In this strategic deployment, Jiang Xingquan and Gan Guoyang conducted an in-depth exchange of opinions and formulated a strategic plan based on the strength level of Group B.
The six teams in Group B are the CIS, Lithuania, Australia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and the China Team.
Among them, the strongest on paper are the CIS and Lithuania, both of which are the two major inheritors of the Soviet Union’s legacy after the split.
The second tier includes Australia and Puerto Rico, while the third tier comprises Venezuela and the China Team without Ah Gan.
With Gan Guoyang, the China Team’s strength is unknown. So far, Gan Guoyang has not participated in any warm-up matches or friendly matches for the China Team.
He has been secretly training and playing internal matches with undisclosed results to maintain the stance of a Mysterious Team.
The reason for doing this is the expectation of achieving a breakthrough performance at the Olympics.
The format of the championship requires selective focus and targeted tactical strategy formulation.
Jiang Xingquan and Gan Guoyang both believe that the CIS and Lithuania are too strong, and directly challenging them is not very beneficial.
Winning would be good, but if they lose, and there are injuries, and energy is heavily drained, it wouldn’t be worth it.
It’s better to save energy and tactics for the second and third-tier teams.
If they can win three or two matches, the China Team can advance to the quarter-finals.
Gan Guoyang certainly has no stamina issues and is not afraid of injury, but his teammates can’t compete at the same level.
With a month of intensive training, the Chinese players have already shown considerable improvement.
Yet, the time is still too short for their ability to confront to improve qualitatively.
The Chinese players’ biggest problem is confrontation; without it, basketball matches become unequal battles, and they won’t be the match.
In the first game against Lithuania, the China Team used an experimental lineup to find their game rhythm and refine tactics.
They let the players warm up, especially allowing Gan Guoyang to find his state for official games under FIBA.
As the time approached 11:30, Gan Guoyang removed his tracksuit and stood on the court wearing his number 11 jersey.
A large number of fans came to watch Gan Guoyang’s game today, with reporters crowding the sidelines.
The China Team wore white jerseys tonight, while the Lithuanian team wore green.
Standing in the center circle, the narrow straps of the China Team’s jerseys made Gan Guoyang look more robust.
Although he was significantly shorter than Sabonis, standing face to face with him, his aura was not inferior at all.
On the contrary, Sabonis seemed a bit nervous because he knew better than anyone how strong Ah Gan really was.
Before the game, in the locker room, Sabonis kept telling his teammates, "Do not anger Ah Gan, don’t challenge him, avoid conflicts, just keep away from him, and focus on attacking other players. I will handle Ah Gan."
While Sabonis claimed to "handle Ah Gan," what he really thought was to sacrifice himself so that Ah Gan wouldn’t mess with others.
The China Team dispatched a very traditional starting lineup: Gan Guoyang at center, power forward Song Ligang, small forward Sun Jun, shooting guard Zhang Yongjun, and point guard Sun Fengwu.
This lineup comprised older players at basically every position, mainly seeking stability and to conceal their core intentions.
On the sidelines, players and coaches from other Group B teams kept a close watch on the China Team, hoping to understand their style of play with Gan Guoyang.
The game started, and Gan Guoyang won the opening jump ball, tipping it to Sun Fengwu, initiating the first attack of this Olympics.
After joining the China Team, Gan Guoyang seemed to return to the traditional center’s playstyle, immediately moving to the low post to ask for the ball.
Lithuania employed a traditional zone defense strategy, a 2-3 zone, with Sabonis guarding the wide expanse of the Three Second Zone.
Gan Guoyang didn’t go deep but simply positioned himself on the flank, with Sabonis not fighting to front him aggressively.
Sun Fengwu easily passed the ball to Gan Guoyang, who then performed a fake move after catching the ball, shaking Sabonis off balance.
Sabonis only twitched his feet, and Gan Guoyang immediately ducked down the baseline, dribbled to the other side, and scored the first point with a reverse dunk!
The Lithuanian forwards attempted to provide help defense but couldn’t keep up at all in speed and strength.
Gan Guoyang said to Sabonis, "Arvydas, you promised not to go easy on me!"
Sabonis shook his head, thinking to himself that he was doomed, wondering how to deal with this guy for the entire game.
Back on offense, Sabonis tried to make a move on Gan Guoyang in the middle, but his turnaround hook shot was off the mark.
Gan Guoyang turned and grabbed the rebound, passing it to Sun Fengwu, and then asking for the ball again in the low post.
This time, Lithuania got smart and immediately executed a double-team before Gan Guoyang could receive the ball.
Sun Fengwu quickly passed the ball to the center and then to the baseline for Sun Jun, who caught and immediately shot a three-pointer.
The ball went in!
China opened the game with a 5-0 lead against Lithuania.
Jiang Xingquan was surprised to discover that having a super interior player made the game feel quite different.
At the same time, Chinese players would soon realize that basketball, in essence, is quite simple.
You give the ball to the best player, who can solve most problems.