At the beginning of the death entanglement, Curry followed me to slam dunk

Chapter 225 Vanessa’s call
On September 9, the World Championships group stage officially ended.

With the national team's disastrous defeat of the host Turkey and the Spurs' narrow victory over last year's runner-up Greece, the situation of the entire Group C has become clear.

Of course, in another set of duels, Côte d'Ivoire defeated Portolige in an upset, but this had no impact on the situation.

The rankings of Group C are settled.

1. Turkey (5 wins, 0 losses)
2. Screws (4 win and 1 loss)
3. Huaguo (3 wins and 2 losses)
4. Xiwa (2 win, 3 loss)
5. Côte d’Ivoire (1 wins, 4 losses)
6. Porto Lige (0 wins and 5 losses)
Although the national team lost two games in a row at the last minute, relying on its early foundation, it still successfully qualified as third in the group, which can be regarded as achieving its original goal before participating.

Next, the team's task is to find ways to go further in the knockout rounds.

The opponents in the first round of 16 knockout round are from the adjacent Group D.

Compared with the clear ranking of Group C, the situation in Group D, which has many strong teams, is slightly more complicated.

As a traditional basketball powerhouse, Taowan, a small country in Eastern Europe, won five consecutive victories in the group stage and secured the top spot in Group D without any doubt.

Xibanya, the last defending champion, under the leadership of Pau Gasol, only lost one game to the Lithuan Bowl in the group stage, finishing second with a record of four wins and one loss.

On the other hand, the two teams, New Zealand Blue and Gaul, also had a record of two wins and three losses. In the end, the difference was determined by the difference in points.

The final ranking of Group D was that the Li Tao Bowl group was first, the Western Panya was second, the New Zealand Blue was third, and the Gaul was fourth.

According to the rules, the national team will face the European giants Xibanya in the quarter-finals.

This has made many fans worried about the prospects of the national team's top 16 knockout rounds.

On various sports forums, some slightly pessimistic remarks began to appear again.

"What a pity. It would have been nice if Du Zhe had not been sent off in the game against the Screws!"

"If we take the screws, we are at least second in the group, and we still have a good chance of winning against the New Zealand Blues."

"Yeah, the referee was too shady. Du Zhe had his arm pinched by someone else. Is it reasonable to call him a foul?"

"There's nothing I can do. The person who made the screws has his arm broken..."

"Well, Xibanya can almost put together a set of NBA starters. Even with Du Zhe here, I'm afraid it's not easy to win..."

It can only be said that the fans' concerns are reasonable.

Although Xibanya ranks second in Group D, it has many NBA players in its team and was the champion of the last World Championship.

No matter which team faces such an opponent, it is hard to say that they will win.

For fans, if Dayao and Arab League are both here, and teamed up with Du Zhe, there is still a chance of winning against Xibanya.

But now Xibanya's powerful inside line alone is difficult for the Arab League to resist. It is too difficult to win.

In fact, Du Zhe was slightly surprised when he saw the lineup of this Xibanya team.

This Xibanya team was different from what he remembered.

Although most of the players have not changed much, there have been changes at key points.

That is, in this World Championship, the core of the Xibanya team, Pau Gasol, actually participated.

In Du Zhe's previous life, Pau Gasol did not participate in the World Championships because he did not pay much attention to the World Championships and was tired.

But this time because of Du Zhe's presence, the world line of this World Championship has also been affected.

In addition to directly changing the group ranking of the Chinese men's basketball team, the Xibanya lineup has also undergone some minor changes.

Pau Gasol, who was supposed to participate in business activities in China, gave up his rest this year and chose to continue to lead the Xibanya men's basketball team in the World Championships.

This unexpected presence somewhat disrupted Du Zhe's plan.

Pau Gasol, whether in the NBA or in the international arena, is by no means an opponent that can be underestimated.

But after Du Zhe analyzed it carefully, he found that the problem still lay with himself.

In his previous life, without his influence, Gasol and the Lakers made it all the way to the NBA Finals, and then fought the Celtics in seven games and won the championship.

