During the NBA offseason, the free market is full of rumors. A lot of news about signings, contract extensions and transfers are coming. Unless it is directly announced by the team, it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false.
Most of the team's staff are on vacation. The newly recruited players by Li Dai, Hall, Raymond, Noel and Gray, including Wood and Ossoff, did not go to the Clippers for training, but temporarily came to Li Dai's team. Physical training center. Their current physical condition cannot meet the requirements for playing games, and it will take some time to recover.
There are many athletes who come to Dai Li for training, including many big-name stars, so a few more NBA basketball players are not conspicuous. When true and false news are flying all over the sky, their joining the Clippers has not been exposed.
At the same time, in Asia, the quadrennial Asian Games also opened. In this Asian Games, the Chinese men's basketball team aims to win the championship.
The overall level of Asian basketball is relatively low, and there are not many teams that can show off. The group stage is divided into four groups. There is no problem for strong teams to advance in the group stage. For example, for the Chinese men's basketball team, the three opponents in the group stage are all from Central Asia and Southeast Asia. This is equivalent to being assigned to a group for the men's basketball team.
So in the group stage, the men's basketball team defeated its opponents all the way and easily advanced to the top eight. In the subsequent quarter-finals, the men's basketball team faced the second place players in other groups. The opponent's strength was still not strong. The men's basketball team Also easily advanced to the semi-finals.
In the semifinals, the men's basketball team faced the Philippines, and it finally encountered a decent opponent.
The strength of the Philippine men's basketball team is actually not strong. In fact, there is no strong sports country in the entire Southeast Asia. However, in recent years, the Philippines has naturalized many American basketball players, and some mixed-race players with black ancestry have also emerged in the Philippines.
The U.S. military has been stationed in the Philippines for some years. Everyone knows the virtues of the U.S. military. They cannot control their lower bodies wherever they go. For example, sexual assault scandals often broke out in the U.S. military stationed in Japan. Another example is that after the end of the Vietnam War, there were places in Southeast Asia where the U.S. military was stationed. There are always large numbers of mixed-race kids.
Therefore, it is normal for the Philippines, where a large number of US troops are stationed, to have a large number of mixed-race children with American ancestry.
Some US troops stationed in the Philippines are more responsible and will fulfill their father's obligations by bringing their children with Filipino women back to the United States so that they can become Americans and receive American education; most US troops do not have such a responsibility They are so heartless that they will leave the children they gave birth to to Filipino women in the Philippines. These children are also very pitiful. They have lost their fathers since they were young, and because of their mixed-race appearance, they will also be looked down upon by other Filipinos.
However, the physical fitness of black people is indeed better than that of Southeast Asians. Therefore, when these mixed-race players with black ancestry grew up, some outstanding athletes were born, including basketball players.
It's just that these basketball players did not receive formal basketball training since childhood. Of course, they were not qualified to receive basketball training when they were young. Therefore, their skills are relatively rough, not even professional basketball skills. Such players basically rely on physical talent to play. They jump higher than others, run faster than others, and are more explosive. They are more than enough to abuse the local Filipinos in the Philippines' domestic league.
Most of the naturalized players came to the Philippines to play because they couldn't make it in the United States, Europe, or even leagues in China, Japan and other countries. You can imagine how bad this kind of player is.
…
In the Philippine team's locker room, the players seemed relaxed, but the Philippine team's head coach looked solemn.
As the head coach of a national team, he certainly knows that the Chinese men's basketball team is very strong, at least within Asia. With Australia and New Zealand not participating, the Chinese team and the Iranian team are the strongest teams.
He looked at his players, especially the black players, who were still joking and looking heartless, which made him a little angry. But he didn't show the dignity of a coach to make the players serious. In fact, his dignity as a coach was almost worthless in the hearts of the players.
The core players in the team are naturalized players with dual nationalities of the United States and the Philippines, but the so-called Filipino nationality is just a decoration. They may not even know who the president of the Philippines is, so how can they care about a Filipino? What the head coach said.
More importantly, the tactical literacy and tactical execution of these Filipino team players are really poor.
In the past, the Philippine team was the same as other Southeast Asian teams. The height of the team was generally insufficient. A center that could reach two meters was considered good. There were many players who were over 1.6 meters tall. Playing basketball with this height would definitely be a disadvantage. , shots are easily blocked, if you fail to make a shot, you cannot grab a rebound, and you suffer from physical confrontation. Therefore, Southeast Asian teams have always used "small and quick" tactics. The players play very smart and have good tactical execution.
