Chapter 1635 The Easiest Group Qualifying in History (Part 1)
The last two warm-up matches before the start of the official game showed a completely different style from before. Whether it was offensive or defensive, the Chinese team had improved by more than one level than before. Not only did Ji Feng play comfortably, but Arab Lian and General These two inside pillars also performed well.
Especially in general, the veteran who is about to retire from the national team did not perform well in the first few warm-up games, averaging only 10 points and 6 rebounds per game. However, in the two games that Ji Feng returned, he averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. Brave, it is no wonder that when talking about Ji Feng in front of media reporters, he used the word "daybreak" to describe him.
The performance of these two warm-up matches also gave the outside world more expectations for the Chinese team's prospects in this competition. Countless Chinese fans are looking forward to the Chinese team being able to break through the Chinese team's best results in the World Championships.
On August 28, before the first game of the Chinese team, Yu Jia also talked about this issue in the live broadcast room:
"Previously, the best result achieved by the Chinese team in the World Championships was the quarterfinals. At that time, the men's basketball team with Su, Daba, Liu Yudong and Hu Weidong as the core performed well in the 1996 World Championships and qualified from the group for the first time in history. Reaching the quarterfinals, from that time to now, the best result of the Chinese team is only the top 16 in 2007. In this competition, the men's basketball team led by Ji Feng undoubtedly gives us more expectations. Can they repeat the same year? The brilliance, and even further, is what fans across the country are paying attention to.”
"Yes, of course. I personally think there is no big problem in qualifying for the group. The group only needs to be careful about Greece. Although they lost to us in the warm-up match, Greece is still a strong team. But except for Greece, the other two The strength of each team is average. As long as China does its job well, there will be no big problem in winning. The rest will be decided after qualifying!" said Director Zhang.
Compared with the Chinese commentators who pay more attention to the overall results, the American reporters led by ESPN are of course more concerned about Ji Feng's personal results, because although the United States is still the biggest favorite at the World Championships, they are mainly newcomers this time. As for the players, none of Mengba's luxurious teachers are here. The biggest names are probably Durant and Iguodala, so judging from the attention, they are really not as high as Ji Feng.
Before the game, ESPN's commentators also analyzed the game.
"This is a brand new challenge for Ji Feng. It is undoubtedly very risky to choose to return to the Chinese team without Dayao. After all, China today is not the China a few years ago. As a player with the strongest star on the planet and the last Olympic Games The gold medal winners will be the goals of all teams. For Ji Feng, this is related to whether he can continue to defend his glory. "
“Because, since Ji Feng’s debut in 2007, he has won championships in all competitions he participated in in the past three years, including the championship of China’s local SH high school league, the national high school league championship, three NBA championships, one Olympic championship, and An Asian Games championship, except for one NBA Finals, all the other games won the MVP, these are definitely the most dominant three years in the history of basketball.”
"Whether Ji Feng can continue his championship journey and continue to maintain his law that he must win the championship is one of the biggest highlights of this World Championships, and the confrontation between China and the United States will also be very eye-catching. Although the United States has not sent a The strongest players, but mainly newcomers, they are still strong, and their overall strength is still the strongest among the 24 teams. Plus the divisions of the two teams, if everything goes well, they will have a chance to meet in the top 4 or finals. ." ESPN commentary said.
On the Spanish commentary stage, the guest commentator is Pau Gasol. Although he did not participate in the competition, he still came to Turkey. He will commentate on Spain and other important games as a guest.
He believes that apart from the United States and Spain, the most popular team in this competition is undoubtedly the Chinese team. If Spain wants to win the championship, it is best to avoid the Chinese team as much as possible.
"Although saying this may make our fans angry, if these Spanish players want to win the championship, they still need to pay more attention to the Chinese team led by Ji Feng. I am familiar with him. He is an incredible guy. In the international arena, I We lost to him twice and we were convinced. This time, our young players must pay more attention to playing well in the group stage and getting first in the group is the best way.”
In other words, China cannot watch these TV stations, otherwise they would probably cry on the spot when they hear these commentators.
For so many years, it has always been the Chinese team that picks its opponents. In every World Series, it has basically become the norm to calculate points, calculate how to appear, and calculate which opponent has a greater chance of advancing. Everyone is used to it.
But I didn't expect that today's Chinese team would actually be calculated by others. What's even more shocking is that a strong team like Spain would actually calculate how to avoid the Chinese team. It's simply incredible!
At least the Japanese commentators near the Spanish TV station almost cried. Is the Chinese team already at this level? Why is the Japanese team still picking their feet at home? The gap is too big.
What is even more unexpected is the performance of the Chinese team!
This World Championship is divided into ABCD, 4 groups, each group has 6 teams, the top four advance to the top 16, and the Chinese team is in Group C. This group includes the host Turkey, Russia, Greece, Côte d'Ivoire, and Porto Rick and China.
The strength of this group is quite clear. Russia, Turkey, Greece and China are significantly better than the other two teams, so there is no problem in qualifying. It just depends on the order.
Before the game, the outside world was generally optimistic that the Chinese team could qualify among the top three.
But in the first game, China told the world that being in the top three is not where they want it to be, and that it is natural to be number one.
In the first game, China faced Greece, which they had just met a few days ago. This is recognized as the strongest team in Group C.
But the Chinese team is not afraid at all. Two years ago, when the Greek golden generation was still at its peak, China also defeated them. Now, they are also facing the same problem as China. The team is not picking up the slack. This time it is Diamantidi. The average age of the team with the 35-year-old veteran as its core has also reached 30, and Papalukas, the real core player of their golden generation, has withdrawn from the national team.
Elderly is their biggest problem, and it is also the magic weapon for the Chinese team to defeat them.
After the game started, Ji Feng led the Chinese young people to play a smooth fast break attack.
The Greeks hoped to slow down the pace, but China's defense was very good. Driven by Ji Feng, Greece missed the first three shots, and China easily made a dream start of 11-0.
After a bad start, they hoped that Diamantis would step forward to save the team, but age is really a nightmare on the court. Under Ji Feng's youthful face, Diaman's bottom line looked so old. He was assisted by Ji Feng alone. Blocked 3 shots in the first quarter and made 4 turnovers. Greece lost 13 points in the first quarter and the game lost its suspense.
China defeated Greece 98-80 and got a good start in the group stage. Ji Feng played 34 minutes and scored 37 points, 8 assists, 13 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 blocks to shine.