With the honor of the second consecutive championship in hand, coupled with the exhaustion of the finals tiebreaker, Gasol will naturally choose to take a rest for the summer and will not return to the muddy water of the World Championships.

But now the situation is different. The team failed in the Western Conference Finals. Gasol, who went home early to rest, might just be ready to learn from shame and then be brave to make a name for himself in the World Championships.

"After doing this for a long time, I still tricked myself..." Looking at the strong Xibanya lineup, Du Zhe could only complain to himself with a wry smile.

But what if the Xibanya lineup is complete?
The international arena is different from the NBA playoffs. When a victory is determined, anything can happen.

Even the famous American dream team is bound to overturn sometimes, let alone Western duck?

…………

At the same time, in the hotel where the Xibanya men’s basketball team stayed.

Pau Gasol suddenly received a phone call as the war was about to begin.

Taking out his cell phone, he found that the call came from a familiar number.

The call seemed to be coming from the home of his Lakers buddy Kobe Bryant.

Without thinking, Gasol pressed the answer button.

"Hi! Kobe, how are you doing?"

"Uh... Paul, I'm Vanessa..."

Unexpectedly, his old friend's voice did not ring on the other end of the phone.

Vanessa?Why did Kobe’s wife contact him?And this is at the very moment when the couple is getting divorced!

Gasol was caught off guard by the sudden change, and [-] possibilities flashed through his mind.

After calming down, he quickly replied: "Oh, it's Vanessa, that..."

After saying hello, Gasol suddenly felt that he didn't know what to say.

The only intersection between him and Vanessa is Kobe Bryant, but the key is that Kobe and Vanessa are still divorcing at the moment, and it seems a bit embarrassing for him to mention Kobe now.

What else can we talk about?
Are you asking Vanessa how her divorce went?

Gasol, who had nothing to say, could only choose to shut up.

Fortunately, the silence did not last long and was broken by Vanessa.

"Paul, there is nothing going on between me and Bry...Kobe. We have just reconciled in the past few days."

For just a moment, the most terrifying possibility came to Gasol's mind.

Now that he heard this, he was relieved.

"That's good, that's good...then what is Kobe doing now? I guess he must have gone to pick out a gift for you."

When it comes to Kobe, Vanessa's tone becomes resentful again.

"Paul, although Kobe's leg injury has improved a lot now, he is still very depressed."

"To be honest, his condition is a bit worrying..."

Vanessa's words reminded Gasol of the disastrous defeat a few months ago.

He couldn't help but sigh a little, and could only comfort him: "Let Kobe look forward. A loss in one round is nothing. I believe that with Kobe's will, he will be able to get out of the shadow of failure soon." Gasol knew what he said was simple, but it was by no means easy for Kobe.

After all, in that series, Kobe could be said to have been eaten alive by Du Zhe from the inside out. How could this humiliation dissipate so easily?

And what Vanessa said later confirmed his suspicion.

"Paul, you also know Kobe's character. He has always been a competitive person and has never given up easily."

"Before you came to the Lakers, Kobe also experienced a trough period, but at that time he had been trying his best to find a way out of the predicament. He had never been as depressed as he is now."

"Why do you say this is?"

Faced with Vanessa's question, Gasol really didn't know how to answer it.

Xiao He succeeds and Xiao He loses. Gasol knows that Kobe's success is inseparable from his almost paranoid competitiveness.

But at the same time, the backlash of this almost paranoid competitiveness has also caused Kobe to be troubled by his inner demons.

Every time he was defeated by Du Zhe, Kobe's desire to defeat the opponent became stronger. After one season, it almost became his obsession.

But when he found that he tried his best, even using extra moves, but was unable to stop Du Zhe and was being played by the opponent, Kobe's faith collapsed.

His physique, skills, experience, and even the iron elbows that he was proud of for more than ten years were all so vulnerable to Du Zhe.

I'm afraid even Gasol, Kobe's closest teammate, can't explain it clearly.

Thinking of this, Gasol, who was still happy about the reunion of Kobe and Vanessa, became serious again.

Naturally, he would not say this to Vanessa. For an ordinary person, it would be a fantasy to understand the obsession of top players, even if that person is one of Kobe's bedfellows!

