yi finally broke his scoring drought with a mid-range shot, and at that moment, the score was 12-2.

Chen Fang made his second three-pointer. Relying on Shen Zijie's screen, Chen Fang took a step back, adjusted his rhythm, and then confidently launched a three-pointer when Zhao Jiwei reached out to interfere.

Next, Chen Fang drew away the two main defenders at the top of the arc, allowing the flanks to be fully open, and racked up three assists.

The ten-minute training match ended quickly without any pauses, and everyone's expressions were priceless as they looked at the scoreboard.

28:12.

We won by 16 points!
Everyone knows Chen Wangqiang; who didn't watch the playoffs this year? But seeing is believing, and seeing him up close in person gave me goosebumps.

The players, in particular, were stunned, drooling without even noticing.

Just like disciplining children, Zhao Jiwei, Guo Ailun, and Xiao Chuan took turns being subjected to military training and education. Chen Fang scored 12 points, but each of those 12 points was like playing a game. You couldn't even see Chen Fang panting, and there wasn't a bead of sweat on his forehead.

"Is it really that exaggerated? The gap is too big." The coaching staff was also shocked. Today, not only the national team, but also the Olympic team and the youth team coaches came to observe. After watching for ten minutes, they were truly amazed.

Anyone could see that Chen Fang wasn't even using his full strength; he was clearly holding back.

On the substitutes' side, everyone scored and made no mistakes, especially Hu Jinqiu and Abu, who were as comfortable as if they had eaten a peach. It was the first time they realized that playing basketball could be so easy.

I'm very relaxed; I just need to focus on positioning and defense.

Once you've found your position, the ball will come to you.

Following Chen Wang's hand gestures, I perfectly positioned myself on the opponent's passing and attacking routes, and for the first time, I vividly perceived what a "brain on the field" truly meant.

"That was a really well-balanced play. We've got a chance at the World Championships!" Wang Xuan slapped his thigh and laughed heartily. The people around him echoed his sentiments, creating a joyful and harmonious atmosphere.

Before Chen Fang even reached his chair after leaving the field, the substitutes on the bench stood up to offer him a seat. Chen Fang, without any hesitation, plopped down, calmly took the water, and told Zhao Rui, who was carrying a towel, to wait for him. The latter didn't mind at all; on the contrary, he waited there with great honor.

Chen Fang tried to put the water down, but Sun Minghui caught it quickly. Chen Fang then took the towel that had been waiting for him for a while, wiped his face, and smiled at everyone, saying, "I'm a little used to this grand ceremony."

"Just do what you're supposed to do, stop hovering around me."

With that, everyone dispersed, and Andy squeezed in.

"How does it feel?" he asked.

"It's alright," Chen Fang replied with a smile, knowing the question was about his ankle.

"That's why it was so easy for them not to bite you," Andy said.

Chen Fang smiled and nodded. He had given the hotheaded Guo Ailun a good start, which immediately intimidated him. As a result, Guo Ailun played with complete freedom for the next ten minutes without any pressure.

“I know, the competition is coming, it won’t be so comfortable,” Chen Fang said, knowing what Andy wanted to say.

"It's good that you know what's going on." Andy said no more when he saw that Chen Fang understood.

He understands Chen Fang's desire to win glory for the country, but he is also worried that overworking himself might ruin his career. This is the main reason why he agreed to come to China this time.

At least with him around, Chen Fang won't lose his temper.

After the training match, Li Nan gave a very impressive summary, but he still didn't reveal the final 12-man roster. With the players gradually leaving, he remained mysterious about the remaining 15.

"The roster will be announced after the match against Brazil on the 25th. Please stay focused and seize this last opportunity."

The national team will play two matches against a full-strength Brazilian team in Wuhan and Guangzhou, on the 22nd in Guangzhou and the 25th in Wuhan, which can be seen as a warm-up for these two venues hosting the World Championships.

Chen Fang will not play; he will stay in Beijing to continue his recovery.

This is also his privilege; Yi Jianlian and Li Ke'er will travel with the national team again.

A training match made the national team pay more attention to Chen Fang and give him as much time as possible to recover. In order to avoid criticism, Chen Fang even took the initiative to have his ankle checked. The diagnosis result was that he had not fully recovered, etc.

The expert consultation estimated that the recovery time would be at least 15 days, which coincided with the competition. Considering the opponents in the group stage, Yao communicated with Chen Fang.

