Chapter 715: A Near Diplomatic Incident
In the 1st round of the qualifiers, China once again crushed Lebanon by 30 points.
The Asian Championship was not over yet, but everyone had already felt the overwhelming dominance of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team. Opponents felt immense pressure just by looking across the court at their faces.
The Lebanese players showed no sadness after the game.
Losing seemed like the natural outcome.
In other words, losing to China was not shameful.
After all, the Chinese Men's Basketball Team was currently not only the best team in Asia, but also one of the best in the world. Other Asian teams were simply on another level below them.
Before the game, Lebanon's head coach had told the media that they were facing China with a learning mindset.
After the game, the Lebanese players lined up 1 by 1 to ask Chen Yan and Yao Ming for autographs and photos.
They were all smiles, not looking at all like a team that had just lost a game.
The broadcast commentator could not help laughing.
"This is practically a fan meeting."
Another commentator also laughed.
"Perhaps the biggest gain for the Lebanese players in this Asian Championship will be Chen Yan's autographed photo."
Chen Yan and Yao Ming were both kind players, and they fulfilled all of the Lebanese players requests.
China's next opponent was the South Korean Men's Basketball Team.
The South Korean team, which often spoke with great confidence, had made bold statements days before the game, vowing to defeat China and reclaim the top spot in Asia.
Those words left everyone on the Chinese team bewildered.
South Korea had never dominated Asian basketball, so where did this so called reclaiming the top spot even come from?
However, Chen Yan was already used to this kind of rhetoric.
Even cultural debates about Confucius and the Dragon Boat Festival could be dragged into arguments, let alone the top spot in Asian basketball.
That night, Chen Yan and Yao Ming held a small meeting with the players.
The spirit of the meeting was simple.
Beat South Korea until they had nothing left to say.
Before the game started, Chen Yan accepted an interview.
When a reporter asked about his prediction for tonight's performance, Chen Yan calmly said, "50 points."
The reporter pressed, "Do you mean you will score 50 points tonight?"
Chen Yan shook his finger.
"I mean we will win by 50 points."
Chen Yan rarely boasted before a game.
But when he did, he always delivered on his promises, so the fans were extremely excited.
Especially the fans at the venue.
Even before the game began, they were already cheering and shouting, eager to see South Korea get humbled.
Before the game, the South Korean players walked onto the court confidently with their heads held high, scanning the Chinese players with disdain.
The fans were deeply impressed by this scene.
Because it was the most arrogant moment the South Korean players would have in the entire game.
As soon as the game started, Chen Yan delivered a heavy blow to South Korea.
After dribbling past half court, Chen Yan suddenly executed a crossover into a step back.
South Korea's Yang Donggeun moved early and rushed forward.
Yang Donggeun had studied Chen Yan thoroughly before the game, believing he understood Chen Yan well.
In fact, Yang Donggeun did defend well on this possession.
He anticipated Chen Yan's move.
However, he overlooked 1 thing.
Chen Yan was indefensible.
Chen Yan remained very calm. After his peripheral vision caught sight of Yang Donggeun, he made a tactical pause.
Yang Donggeun was too excited and charged too aggressively, directly colliding with Chen Yan's side.
This was exactly the result Chen Yan wanted.
The moment their bodies made contact, Chen Yan shot the ball like a sniper.
Since Yang Donggeun was on Chen Yan's right side, Chen Yan even used his left hand to shoot in order to avoid interference.
A very detailed move.
Swish!
The most incredible part was that after tracing a beautiful arc, the ball dropped cleanly through the net.
A 3 pointer, plus a free throw.
Chen Yan's 1st possession of the game ignited the enthusiasm of the entire arena.
Countless fans in front of their televisions also cheered.
Chen Yan made the free throw, and China opened with a 4 to 0 lead.
People often said a good start was half the battle, and Chen Yan's opening performance clearly motivated his teammates.
On South Korea's offensive possession, Ha Seungjin tried to post up Yao Ming.
Slap!
Just as he turned to attempt a hook shot, Yao Ming directly blocked him.
China launched a counterattack from the spot, and Chen Yan led the fast break, driving through 3 defenders for a layup.
In just 2 possessions, Chen Yan had showcased his ability.
His decision making, jumping, and rhythm were all a class above the South Korean players. From the broadcast footage, his speed seemed 1 beat faster than everyone else on the floor.
