The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 701 How Brave I Am

Lithuania faced numerous difficulties in building its team, and with the country bankrupt, it had to rely on personal funding to participate in the Olympics.

This is why the Lithuanian team has a very strong desire to win. Lithuania has no other sports besides basketball, and the basketball team carries the sporting dreams of this newly independent country.

Sabonis, in particular, holds a position in Lithuania similar to that of Gan Guoyang in China.

In 1990, he represented the Soviet Union for the last time at the World Championships, where he was widely criticized by Lithuanians.

Now that he can finally represent Lithuania, he is naturally very enthusiastic and eager to win honor for his country.

Lithuania trailed 0-5 at the start, and then Gan Guoyang blocked Jomicius's floater under the basket.

Gan Guoyang controlled the ball and made a long pass to the frontcourt, passing it to Sun Jun. Sun Jun then scored a layup with both hands during the counterattack, adding another 2 points.

The Chinese team surprised everyone by beating Lithuania 7-0 at the start.

This includes China's head coach Jiang Xingquan, who stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed and no expression on his face.

Regardless of winning or losing, leading or trailing, Coach Jiang always has a serious expression, making it impossible to guess what he's thinking.

"The speed is really fast, the gap is really big, it's like a college student leading a middle school student... no, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he's leading an elementary school student."

Jiang Xingquan was already aware during previous team training sessions that there was a significant gap between the Chinese players and Gan Guoyang.

When you get to some internal competitions, you'll feel the gap is even bigger; they're not even on the same level in any aspect.

When the official Olympic competition arrived, after only a few rounds, Jiang Xingquan realized that Gan Guoyang had been holding back during the previous training and internal matches.

Gan Guoyang's speed, intensity, power, and attention to detail in both offense and defense are unmatched by any other player on the court, including Lithuania's center forward Sabonis.

In the eyes of Chinese players and coaches, Sabonis of the former Soviet Union was already a god-like figure, but when facing Forrest Gump on both offense and defense, Sabonis suddenly seemed much weaker.

However, Lithuania is not something that can be defeated in a few rounds; their overall strength is very deep.

Of the five starters on the court, four were from the 1988 Olympic champion Soviet Union, and these four were among the top four scorers.

Four years have passed, and they have all matured and are at the peak of their basketball careers, making Lithuania a very strong team.

Despite a poor start and falling behind, Lithuania did not call a timeout, and the players quickly adjusted their form on the field.

In their positional offense, they found an opening on the wing through skillful and adept outside shooting, and outside shooter Courtinetis hit a three-pointer!
Kurtinettis was once the Soviet national team's top outside shooter, with quick and accurate three-point shots. He could quickly shoot and make a basket as soon as he got the slightest opportunity.

On the defensive end, Lithuania also made changes. Sabonis instructed his teammates to change the zone defense to man-to-man defense, conducting one-on-one defense in the half-court.

Simply put, it means the Chinese team is starting to face off against each other on the perimeter.

Physical strength is a weakness for Chinese players, but after a month of training, there has been some improvement.

However, they still struggled somewhat when facing the strong Lithuanian players.

In competitive sports, the intensity of the confrontation is fundamental. If you can't withstand a certain intensity, your skills and tactics are useless.

Lithuania tried its best to cut off the connection between the Chinese team's outside shooting and Gan Guoyang by using man-to-man marking and pressure defense.

Sun Fengwu was forced to pass the ball in midfield, and Sun Jun came over to receive it, but the ball was intercepted by the Lithuanian team.

They successfully countered, scoring 2 points with a layup, quickly narrowing the score to 7-5, with China leading by only two points.

Faced with Lithuania's high-intensity man-to-man defense, Gan Guoyang did not take the initiative to step forward to screen for or clear the ball for his teammates.

He continued to roam near the three-second zone, this time moving further out and jumping to catch Sun Fengwu's pass before being double-teamed.

In the middle, Sun Jun cut in, and Gan Guoyang made a smooth pass to Sun Jun, but Sun Jun's layup was blocked by Sabonis who came over to help defend.

"Either be fast or fight back! Being slow and dodging won't work!"

Gan Guoyang loudly reprimanded Sun Jun, who was a little slow on the ball.

When facing Sabonis's defense, he tried to hide to the side, but the more he hid, the easier it was for him to get blocked.

Lithuania launched a quick counterattack, with Sabonis making a low long pass to the frontcourt, where Lithuanian guard Sarunas Mashuglionis received the ball and scored a layup on the fast break.

The score is 7-7, a tie.

