Champions Creed

Chapter 367 Chapter 366: A Place No One Has Ever Reached (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

93 to 78, such a score would be surprising in any Olympics with the Dream Team.

In the past, this score would have made American fans accuse the Dream Team of winning too little.

But now, the score of the Dream Team is the latter number!
Before the game started, it wasn't like no one thought the Dream Team would lose.

But absolutely no one expected that the Dream Team would lose by as many as 15 points!
This was because the Chinese team replaced all of their main players in the last two minutes, which allowed the Dream Team to narrow the gap to within 20 points.

The once dominant force in world basketball was slaughtered by 2004 points in the first Olympic basketball game in 15. This was definitely the most shameful moment of this Olympics.

Roger hugged all the Chinese players together. They made history by becoming the first team to make the Dream Team lose in the Olympics.

The halo around Roger was even more dazzling at this moment.

In 1993, he became the first Asian player to be selected in the lottery.

Over the next 11 years, Roger continued to make history and change the landscape of the NBA.

And tonight, the light of the God of Basketball shines on Athens and appears on the FIBA ​​arena.

His already formidable influence will be further enhanced by these Olympics.

On the other hand, all the players in the Dream Team put on masks of pain. Although many superstars withdrew from this Olympics, the Dream Team's paper lineup was still the most brilliant among all participating teams.

The Chinese team has four NBA players, the team with the largest number of NBA players except for the Dream Team, but Wang Zhizhi and Battelle are both marginal figures with little playing time.

No matter how bad the Dream Team's lineup is, it is still an all-star lineup.

Amar'e Stoudemire felt like he was the smartest person in the world. To be honest, when Larry Brown called him personally to invite him to join, he almost gave in. He could talk, he could love his country, and he was almost convinced.

Fortunately, reason eventually overcame the impulse.

You can't defeat Roger by being patriotic.

Allen Iverson angrily threw his headband to the ground, and Tim Duncan covered his face with his hands. No one in the NBA and NCAA had ever seen Duncan look so frustrated.

What about LeBron James?

He only played for two minutes in garbage time and didn't even break a sweat.

The most important thing is that he has been labeled with another shameful moment.

As the chosen one, LeBron James' rookie season was undoubtedly a disaster.

He and Michael Jordan were beaten up by Roger, and then Michael Jordan was traded, and Jordan made the playoffs but he didn't. Moreover, in the crucial playoff battle, James was defeated by Jordan himself.

At that time, LeBron James was pushed to the forefront and became the most famous clown in NBA history.

That's right, compared to Kwame Brown, Michael Olowokandi and other fake No. 1 picks, LeBron James' performance is already quite outstanding, and no one can say that he is a fake.

But the level of publicity he received before entering the league was completely different from that of other No. 1 picks.

That sky-high rookie shoe contract is the biggest publicity.

With that kind of publicity, everyone in Cleveland thought the Cavaliers would win the championship within three seasons. The playoffs? Was that still a problem?
James' performance was definitely not bad by rookie standards, but the excessive expectations created by the excessive publicity made his performance too disappointing.

The heat of the playoffs finally made this matter gradually forgotten, but as soon as one shame was forgotten, he immediately bore another shame!

LeBron James only played for two minutes in this game and didn't get any playing time at all.

But public opinion will not be friendly to James because of this. This is the most tragic defeat in the history of the Dream Team. Everyone in the Dream Team will be criticized by the media and the public like traitors.

In fact, such remarks have already appeared.

Bill Simmons, who was very angry and never restrained his words, directly posted a message on his blog: "These guys should be convicted of treason!"

Wrapped in frustration, LeBron James sat there for a long time until Wade patted him on the shoulder and said, "Come on, LeBron, let's go back to the locker room and take a shower."

On the side, Anthony, who also only got a chance to play in garbage time, said self-deprecatingly: "Shower? Oh, no, LeBron and I don't need to."

This statement is a self-deprecating one for Anthony, a yin and yang to Larry Brown.

But to James, it was like a knife in the young king's chest.

Losing the Dream Team's first Olympic game in history was a shame, and not getting playing time in this game was an even greater shame.

What else can it prove that Larry Brown didn't use him when Shawn Marion and Richard Jefferson performed so badly?
A man would rather take care of himself than touch the woman next to him, it can't be because he is allergic to women, right?
It was a shame for him not to play, and the result of the game was a double shame!

On the other side, Roger was being interviewed on the court.

"As the first team in Olympic history to defeat the Dream Team, what do you want to say?"

"This is the result of all our efforts, and it is also a lesson for the arrogant. I don't know what Coach Larry Brown kept nagging me during the Finals, but now, I don't need to figure it out."

"Do you think the era of American basketball dominating the world basketball scene is over?"

"I don't know. I just know that world basketball is changing dramatically. I also know that at least this year they can't dominate world basketball."

"What do you think are the chances of the Chinese team winning a medal?"

"I never predict the champion, I only do more meaningful things. We will continue to work hard and win more games. However, we have broken the unbeaten record of the Dream Team, so it shouldn't be too much to win a championship, right?"

During the interview with CCTV, Yao Ming was so excited that he choked up.

"I said in training camp that if we beat the United States in the first game, I would probably retire on the spot because it would be the highlight of my career."