Of course, there is no way to force this out. In confrontational sports, if your physical fitness is not as good as your opponent's, you can only make a fuss about tactics. To put it bluntly, my body is too weak and I can only rely on my brain to play.
But today's Philippine team has naturalized players and mixed-race players. Their physical fitness has improved a lot, but their tactical literacy and tactical execution have declined. The players of this Philippine team have much better physical fitness than before. In the Philippine league, they can easily score 34 points with their strong bodies.
Since you can easily abuse someone by playing without any brains, what tactics are there to use? This is like playing a game. When high-level professional players encounter a novice team, they can easily defeat their opponents purely by relying on operation. They also struggle to coordinate tactics, and even teammates are busy competing for kills.
This is the case for this Philippine team. In the group stage, there was no tactics at all. Almost everyone relied on their body to play alone, eager to rack up more data. The opponents in the group stage were also really weak, and they were really beaten by the Philippine team.
This also gave the players of the Philippine team the illusion that Asian teams are generally weak and can overwhelm their opponents without using tactics at all and relying on their bodies.
The players of the Philippine team are used to playing in isolation according to their individual abilities, and their tactical literacy and tactical execution have deteriorated. Even if they have the ball in their hands, they have no tactical awareness, not to mention that they are not good at this aspect in the first place.
After all, basketball is a five-person sport that requires cooperation among the players. The five players on the court as a whole also require tactics.
There are many so-called "system players" in the NBA. Their skills may be poor and their bodies may not be strong, but in a specific tactical system, they can play a role and obtain excellent data.
There are also some players whose statistics are not very outstanding. They may have played for more than ten years and do not even have a double-digit statistic. However, they can always gain a foothold in the NBA and there will always be teams that want them. , and can also mix in a middle-class contract. In all likelihood, such players will have strong tactical execution and they will appear where the coach needs them to appear.
Similarly, the NBA eliminates some players every year who are physically strong and technically sound, but have little brain power. Many fans always ask why a certain player has good physical fitness, average skills, and pretty good statistics, but no team wants him? The reason is probably poor tactical execution.
If you are not a superstar, then standing on the court but not executing the coach's tactics will not only fail to help the team, but will actually cause the team to retreat. Of course, if you are a superstar, you can move a team by yourself, and there is no question of whether to execute tactics or not.
These players of the Philippine team are the kind of people who have little tactical execution ability. If they really have strong tactical execution ability, based on their physical fitness, they will not be able to compete in the Philippine domestic league.
…
Both sides of the game have entered the venue. The players of the Philippine team were still talking and laughing, while the Chinese team seemed much more serious.
"The Chinese team is really tall. There is more than one seven-foot-tall player in their team!"
"What's the use of being tall? They're all skinny bamboo poles. I can push them away easily, just like I did in the previous games!"
"Why do I feel that the Chinese team is much stronger than our previous opponents?"
"No matter how strong they are, they can't beat us. We can definitely defeat them."
The Philippine team players whispered.
…
In the stands, the players of the Iranian team were also paying attention to this game.
An hour ago, also at this venue, the Iranian team defeated the South Korean team and advanced to the final. In this game, the winner between the Chinese team and the Philippines will be the Iranian team's opponent in the final. Of course, they must observe each other carefully.
The Chinese men's basketball team and the Iranian men's basketball team are also old rivals. The two sides often encounter each other in Asian competitions. Iran also has players playing in the CBA. It can be said that the two sides know everything about them.
"Why do I feel that the Chinese team's players seem to be stronger than a few months ago."
"I feel it too. Look at their big guys, they all have muscle lines on their arms, which they didn't have before in the CBA league."
"It seems that the training of the Chinese national team is better than that of their league clubs! I think the Philippine team has suffered a bitter pill.
"This is normal. The Philippines is never an opponent of the Chinese team. Hasn't our imaginary enemy in the final always been the Chinese team?"
…
While everyone was talking, the game had already begun.
The Filipino's first attack was indeed a singles game with the ball.
A mixed-race player with black blood directly broke through with the ball. In his opinion, this was similar to him playing in the Philippine domestic league. The Chinese team's defensive players were like paper. Those yellow players could not compete with him. Physical confrontation.
However, what he didn't expect was that the Chinese team's defensive players actually stepped forward, as if they were not worried about physical confrontation with him.
"Be careful not to get knocked away by me!" the Filipino player thought to himself, and then he bumped into him blankly. He wanted to give the defender a little pain.
The next second, their bodies collided. He was surprised by the toughness of the Chinese team's defender. What surprised him even more was that the opponent's body seemed to be stronger than his own.