The Chinese team couldn't withstand Lithuania's fast counter-attacks. In defense, the Chinese players not only lacked physical strength, but also discipline.

This is a major problem that the Chinese team is facing now. They have a lot to learn in terms of defensive execution and refining the details.

This is related to China's long-standing policies on basketball education and development.

Because Chinese players have always been shorter and heavier than their European and American counterparts, the Chinese national team has long adhered to an offensive style characterized by speed, agility, and quickness.

Even though China had a tall center like Mu Tiezhu for a period of time, the overall style of Chinese basketball was lightweight, prioritizing speed and agility, and rarely playing heavy, intense games.

After all, in that era, you couldn't beat European teams with your heavy, high-intensity style. China had to find another way and find a path that suited the characteristics of the players at that time.

Without Gan Guoyang, the Chinese team played quite freely on the international stage, was good at counter-attacks, was fast, and the players were decisive in their shots and attacks. However, they did not have many ways to play positional warfare, and their defense lacked layers. They basically relied on individual ability to fight hard and grab the ball, and maintained their defense through fighting spirit and style.

When playing against Asian teams, he can easily overpower his opponents by virtue of his personal ability and physical advantages.

They often rely on full-court pressing and counter-attacks to overwhelm the opponent with a rapid offensive surge.

However, when facing European teams that are faster, stronger, and have higher tactical awareness, they are completely outmatched.

After all, this is not the 50s or 60s anymore; European basketball has made significant progress.

You're going for a "small, fast, and agile" approach, trying to outmaneuver their "big, slow, and clumsy" style. But by the 90s, Europe was no longer "big, slow, and clumsy," but rather "big, fast, and agile."

These Lithuanian guards are all NBA-caliber players; they are tall, strong, and very fast.

Traditionally, smaller Chinese players have no advantage, only disadvantage, when facing them.

Let alone full-court press, even if you have two players double-teaming you on the perimeter, the opponent won't be afraid.

Full-field pressing and quick counter-attacks are completely ineffective against European teams; they're not afraid of them.

The Chinese Basketball Association has been aware of this problem since the 1988 Olympics.

That's why Qian Chenghai took the initiative to step down and brought in a tough young coach like Jiang Xingquan to reorganize the entire Chinese national team.

The selection of new young players shows that the Chinese team is also moving towards a larger size. Young players such as Sun Jun, Hu Weidong, and Gong Xiaobin are all around 2 meters tall, with comprehensive skills and agile movements.

If the Chinese team wants to keep up with the world trend, it must abandon the small, fast, and agile approach and adopt the large, fast, and agile approach.

However, in 1992, these players were too young and lacked experience; their skills, physique, and overall performance were still far behind the world's mainstream.

However, this Chinese team has a major flaw: Gan Guoyang, who is at his peak and has just achieved a breakthrough and reached a new level.

Sabonis knew how formidable Gan Guoyang was at this new level; he could handle both offense and defense single-handedly. He was the Maradona of basketball, on a completely different level from everyone else.

However, when the score was tied, Gan Guoyang did not step up to take over the game, but continued to perform his center duties in the paint.

Sun Fengwu, on the outside, withstood Lithuania's tight defense and passed the ball to Zhang Yongjun, who was then screened by Gan Guoyang.

Lithuania's defensive attention was drawn to Gan Guoyang, and Zhang Yongjun made a strong drive from the outside before pulling up for a jump shot, which went in!
The fundamentals of this group of Chinese players are very solid. While there may be some unscientific aspects to the "three principles and one big goal" approach, if they can persevere, their basketball skills will definitely improve significantly.

Putting aside other factors, under conditions of high intensity and high physical contact, this group of Chinese players is quite reliable at the free throw line, and most of them can achieve a shooting percentage of over 80% from the outside.

Sun Jun, for example, can achieve a 90% hit rate, which is not only a matter of talent, but also the result of extremely hard training.

It can be said that it was this group of young people with solid foundations in 1992 who laid a solid foundation for China's basketball development over the next 10-15 years.

That's why Gan Guoyang never underestimated his teammates, thinking he could take on everything and lead the team to victory.

After a month of training and getting to know each teammate, he understood their technical characteristics, playing style, and personality.

Zhang Yongjun and Sun Fengwu are veteran guards on the team. Zhang Yongjun is nicknamed "Crooked Handle Machine Gun" because his shooting motion is a bit crooked, but his shooting percentage is very high.

At the 1986 World Championships, he represented China and made 35 three-pointers. Only two players could rival Zhang Yongjun in that tournament: Heo Jae of South Korea and Petrovic.

