The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 221 Olympic Final
He said with great concern, "Severe Fear played too aggressively this time, injuring six opponents in three games. It's terrifying."

"It would be a huge loss if we let Hakeem Olajuwon and a few others get injured because of a group match that isn't important."

His words immediately sparked discussion among the crowd, which is the sole reason why the US team held this meeting.

Assistant Coach K hesitated for a moment before saying, "Lenny, the reason those teams are prone to injury is because they are not familiar with Tang's playing style. Our players are very familiar with him, so they shouldn't be so easily injured, right?"

Wilkens said, "Mike, you don't know him well. That young man plays too aggressively. Six people were injured in the group stage matches, which shows that his ferocity has been unleashed. We must be more careful and not be careless."

Coach K nodded and said nothing more.

"Shaq, what do you think we should do tonight?" Wilkens asked, calling on him by name.

O'Neal shifted his massive frame and said nonchalantly, "Of course we'll beat that bastard to a pulp. We have the power to do that."

The reason he didn't care was that in these four seasons, aside from being beaten off the court, he had only been injured once by Tang Bei on the court, and the injury was not serious, so he was not afraid of getting injured.

“The main force in fighting against severe fear is you five inside players. Hakim, what do you think?” Wilkens asked again.

Hakeem Olajuwon was somewhat hesitant, not wanting to get injured during the Olympics, and even less so during a completely unimportant group stage match.

So he said, "I think we should be cautious. We have a total of five inside players this time, which seems strong, but tonight's opponent is that guy. If he gets injured, how will we play in the finals?"

David Robinson nodded in agreement, saying, "I'm not feeling well, so I need to take the day off for tonight's group stage match."

Wilkens nodded. The admiral didn't seem to have any injury problems; he just didn't want to fight.

Barkley also has many injuries, and he is the one who helps defend Tang Bei on the court, so he is quite wary of Tang Bei. Therefore, he said, "I also think there is no need to go head-to-head with Tang tonight."

Of the five big men, three didn't want to go all out tonight, making O'Neal one of the few. Only the Mailman remained, and everyone looked towards him.

Karl Malone had been injured twice by Tang Bei, once on the court by an elbow and once in an All-Star four-on-one situation. He was very wary of Tang Bei, so he said with a fierce look, "I forfeit."

"Abstain?"

Everyone was stunned. If you don't want to fight, then don't want to fight. Just forfeit your right.

Alright, of the five inside players most likely to go head-to-head with Tang Bei, only one was willing to go all out, and the result is in.

O'Neal said with considerable dissatisfaction, "Why should I be afraid of him? I'll lead the charge and take him down."

His words immediately drew angry glares from the other four interior superstars, who promptly shut their mouths.

Apart from David Robinson, the other three were not good people, and he was too afraid to provoke these villains.

Lenny Wilkens said, "OK, in that case, our strategy tonight is to strategically give up and not fight the Chinese team head-on."

In the evening, the Georgia Dome, home of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, which can hold 75000 people, was divided into two venues for handball, basketball, and gymnastics games.

At eight o'clock, the competition begins.

Tang Bei and O'Neal jump for the ball, and the Chinese team attacks.

Wilkens deployed a man-to-man defense tactic because all the players on the Dream Team III were the leaders of their respective teams and were usually opponents, so zone defense wouldn't be very effective.

Tang Bei set a screen for Li Xiaoyong at the high post. After the screen, Li Xiaoyong drove to the basket, and Tang Bei used a Tai Chi spin move to get rid of O'Neal before cutting to the basket.

This is one of the high-post tactics that the men's basketball team has been working on recently. The men's basketball team's backcourt ball-handling ability is not strong, and they are prone to problems when faced with pressure defense, so they have a lot of high-post tactics.

"boom!"

Li Xiaoyong passed the ball to Tang Bei, who received it and slammed it home, scoring a goal.

He noticed that Hakeem Olajuwon, another center for the US team, did not come over to help defend, but instead followed Gong Xiaobin.

After a few minutes of play, everyone realized that both teams were playing rather amicably and weren't putting in much effort on defense.