China's other 2 NBA players also refused to let Chen Yan put on a solo show.
In the next 2 possessions, Yao Ming first displayed his low post footwork with a bank shot for 2 points, then hit a long 2 pointer from the high arc.
After his transformation, Yao Ming even had some 3 point shooting ability in the NBA, let alone long 2 pointers in international basketball.
Yi Jianlian also made a mid range jumper on the next possession.
Liu Wei then made a floater after a pick and roll.
After this wave of offense, South Korea had been smashed by 14 straight points.
The South Korean coaching staff reluctantly called a timeout.
The game had only just begun.
How were there already signs of collapse?
It was not until the 5 minute mark of the 1st quarter that South Korea scored its 1st points.
And even then, they came from free throws.
In the past 7 minutes, South Korea had only made its 1st field goal.
At this point, the score was 25 to 6.
Seeing this, the fans all said Chen Yan's prediction of winning by 50 points might still have been conservative.
The broadcast commentator looked relaxed.
"China is in excellent form tonight. I wonder if they were stimulated by the South Korean coach's interview a few days ago. South Korea's coach said in an interview that they would defeat China."
Another commentator burst into hearty laughter after hearing this.
"That might be a little difficult. In this game, China is playing as if this were a practice session."
At the end of the 1st quarter, China led 31 to 11, a full 20 point advantage.
At the start of the 2nd quarter, Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian went to the bench to rest, while Chen Yan continued playing.
Before the game, he had said he would beat South Korea by more than 50 points.
If he could not do it, he would be breaking his word.
And Chen Yan always put integrity first.
If he said he would win by more than 50, then he would never win by only 49.
In the 2nd quarter, South Korea's offense clearly improved, but Chen Yan's offense became even more ferocious.
Chen Yan's playing style was very suitable for international courts.
He was too accurate, especially with his signature pull up and step back shots, which were divine weapons for contested 3 pointers in 1 on 1 situations.
In this quarter, Chen Yan alone hit 5 3 pointers.
Wang Zhizhi, Zhu Fangyu, and Liu Wei also each made 3 pointers.
At halftime, the score was 63 to 25.
The South Korean players were baffled.
Their offense had clearly improved in the 2nd quarter.
So why were they falling even further behind?
After halftime, Yang Donggeun used a screen to hit a mid range jumper while drawing a foul.
The few South Korean fans present erupted in cheers, thinking that South Korea's comeback was about to begin.
Little did they know, that would be their only score for the next 3 minutes.
Over the next few minutes, China not only performed perfectly on offense, but also gave everything on defense.
Everyone played with anger on the court.
As the commentator had said, the words from South Korea's head coach had provoked them.
In this game, South Korea's defensive strategy was to have Ha Seungjin drop back.
They did not expect China's outside shooting to be so accurate tonight.
A hot shooting touch was contagious, and Chen Yan's successive outside shots ignited the accuracy of the entire team.
South Korean fans could only console themselves by saying that China had taken so many 3 pointers because Ha Seungjin was protecting the rim and preventing them from getting inside, and that their high shooting percentage was only luck.
Even the South Korean commentators said something similar.
Their broadcast did little to help their image.
But it was not long before they were proven wrong.
Chen Yan repeatedly used screens to accelerate and drive into the paint, directly dunking over Ha Seungjin.
Honestly, Ha Seungjin only had size.
His athletic ability was almost nonexistent.
Any tall player from the NBA would have provided more defensive pressure in the paint than him.
2 minutes later, Chen Yan once again put back a dunk over Ha Seungjin's head.
South Korea's mentality and on court performance completely collapsed.
Chen Yan did not care about their feelings and continued scoring.
After 3 quarters, China was already leading by 48 points.
With 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter, South Korea finally could not hold back anymore and began frequently fouling Chen Yan with dirty tactics.
The referee saw everything clearly and directly ejected 2 of their players.
The broadcast commentator said that South Korea had lost both the game and their dignity.
Jonas quickly pulled the starters off the court with the aim of protecting the players.
Fans all said it was time for the starters to rest.
If they kept playing, this game might turn into a diplomatic incident.
In the end, China defeated South Korea 119 to 59, a 60 point victory.
The media did not care about preserving South Korea's reputation at all.
They described the game as this.
A match where the opponent had just taken its stance, then immediately raised a white flag and knelt down.
.....
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