"A magical three-pointer! It was a shot from the center circle, and it went in from such a long distance!"
"Zhang Guan once again saved the Chinese team! He shot from the front of the center circle. It's unbelievable. I think even the strongest pitcher in the world cannot guarantee a hit rate from this position, but Zhang Guan made the shot!"
"I'm really lucky with this three-pointer. Normally, if I can score one out of seven or eight balls thrown at this position, that's pretty good!"
"Billups, who is responsible for guarding Zhang Guan, obviously did not expect that Zhang Guan would shoot a three-pointer from Zhang Guan's position. He was just one step away from Zhang Guan and had no ability to stop Zhang Guan from shooting!"
"To be honest, the risk of this goal is too great, but the risk is great, and the benefits are also great. Now we have to play the third overtime!"
"In the last 1.1 seconds, the American team should have called a timeout and arranged some tactics. Maybe they could win!"
"Probably Coach K also feels that there are no tactics that can be used in 1.1 seconds. After all, it is a baseline serve, and it is almost impossible to score in 1.1 seconds."
During the break, people in the arena started talking.
…
"This game is so difficult, it has to go to three overtimes!" Krzyzewski sighed, but Zhang Guan's long-range three-pointer flashed in his mind.
That can no longer be described as a super long-range three-pointer. Standing in the middle circle and shooting the ball, if there is a four-point line on the field, this is not an exaggeration.
"It should be a coincidence, or it could be the potential that burst out in a hurry. For a three-pointer from this distance, six points depend on blindness, two points depend on luck, and strength can only account for two points." Ji comforted himself.
At this time, Krzyzewski suddenly felt regretful. He felt that at that 1.1 second, a timeout should have been called. Maybe calling a timeout might have beaten the Chinese team.
According to the rules of the World Championships, after a timeout, you have to serve from the baseline. There is still 1.1 seconds to serve from the baseline. There are only two offensive methods that can be used. One is to throw the ball directly towards the basket after serving, and the other is to serve and throw directly to the basket. , hit an alley-oop.
However, both of these offensive methods are quite unreliable. There is no difference between throwing the opponent's basket directly from the backcourt and blindly throwing it. In the case of alley-oop, the US team does not have a height advantage.
"Up to this point in the game, Zhang Guan has not yet taken a break. Even if he is an iron man, he should be running out of gas by now. If I call a timeout, wouldn't it help him relieve the pressure on his physical strength. Anyway, 1.1 seconds is very difficult. If you are not forced to score a goal, you must not call a timeout!" Krzyzewski thought of this and said: "I will double-team Zhang Guan as much as possible to consume more of his energy. As long as Zhang Guan can't hold on, If we stay, we will definitely win!"
…
"Zhang Guan, can you still hold on?" Deng Huade asked anxiously.
The game has gone through two overtimes. Zhang Guan has been on the court from the beginning of the game. There are only timeouts and regular rest times to recover a little bit. In contrast, Wang Shipeng, one of the starting players who has not yet been sent off, is already exhausted on the bench and may not have the energy to fight in the third overtime.
Although Sun Yue was sent off, his legs could not help but tremble at this moment. He would feel light even if he was standing. This was a sign of excessive physical exertion.
Playing time is only one aspect of the reason, intensity of confrontation is the most critical. Facing the intensity of confrontation at the NBA level, it is indeed difficult for these players who usually play CBA to adapt, and this is also the situation that Deng Huade is most worried about. Four of the five starters have been knocked out, and now they only rely on Zhang Guan. If Zhang Guan's physical strength cannot hold on, the Chinese team will collapse directly.
"It's okay, I can hold on." Zhang Guan continued: "I want to reduce the physical confrontation and increase the number of long-range shots. Next, everyone is ready to grab rebounds!"
Shooting is obviously a relatively energy-saving offensive method, especially some long-distance shots. There will be much less physical confrontation and there will not be too many movement trajectories, which saves energy. It's just that the further away from the basket, the lower the shooting percentage. At this time, grabbing rebounds becomes the key.