"Hey, you guys strategically gave up?" Tang Bei asked, pulling Olajuwon aside.

"You've strategically given up too?" Hakeem Olajuwon asked.

"Ha ha!"

Tang Bei was delighted.

The two sides tacitly agreed to continue playing the balloon game until they reached a draw, but one guy wouldn't have it, and that was Shaquille O'Neal.

"boom!"

He nearly smashed the Chinese team's basketball hoop with a powerful two-handed dunk, and his smug, head-shaking demeanor immediately enraged Tang Bei.

"Damn it, pass me the ball, I'm going to kill him!" Tang Bei cursed angrily to his teammates.

When China attacked, Tang Bei was in a low position on the left wing, trying to get the ball.

Hu Weidong passed the ball down, and the American team did not double-team him. O'Neal was on defense against Tang Bei one-on-one.

After receiving the ball, Tang Bei turned to face the basket and made a breakthrough move, and O'Neal immediately took a step back to defend.

"squeak!"

"Oh!"

Amidst the sounds of swishing shoes and dribbling, Tang Bei broke through with the ball. His first step was incredibly fast, explosive, and aggressive, forcing O'Neal to retreat on defense.

"This is my method of handling the dough basket."

David Robinson murmured on the bench.

Seeing O'Neal retreat continuously, Tang Bei accelerated and immediately sprang into the air, flying towards the basket and O'Neal who had retreated to the basket.

"Damn it, are you serious? Didn't you guys also strategically abandon the plan?"

Faced with Tang Bei's terrifying aura, O'Neal felt a chill run down his spine, but in order not to lose face, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and jump to block the shot.

After the Eastern Conference Finals, even after joining the Dream Team III, he indulged in excessive eating and drinking every day for two months, and his current weight has exceeded 150 kilograms.

Such a heavy weight greatly affects his vertical jump height.

Tang Bei jumped with all his might, reaching a height at least forty centimeters higher than O'Neal.

In the next instant, Tang Bei's chest slammed heavily into O'Neal's head, while O'Neal's hands struck Tang Bei's right arm.

"Oh!"

"boom!"

"Di!"

Amidst the heavy thud and the fierce slamming of the rim, the referee blew his whistle, and O'Neal was knocked backward and fell from the air.

"Oh!"

O'Neal's back slammed heavily onto the floor, the back of his head hitting the floor so hard it bounced several times. He winced and his back ached terribly, and his head was spinning with stars as he fell into a daze.

"This idiot!"

"Why did you have to provoke such a severe phobia?"

"Now the great white shark has turned into a sardine."

Many members of the American team saw this and simultaneously cursed.

"doctor!"

Upon seeing the bright red stain on the floor beneath O'Neal's head, pointing towards the US team's bench, the referee immediately shouted.

The game was paused. Shaquille O'Neal hit the back of his head and suffered a concussion. He was immediately carried away and taken to the hospital.

"Is O'Neal crazy? This idiot, Tang Bei has already charged forward. There's no way to stop this kind of dunk. Just let him dunk. Can you stop him?"

In Jordan's mansion in Los Angeles, he cursed in dissatisfaction.

Shaquille O'Neal is indeed very large now. Even if a typical center were to bump into him, they wouldn't be able to knock him over; at most, they would just make him move.

But Tang Bei is also a behemoth-level heavy center, not much smaller than O'Neal, and with his terrifying explosiveness, when he charges, he generates enormous kinetic energy comparable to a moving car.

With that level of terrifying kinetic energy, let alone O'Neal jumping to block it or engaging in a mid-air confrontation, he would be knocked over even if he were standing on the ground. He didn't think O'Neal could withstand that level of impact.

Moreover, Tang Bei jumped higher, and the force was directed downwards. O'Neal's point of impact was his head and chest, so he completely lost his balance in the air and couldn't control himself when he hit the floor. His arms couldn't support the floor and absorb the force because of the block, so the back of his head hit the floor.

Next, the American team became even more wary of Tang Bei, essentially giving up on him strategically and offering almost no defense against him.

