Then Gan Guoyang passed the ball to Sun Jun, but Sun Jun's pass to Yao Ming was intercepted by Payton.
China Team's two point guards lack the ability to attack independently, allowing Payton to leave Li Xiaoyong and directly assist in defending the paint.
Team USA counterattacked, causing Sun Jun to commit a defensive foul, prompting Jiang Xingquan to decide on a substitution.
Wang Zhizhi replaced Yao Ming, Guo Shiqiang replaced Li Xiaoyong, Li Nan replaced Sun Jun.
Team USA also actively rotated players, bringing in Ray Allen to replace Carter, and Smith made both free throws.
14:7, the gap widened again to 7 points.
The Americans' individual abilities are indeed very strong, solving several plays through personal skills.
Li Nan and Guo Shiqiang's entry did not immediately show effective results.
Chinese players have improved significantly compared to the past, but when facing the full effort of American NBA stars, the gap is still apparent.
China Team's real advantage relies on one person, Gan Guoyang. His performance dictates China Team's direction and fate.
Before the match, Gan Guoyang told Jiang Xingquan that tonight, not a single minute should pass without him on the court.
With a 7-point difference, Gan Guoyang was not in a hurry to seize the ball and attack. He realized his game start wasn't optimal tonight.
He had to find ways to slowly regain his offensive feel, while also activating his teammates and restraining the opponents.
On the court, Gan Guoyang entered a focused state, blocking out everything external, concentrating solely on the game.
In the offense, he got the ball in the low post, observed Team USA's defensive positioning, and made a long pass to the left corner.
Li Nan got an open opportunity, received the ball, attempted a three-pointer, but missed.
However, Gan Guoyang appeared under the basket, grabbed the rebound, and scored with a putback.
Subsequently, Gan Guoyang switched defensively onto Payton and successfully stole the ball.
Unfortunately, Payton immediately counter-stole, reclaiming the ball.
The game evolved from initial point-grabbing to a tussle for ball possession as it progressed.
Like a war, starting with planes and tanks, progressing into a quagmire for territory control.
China Team, or rather Gan Guoyang, intentionally drew the game into this pattern to neutralize Team USA's individual strength advantage.
Another reason is Gan Guoyang needs to buy time until he finds his shooting rhythm.
In this Olympic final, he wouldn't waste attempts just to build shooting feel; each shot needed caution.
This might be the most prudent game Gan Guoyang has ever played in his life.
Gan Guoyang no longer stood with hands on hips, actively engaging in every defense, pressing the Americans holding the ball.
Team USA's issue was their lack of synergy, due to short-term training and few games together.
So Gan Guoyang managed three steals in five possessions—though two were counter-steals by Team USA.
The situation on the court was chaotic, with the score frozen at 14:9 for quite some time.
Moreover, as Gan Guoyang drew a foul under the basket, successfully making two free throws, the score tightened to 14:11.
Carl realized, Ah Gan, this sly veteran, was controlling the game, slowly bringing it into his speed.
So, with ten minutes into the first half, Carl called a timeout, reshuffling the players again.
Jide and Carter came on, Vin Baker replaced Rashim, and Carl was determined to maintain the swapping tactic.
For Gan Guoyang, the timeout was a resting phase; he told his teammates, "Endure this defensive phase, don't let Team USA widen the score. Once I'm in rhythm, I'll take them down."
Gan Guoyang's straightforward words resonated well, everyone knew, after enduring this phase, Gan Guoyang would dismantle Team USA.
Gan Guoyang had always been true to his promises.
Post-timeout, Jide broke through for a beautiful dish to Garnett.
Garnett charged into the paint with a peculiar move neither like a shot nor a layup, only to get blocked by Gan Guoyang!
China Team countered, the ball was given to Gan Guoyang, but Gan Guoyang wasn't in a hurry, slowing the pace, suddenly finding Liu Yudong cutting to the basket.
A direct pass to the basket, Liu Yudong received the ball, bumped the defender away, scored with a layup!
China Team utilized Gan Guoyang extensively, yet gave opportunities to others as well.
Jiang Xingquan understood, the Americans had better stamina; they rotated extensively, and if China Team relied on just a few players, they'd crumble later on.
No matter who it was, the first good play from them couldn't drag, especially defensively, it couldn't collapse.
Ultimately, it came down to Gan Guoyang's play.
The game grew deeper and increasingly intense; Gan Guoyang on the court seemed to have reverted to being 20.
At 36, he resembled less an old veteran, being seemingly everywhere on the court—something he hadn't done in a long time.
Partly because FIBA courts are smaller than NBA ones, yet predominantly because this was the Olympic final.
Gan Guoyang wisely avoided competing against Team USA in offense or relying on shooting feel to surpass them.
Instead, he competed in defense, pulling everyone's field goal percentages down, keeping the score margin tight, ensuring a chance in the second half.
Gan Guoyang stole again, having familiarized himself with Jide and Payton's passing strategies, leading to multiple successful predictions.
After a successful steal, Gan Guoyang didn't rush the counterattack, choosing rather to slow down and align with teammates for coordinated plays.
Even if China Team's players weren't strong enough, Gan Guoyang had to rely on them, guiding them to find the rhythm.
Both teams started missing frequently, battling through several scoreless possessions, with China Team utterly exhausting themselves in defense, persistently following and pestering.