"We can do it when we firmly believe that we can defeat our opponents."

After the game, Tang Tian said a few words to the Chinese team players.

Winning against Brazil to complete their revenge was their first step, but it was what they were supposed to do.

But now, winning against Serbia proved one thing: with Tang Tian, the Chinese men's basketball team really had the strength to challenge the world's top teams!

In fact, after defeating the Serbian team, the morale of domestic fans was also higher than ever before.

It was like a dream come true; for the first time, they felt that the Chinese men's basketball team had a chance to create a better result than the top eight in the Olympics!

However, some fans poured cold water on the enthusiasm.

The Brazilian team's players were seriously aging, and they were no longer at their peak. This year, they were able to enter the Olympics because of their status as the host.

The Chinese team's victory over the Brazilian team was not very convincing.

As for beating Serbia, upsets occasionally happen in a single-game elimination, as seen in the NCAA's March Madness.

Moreover, Serbia's loss to Australia in the previous game was somewhat undeserved.

Two days later, the Chinese men's basketball team welcomed their third opponent in the group stage, the Australian team.

Ben Simmons did not choose to play for his country. The leading figure of this Australian team was Bogut, and NBA players such as Dellavedova, Aron Baynes, Ingles, and Mills were also on the roster.

Although their reputation was not as good as other top-tier national teams, their overall strength was actually underestimated.

Having defeated Serbia and France in the group stage so far, they had already demonstrated their hard power.

Moreover, this team particularly admired confrontation and small tricks, which gave their opponents a headache.

After the game between the Chinese team and the Australian team began, the Chinese team quickly encountered such problems.

Under the strong playing style of the Australian players, the Chinese players' weakness in confrontation was completely exposed.

Except for Tang Tian and Yi Jianlian, no one else could make a shot.

In the end, despite Tang Tian scoring 40 points in the double-team and Yi Jianlian also contributing 15 points and 10 rebounds, the Chinese team still lost 66-73.

In the year or so since Yao Ming took office, Chinese basketball had made significant progress, but physical fitness and confrontation were things that required long-term accumulation to take effect.

China's loss to Australia caused those who had poured cold water on them before to reach a climax.

"See, I said that the previous wins were based on luck. Basketball is a sport of five people. Relying on Tang Tian alone will definitely not work!"

"Winning at the beginning is not very useful. The Chinese team's next game is against the American team. After two consecutive losses, it will be difficult to qualify from the group!"

"The United States and France are the Chinese team's next two opponents. If they lose both, their record will be 2 wins and 3 losses, ranking fourth at most. They will play against the first place in the other group, and they will stop in the top eight just like four years ago!"

"Being assigned to such a group of death, losing to Australia basically means there's no hope!"

……

Losing to Australia, although not as exaggerated as these fans said on the hotline, the morale blow was inevitable, and depression was unavoidable.

After communicating with Li Nan, Tang Tian and the Chinese team took a shower in the locker room, and then returned to the court to watch the later game between the American team and the French team.

This game was much more intense than expected.

This American team was the Dream Team XII, led by Durant and Anthony.

Kobe had retired, and James, Paul, and Howard, who had helped the Dream Team regain its peak in 2008, had not come.

This Dream Team's offense was more biased towards the outside, and the defense was worse than the previous Dream Teams.

The starting center Cousins was not known for his defense, and the substitute center was only DeAndre Jordan, who was defense-oriented.

After the two teams started, they engaged in a head-to-head offensive battle. The French team, led by Parker, had been stalemated with the American team, and the point difference had been within 5 points.

At the last moment, Durant stepped forward for the American team, killing the game with a difficult mid-range shot and a step-back three-pointer.

He scored a game-high 30 points, helping the American team win against the French team 100-97 and take their third consecutive win in the Olympics.

Losing to the Australian team made the Chinese team frustrated, but after watching the American team's game, their confidence in the next game was greatly improved.

The French team had previously lost to the Australian team, but now they only lost by 3 points to the American team.

Although basketball games are not A wins B, B wins C, so A can definitely win C, the current situation is still very informative.

The Chinese team had 2 wins and 1 loss after three games. Brazil and Serbia both had stronger offense than defense, while Australia had stronger defense than offense.

For this American team, which also has a stronger offense than defense, the Chinese team has a certain chance.

So watching this game was a process of the Chinese team members going from having no confidence to seeing hope.

The game against the American team was two days later. Despite the many doubts from the outside world about the Chinese team because of their loss to Australia, the Chinese team members still had fighting spirit.

Tang Tian also poured a wave of chicken soup at the right time.

"History has always been created by people. We won against the Brazilian team, a first in history. We won against the Serbian team, a first in history. It's not an exaggeration to say that this may be the weakest American team in the Olympics in the last ten years, so we have a full chance to create this first time. Believe in ourselves and make the shots."

Tang Tian's chicken soup was still very effective.

When people feel psychologically that there is a chance to do something, this kind of chicken soup is like someone pushing them from behind, and things start to happen.

After two days of training, the players regained their morale and were full of confidence.

At 7 p.m. local time that night, the game between the Chinese team and the American team kicked off at Carioca Arena 1.

The venue was packed.

For local fans, besides the host team Brazil, the game between the American team and the Chinese team was the most watched.

Now that these two teams met, the attention they received was no less than that of the host team.

The game was about to begin, and the two teams entered the court early to warm up.

Tang Tian took two shots and sat on the sidelines to rest, then turned his gaze to the American team's half.

Durant, Anthony, Paul George, Cousins, Irving, Draymond Green, Lowry, Jimmy Butler, DeAndre Jordan, DeRozan, Klay Thompson, and Harrison Barnes.

This Dream Team XII has Tang Tian's brothers Irving, Butler, and Thompson, as well as Durant and Green, who don't get along with him.

But these people have one thing in common: he is very familiar with them, from technical and tactical characteristics to personality.

In other words, this also gives the Chinese team another point for winning.

The game was about to begin, and the starting lineups of both sides took the stage one after another.

On the American side, the outside players are Irving and Butler, the forwards are Durant and Anthony, and the center is DeAndre Jordan.

Coach K is a famous NCAA coach. Like his Duke team, he is very good at coaching teams with a bunch of stars.

In response to the characteristics of the Chinese team, he also made adjustments to the starting lineup.

The Chinese team also has a lineup adjustment, which is a one-big-four-small lineup.

The outside players are Zhao Jiwei and Tang Tian, the forwards are Zhou Peng and Zhai Xiaochuan, and the center is Yi Jianlian.

The starting lineups of both sides took the stage one after another, and the game between the Chinese team and the American team was about to start.

ps: Thank you very much to the alliance leader for the reward, thank you for your support!