For young players, rebounding mainly relies on hard work. At this time, Deng Huade suddenly found that he was useful again. The biggest advantage of his "chicken blood" is that it can inspire young players to fight desperately.
…
The third overtime began, and the American team replaced the starting lineup with Odom, Durant, Iguodala, Rose and Billups. As for the Chinese team, except for Zhang Guan, the other five players are substitutes.
Although the U.S. team's starting lineup is not high-level, its style of play is flexible, fast, and very impactful. Krzyzewski chose this lineup because he was obviously not prepared to give the Chinese team another chance and wanted to play a game. Wave a rapid wave of attacks to defeat the enemy.
The Chinese team also changed its defensive strategy. Liu Wei was responsible for defending Billups, and Zhang Guanze faced Rose.
Although Liu Wei's defensive ability is not very good, he has rich experience. At the age of 30, he is also at the peak of his career as a defender, so he can barely cope with Billups. Of course, if Billups could be two years younger, Liu Wei might be easily beaten.
Rose was helpless when facing Zhang Guan's defense. The quick breakthroughs he was good at were useless against Zhang Guan's speed. The other members of the US team also knew this and did not pass the ball to Rose at all. mean.
In the confrontation between the forwards, the two young players of the Chinese team are Ding Jinhui and Zhou Peng. These two people can be regarded as newborn calves and are not afraid of tigers. Facing the two big-name stars Iguodala and Durant, they are not timid at all and directly Going head-to-head with them, this desperate defense made the American team a little uncomfortable.
The American team finally relied on free throws to score two points, but these two points were more difficult to score than before.
Zhang Guan advanced forward with the ball, and Billups gestured to Iguodala, indicating that he was ready to step forward and double-team Zhang Guan.
Zhang Guan's footwork is not fast. He dribbles forward while waving to his teammates, as if directing his teammates to move. The other players of the Chinese team also cooperated and walked around according to Zhang Guan's gestures.
Coming to the center line and reaching the top of the center arc, Zhang Guan suddenly stopped and jumped up to shoot.
"Here it is again!" Billups never imagined that Zhang Guan would shoot from this position.
"This is not a life-and-death ball, so why are you shooting from the top of the center circle again? Did Zhang Guan take the wrong medicine? Although no one is marking the shot at this position, but such a long distance basically depends on luck and blindness, why? Maybe head first!" Billups thought as he looked back.
The ball goes in!
"What? Made it again!" This time not only Billups, but the entire US team looked in amazement.
"Is this still a fool's errand? But two consecutive goals like this, if they are a fool's errand, would be a bit unjustifiable. Can Zhang Guan really shoot from the center circle? Even in the NBA, it is impossible for anyone to have such a long shot. Range!”
"A lucky ball, this must be a lucky ball. If Zhang Guan can really shoot a three-pointer from this position, what else is there to play in the game? Just surrender! Zhang Guan's speed is already so fast, plus the position of the center circle No one can guard against a three-pointer!"
Although the players of the US team were shocked, the offense did not stagnate at all. Continuous passes allowed Durant to find a gap, and then he made a jump shot and scored two points.
Next, Zhang Guan repeated his old trick and once again threw the ball at the top of the center circle.
"Return the shot?" Billups turned his head with a guilty look on his face, but the ball bounced out of the frame.
Billups breathed a sigh of relief: "If we score again, I will really call the police! Let me just say, there is no way anyone can maintain a shooting percentage in this position! If I guessed correctly, the last overtime In the game, Zhang Guan made a shot from this position and felt that it felt good, so he tried again, and he was lucky enough to score another goal. But luck cannot continue to be so good. A shot from this position will not score a goal. It’s normal! Next time, Zhang Guan probably won’t vote again!”
The American team scored another goal and had a three-point lead, and Krzyzewski's heart settled down.