A shooter like Zhang Yongjun would find it very comfortable to cooperate well with Gan Guoyang, as they would have ample space and opportunities to shoot.

However, he also has his problems, namely that his height is average (1.88 meters), he is too thin, his defense is not good, and he does not fit Jiang Xingquan's future team building ideas.

Therefore, before Gan Guoyang joined the team, Jiang Xingquan did not intend to give Zhang Yongjun a big role, and the two also had differences in basketball philosophy.

However, after training and getting to know each other, Gan Guoyang felt that Zhang Yongjun's style suited him well, and given his rich experience, he promoted him to the starting lineup.

On the Lithuanian side, the intensity of offense and defense increased, but the Lithuanian players quickly realized that the three-second zone was really difficult to enter.

Matthew Lionis received the ball on the wing, dribbled past Zhang Yongjun, and drove along the baseline to the basket.

If Gan Guoyang comes over to help, he will pass the ball to Sabonis, who is cutting to the basket.

After getting back in, the attack naturally goes straight for the basket, almost certain to win.

However, Gan Guoyang's defensive speed was extremely fast, and he completely covered Matthew Lionis.

Matthew Lionis jumped to pass the ball to Sabonis in the paint, but Gan Guoyang intercepted it in mid-air.

Gan Guoyang continued to pass the ball to Sun Fengwu to organize the attack.

Unlike Zhang Yongjun, Sun Fengwu's advantage lies in his robust physique and strong fighting ability.

Among point guards, the only one taller than Sun Fengwu is Wu Qinglong (Wu the Fatty).

Sun Fengwu is a veteran who participated in the 1984 Olympics. He has excellent experience and is very strong in competitive situations.

With no one to support them, they withstood the tight defense from the Lithuanian perimeter and successfully crossed half-court to launch an attack.

Sun Jun came out to receive the pass, and Gan Guoyang once again moved to the low position to block the ball. After three passes and two guidances, the ball came back to Gan Guoyang.

The moment Gan Guoyang received the ball, he relied solely on his strength to turn and walk through the middle, pushing past Sabonis and forcing his way to the basket. He then scored with a left-handed layup, drawing a foul from Sabonis.

The Chinese team made the free throw, regaining a 5-point lead.

At that moment, a thought suddenly popped into Jiang Xingquan's mind:
We agreed to strategically forfeit this match, so how come we can't win?

Judging from the momentum at the start, if the initial 7-0 lead had a bit of luck and drive involved, then the current 12-7 lead by 5 points shows that they really have something going for them.

However, as the game progressed, the other Chinese players quickly revealed their weaknesses in physical confrontation and defense.

Gan Guoyang can rely on his superior individual and team defense abilities to defend against two opponents and help Zhang Yongjun clean up his mess.

But in a 40-minute game with so many possessions, it's impossible for him to successfully defend against two opponents every time, or to protect the rim every time.

Faced with Lithuania's accurate outside shooting, the Chinese team had no way to defend the zone defense, which would most likely result in giving the opponent a barrage of three-pointers.

The biggest problem with one-on-one defense is that the outside players can get past the defense. Once the outside defense is breached, Gan Guoyang is quickly exposed to the firepower of Lithuania's forwards.

He had to give up on some plays, either watching his opponent score a layup or allowing Sabonis to receive the ball in the paint for a dunk or grab an offensive rebound and put it back in.

Song Ligang, a 2.06-meter-tall center, is a good runner and jumper with excellent speed and rebounding ability. He is capable of both attacking and rebounding and has a certain ability to score with power.

However, when Gan Guoyang switched to defend the outside, Song Ligang couldn't stop Sabonis at all; the difference in size and strength between the two was too great.

Only Gan Guoyang can hold off the Lithuanian giants, but the Chinese team only has one Gan Guoyang. If they defend like this, they definitely won't be able to keep up with the defense from behind.

When Lithuania responded with an 11-4 offensive surge, turning a 5-point lead into a 2-point deficit, Jiang Xingquan called a timeout.

He made a major overhaul of the players on the field, with four players coming on and four coming off, except for Gan Guoyang, all of whom were substituted off to rest.

Hu Weidong, Shan Tao, Gong Xiaobin, and Wu Qinglong entered the game, while Gan Guoyang moved to the power forward position.

Of course, FIBA ​​didn't have the term "power forward" back then; they called it "second center."

There are no small forwards or shooting guards. A guard is a guard. Besides guards and centers, there are forwards or wingers.

Hailing from BJ, the tall and imposing Shan Tao compensated for Song Ligang's lack of height and weight in the paint.

