The China Team managed to achieve victories in the first two games, defeating Lithuania and Puerto Rico, which far exceeded Coach Jiang Xingquan’s expectations.
Of course, this also puzzled Jiang Xingquan. With Gan Guoyang versus without Gan Guoyang, how big is the strength gap for the China Team? What kind of performance would the China Team have against Lithuania and Puerto Rico without Gan Guoyang?
Jiang Xingquan was not optimistic, because with Gan Guoyang in the team, they barely won against Puerto Rico by just 1 point, with a last-minute buzzer-beater.
Without Gan Guoyang, the situation would be easily imaginable.
For the third game, Jiang Xingquan really wanted Gan Guoyang to rest for a game.
He wanted to see exactly what kind of level the China Team was at without Gan Guoyang, considering the team formation and training before the Olympics.
In the first two games, Gan Guoyang played more than 35 minutes in each; every half, his continuous playing time exceeded 15 minutes. Even an ironman would get tired.
If Gan Guoyang gets injured, not only would the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team’s performance this Olympics be affected, but Jiang Xingquan might also be blamed by fans nationwide, basketball association leaders, and even higher-level leaders.
As a coach, you don’t have any other tactics or methods? You just keep using Gan Guoyang, always using Gan Guoyang? What’s the use of a coach like you? We might as well send the elders from our village to coach.
Jiang Xingquan could already foresee the kind of reproach he would face if Gan Guoyang got injured.
Therefore, after the game, Jiang Xingquan discussed with Gan Guoyang, hoping he wouldn’t play in the third game, or just play for a while at the beginning and then rest.
After a brief consideration, Gan Guoyang politely declined Coach Jiang’s kind offer, saying: "I can play a little less in the third game, but I can’t not play or play for a short time and then sit out."
Regarding his reasons, Gan Guoyang stated: "I am representing the national team, and surely there are plenty of fans watching me on TV, waiting to see me play. If I don’t play, many people will be disappointed. Also, there are many Chinese fans here now, some who possibly spent lots of money and effort to come to Barcelona just to watch one of my games. If I don’t play, they might find it very difficult to see me play live in their lifetimes; I can’t disappoint them, right?"
At this point, Jiang Xingquan understood that Gan Guoyang wasn’t just a player; he was an idol, a star.
He carried many hopes and expectations from countless fans, and his position was different from that of ordinary players.
"Also, don’t worry about me; my health is excellent, not so easily prone to injury. The intensity of the Olympics is just child’s play for me."
Gan Guoyang was very confident about his health, not only due to his natural gifts but also because of the importance of training.
Strong muscles provide excellent protection to bones and ligaments, and proper, scientific practice actually benefits health.
What’s inadvisable is excessive, unscientific training, or competing in too many high-intensity events when training is insufficient.
Knowing that he couldn’t persuade Gan Guoyang otherwise, Jiang Xingquan had no choice but to agree for him to continue playing around 30 minutes in the next match.
The next opponent for the China Team was the strong CIS team; a direct confrontation might not necessarily favor them.
After Gan Guoyang’s outstanding performance in the two matches, other teams had started to pay attention to this NBA star.
On the 28th, basketball teams got a chance to rest; players could relax, explore Barcelona, or watch other events at different venues.
Gan Guoyang, along with his family, chose to go to the shooting range to watch a shooting competition, as shooting had always been a significant event for the Chinese to win medals, with the first gold often coming from this field.
Back during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Gan Guoyang and Wang Fuxi witnessed together the birth of China’s first gold medal in Olympic history, with Xu Haifeng becoming China’s first Olympic gold medalist.
Eight years later, Xu Haifeng stood once again on the Olympic stage, but due to retina issues, his condition was far from his best, making gold medals a formidable challenge.
At that time, China had not been open to the world for long and was lagging far behind developed countries in sports.
Gold medals not only represented athletes’ personal achievements but also symbolized the nation and ethnic pride, burdening athletes with immense pressure.
During the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the shooting team faced a setback, not securing any gold medals.
Before departing Beijing, the shooting team promised the sports bureau they’d secure gold medals in this Olympics.
Today, bearing that pressure was Wang Yifu, China’s main contender for gold in the 25-meter air pistol event.
However, Wang Yifu wasn’t feeling well; during the morning preliminaries, he was already feeling woozy.
A few months before the competition, he had been seriously ill, just discharged from the hospital a month ago, with his body extremely weak and his face still swollen.
Shooting may seem like a motionless sport but it actually consumes a lot of the athletes’ mental energy.
During the noon break, Wang Yifu closed his eyes, trying to recuperate his stamina and energy.
In the morning preliminaries, he ranked second, trailing behind the Romanian star Babi.
Suddenly, the coach from the shooting team tapped him on the shoulder, saying: "Yifu, someone’s here to see you, to cheer you on."
Wang Yifu wondered who could it be, cheering him up; I need rest, what good is cheering? Could it be some leader?
Opening his eyes, he saw a giant figure standing before him, looked up, and it was Ah Gan.
Gan Guoyang was a household name and face in China, assuredly the top celebrity within the China Team.