Gasol hesitated and gave an answer he thought was appropriate.

"Kobe is like this, probably because you are about to divorce him recently, so you are depressed."

"Now that your relationship has been repaired, he will definitely recover soon."

Gasol's words made Vanessa's heart warm.

"Thank you, Paul. It makes me feel better when you say that."

"I'm really sorry for bothering you when you have to compete soon."

After hearing about the game, Gasol instantly became energetic and his tone became solemn.

"Vanessa, tell Kobe to watch tomorrow's game."

"When the time comes, I will prove to him that Du Zhe is by no means invincible!"

…………

On the other side, Du Zhe had a rare day's rest, but he was not idle either.

After completing the routine training, he checked the first official reward of this world championship.

With the end of the group stage and the national team qualifying, the rewards from the system finally arrived.

"Sure enough, the rewards for qualifying in the group stage are really mediocre..."

In the hotel room, Du Zhe talked to himself, his tone calm.

Since qualifying for the group stage was not a great achievement, the rewards from the system were also very shabby, and Du Zhe was mentally prepared for this.

The reward this time is only 30 system points.

Du Zhe estimated that this should be because he won three games in the group stage, or because the national team ranked third in the group.

Then he opened the panel and took a look at his current strength.

【Name: Du Zhe】

【Comprehensive review: 102】

【Remaining system points: 35】

【各项技能：空位三分99、强投三分99、外线防守99、干扰投篮99、抢断99、防守意识99、隔人扣篮99、后仰跳投99、防守篮板85、直线运球88、花式运球87、传球技术75、传球意识75……】

【身体素质：速度100、弹跳97、敏捷97、力量100、耐力101……】

[Talent: Death Coil (Hall of Fame), Microwave (Hall of Fame), Lore (Hall of Fame), Aggressive (Hall of Fame), Frame Protector Elite (Silver)]

[Others: Stealer Gloves (active equipment), Stadium Villain (passive aura)]

There are frequent games these days, and Du Zhe spends relatively less time in training, so his abilities have not changed much.

In other words, only the ability value of fancy dribbling has increased a little, and the physical fitness of strength has improved a little.

However, Du Zhe's current strength has also exceeded the limit, reaching three digits.

And now he has 35 system points after counting the accumulation from previous games and system rewards. How should he distribute them?

Judging from the group stage just completed, Du Zhe feels that the skills he is currently proficient in are basically sufficient in the international arena.

It seems that we still need to develop some new skills and make them more comprehensive.

Du Zhe made up his mind when he thought that except for Ah Lian, other teammates on the court could not give him much help.

So what skills should be developed?

He hesitated for a moment, then thought of the battle with Hatorigo a few days ago.

In that game, he thought the national team would win easily, but he didn't expect Boduoli to change his formation on the spot. Instead, he caught the national team off guard and caused him a lot of trouble.

In that battle, the most impressive thing was undoubtedly the two short insiders Balkman and Peavey.

Although they are not as tall as Du Zhe, they are very quick to grab offensive rebounds and their judgment on the placement of rebounds is also very accurate.

These two alone reduced the national team's offensive rebounds to rubble, and as a result, Bodoliko gained more than a dozen offensive opportunities.

Thinking of these, Du Zhe no longer hesitated.

Immediately choose the offensive rebound to add points.

[Offensive rebounds: 55-90]

Du Zhe himself is not short in height, and his jumping and wingspan are also top-notch. His hardware conditions for rebounding can be said to be full.

What was lacking before was just the skills and awareness regarding offensive rebounds.

Before the World Championships, he improved his defensive rebounding ability to 85 points, and now he has enhanced his offensive rebounding ability to 90 points.

It can be said that this wave of improvements has directly made up for his shortcomings in software.

Although in terms of technology, he may still be far behind the top rebounders in the NBA, but thanks to his outstanding physical fitness, this gap has been eliminated.

Du Zhe's overall rating also increased to a terrifying 105 points.

Now, facing the West Bank Ducks, an all-star insider composed of the Gasol brothers, he felt a little more confident.

(End of this chapter)