Gan Guoyang moved to a more outward position to help the defense fill gaps and address weaknesses in the Chinese forward-defense line.

Gan Guoyang not only played hard on defense, but he also cursed while defending. Chinese players are indeed much worse than European and American players in terms of defensive details.

A month of intensive training is far from enough to change some of the bad habits they developed during their teenage years.

For example, if their footwork can't keep up, they tend to reach out with their hands, act before they move their feet, and always try to block their opponent with their upper body. They don't know how to position themselves in advance, anticipate, or use their footwork to defend.

Furthermore, in terms of defense under the basket, they don't know how to make good use of physical contact, they are not skilled enough at drawing fouls, and their double-teaming and rotation are chaotic, becoming disorganized after repeated attempts.

Lithuania displayed excellent discipline in positional warfare, with seamless and fluid teamwork. As the match progressed, the Chinese team became increasingly disorganized and struggled more and more.

Especially on the defensive end, Lithuania's three-point shooting is extremely sharp, and Lithuania also knows they can't penetrate the paint.
However, with Gan Guoyang on the field, the Chinese team was still able to keep the score close, and some plays were entirely supported by his individual ability.

After Hu Weidong and his teammates entered the game, the Chinese team's outside offense became more dynamic. They scored on consecutive counterattacks, going on an 8-2 run against Lithuania.

Before the end of the first half, Jiang Xingquan finally substituted Gan Guoyang off the court. Gan Guoyang played for 17 consecutive minutes, scoring 14 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks.

This data is quite terrifying. This is a FIBA ​​game, with two halves totaling 40 minutes. Under the intensity of competition at the Olympic level, scoring 20 points in a game is already very high.

Gan Guoyang was only at halftime. With him on the court, the Chinese team, although trailing, kept the score close, 36-42, trailing Lithuania by 6 points.

However, as soon as Gan Guoyang left the field, the Chinese team immediately showed signs of collapse, and Lithuania immediately countered with a 6-0 run, losing points and failing to score for three consecutive rounds.

Fortunately, the game was about to expire, and the Chinese team barely held on. At halftime, the score was 38-49, trailing Lithuania by 11 points, and the game went to a break.

In those two minutes, Jiang Xingquan broke out in a cold sweat, realizing how terrible it would have been if they hadn't had Forrest Gump.

During halftime, in the Lithuanian team's locker room, Sabonis repeatedly reminded his teammates: "Agan didn't exert any effort at all, we need to be careful, watch out for his second half."

"I'm sure the Chinese team might give up on this game, but we absolutely cannot let Agan realize, 'I can win by playing like this,' or we will lose the game."

Sabonis played with Gan Guoyang for three seasons and won three championships, so he knew how formidable this man was.

Just by watching the first half, he knew that Gan Guoyang was definitely holding back, especially on the offensive end, where he was creating opportunities for his teammates on many occasions.

He could have done it himself, which would have been much more efficient than having his teammates do it, but he didn't, which shows that he wasn't in a hurry to win.

As is customary in past major tournaments, the Chinese team often employs a strategic approach of forfeiting matches and concentrating their efforts on games they are confident of winning.

Judging from the first half, even if Forrest Gump plays conservatively, if Lithuania shows any weakness and Forrest Gump feels he can finish them off, he will definitely not hold back.

This guy's scoring explosiveness is terrifying, and his stamina is even more amazing. He can score 30 or 40 points against you in half a game. He believes that Forrest Gump is capable of doing such a thing.

Especially after experiencing the 1992 Finals, Forrest Gump, who could initiate his own attacks on offense, definitely had that ability.

Others in Lithuania lack sufficient awareness of this. In terms of individual ability, they are far inferior to Forrest Gump, and precisely because they are so far inferior, they are unaware of how big the gap is.

Sabonis' teammates said that he was being a bit too cautious.

They firmly believed that basketball is a team sport, and while Forrest Gump was indeed very strong, the rest of the Chinese team were not so good.

It's very difficult for a one-man team to beat a team basketball team, especially since Lithuania had such a strong belief in their team this time.

But Sabonis insisted, telling the head coach, "If Agan doesn't come off the field in the second half, don't let me rest. I have to keep an eye on him."

Coach Vladas Galastas said, "I trust your judgment of Avidas, but you need to have the confidence to face him. I sense that you are somewhat fearful and timid."

In the first half, Sabonis had a mediocre performance, scoring only 6 points and grabbing 5 rebounds, including only 1 offensive rebound. He was undoubtedly outplayed.

Sabonis shook his head and said, "Coach, you have no idea how brave I really am."

(End of this chapter)