"Are you really planning to retire?" the Chinese reporter asked with a smile.

"No, I feel like the best moment of my career is yet to come!"

Of course it has not come yet, this game undoubtedly gave the Chinese players great confidence.

Just like Roger said, the Dream Team won, so how can winning a gold medal be considered wishful thinking?
After tonight, the Dream Team's popularity plummets.

Except for American fans themselves, they are no longer the darlings of the world, no longer the unattainable superstars.

The spotlight is on the Chinese team.

In the second group match, China played against Angola. Before the match, all the Angolan players took photos with Roger and were as happy as fans.

After the game, all the players asked Roger for his autograph.

In the evening, Roger took Adriana Lima to a restaurant in Greece for dinner, where they were surrounded by a large number of fans. Finally, the police stepped in to stabilize the situation.

The next few games were almost similar scenes. The aura that used to belong to the Dream Team has now become exclusive to Roger.

The US team continued to fall into the abyss. After losing to the Chinese team, the US team lost to Lithuania.

In the end, they only managed to qualify from the group stage after much difficulty.

Of course, Americans are very good at giving themselves hope.

The next step is a knockout match to decide the winner. Larry Brown said in an interview: "We have completed the running-in process after the group stage. The knockout match is where everything starts."

And then it was over as soon as it began.

The Dream Team 6 lost to the Argentine men's basketball team in the first knockout game, which means that they were not even qualified to stand on the podium, let alone the gold medal.

Their goal became a battle for the top seven or eight.

In other words, they have broken the worst record of sixth place in the World Championships.

After the game, Tim Duncan declined to be interviewed.

He was defeated twice by Roger in one summer and he vowed never to get involved in national team affairs again.

LeBron James also refused the interview. He only played for less than 20 minutes in the entire Olympics. He felt that Larry Brown was humiliating him.

Carmelo Anthony was blunt: "I will never play for Coach Larry Brown again."

And Larry Brown was destined to become the target of public criticism.

Just a year ago, he was considered the savior of the Dream Team.

Two months ago, he was still judging Roger in a condescending manner.

But now, he has become a sinner in history.

"Larry, how can you be held responsible for the humiliating results of this Olympics?"

"Coach Larry, I'm curious, how can you be qualified to evaluate Roger?"

"Why do Carmelo, Dwyane, and LeBron play so little? Why do AI and Steph still play so much despite their poor performance?"

"When will you leave? You are a disgrace to American basketball in this position!"

Larry Brown attempted to use God as a springboard to create his own apotheosis moment, but like all those who have tried to do so in the past, he destroyed himself.

He knew that his career was over.

No team would hire a historical criminal as head coach, as that would be tantamount to destroying their own reputation.

On the other hand, the Chinese team continued to advance after entering the knockout stage.

The second round against Argentina was the toughest match in this Olympics, because Argentina's golden generation also wanted to leave their name in history.

The two sides fought back and forth, and the blue and white striped army seemed to bring their art on the football field to the basketball court, with extremely exquisite passing and cooperation.

But the Chinese team also controlled the situation with its rock-solid defense and height advantage.

In the last 33 seconds, Zhu Fangyu intercepted Ginobili's pass in the crowd and assisted Roger to make a fast break, and the suspense of the game finally came to an end.

Manu shrugged dejectedly after the game: "Tim doesn't have to be so sad, because he is not the only one who was defeated by Roger twice this summer."

In the end, the matchup of this year's Olympic finals was quite unexpected, China VS Italy.

The Italians shot a terrifying 64% from three-point range in the semifinals, allowing them to upset Lithuania. Among them, Gianluca Basile, a guard from the Italian league, shot 11 out of 7 from three-point range!

But Italy's magical three-point shooting did not continue in the finals. For Gianluca Basile, the highlight moment against Lithuania might only come once in his life.

The Chinese team easily won the game with a score of 87 to 76. The tight defense meant that only one player from the Italian team scored in double digits.

At that moment, Roger's magnificent poem reached its climax. In the past, he had saved a city or a state. But now, he had saved a country's basketball program on the highest stage of the Olympic Games. His prestige and reputation had broken through the original ceiling and reached its peak.

At the end of the award ceremony, as expected, the entire Italian team asked Roger for a photo.

This is enough to explain Roger's current position.

This is a position that no one has ever reached in the history of world basketball.

After getting the gold medal, Roger couldn't help but take a bite of it.

He once reminded himself not to celebrate in such a rustic way, but the feeling of joy would make people forget to think.

Back in the locker room, the extremely excited Yao Ming answered a phone call, and then punched the locker door excitedly.

Pain? Ignored it long ago.

As Roger said, joy makes people forget to think.

"What are you so happy about?" Roger asked casually while standing at the top of the world.

"We got Kevin Garnett!" Yao Ming was very excited. He knew what he, Wade and Garnett could create together.

Roger said "Oh" calmly.

The New York Knicks acquired Kevin Garnett, which means there is one more team in the league that wants to push itself down from the top.

But Roger will make sure they all end up like Larry Brown this summer.

Die without any delay.

(Today's 10,000-word update is here. Tomorrow my good brother is getting married and I have to take a day off to help. The day after tomorrow I will resume normal updates. I will post another single chapter tomorrow to ask for leave.)
(End of this chapter)