Chapter 41 You Want Lin Yi and Xiao Ding to Play Point Forwards?

"You want Lin Yi and Xiao Ding to play point forwards?"

Li Chunjiang was still a little surprised when he heard what Tang Tian said.

Although Lin Yi and Ding Yanyuhang had performed well in the group stage, Tang Tian was still the core of the Chinese team.

Tang Tian's average score in the three games was close to 30 points, making him the top scorer in the Olympics so far.

"Let them practice. I'll focus on defending Rui Hachimura. If anything happens, I'll clean up the mess."

Tang Tian said calmly.

Although underestimating the enemy is a big taboo, it depends on the situation. It's like the United States playing against Japan. Even if they put on five guards, no one would think they were underestimating the enemy.

What he was doing was, as he said, to give others more opportunities to practice.

Of course, the other point he made was also very important. Rui Hachimura was the core of the Japanese team, and his defense could stifle Japan's offense.

"Let's play normally first, and I'll adjust according to the situation."

Li Chunjiang didn't directly agree with Tang Tian. After all, the next game was the quarter-finals, and he still wanted to play it safe.

Tang Tian didn't push it. If they played normally, they could see Hachimura's condition first.

If Hachimura didn't perform well, there was no need to bother so much. They could just beat them normally.

China and Japan met in the Olympic quarter-finals, a historic occasion.

In the past, because the Japanese team had never been able to get out of Asia, the Chinese team had never had the chance to meet them in the Olympics.

This time, thanks to favorable timing and location, the Japanese team made it to the quarter-finals for the first time in history, and Japanese fans were in high spirits.

Even against the undefeated defending champion Chinese team, they were still in high spirits.

Hachimura and home-court advantage were their greatest sources of courage.

Before the quarter-finals, the Chinese team's coaching staff also analyzed and studied the Japanese team's group stage games.

The Japanese team's style of play hadn't changed much from a year ago. The only change was that Hachimura had become much stronger.

Basketball is complicated, but it's also simple.

Hachimura's high efficiency in one-on-one situations forced opponents to help defend, and the Japanese team was good at off-ball tactics, so their offense naturally opened up.

As for defense, the Japanese team was always a sieve.

Of course, this change alone wasn't enough to guarantee the Japanese team's victory over Argentina in the group stage. Another important change was free throws.

The Japanese team's number of free throws was the highest among all 12 teams, and by a significant margin.

They were the hosts!

Compared to China, Japan was more like their neighbor South Korea, whose performance at the 2002 FIFA World Cup was legendary.

It seemed that the Chinese team would be playing five against eight in the quarter-finals.

Japanese fans were in high spirits, but Chinese fans were even more so.

Sports and politics shouldn't be linked, but sports are also played by people. Considering the history between the two countries, Chinese fans were enthusiastic no matter what competition they encountered.

Especially since Japan had used every trick in the book to get themselves into the quarter-finals, which made them even more unhappy and disdainful.

Before the China-Japan game, someone on the internet revealed that some Chinese fans had bought tickets for the game at five or even ten times the normal price.

This scene stunned the Japanese media and drew ridicule from some media outlets.

As the most patriotic country in the world, the Japanese would never sell out their country for money. Such actions by Chinese fans could only be self-defeating.

On Japanese social media, many fans with tickets expressed this sentiment, saying that they would not compromise their national interests for a few bucks.

Time flew by, and the Olympic quarter-finals officially kicked off the next day.

The first game was between Slovenia and Spain, and their winner would be the semi-final opponent of the winner between China and Japan.

Thanks to Luka Dončić's outstanding performance, Slovenia's performance in the Olympics was no less than, and even exceeded, last year's World Cup. In addition, they benefited from being in the same group as Japan, making their journey to the finals seem much smoother.

Spain's performance this year had been average so far, but they still had a good chance of making it to the final four.

In the afternoon game, many Chinese fans showed up. Judging from their actions, many of them had bought tickets for both games.

The Spanish team was still led by Rubio and Gasol, but both of their conditions had declined, especially Gasol, who had been performing poorly.

As a result, the final result of the game was about as expected.

Led by Dončić and Dragić, Slovenia defeated Spain 93-83 and advanced to the Olympic semi-finals.

After the game, the Slovenians celebrated wildly. This was the first time they had reached the final four of a major international competition since the dissolution of Yugoslavia!

Dončić became the focus of the team's cheers. This young man, who had made a big impact in the NBA, contributed 25 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in this crucial game.

They could now wait for the winner between China and Japan that night.

The next game was in three hours, and the fans gradually dispersed.

But only an hour later, a large number of Chinese fans appeared in the arena again.

And as the game drew closer, more and more Chinese fans appeared on the scene.

Even when the game was about to start, the organizers and the Japanese fans who were present showed an incredible expression.

More than 60% of the seats in the huge arena were occupied by Chinese people!

In other words, after excluding the fans from other countries who were present, the number of Japanese fans present was less than 40%!

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Since the pre-Olympics power rankings ranked the Chinese team fourth, and then were strongly slapped in the face, this time it wasn't just the Japanese media that was slapped in the face, but also those who posted on social media that they wouldn't compromise their principles for a few bucks.

Reality had slapped them hard in the face.

This was unexpected, but it was also reasonable.

Japan used to be known as the most patriotic country in the world, but that was before World War II. After World War II, anti-war sentiment in Japan was particularly high.

In particular, the kamikaze tactics of World War II caused many mothers to lose their sons and many sons to lose their fathers. Their patriotic feelings had long been wiped out.

The most famous event was the suicide of Yukio Mishima, a famous Japanese writer and ardent patriot. Before his suicide, his tearful and passionate speech in front of Japanese cadets was met with boos and jeers, which was the best proof.

Not to mention that more than 30 years had passed since then, and the Japanese people's concept of patriotism was even weaker than it was then.

Of course, in contrast, Chinese fans' patriotic feelings were high. If they wouldn't sell for five or ten times the price, how about twenty or thirty times?

After China's economic development, there were more and more rich people.

Just like how Floyd Mayweather could be paid by Jack Ma to fight, money is omnipotent in these areas.