In the stands, Gan Guoyang was introducing and analyzing the playing characteristics of American players to the China Team, as well as how to deal with them.
"Bird, he’s relatively slow but strong with good ball skills, clever and tricky in his play. Never jump when defending him, leave it to luck. His stamina might not be as good as before."
"Barkley, the one who looks like a wild boar, is very strong. Let him shoot, make him go sideways, block the middle, don’t let him go through the center, leave the wing open for him, that’s the only way."
"Number 5, David Robinson, lacks concentration and plays a bit soft. Be patient and keep pestering him, don’t compete with him for rebounds, pushing against his lower body works best."
"Number 9, Michael... forget it, I’ll take care of him."
When it came to Jordan, Gan Guoyang thought it over and really didn’t have any good countermeasures.
If he were with the Trail Blazers, there would naturally be people to hunt down Jordan, but in the China Team...
At this time, the Cuba Team hit a three-pointer from the outside, closing the score gap.
But Magic Johnson immediately broke through with the ball, causing a foul, and went to the free throw line.
The Cuba Team was working hard to achieve a set play, focusing on the left low post.
The receiver was their number 11, who’s guarded by Barkley. Number 11 attempted a turnaround jump shot.
Barkley used his excellent strength to push him away, then jumped to contest, leading to an airball by Number 11.
"You think wearing number 11 makes you Sonny!" Barkley shouted.
Bird grabbed the ball, passed to Johnson, and Johnson pushed a fast break through the middle, unstoppable.
As he approached the basket, he threw a no-look behind-the-back pass to Robinson, who caught the ball mid-air for a two-handed slam dunk!
The reason Beelman started David Robinson is because of his fast break ability, which pairs beautifully with Bird and Johnson for counterattacks.
Robinson on his own has some personality and playing style deficiencies, but doing support work, defense, fast breaks, and opportunistic plays fits his character traits perfectly.
This play clearly showed that Robinson was somewhat confused when he followed up quickly and received Johnson’s pass, hesitating a bit before jumping for the dunk.
Gan Guoyang chewing gum thought that if he were defending, at that moment of hesitation, he could have stolen the ball or blocked it head-on.
But after stealing, then what? Barkley and Jordan would have followed up too, and they probably couldn’t be stopped anyway.
This Dream Team is indeed too strong, with top-tier player configurations and skills, experience, and basketball IQ all at their peak.
Gan Guoyang knows very well that these players are not just top-tier NBA talents of the moment but historically ranked geniuses in the NBA.
Such geniuses, Gan Guoyang could deal with one or two individually, but a dozen?
Unless it’s a fistfight rather than a basketball game, there’s no way.
Especially after watching the beginning of the game, combined with the China Team’s training situation, he knows it’s hopeless.
So, after explaining a bit to his teammates, he shut his mouth obediently.
Commentary, my foot, it’s useless.
Now, he just hopes when drawing lots, that they don’t get grouped with the Americans.
This way, they could meet Team USA later, or even better, not at all.
Otherwise, with everyone raring to go, who knows how China Team would be tormented.
He knew that at the opening ceremony yesterday, Barkley was shouting about "crushing Ah Gan!"
This fatso is truly arrogant, relying on being in the Dream Team, acting like a freed serf singing.
Though others didn’t say it, they surely harbor similar thoughts, settling scores when the time comes.
Gan Guoyang originally considered a private scrimmage between China and Team USA in Portland.
But now thinking about it, better not. These bastards would surely play hard, and by then, teammates might gain no experience but just lessons, affecting their confidence wouldn’t be good.
With Gan Guoyang present, against other strong European and South American teams, China Team still has a fighting chance. They need to maintain confidence.
As the game progressed, the Dream Team played more and more relaxed. They hardly needed any strategies, just letting players play freely.
When defending, one-on-one defenses stopped the opponents, pushing fast breaks, making it difficult for the Cuba Team to stop the charging Dream Team.