However, when it was the Chinese team's turn to attack, Zhang Guan once again chose this ultra-long-range shot from the top of the center circle.
"How dare you shoot here! Is Zhang Guan addicted to shooting?" Billups immediately looked at the basket and heard a "dong" sound as the ball bounced out of the frame again.
"I already knew it was impossible to get in." Billups showed a disdainful smile on his face.
However, the ball landed far away. Zhou Peng and Durant, who were relatively close, rushed towards the ball at the same time. Perhaps knowing that he could not grab Durant, Zhou Peng did not choose to control the rebound, but directly hit it. The ball went to midfield.
Zhang Guan grabbed the basketball with one step, then jumped directly and shot again.
"Three-pointer! Go in! Another super long-range three-pointer! 122 to 122, the Chinese team tied the score again!"
There was an exclamation at the scene, but on the bench of the US team, Krzyzewski frowned.
"In this overtime, Zhang Guan made two of four shots, a 50% shooting rate. By three-point shooting standards, this shooting rate is already very high, but his shooting positions are all at the three-point line. Three meters away, such a long-range shot, let alone a 50% hit rate, even a one-third hit rate is enough to give us a headache! Zhang Guan has always been so persistent in shooting such ultra-long-range three-pointers. , does he really have this ability?" Krzyzewski hesitated and decided to observe again.
Iguodala's breakthrough caused another foul, and he made one of two free throws. Then Zhang Guan also chose to shoot just after passing the center line, but still failed to make a shot. The Chinese team once again used the offensive rebound to pass the ball to Zhang Guan. , Zhang Guan still tried a long-range three-pointer, but also failed to make it.
The U.S. team breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Guan missed two consecutive shots, which seemed to confirm that the previous few shots were blind.
Odom's shot was roughly interfered with and missed the basket. After the Chinese team grabbed the rebound, Zhang Guan still chose a long-range three-pointer just past the center line.
"In! Another super long-distance three-pointer! 125 to 123, the Chinese team went ahead by two points!"
"Is it two-for-four and then one-for-three? In total, it's three-for-seven, a 42% shooting rate. Even for three-pointers, this shooting rate is already very scary, let alone This kind of ultra-long-range three-pointer just past the center line! If Zhang Guan's ultra-long-range three-pointer from this position can really reach a 40% hit rate, it will be really difficult!" Krzyzewski His expression became serious.
This kind of ultra-long-distance three-point shot that is shot just past the center line is simply impossible to guard against. If Zhang Guan is not fast, he can also choose to defend in the midfield. However, with Zhang Guan's breakthrough ability, it is very difficult to defend in the midfield. It is easy for Zhang Guan to get past him in one step, resulting in a five-on-four situation.
"Since you can't defend, then don't defend. The worst thing is to compete to see who has the better scoring ability!" Krzyzewski made up his mind. He was going to call a timeout to rearrange his tactics, but considering Zhang Guan Due to the physical problem, I still endured it.
Back on the court, Durant returned a three-pointer, reestablishing the 1-point lead for the US team.
At this time, there are 43 seconds left in the third overtime, and theoretically both sides still have an opportunity to attack.
Zhang Guan decided to shoot a three-pointer, but the shot missed. When the US team grabbed the rebound, there were 32 seconds left in the game.
The U.S. team was preparing for the final attack. Billups deliberately slowed down the pace, dribbling the ball for more than ten seconds, and then suddenly launched a breakthrough. Liu Wei tightly guarded Billups and refused to let him go. He had room for a layup, and Billups flicked his wrist and passed the ball to Durant on a ground-up pass.
Durant reached for the ball. At this moment, a hand suddenly stretched out from Durant's armpit and pushed the ball aside.
That's Zhou Peng's hand. He is not a very talented player, but he plays very seriously and hard. Especially in the defensive period, he can always contribute to the team. He is deeply loved by Deng Huade. At the same time, he is also a young player that Deng Huade focuses on training.
