At this moment, Lithuania’s players realized why Sabonis was so wary of Ah Gan.
The undisputed number one in basketball, Lithuania’s defense against him was too lax.
But there was no choice, Gan Guoyang made his debut on the FIBA stage, and Lithuania had no way to prepare.
Sabonis had done well enough, but the third foul in the second half was a fatal turning point.
After the game, the two teammates hugged and shook hands on the field, and casually chatted about the game’s insights.
"You’re brave, Arvydas, spending most of the time defending me one-on-one. If you played smarter offensively tonight, we wouldn’t have been able to beat you."
Gan Guoyang pointed out Lithuania’s issues bluntly, no targeted defense against Gan Guoyang, and too rigid use of Sabonis on offense.
Sabonis was no longer the Sabonis of 1988; after three years of NBA experience, his personal attack power and game control were stronger than before.
From the crucial moments in the game, it could be seen that if he opened up, supported by his teammates, Gan Guoyang would find it difficult to stop him.
If they dragged the time for another two minutes, with Sabonis finding his rhythm and his hook shot and threes coming into form sooner, the outcome would be uncertain.
But Lithuania was still using old FIBA tactics, not fully utilizing Sabonis’s abilities.
Sabonis scratched his head and said: "You haven’t given it your all, Sonny? I thought you were going to strategically give up."
Gan Guoyang replied: "We were indeed preparing to strategically give up, but when we saw the possibility to win, we had to take it. I wasn’t at full strength, saving it for the Americans. Good luck, hope to meet in the finals."
Gan Guoyang patted Sabonis, in terms of player quality, Lithuania has a chance to reach the finals, as long as they don’t meet America prematurely.
And defeating Lithuania also gave Gan Guoyang and China Team solid confidence.
The former champion Soviet Team’s main lineup could be beaten, for the remaining teams, except for America, China Team has opportunities.
This was the level of world basketball at the time, with a significant gap from the NBA; top European teams couldn’t beat the weakest NBA teams.
In physical fitness, tactical literacy, and technical levels, there’s a huge gap compared to America’s highest standards.
Under such circumstances, Gan Guoyang could indeed take on five, leading the not-so-bad China Team to defeat strong enemies.
The game ended right at noon, and Gan Guoyang and the lads from Chinese Men’s Basketball Team celebrated the victory well at a Chinese restaurant in Barcelona.
Victory indeed is a great motivator; everyone was ambitious, and their appetites wide open.
At half past two in the afternoon, Australia played Puerto Rico in the group’s third match.
Australia, with NBA center Luke Langley, defeated Puerto Rico with a large margin, securing the victory.
After three matches in Group B, China Team was ranked third due to the net points difference, which was a decent placement.
Because in Group A, Team USA was guaranteed to rank first, while Group B’s first and third could avoid America’s half.
First place in Group B was quite challenging for China Team, and they didn’t need to aim for first.
Because taking first place would inevitably mean heavy consumption for Gan Guoyang; this core must be used sparingly.
Today, to defeat Lithuania, Gan Guoyang played a complete 20 minutes in the second half.
FIBA’s game pace is fast, with few interruptions, constant running, high-intensity defense, consuming lots of energy.
Only Gan Guoyang’s nuclear-powered stamina could sustain playing the entire match.
Over dinner, Jiang Xingquan apologized to Gan Guoyang: "You should’ve rested in the second half; playing like that really takes a toll on you."
Jiang Xingquan’s future club coaching style belonged to those who have five starters play the entire match, with almost no rotation.
Such tough individuals felt uneasy when meeting someone tougher like Gan Guoyang.
The Olympic’s intensity, a center running for 37 minutes, not resting a minute in the second half, what a concept!
Hence Jiang Xingquan kept apologizing while serving Gan Guoyang dishes and toasting, genuinely "impressed".
The NBA’s number one was truly extraordinary, like a heavenly immortal.
At four in the afternoon, after eating and drinking enough, Gan Guoyang and his teammates returned to the arena, ready to watch the most anticipated match today, the US Dream Team against Angola from Group A.
This was Group A’s first battle; the outcome of the game wasn’t in doubt, everyone just wanted to watch the Dream Team’s performance and experience the power of perhaps the strongest basketball team in history up close.
Gan Guoyang found a spot close to the Dream Team’s bench with his teammates and family to sit; the tickets for this match were truly hard to get, but Gan Guoyang had ways to get them.
Dream Team players were warming up on the court.
The strongest team, backed by the strongest individuals.
Honestly, Dream Team members felt a little like they were sitting on pins and needles.
Barkley greeted Gan Guoyang: "Sonny! Want to grab a drink tonight?"
"Keep your mouth shut, Charles!"
Gan Guoyang wanted to say more.
Since arriving in Spain, Barkley’s mouth hadn’t stopped.
Either eating or talking.
In the media, he spoke without restraint, constantly displaying a unique American arrogance.
Dream Team enjoyed privileges other athletes never experienced: hotels, escorts, able to tour around, visit casinos, brothels.
Overall, they resembled America’s status in the world in 1992, lawless, number one globally, and everyone was chasing to flatter them.
Team USA didn’t consider any opponent; the Soviet Union had dissolved into Lithuania and the Commonwealth of Independent States, while Yugoslavia was banned due to political reasons, their most talented batch forming Croatia’s national team.