Basketball glory

After leaving London, it took another ten hours, until everyone was exhausted from flying, before we arrived in Rio de Janeiro.

Sure enough, as Guo Ailun said, it was really early in the morning when I arrived here. Not long after I got off the plane, I turned pale.

The climate in Rio de Janeiro in August is pretty good. The temperature is around 20 degrees, which is neither too hot nor too cold, making it suitable for people to live in.

Sitting on the bus bound for the Olympic Village, An Ran and the women's volleyball girl were officially separated. An Ran knew that in the next few days, she might play friendly matches with players from other countries to maintain her competitive status, and that she might not see him again for a while.

On the bus, Gong Luming began to popularize knowledge about Rio. The east and south of Rio are rich areas, close to the sea and have pleasant scenery. They are the veritable City of God. If you only look at these two areas, Rio

Approximately more than all cities in China except Shanghai.

Warm beaches, prosperous areas, and well-educated Rio people built this beautiful seaside city relying on the sea.

However, there is also the city center in the western and northern parts, which is not so beautiful.

Following the bus, we safely passed through the primeval forest in the city center, as if Rio was separated. One side was paradise and the other side was territory.

It's so beautiful, so beautiful. As we walked through the city center, there were endless compliments of admiration.

A large forest crosses from the north to the city center, and there is a gentle sea breeze from the southeast. Coming to Rio de Janeiro is like arriving in a fairyland on earth.

"I can't stand it anymore. I feel like I've fallen in love with this city." Ding Yanyuhang's eyes widened. It was his first time going abroad and he was so shocked by the exotic customs.

"Look at your potential." Guo Ailun said sarcastically, but he clung to the bus window and looked out, showing that he was not so calm in his heart.

However, it didn't take long before the beautiful scenery of this paradise on earth disappeared in front of us, and what came instead was a large area of ​​low bungalows stained with red paint.

"What we are passing by now is a slum in Rio. They are usually built on small hills. There are more than five hundred of them in Rio. They are like small villages." Gong Luming explained to everyone with a smile.

"There won't be any safety issues, right?" Yi Jianlian had a bad feeling.

"Don't worry, this won't happen. After all, because Rio is hosting the Olympics, the police have invested heavily in it. Besides, we are just passing by and we won't go in to disturb them." Gong Luming's words also dispelled a lot of everyone's worries.

Then I followed his eyes and saw that there were police cars on duty every few hundred meters on the roadside. I guess the safety issue was guaranteed.

"Actually, the government of Rio does not want countries around the world to visit their slums, but there is no other way. If you want to go to the Olympic Village, you can only pass by some." Zhou Peng said with a smile, explaining to everyone.

But his words are very easy to understand, after all, this is the face of the government.

"I heard before that there are still people who are opposed to Rio hosting the Olympics. Some people are demonstrating to improve educational conditions. They should use the money to improve their lives before hosting the Olympics."

"I have also heard that the slums here are actually the land of the rich, rented to these poor people, and then the government provides free water and electricity. Those rich people are really evil."

Gong Luming saw that their conversation was getting more and more outrageous, so he quickly stopped their discussion.

"The official language here is Portuguese, and English is also relatively common. If you don't know English, it's best not to go out alone." Gong Luming reminded.

Zhou Qi let out a long sigh, feeling very uncomfortable in his heart, as if he was recalling the painful time he spent learning English, and then looked at An Ran with envy.

"You guys should have a good rest and prepare well when we have a friendly match tomorrow." After Gong Luming finished speaking, he closed his eyes to rest his mind.

And as soon as they heard that there was going to be a friendly match, everyone in the car felt bad.

After more than an hour of turbulence in the early morning, the bus finally arrived at the Olympic Village. The Olympic Village, which was built with all the efforts of Brazil, indeed has something to offer.

After all, this is the first time South America has hosted the Olympics, so it is normal for Brazil to have such great pressure.

The newly built apartment area, a four-story building with light blue bricks and tiles, and the pink and white walls shine in the sun, making people feel like they have moved to a new home.

Converting Brazilian prices into RMB, Enron made a rough estimate that the Olympic Village alone would cost at least several hundred million yuan.

The most critical thing is that in order to provide convenience and allow athletes to get adequate rest, the Brazilian government planned and constructed the entire Olympic Village very close to the main Olympic venue.

Even if you climb to a high place, you can see the huge stadium of the main venue.

An Ran had heard before arriving in Brazil that the main venue for the Rio Olympics was a world-class football stadium.

Brazilian football culture is very strong, and it is known as the largest football stadium in Brazil, which is already a world-class venue.

According to incomplete statistics, this football stadium can accommodate 80,000 spectators. What kind of number is this?

