On the evening of August 13, Beijing time, the Chinese men's basketball team narrowly defeated New Zealand 69:68 in the German Super Cup final, ending the journey of this European training with a victory. At the end of the game, Zhou Qi made a key free throw to help the Chinese team take the lead, and Li Kaier stole the opponent's serve in defense, and finally the Chinese men's basketball team defeated the opponent by one point.
Although it is a warm-up game, this game is almost a must for the Chinese men's basketball team.
Less than 24 hours before the game against New Zealand, the Chinese men's basketball team had just lost to Germany by 49 points. This is not only difficult for fans to accept, but also makes Chinese men's basketball coach Jordjevic bluntly say in an interview that when facing the German team with many NBA players, Chinese players have some stage fright and lack courage.
"We were 'frightened' by the strength and physical confrontation of our opponents, as if waiting for the other side to attack. I want to see my players fighting and courageous on the field. "We know why we're here, we know our level through this game and we know what we can do to improve ourselves." ”
Djordjevic said the team could have played better, but the German team's physical confrontation left the players a bit overwhelmed. "We played without aggression, we didn't find the right way to attack, we made too many mistakes and some of the balls easily scored the opponent. The players work hard, but they have to be fearless. ”
"Tomorrow is a brand new day and new opportunities await us. We need to relax, regain strength and confidence and return to the game with the dignity we deserve. "This is how Giordjevic encourages the players.
Without much time to adjust, the Chinese men's basketball team ushered in the match against New Zealand. Compared with Italy and Germany, New Zealand, which ranks 17th in the new men's basketball World Cup power list, is obviously a more valuable opponent.
Not only is it evenly matched, but also focusing on the upcoming men's basketball World Cup, this is also a sand table deduction that simulates the "imaginary enemy" - once the Chinese men's basketball team cannot successfully qualify for the World Cup group stage, the direct competitor to compete with them for the best ranking in Asia is likely to be the Philippines. The New Zealand team and the Philippines team have similar styles, and the advantages of the Chinese team are also similar to the opponent.
Coupled with the "rout" a dozen hours ago, the Chinese men's basketball team urgently needs to make changes in this game - from the attitude of the game to the result of the game.
But in the first half of the game, the Chinese men's basketball team performed ups and downs. Although the score was not pulled away by their opponents, they made consecutive mistakes in the game to watch their opponents score. More importantly, from body language to game play, the Chinese men's basketball team has always lacked some momentum and momentum that must win.
Even Li Kyle, who came off the bench, but the change also started with Li Kyle.
In the second half, Lee Kyle started and showed a strong desire to attack. He hit consecutive baskets, scored under the opponent's pocket and received extra free throws. His roar after scoring the goal broke the previous dull situation of the Chinese men's basketball team.
In the following games, the Chinese men's basketball team has been chasing the score as a catcher. Cui Yongxi's vitality, Li Kyle's aggressiveness, Zhou Qi's key free throws, and the Chinese men's basketball team finally showed some tough temperament in the final period allowed them to win this "must win" warm-up game.
Image source: Li Kaier Weibo
In the decisive moment, Li Kaier and Zhou Qi successively erased the score gap and created an advantage for the Chinese team through consecutive free throws. In the last 9.9 seconds, in the New Zealand team's offensive round, Li Kyle directly tackled the opponent's frontcourt serve in defense, and personally pocketed his first game victory for the Chinese men's basketball team.
In the whole game, Li Kyle had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists, and most of his scoring occurred in the second half.
In the final period of the game, Li Kyle's role was obvious. The most important thing is that under his drive, the Chinese men's basketball team finally has some "blood". This also gave a touch of relief to Jordjevic, who was doing "psychological massage" for the Chinese men's basketball players in almost every timeout.
Image source: China Basketball Team Weibo
It can be imagined that although it is only a warm-up game, if it fails to win this game, what kind of public opinion storm the Chinese men's basketball team that is about to end the European training will experience.
In the final game of the European tour, whether it was at the game level or the mental level, for the first time, Li Kyle, who was pinned on high hopes by Chinese fans, "pressed the whistle" to save the Chinese men's basketball team.
(China Singapore Sports WeChat public account)