At this moment, a thought suddenly popped into Jiang Xingquan’s mind:
We said we would strategically forfeit this game, but could we actually win it?
Judging by the start, if the initial 7:0 was partly due to luck and energy, then leading 12:7 now, a 5-point advantage, shows we really have something.
However, as the game progressed, other players on the China Team quickly exposed their flaws in confrontation and defense.
Gan Guoyang could rely on his exceptional one-on-one and help defense ability to cover for Zhang Yongjun once.
But over a full 40 minutes with so many rounds, it’s impossible for him to successfully guard two players every time, or protect the rim every play.
Facing Lithuania’s precise outside shooting, China couldn’t use zone defense as it would likely lead to a downpour of threes from the opponent.
The biggest issue with one-on-one defense is that the perimeter will be bypassed, and once the outer defense is breached, Gan Guoyang is quickly exposed to Lithuania’s frontline firepower.
Some plays he had to give up, either watching the opponent score a layup, or allowing Sabonis to catch and dunk in the Three Second Zone or grab an Offensive Rebound for a putback.
Song Ligang, as the second center, standing at 2.06 meters tall, had good running and jumping abilities, able to charge and grab with some strong attacking capability.
But when Gan Guoyang switched to guard the perimeter, Song Ligang couldn’t stop Sabonis at all; their stature and strength differences were too vast.
Only Gan Guoyang could withstand the Lithuanian giant, but China only had one Gan Guoyang; defending like this, they definitely couldn’t hold on later.
When Lithuania counterattacked with an 11:4 offensive wave, turning a 5-point lead into a 2-point deficit, Jiang Xingquan called a timeout.
He made a major player substitution, four in and four out; aside from Gan Guoyang, everyone was subbed out to rest.
Hu Weidong, Shan Tao, Gong Xiaobin, and Wu Qinglong took the court, with Gan Guoyang moving to the power forward position.
Of course, at that time FIBA didn’t have the term power forward; it was called second center.
There was also no designation of small forward or shooting guard; other than guards and centers, it was just forwards, or wingers.
From Beijing, the tall Shan Tao made up for Song Ligang’s lack of height and weight in the interior.
Gan Guoyang moved to an outer position, assisting the backline with plugging leaks, compensating in details for the weak links in China’s wing and perimeter defense.
Gan Guoyang was not just defending diligently, but also criticizing; Chinese players indeed lacked the defensive details compared to those from Europe and America.
A month of training camp was entirely insufficient to change some bad habits formed during their youth training.
For example, when their footwork couldn’t keep up, they tended to reach out; they’d use their hands before their feet, always thinking of using their upper body to block opponents, without understanding preemptive positioning, anticipation, and using footwork for defense.
Then there’s rim protection, where they didn’t know how to reasonably use body contact to draw fouls, were not proficient in double-teaming or rotation, and when done frequently, it was chaotic.
Lithuania’s set plays were highly disciplined, their coordination was smooth and seamless, and as the game progressed, China played more chaotically and found it increasingly difficult.
Especially on defense; Lithuania’s three-pointers were extremely sharp, and they knew they couldn’t break into the Three Second Zone,
However, with Gan Guoyang there, China actually managed to keep up with the score; some plays relied entirely on his personal ability.
After Hu Weidong and the others took the court, China’s outside offense became more dynamic, as they seized consecutive fast breaks, hitting Lithuania with an 8:2 run.
Before the first half ended, Jiang Xingquan finally subbed out Gan Guoyang, who had played 17 consecutive minutes, scoring 14 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, with 6 assists and 4 blocks.
This data could be considered quite terrifying; this was FIBA competition, with a total of 40 minutes for both halves, and scoring 20 points in a game at Olympic level intensity was already quite high.
And this was just the first half for Gan Guoyang; with him playing, China was tightly holding onto the score despite being behind, 36:42, trailing Lithuania by 6 points.
But as soon as Gan Guoyang left the court, China immediately showed signs of collapse, getting countered by Lithuania with a 6:0 run, losing points and failing to score across three consecutive possessions.
Fortunately, the time was almost over, and China barely held on, ending the half 38:49, trailing Lithuania by 11 points at halftime.
During these two-plus minutes, Jiang Xingquan broke into a cold sweat, making him realize just how disastrous it would be against Lithuania without Ah Gan.
At halftime, in the Lithuanian team’s locker room, Sabonis repeatedly reminded his teammates: "Ah Gan hasn’t even exerted much effort, we need to be careful, careful of his second half."
"I’m certain, the China Team might give up this game, but we must not let Ah Gan realize, ’I can win like this,’ or we’ll lose the match."
Sabonis had played three seasons with Gan Guoyang, winning three championships, and knew very well just how terrible this man could be.
Just from watching the first half, he knew Gan Guoyang was definitely holding back, especially on offense, where he was creating opportunities for teammates on many plays.
He obviously could have done it himself, and doing it himself would be much more efficient than his teammates, but he didn’t, indicating he wasn’t eager to win.
According to past conventions in major competitions, the China Team often executed strategic forfeits, focusing their efforts on matches they were certain of winning.
Judging by the first half, even though Ah Gan was holding back, if Lithuania showed any cracks, making Ah Gan feel he could clamp down, he certainly wouldn’t hold back.
This guy’s scoring explosiveness is quite terrifying, with stamina just as remarkable; single-handedly scoring 30, 40 points in half a game isn’t something Ah Gan couldn’t do.
Especially after experiencing the 1992 finals, Ah Gan, who could initiate attacks on his own, absolutely possesses this capability.
The rest of the Lithuanian squad lacked sufficient awareness of this; in terms of individual ability, they were far inferior to Ah Gan, and precisely because the gap was too vast, they couldn’t even perceive how big the gap was.
Sabonis’ teammates all expressed that Sabonis was being a bit too cautious.
They always believed that basketball is a team sport, and while Ah Gan is indeed very strong, the rest of the Chinese team was not really up to par.
A one-man team is hard to beat when facing team basketball, especially when the whole Lithuanian team had such a strong belief this time.
But Sabonis was very insistent, telling the coach: "If Ah Gan doesn’t leave the court in the second half, don’t let me rest; I need to keep an eye on him."
Coach Vladas Garastas said: "I trust your judgment Arvydas, but you need confidence to counter him; I feel you are somewhat afraid and timid."
In the first half, Sabonis performed average, scoring only 6 points with 5 rebounds, including just one Offensive Rebound; he was undoubtedly suppressed.
Sabonis, however, shook his head and said: "Coach, you have no idea how brave I actually am."