Based on his experience playing in the Philippines, Asians' bodies are not strong enough to compete with him. However, today, he obviously encountered an exception. Although the opponent was also a yellow player, he was much stronger than the Filipino player.
His breakthrough ended in failure. When he stopped the ball, the Chinese team's defensive players were already close to him. He had no room to shoot, so he had to pass the ball out.
After a few passes, the basketball came to the hands of the Filipino inside player.
This Filipino post player is named Apes. He is a mixed-race player and a naturalized player. He is 6 feet 9 inches tall. He grew up in the United States. He once played in the NCAA at Western Kentucky University and tried out for the Spurs. The NBDL team Austin Toros later participated in the Philippine League PBA draft and became a professional player as the top pick.
Being able to pass the NBDL trial training shows that his physical fitness is still very good, and he has been influenced by American basketball culture since he was a child, which is incomparable to ordinary Asian players. In the Philippine domestic league, Apez also relies on his excellent physical talent to be an unsolvable presence in the inside.
It's a pity that after playing for so many years, Eppes's skills are still very rough and there is basically no progress. Of course, with his physical fitness, playing in the Philippine League does not require any skills.
Apes catches the ball in the low post, but he has no low-post offensive skills at all. He can only rely on his body to squeeze towards the basket. This move has always been tried and tested in the Philippine domestic league. The local players of the Philippines cannot bear it at all. If he can't control his offensive style, he can always easily cut to the basket and then succeed in a layup or dunk.
But today, Apes felt that what he was facing seemed to be a wall. No matter how hard he used his body to squeeze the opponent, the opponent remained motionless, without giving in at all, and without losing his position.
At this moment, Apes seemed to feel that he was back in the United States. There, the opponents he encountered were on par with him in physical fitness, and each opponent dared to engage in physical confrontation. This turned a player with rough skills like him into a pure blue-collar player, and it became difficult to score. .
"When did the Chinese team become so strong?" Eppes thought anxiously.
The attack time was about to come, and Eppes had no choice but to face the defensive player and force a layup.
With a height of 6 feet 9 inches, he is considered a giant in the Philippines, but in front of a group of seven-footers in the Chinese team, he was not cheap at all. His layup was blocked by a big block.
…
In the first half, the Philippines team fell behind by 12 points. The audience was not surprised by this result. After all, the Chinese men's basketball team is already the top team in Asia.
But the game process was beyond many people's expectations. In everyone's opinion, the physical fitness of the Philippine team players is better, and they will definitely take advantage of this advantage and take more singles. But the reality is that during the physical confrontation, the Philippine team did not take any advantage. On the contrary, this Chinese team prefers physical confrontation. They are very aggressive in defense and almost use man-to-man combat with Filipino players.
In the stands, the head coach of the Iranian team frowned more and more. From the course of this game, he saw some bad signs for the Iranian team.
"This Chinese team is much stronger than before. The naturalized players in the Philippines have black ancestry, but they have been repeatedly restricted in front of the Chinese team. Moreover, the insiders dare to engage in physical confrontation, which is not good for us. Good news. The Chinese team has never lacked big players, and their inside line is full of talents. However, our inside line is in a period of inactivity. If the Chinese team fights in the finals and continuously consumes our physical strength, our inside line will The players’ physical strength may not last for half a game.”
The head coach of the Iranian team sighed, and the sadness in his eyes flashed away.
"Coach, what's wrong with you? Why are you sighing?" asked a player next to him.
As the head coach of the team, of course he cannot bring his negative emotions to the players, let alone exaggerate others' ambitions and destroy his own prestige. So the head coach of the Iranian team quickly explained: "I think the Philippines team's tactics are really bad."
"Isn't that right? Everyone is playing singles with the ball. The Philippines team's previous small, fast and flexible tactical system has been completely abandoned. This kind of team that relies purely on physical play can only show its majesty in Asia. In the international arena, if you meet some players with more outstanding physical talents, you will definitely lose miserably." The player said.
…
In Los Angeles, Dai Li came to the office early in the morning, and then watched the Asian Games match between the Chinese men's basketball team and the Iranian men's basketball team online.
"As expected, the Chinese team defeated Iran! The young men in this national team are much better than I thought. The inside players dared to fight hand-to-hand, and the outside players also shot three-pointers decisively."
The Chinese team won the game, and Dai Li was in a good mood. He closed the webpage for the live broadcast of the game and walked to the training ground.
"The training camp for the new season is about to begin, and it's time to use athlete patches on my new players!"