Everyone who comes here will be shocked by the huge mechanical power. Such a large stadium is made by Brazil using the most advanced industrial technology. It is not even more impressive than the Beijing Bird's Nest.

Although I still don’t know the name of this football stadium, and although I haven’t seen its grandeur from the front, it doesn’t hinder the shock of seeing it from a distance.

Visually, it only took about ten minutes to walk from the Olympic Village to the football field. An Ran began to ask everyone if they had any idea to go see this football field with thousands of people.

"Forget it, let's rest first, I can't keep my eyes open..."

Before Guo Ailun finished speaking, he let out a huge yawn in front of everyone. This time, not only An Ran knew about it, but everyone else could see how terrifying his big mouth was.

"Why don't we take a rest first? After all, our main basketball stadium is not there. If you want to visit, there's no need to wait until you have time."

Yi Jianlian also had a headache when he saw Guo Ailun's rude performance. This has already happened in a foreign country. People from other countries or the media saw that Chinese men's basketball players were so rude, so there is no way they could be blamed.

Yi Jianlian already has experience. When he represents his country in an event, the slightest disturbance will be caught and reported.

Even Zhou Qi once bought a pancake and was considered unprofessional and didn't care about his body fat and was sprayed all over his body. Therefore, Yi Jianlian must ensure that such black spots will not happen during the Olympics.

"Then how about we just rest by ourselves this morning, eat our own meals at noon, and then gather at the basketball gym at two o'clock in the afternoon to get familiar with the environment?" Zhou Peng began to suggest.

Although Yi Jianlian is undoubtedly the core internally, Zhou Peng was the captain when he was in the Guangdong team, so naturally he was the one to organize it when he came here.

Guo Ailun raised his hand to express his agreement.

Zhou Qi on the side also nodded, indicating that there was no problem, and Ju Ran had no problem. After all, he didn't speak English, let alone Spanish. He couldn't even survive a day without relying on his teammates and translators when he came here.

Going down.

"Okay, let's break up and rest in the assigned rooms. Remember not to run around. It's not like back home. We have to keep our tail between our legs."

Zhou Peng's humorous words also made everyone laugh, and the feeling of being overwhelmed when they first arrived in Rio de Janeiro disappeared.

In fact, everyone has a lot of pressure hidden in their hearts. Some people are participating for the first time and are afraid that they will not play well and hinder the team. Some people have participated in world-level competitions countless times and know how powerful international players are.

Dare to take it lightly.

Seeing Guo Ailun walking slowly with his eyes almost closed, holding on to the back of his clothes, An Ran felt as if he was carrying a child, and couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.

The entire second floor was occupied by the men's basketball team. An Ran counted two empty rooms and chose a room facing the sun. As soon as he entered the room, he threw Guo Ailun on the bed.

Sitting peacefully on the bed, I felt as if I was in another world.

It felt as if I was still in prison, as if I had just returned to China to play my first game, as if I saw Wu Dazhuang strongly recommending me to join the Shandong team, as if I saw myself being dominated during the trial training in the United States.

Once he was free, memories fell into An Ran's mind like a tide.

Being able to represent the country in the Olympic Games is an endless honor for every Chinese. I never expected that such an important thing would happen to me.

Having lived in the United States for so long, Enron knows the strength of American guards. Although Zhao Jiwei and Guo Ailun are already considered top-notch point guards in the country, they are still far behind the world's standards.

The most intuitive gap is the confrontation ability. In the last Olympics, Guo Ailun was guarded by international players and could not even cross the center line several times. Therefore, during special training, he attached great importance to physical confrontation ability.

An Ran felt that apart from himself, he was the one training the hardest in the entire team.

Although he seemed to be carefree and always wanting to be lazy, An Ran knew that he was actually very attentive to training.

The reason why he always complains about being tired is because he never saves effort during training and doesn't know how to save effort like others.

The more An Ran thought about it, the more she felt that she was under a lot of pressure.

Zhao Jiwei prefers organization, Guo Ailun and himself prefer offense, and Ju Ran prefers defense.

Four people can be matched in many ways, but the most critical point is that their basic skills are not as good as mine.

An Ran saw clearly that in this kind of competition, all the fancy and dazzling moves are superfluous. Only solid basic skills can withstand the pressure.

Although the three of them are usually considered to be China's top defenders, their basic skills are still far behind those of foreign players.

Otherwise, Guo Ailun, known as China's No. 1 offensive guard, would not only be averaging 18 points per game in the CBA.

Those foreign guards can even score 30 or 40 points at any time. Even Anron himself feels that if he had as many shots as him, his scoring average would be 30+.

In fact, in Enron's eyes, the only one the back line can rely on is itself.

The reason why his tactical status is not as high as those of them is simply that he is too junior and has not yet received the understanding and attention of the coach.