Chapter 194 Easier Opponent

For Chinese fans, Argentina is obviously an easier opponent than Argentina, Spain, or the United States.

However, the Chinese team's coaching staff and players didn't think so. Argentina's performance along the way was admirable, and making it to the semi-finals was the best proof.

It would be really stupid to underestimate your opponent at this point.

Before the game, the coaching staff took the players to the video room to focus on analyzing Argentina's last group match against Cameroon, as well as Argentina's match against Serbia.

One game was Argentina's only loss, and the other was their victory of the weak over the strong.

The coaching staff was well prepared, and the players' understanding of this team went from familiarity to depth.

This is a team that combines South American style and team style.

They advocate physical confrontation, and because of their excellent confrontation, they can always complete various high-difficulty goals on the offensive end.

But they also love passing the ball. Everyone being Manu Ginobili isn't just a joke; it's a basketball philosophy that has been deeply rooted in their bones since childhood.

If the Chinese team didn't have Tang Tian, ​​they would have almost no chance of winning against such an opponent.

The reason is simple: in the past, no one could limit Ginobili, and now no one can limit Campazzo.

These two people are the absolute organizational core of Argentina.

If Argentina is compared to a sports car, then they are the engine of this sports car.

To put it bluntly, the Chinese team now has Tang Tian, ​​and the ability to cut off this engine, which means they have the ability to fight against Argentina.

As for Scola, if he is separated from Campazzo, and even asked to play low post, his efficiency at the age of 39 will inevitably decline, and his physical strength will become a problem.

Targeted deployment, targeted training.

The Chinese team's full preparation before the semi-finals also gave the players full confidence in this game.

One day later, under the spotlight, the semi-final between the Chinese team and the Argentine team kicked off at the Beijing Wukesong Arena.

The scene was crowded with people and bustling with activity.

After more than half a month of competition, the World Cup is finally coming to an end.

And the Chinese team has reached this point as they expected.

From Rio in 2016 to the home court now, the men's basketball team is shaping a spirit similar to that of the women's volleyball team through two historic World Cup performances.

And the influence of men's basketball is destined to attract more attention and influence.

Now, they are full of expectations, looking forward to the men's basketball team creating history again.

This can be felt from the deafening cheers that even resounded through the stadium during the appearance ceremony.

The national anthem sung loudly by the audience at the end of the Chinese team's appearance ceremony was transmitted through the TV to the audience's ears, which resonated from the bottom of their hearts.

At this moment, all Chinese fans felt pride from the bottom of their hearts.

After the appearance ceremony, the starting lineups of the two teams were released one after another.

Argentina's starting lineup has remained unchanged since the group stage.

Campazzo and Brussino on the outside, Garino and Scola on the front line, and Delia at center.

The Chinese team also used the starting lineup of the past two games, with Fang Shuo and Ding Yanyuhang on the outside, Tang Tian and Yi Jianlian on the front line, and Shen Zijie at center.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Yi Jianlian jumped high and pushed the ball back to the Chinese team's half, officially kicking off the semi-final.

Tang Tian broke through and passed the ball to the frontcourt, Ding Yanyuhang used Yi Jianlian's pick-and-roll, cut in to catch the ball and score a layup.

After so many games, the Chinese team has become quite tacit on the offensive end.

However, turning around, Campazzo made a no-look pass that penetrated the defense and gave it to Scola under the basket, who turned around and scored with a jump shot.

These two rounds became the epitome of the first few rounds.

The Chinese team's offensive efficiency was very good, but they did not effectively limit the Argentine team's offense, especially Campazzo.

This last season's Spanish League MVP has really proved his strength to the world through this World Cup.

The NBA has 1.75-meter Isaiah Thomas, and FIBA ​​has 1.78-meter Campazzo.

The scores of the two teams also alternated, and the two sides had a tendency to develop towards an offensive battle.

However, when the game had been going on for about three minutes, the Chinese team took the lead in making personnel adjustments, and Abudushalamu came on to replace Fang Shuo.

Judging from Li Chunjiang's expression and the timing of this substitution, it was intentional by the Chinese team.

Obviously, this is a test.

Although they had played against each other before and analyzed a lot of videos, only the actual combat in this stage can really reveal things.

Abudushalamu came on, and Tang Tian swayed to the point guard position.

He directly hung Campazzo and broke through to the inside to score a layup.

In terms of height and confrontation, the two people are simply not in the same world.

The Chinese team's efficient offense after the opening also made the Argentine team dare not help defend at will.

Of course, compared to that, offense is not the main purpose of the Chinese team's substitution; defense is.

All the Chinese team's preparations and training before the game were to allow Tang Tian and Campazzo to match up.

Then, Campazzo, the engine, stalled.

His speed is fast, his vision is wide, and his ball output is fast. These are all his advantages.

But these advantages disappeared after Tang Tian marked him.

The saying that basketball is a giant's sport is definitely not just talk.

The suppression in height made Campazzo lose his vision, and the oppressive defense made his ball delivery difficult.

Not to mention the speed, Tang Tian can defend Harden and even Paul in the NBA.

In other words, all of Campazzo's advantages disappeared in front of Tang Tian, ​​and his height made him at an extreme disadvantage on the defensive end.

With Campazzo unable to organize the offense, Scola was forced to take the ball and post up Yi Jianlian in the low post.

The first ball went in, but consecutive attacks failed afterward.

This is also the biggest weakness of this Argentine team: there is no second organizational point besides Campazzo.

Everyone being Ginobili relies on Campazzo sending out the first accurate pass, which then triggers a series of passes.

Now that Campazzo is being held back, the Argentine team's artistic basketball can't be played.

After falling into individual combat, they are not stronger than the Chinese team.

Hernandez saw that the situation was not right and replaced Laprovittola and Deck.

The former is the MVP of the Spanish League last season, and the latter is the team's sixth man.

However, Laprovittola's World Cup performance was sluggish, and Deck was also suppressed when facing Yi Jianlian.

After a three-minute stalemate at the beginning, the Argentine team quickly fell behind, and was completely passive.

Ginobili on the sidelines looked serious. He had realized that the Argentine team's World Cup journey was likely to end here.

At the end of the first half, the Argentine team was already 15 points behind the Chinese team.

In the second half, they obviously increased their defensive intensity and started to press hard across the court.

But the Chinese team had already enjoyed this when they played against the Australian team in the quarter-finals, and they were more composed in response.

The Argentine team was always unable to narrow the point difference. When there were still two minutes left in the game and the point difference was nearly 15 points, Hernandez called a timeout.

When the timeout returned, the Argentine team replaced all the main players with bench players, which also announced the early end of the game.

The Chinese team did the same in unison.

When both sides' bench players came on, the cheers of the fans at the scene were completely unstoppable.

The Chinese team has made it to the World Cup final!

They have created new history!