However, Tang Bei did not exert himself fully, because he knew that if he exerted himself on both offense and defense, the American team would definitely exert themselves to save face.

He can fight hard, but that will exhaust the rest of the men's basketball team, which doesn't fit the established strategy.

So he played very easily on offense, scoring constantly, but he let up on defense. Gong Lumin didn't let Tang Bei play for too long either. He was substituted after playing six minutes in the first quarter, didn't play in the second quarter, and played another fourteen minutes in the second half, for a total of twenty minutes in the game.

Ultimately, the men's basketball team lost this group stage match.

Even though the American team strategically gave up without Tang Bei exerting his full strength, their superior raw power still made it impossible for them to win.

On the 27th, the US team announced that O'Neal had nine stitches in the back of his head due to a mild concussion, and would be unable to participate in the remainder of the games and would not be able to engage in strenuous exercise for a month.

This news was a relief for the Lakers; the injury wasn't too serious and shouldn't affect the new season.

On the 28th, China will face Lithuania, their last group stage opponent.

Having already secured qualification, the above means that this match should be played according to the situation, but not by brute force; the focus should be on the upcoming knockout stage.

It's not like we're on Team USA, Tang Bei doesn't want to lose.

He used about 80% of his strength on the court, scoring 38 points, 15 rebounds, 3 steals and 7 blocks against Lithuania, dominating the opponent on both ends of the court, and also injuring two opponents in the process, leading the team to win the last group stage game.

The United States has won all five of its matches, accumulating 10 points and ranking first in Group A.

China has four wins and one loss, accumulating 9 points and ranking second.

Lithuania, Croatia, and Argentina are all tied for third place with two wins and three losses, accumulating 7 points each.

Angola has 4 points, ranking sixth.

If three teams have the same number of points, the rule is to compare their number of wins. If the number of wins is also the same, then the points difference ratio is compared.

The score is calculated by dividing the total score by the total points lost, and the scorer with the higher ratio ranks higher.

After comparison, Lithuania ultimately ranked third, Croatia fourth, and Argentina fifth.

Argentina and Angola were eliminated, while the top four teams advanced.

In Group B, Yugoslavia (first place), Australia (second place), Greece (third place), Brazil (fourth place), Puerto Rico (fifth place), and South Korea (sixth place) were eliminated.

The next quarterfinal match will be held on July 30th, with the United States vs. Brazil, China vs. Greece, Lithuania vs. Australia, and Croatia vs. Yugoslavia.

Greece is a strong team, with three wins and two losses in the group stage, but they are still no match for the Chinese team led by Tang Bei, and the Chinese team successfully advanced to the Asian Cup.

In the other three quarter-final matches, the United States defeated Brazil, Lithuania defeated Australia, and Yugoslavia defeated Croatia.

The semifinals will be held on August 1st, with China playing against Yugoslavia and the United States playing against Lithuania.

Having made it to the semifinals, the men's basketball team has not yet achieved its initial goal of finishing in the top three.

If they lose the semifinals, they will have to play a bronze medal match against the loser between the United States and Lithuania.

Against Yugoslavia, the Chinese team still has an absolute advantage in the paint, because Yugoslavia's starting center is the Lakers' starting center, Vlade Divac.

Tang Bei took only 23 minutes to bring Divac down with five fouls, and then completely dominated the penalty area.

Ultimately, with a performance of 41 points, 17 rebounds, 2 steals, and 6 blocks, he led his team to defeat Yugoslavia and advance to the final.

On the other side, the United States team defeated Lithuania to advance to the final.

The men's basketball final will be held on August 3rd, and the Olympics will end on the 4th. Most of the competitions have already concluded.

Major American media outlets began analyzing the situation of the finals, and many NBA stars also came forward to express their opinions.

After the Finals, Magic Johnson announced his retirement again, and gave an interview to TNT television that day.

"Erwin, have you bought back the Lakers shares you sold?" the reporter asked.

“Yes, I bought back the shares at the price I sold them for, which is great,” Magic Johnson said happily.

"Congratulations! So, what are your expectations for the Lakers in the new season?"