"In the three group stage matches, control your playing time. Ideally, you should not play if you have the advantage in the match."

Chen Fang agreed with Yao's suggestion. In his opinion, the national team was already capable of advancing from the group stage. With the addition of Li Kaier, there would be no problem in the game against Poland.

The key is the round of 16 to 8, and the round of 8 to 4 is difficult.

The schedule has already been studied. The Chinese team is in Group A. The 32 teams are divided into eight groups. The two teams with the best results in each group will advance. If the results are the same, the team with the best point difference will advance.

The 16 teams that advanced from the first round were merged into four groups: I, J, K, and L. The specific grouping method is as follows: Group A: 2 teams + Group B: 2 teams, Group C: 2 teams + Group D: 2 teams, Group E: 2 teams + Group F: 2 teams, Group G: 2 teams + Group H: 2 teams.

The four groups in the Round of 16 will play a single round-robin format, with each team playing two more matches against the two teams they have never played before.

The two best teams from the four groups advance to the quarterfinals, which are single-elimination tournaments, including the quarterfinals, semifinals, third-place match, and final.

Therefore, if you have confidence in yourself, you can actually predict your future opponents.

Group B consists of Russia, Argentina, South Korea, and Nigeria.

In other words, China's future opponents are Russia and Argentina. The Chinese team needs to ensure that they win at least one game. Even if they lose one game, they need to keep the point difference as small as possible.

This is the national team's predetermined goal for this World Championship: to reach the quarterfinals.

As for what comes next, that's a matter for later; there's no need to rush into fantasies now.

Therefore, China's real rivals are five teams: Poland, Venezuela, Ivory Coast, Russia, and Argentina.

Based on their usual practices, the basketball management still has a pre-established plan.

We must beat Ivory Coast and Venezuela, and strive to beat Poland and Russia. Argentina will be a tough opponent, depending on the situation.

The national team is currently gathering and organizing information. Andy has a heavy task, and Chen Fang is also helping with analysis and adjustments. Li Nan is mostly following instructions. What he needs to do is to familiarize himself with and master the tactical adjustments during the game, and to make timely timeouts and targeted tactical arrangements.

The specific preparations were to be devised by Andy and Buson, with Sun Lexian providing the most basic intelligence and Chen Fang offering constructive suggestions and being familiar with all the tactical details.

While the national team went to Guangzhou, Chen Fang stayed alone in the dormitory, with only his junior teammate Zhang Siyu by his side.

During this time, he was also very busy, decocting medicine and making herbal poultices. After soaking his feet every day, he also had to give Chen Fang massages and care.

Chen Fang spent the rest of his time practicing shooting and doing rehabilitation exercises alone on the training ground. Anyway, the Basketball Management Center had plenty of sparring partners, and a group of people surrounded Chen Fang.

This continued until August 28th.

After one win and one loss in the last two warm-up matches, the national team returned to Beijing, with only 11 members remaining this time.

The national team roster was announced online yesterday, the 27th.

The four inside players are Yi Jianlian, Zhou Qi, Hu Jinqiu, and Shen Zijie.

The four forwards and guards are: Zhai Xiaochuan, Abudushalamu, Li Kaier, and Ren Junfei.

The team also has four guards: Chen Fang, Guo Ailun, Zhao Rui, and Sun Minghui.

This is also the first time that the national team has maintained the same number of players in all three positions, reflecting the tactical style of the new generation of national team players.

The exclusion of Wang Zhelin and Zhao Jiwei caused a huge uproar, but well-known hosts and media figures did not speak out, leaving only self-media to shout and cry injustice to gain traffic.

But for Chinese fans, this is already more than enough.

With Chen Wang, Yi Jianlian, and Li Ke'er all present, this lineup is NBA-level. News of Yi Jianlian's return to the NBA is everywhere, and fans have automatically assumed that the result is a foregone conclusion.

The selection of the lucky winners Shen Zijie and Sun Minghui has also been strongly explained.

Yang Yi provided his interpretation on his social media account.

"Shen Zijie's mobility is second only to Yi Jianlian, and his rim protection ability is second only to Zhou Qi. Looking at it this way, you can understand why he can score. He can fill in for a few minutes when Yi Jianlian or Zhou Qi are not on the court. This is very important and reflects Coach Li Nan's all-round thinking."