This was Beelman’s easiest game to coach. His primary jobs with the Dream Team were: one, call timeouts for substitutions; two, joke about Ah Gan during training and games.
The first task was to ensure normal rotation for the players.
The second task was to provide spiritual motivation for the Dream Team players.
"Run, run, run! Get moving, ladies! That Beach Boy is watching up there, give him a little spiritual shock, show him what real American basketball is!"
Beelman didn’t need to set any tactics, getting the players to run was the only important thing, and then he had to tell the players, "Ah Gan is watching."
Barkley received a pass from Johnson and slammed it home with both hands.
Barkley received another pass from Jordan, breaking through the middle for another two-handed slam.
Tonight, the fat man and David Robinson together might bend the Memorial Coliseum’s hoops.
The score gap slowly widened; the differences between Cuba Team and the Dream Team in all aspects were too great, leaving no hope.
This was even more despairing than a practice game; Cuba’s only offensive method was to randomly shoot from outside.
Whether they scored depended entirely on luck, and once missed, it was a strong counterattack from Team USA.
Continuing to force set plays, Team USA continued their strong counterattacks, cycled repetitively.
Looking at the score, the point difference was reaching 20 points, 30 points.
Gan Guoyang sighed deeply and said to Coach Jiang Xingquan beside him, "Coach Jiang, do you think losing by how much to Team USA would be considered not bad?"
Jiang Xingquan’s expression was serious; during this time in America, he had a deeper understanding of himself and the players’ levels.
He was a newcomer, not very famous in the domestic basketball scene.
Being the head coach of the national team had been controversial for him due to overly intensive and harsh training, causing many senior players with families to leave the team dissatisfied.
But this was exactly the effect the basketball association wanted. They needed fresh blood, people willing to train hard and play hard.
This time coming to America, Jiang Xingquan was very nervous. He could let go of the old players but not a big star like Gan Guoyang, who he couldn’t control at all.
If their relationship didn’t work out, he would surely lose his position as the coach. However, Jiang Xingquan had a strong personality and attitude, firmly believing if there’s a conflict, he could just leave himself.
But after truly working with Gan Guoyang and training together for some time, Jiang Xingquan’s vague admiration for him turned into genuine awe.
Gan Guoyang very much respected Jiang Xingquan as the head coach, while also making suggestions and following the coaching staff’s arrangements, always willing to discuss things with the head coach.
This solidified Jiang Xingquan’s position as head coach, and he also found that in some aspects, Gan Guoyang knew more and deeper than he did.
"I think... with you here, we could lose by 30 or 40 points."
Hearing this, Gan Guoyang sighed and said, "I’m afraid it’s more than 30 or 40 points, might even go above 50."
Jiang Xingquan couldn’t believe it, saying, "But with you here..."
"It’s precisely because I’m here, that it might go above 50, even higher."
Jiang Xingquan couldn’t wrap his head around why having Ah Gan there would lead to a bigger loss.
Without giving Jiang Xingquan a chance to think, Gan Guoyang continued, "Our goal still has to be clear, making it to the quarterfinals, striving for the semifinals. Of course, I think more importantly is to give the players a chance to improve, like Hu Weidong, Sun Jun, Gong Xiaobin, they have very good foundations, but haven’t played much abroad, haven’t been nurtured well, there’s still a lot of room for improvement."
Jiang Xingquan nodded, thinking to himself that you had previously seen the Chinese team’s training motto, "Determined to make the top eight," and felt it wasn’t catchy or domineering enough, changing it to "Determined to win the championship," and now it’s been changed to four again?
For Gan Guoyang’s "reality," Jiang Xingquan’s impression of him became fuller.
Being confident while also seeing reality clearly, not overly ambitious, or making unrealistic goals.
Furthermore, it was clear that Gan Guoyang valued the future development of the national team, not just focusing on immediate success.
With such a superstar acting as an overseas training base and providing superior support, Jiang Xingquan was full of confidence in the future of Chinese basketball.
However, there was one question he couldn’t figure out: why would having Ah Gan result in an even greater loss to Team USA?