"Very good. The addition of O'Neal has greatly strengthened the team's interior strength. We now have the strength to compete with the Heat, or rather, the Knicks."

"Who do you think will be stronger next season, the Lakers or the Knicks?"

"Lakers".

"why?"

"Because we have a superstar on both the inside and outside who needs to be double-teamed."

"But someone with severe fear would never call for someone to double-team O'Neal."

"Oh yes, but O'Neal will use his low-post dominance to keep Tang Bei firmly in the low post, which will give the Lakers more space on the perimeter."

Do you think O'Neal's injury will affect the new season?

"Of course not, he is very strong. I think he will recover in at most half a month of rest."

"Okay, now let's discuss the upcoming Olympic finals. Do you think the Dream Team III can beat the Chinese team?"

"The Dream Team III has the strength to defeat the Chinese team without a doubt."

Can an inside player handle severe phobia?

"This is indeed a big problem, but we still have four superstar centers: Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone. I believe they can do it."

"But in fact, they were all crushed by Tang Bei in the NBA."

"NONONO, they can team up to deal with Tang Bei. They won't be facing severe fear alone. When several inside superstars join forces, they can defeat anyone, even severe fear."

American media outlets, based on their own stance, have overwhelmingly favored the Dream Team III.

However, other media outlets around the world did not share a one-sided view. Many media outlets believed that Tang Bei had an advantage in the paint and had the opportunity to change the situation.

At 5 p.m. on August 2, Tang Bei and others finished their training and returned to the Olympic Village, where they were interviewed live on CCTV-5.

The interviewer, Ning Xin, asked, "Tang Bei, how good do you think your chances are in tomorrow's final?"

Tang Bei considered for five seconds, then said, "It's hard to say. The members of this American team are basically the core players of their respective teams, so they're quite strong..."

Upon hearing the phrase "quite strong," Ning Xin barely managed to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn't just "quite strong," it was terrifyingly strong.

Tang Bei continued, "It's hard to say exactly how good the chances are, since this is a team sport with five people playing. It all depends on how well they perform on the day."

"But there is definitely a chance, and I personally think the chance is quite good. There's nothing to be afraid of with those weaklings on the American team."

"Ha ha……"

This was a live interview, and the men's basketball final was attracting a huge amount of attention, with at least 200 million people watching the game in China. Everyone laughed when they heard Tang Bei's words.

After the interview, Tang Bei asked for leave to go out because Jia Bao had arrived.

At the airport, when he saw Garbo and several maids and bodyguards coming out, he quickly waved.

"Hey, Wet Tiger, aren't you going to shower after training? Is there a water or power outage in the Olympic Village?" Jia Bao asked curiously as she approached.

"Seventy or eighty people share one restroom."

Tang Bei explained it in just one sentence, and Jia Bao understood.

The two arrived at a hotel near the Olympics. Tang Bei took a good shower, had dinner with Jia Ding, and then took her to stroll around the Olympic Village.

In the evening, a group of officials from the delegation came to offer their condolences; several of the delegation leaders and deputy leaders were present.

With most other events finished, many athletes who were no longer competing came over for a visit, making the floor where the men's basketball team was located very lively.

August 3, 96, 8 PM, Georgia Dome Stadium.

All the other matches have ended, so the stadium, which was split in two, has been reunited and is now packed to capacity with a capacity of 75000 people.

The stands were filled with sports stars, including many world-class superstars.

In basketball, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird, and others were all sitting behind the US team's bench.

In track and field, American sprinters Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis were both present.

In football, Ronaldo, Carlos, Zanetti, Simeone, Nesta, Buffon, Cannavaro, Raul, Makelele, and so on.

In tennis, there are players like Andre Agassi and Lindsay Davenport.

They didn't get many tickets, and the Chinese delegation only had fifty or sixty people, but more than a dozen Olympic champions shone brightly.

Garbo was among them, sitting with the champions from the delegation.

On the official side, there were dozens of people from the International Olympic Committee, the US-China Olympic Committee, FIBA, and the US-China Basketball Association; the VIP rostrum simply couldn't accommodate them all.

(End of this chapter)