“Sun Minghui’s strengths are also very prominent among guards. He is the only one besides Chen Wang who has the ability to attack the basket independently. Zhao Rui and Guo Ailun’s role is in transition and wing threat, while Sun Minghui can handle the ball. When Chen Wang is not on the court, Sun Minghui can also fill in for a few minutes.”

"A race is like a car, with first and second gears, but you can't just idle. You have to carefully control when to accelerate and when to decelerate."

"Zhao Jiwei is very good at organizing, but compared with Chen Wang, there is no comparison at all. Positional play is not the whole rhythm of the game, only half and half. Therefore, from the perspective of the selection of guards, Sun Minghui is more scarce."

"Wang Zhelin's omission is also reasonable. His advantage is his post-up game. But the question now is, with Chen and Wang returning, does the national team need to focus on this tactic?"

"It's no longer the Yao era. Modern basketball emphasizes high offense and defense. Slow footwork is a fatal flaw. Look at this 12-man roster, they are all able to run and jump. This is the personnel configuration that modern basketball needs."

Duan Ran and Su Qun also shared their views afterward, and their opinions were basically consistent. Apart from some Liaoning and Fujian fans feeling uncomfortable, there were no major complaints overall.

The final roster for the national team this time takes into account the major CBA powerhouses, XJ, Guangdong, Liaoning, and BJ. Although there are some regrets, it is still a happy ending for everyone.

As time moved forward, fans began to gather, especially in Beijing, where the venue for Group A matches was packed with people.

Many fans want to come to Beijing but can't go to the US to watch the game. Shouldn't they seize the opportunity to see Chen Wang in China?
Tickets on the black market are going up three times a day. The first five rows are so popular that they're practically impossible for ordinary people to get them.

The average person here isn't even a wealthy person. In the capital, the competition isn't about money at all.

As a joke circulating in Beijing goes, an archaeological excavation unearthed a pot of elixir containing 99 pills. Do you think any of the top ten richest people in the country could own one?

Sorry, you're overthinking it. You don't even have the right to sniff it.

While the ticket prices weren't quite that exaggerated, the reality was that the front-row tickets never even entered the market; they were already assigned to specific individuals before they were even printed.

Every family in the compound has a younger member who loves basketball. These past few days, he's been begging and pleading, using all sorts of cutesy and dramatic tactics, and this has been playing out continuously in this remote area.

August 30th, just one day until the World Championships.

Chen Fang sat outside the dormitory corridor, watching the sunset, lost in thought.

He's a sentimental person; the dormitory he's currently living in is the one where he joined the national youth team four years ago. No one can persuade him otherwise. They arranged a deluxe single suite for him, but Chen Fang doesn't seem to care at all.

Zhao Rui, being sensible, moved in to share a room with Chen Fang. He even joked privately, "That Zeng guy is useless. If he had even a little bit of talent, he would have made it into the national team. Ren Junfei would never have had a chance."

This lack of unity was something the two of them would say in bed late at night. Chen Fang shook his head: "And you're his teammate. But then again, his potential is just not that high, there's no need to create trouble for him."

“I know, and I’m not expecting to go abroad either. It’s fine as long as we stay in China.” Zhao Rui grabbed a chair and sat with Chen Fang in the corridor to watch the sunset.

Both of them sat in a roguish posture, propping themselves up on the chair legs, leaning against the wall, and resting their feet on the railing, exuding an indescribable sense of carefree ease.

"You don't seem nervous at all?" Chen Fang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Why should I be nervous? If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. If it fails, you'll be the one to take the blame." Zhao Rui chuckled and continued, "It's not just me, Guo Zi is the same. With you back, no one is under any pressure."

"Damn it!" Chen Fang could only laugh and curse.

"Fine, then let me shoulder this responsibility." Chen Fang remained silent for a long time, watching the red sun gradually disappear below the horizon.

Four years, no, it must have been many years!
The collapse caused by that service error in 19 ended China's record of consecutive Olympic appearances.

In the 2023 World Cup, the Chinese team had a record of 1 win and 4 losses, ranking only 29th. They not only failed to qualify directly for Paris, but also lost their chance to qualify for the knockout stage.

His absence from the Olympics twice in a row is also a record, an unprecedented dark moment!

Now, it's time to set things right!
World Championships, here I come!
(End of this chapter)