At this critical moment, Zhou Peng also repaid Deng Huade's trust with his performance. Although this steal did not control the ball, it did not allow Durant to catch the ball.
The basketball flew out of bounds, and Iguodala, who was closest to the ball, immediately rushed forward and saved the ball with a moon-catching movement.
"Beep!" the referee's whistle sounded, indicating that Iguodala had stepped on the line. The subsequent slow motion showed that Iguodala's toe did indeed step on the sideline during this save.
"Foul ball! Iguodala touched the ball! The Chinese team has the ball!" CCTV's commentator shouted excitedly: "There are still 13 seconds, enough for us to attack! As long as we score a two-point goal, The score is over!"
Coach Deng Huade decisively called a timeout. After the timeout came back, the Chinese team served from the backcourt.
This time, Zhang Guan did not hesitate, dribbling the ball quickly across the center line, and then handed the ball to Liu Wei, who came up to respond, and Liu Wei immediately passed the ball back to Zhang Guan.
I saw Zhang Guan holding the ball with both hands, lowering his body, deliberately pretending to break through. This posture made Billups hesitate. He didn't know whether he should step forward to defend.
"What should I do? In this position, Zhang Guan has already made three of seven shots. No matter what he says, he may still shoot a long-range three-pointer! But if he steps forward to defend, he will break through again! Now we are only ahead With one point, the Chinese team only needs a two-pointer to overtake the score. That’s right, if you defend two points and let go three points, you must not let Zhang Guan break through!”
Billups was thinking, silently counting the time in his mind.
In the stadium, the red countdown has begun, and the audience has already stood up and chanted the countdown numbers together.
"5, 4, 3..."
Zhang Guan did not break through, but chose a super long-range three-pointer.
"Three-point shot!"
The audience at the scene let out a cry of exclamation.
On the court, on the bench, athletes, coaches, team managers, team doctors, everyone’s hearts were in their throats at this moment!
At this second, the basketball drew a beautiful arc in the air, and then fell firmly into the basket.
"Go in! A three-pointer! A super long-distance three-pointer! Another super-long-distance three-pointer! 128 to 126, the Chinese team overtook the score! A buzzer beater? Is it a buzzer beater? The referee is watching the video replay, It’s not yet certain whether it’s a buzzer beater or not. If it’s a buzzer beater, the Chinese team will win the championship!”
…
"Really scored! He actually scored again! In the third overtime, Zhang Guan made a total of four long-range three-pointers! I have never seen a player with such a long range! This is really a goal. A super heavy artillery! No, 'heavy artillery' can no longer describe this terrifying range, it should be called 'missile'!"
"I think it is more appropriate to call it 'intercontinental missile'. At that time, it was the longest-range weapon in the world, and it also had very high accuracy. Zhang Guan's ultra-long-distance shooting deserves this nickname!"
…
On the sidelines, the players of the US team were as if they were mourning. They were still waiting for the referee's final decision to see if they could return the watch and give the US team some more time. However, even if it can return to the table, it is still a desperate struggle for the US team. After the timeout of the World Championships, the ball has to be served from the backcourt. This rule makes it almost impossible to achieve the kind of 1-second buzzer beater in the NBA.
There is only one person who is not like this, and that is Stephen Curry sitting at the end of the bench. At this time, his eyes are gleaming, waiting to show off.
"It turns out that shooting in the midfield can guarantee a hit rate. I didn't expect that basketball can be played like this! Just relying on crazy three-point shooting can let the Chinese team beat us! Didn't people say before that shooting alone can't kill us? Human?"
"Three-point shooting is also my special skill. If I can achieve Zhang Guan's level, then I can also become the core of the team! I can also win the MVP, and I can also win the championship! Yes, it’s a three-pointer! A completely unreasonable three-pointer! An abnormally accurate three-pointer! This is what I need!"
At this moment, Curry's heart was in a frenzy. He seemed to feel that a brand new window had been opened...
(End of chapter)