NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 53: Playing against France, in crisis
As the men's basketball team entered the knockout stage, the venue was moved to North Greenwich Stadium in London.

Recognized as the group of death before the game, they successfully made it into the top four and the quarterfinals, making everyone think that they were quite strong.

If I change to another group, I can get second place even if I am not first.

And in the 2000 Olympics, they even won the Olympic runner-up and won the silver medal.

It is a team with a solid foundation.

In the pre-match interview, the French team showed their attitude.

When Tony Parker was interviewed, he said they would do their best to win.

Boris Diaw was confident.

"Oh, that Lin Chuan? You all say he's very versatile. Nicholas and I are both all-around players. I will prove that I'm better than him."

Tony Parker warms up on the court.

After the group stage was completed and they were confirmed in fourth place, they had already started studying the Chinese team.

In his eyes, the other members of the Chinese team were just average.

Only Lin Chuan...

Parker made a layup in the paint.

They watched the game tape.

Lin Chuan is a player who is obviously strong in offense but weak in defense, so we need to play more against him.

And one of Tony Parker's special skills is: turn around and layup!

But Dio seemed very casual. He held the water in one hand and drank it, while he held the ball with the other hand and jumped up to dunk.

After landing, he still acted as if he didn't care.

He also pointed at the water in his hand towards the camera.

He indicated that not a single drop of water spilled when he dunked the ball just now.

The camera was turned to the fans at the scene.

"You can see some fans wearing national team jerseys with their numbers on the front. Many fans at the scene raised the national flag and pointed it at the camera. You can see that everyone is very excited."

"Yes, everyone has been looking forward to this historic moment for a long time."

Su Qun continued what Yu Jia was saying.

The warm-up time is over and the game begins.

Dio was 2.03 meters tall, so there was no doubt that he could not jump over Lin Chuan.

The Chinese team took the first offensive opportunity.

Liu Wei passed the ball quickly to Lin Chuan at the three-point line across half court, and Lin Chuan stepped on the line and shot the two-point shot against Dio.

With a height difference of seven centimeters, Dio's defense couldn't interfere with Lin Chuan at all.

"Shh!"

The basketball goes hollow into the net.

France attacks.

Parker slowly dribbled upcourt.

Standing on the left wing, he waved to Dio to come forward for a screen.

While Dio and Parker were cooperating, Batum on the weak side also ran quickly on the other side, and the power forward of the French team also came forward to give him an off-ball screen.

Seeing Tony Parker break through the basket directly, Lin Chuan concentrated all his attention.

Parker's offense under the basket is also at a master level. In his best year, he could even hit 70+ at the basket.

Lin Chuan would not underestimate such an opponent.

Tony Parker broke into the basket, confronted Lin Chuan, turned around and passed the ball directly to the weak side corner.

Batum had already run to the corner and ambushed in the previous tactic, with no one in front of him.

After receiving the pass from Parker, Batum took an open three-pointer.

"Shh!"

It is also a hollow entry.

The French team responded with a shot and started with a 3:2 lead.

Afterwards, after China's Wang Shipeng's three-pointer from the bottom corner missed, the French team made another small cooperation in the positional battle.

After a few passes, the ball was passed to the wing point guard, who fired from the outside and scored again.

In the first quarter, the Chinese team, maybe because they were nervous or something, Lin Chuan missed the ball several times when he passed it to open space, while the French team scored repeatedly.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 13:24.

The Chinese team is already 11 points behind.

Seeing their team perform such a wonderful combination right from the start, the French audience immediately cheered.

You know, European basketball focuses on tactics and cooperation, not individual heroism.

They can defeat the Chinese team with tactics!

During the break, Lin Chuan watched Deng Huade yelling at his players, trying to wake them up.

Those shots would normally go in, but in the quarterfinals, those open shots looked like forced shots, and their postures were distorted.

Deng Huade looked at Lin Chuan, who was silent with his hands folded on his chest, and didn't know what to say.

After all, Lin Chuan passed the ball well enough. He always passed the ball when there was an open space. It was not his fault if other teammates could not make the shot.

But he was worried that the contrast between Lin Chuan's pre-match rhetoric and the current situation would put too much pressure on him.

"I'm fine, coach."

Seeing that Deng Huade seemed a little worried about him, Lin Chuan took the initiative to explain.
"I was just thinking about how to play better in the second quarter. Don't worry about me."

The second quarter begins.

The two sides fought again.

Seeing Sun Yue miss another shot in an open position, Deng Huade slapped his thigh angrily.
"What's going on! Is that ball so difficult to shoot?!"

When Parker caused Sun Yue to commit a foul and took a free throw, Deng Huade simply replaced all the starting players on the court except Lin Chuan.

The Chinese team replaced Chen Jianghua, Zhou Peng, Wang Zhizhi, and Guo Ailun.

After replacing the substitutes, the Chinese team seemed to have activated a switch.

In the French team, Parker scored two points with a gyro layup against Lin Chuan in the paint, and Lin Chuan quickly served the ball from the baseline.

Guo Ailun received the ball and passed it back, and Lin Chuan threw it to Zhou Peng who understood what Lin Chuan meant.

In the frontcourt, Zhou Peng faced two defenders under the basket and forced a layup against Dio.

"That's right! Just hit me like that!"

Deng Huade waved his fist and shouted, looking at the Chinese team's starting lineup beside him, feeling a little disappointed.
"Look at him, he can even make a layup even when he's forced to push past an opponent. What are you doing? You can't even get into an open position!"

Zhu Fangyu looked at his trembling hands and smiled bitterly.
"The more we want to break through and write our own history, the more nervous we become when the time comes."

Deng Huade sighed.
"Then you guys just relax for a while and watch Lin Chuan lead the substitutes."

The French team attacked, Parker passed the ball to Batum, Dio stepped forward to cover and pulled Lin Chuan out.

Batum immediately lowered his center of gravity and broke through with the ball. While rushing into the penalty area, he faced Wang Zhizhi who was defending and passed the ball directly to the corner.

But Zhou Peng suddenly appeared on the passing route and intercepted the ball.

Lin Chuan started running towards the front court at the same time.

Zhou Peng passed the ball to Lin Chuan for a fast break, and Lin Chuan strode to the frontcourt with the ball.

Looking at the French team that was almost in position, he cursed himself for running too slowly and stopped suddenly to shoot directly from outside the three-point line.

"Shh!"

An open three-pointer was scored!

"handsome!"

Lin Chuan and Zhou Peng high-fived when they returned to defense.

"It's amazing that this ball can be stolen. I thought it was going to be blocked by a pick-and-roll."

Zhou Peng smiled.

"My defense is still quite good."

In the last twenty seconds, the French team failed to score and Wang Zhizhi grabbed the rebound.

The Chinese team attacked, and with two seconds left, Wang Zhizhi received the ball in an open position and made a three-pointer, tying the score in the last second of the first half.

Lin Chuan finished the second quarter with the substitutes, and the Chinese team finally caught up with the score.

(End of this chapter)