diskusbooks Chapter 704 Serbia's Frenzied Pursuit
Chapter 704 Serbia's Frenzied Pursuit
"Actually, we can break down the first quarter of the game."
"Judging from the tense moment between the two sides, the score was 19-17 with three minutes left in the game, at which point Wang Xiucheng had already scored 10 points."
"Then in the last three minutes, the Chinese team went from 19-17 to 31-17, scoring 12 points while keeping Serbia scoreless."
"Wang Xiucheng scored 9 points in those last three minutes."
"Wang Xiucheng has already scored 19 points in the first quarter."
"This is the main reason why the Chinese team leads Serbia 31-17 by 14 points."
“Of course.” Yang Yi changed the subject, “Our players’ defensive contributions cannot be ignored, otherwise Wang Xiucheng wouldn’t have had so many fast break opportunities.”
"I predict Serbia will start to play physically in the second quarter..."
Yang Yi kept watching the field, and when both teams returned, he ended his speech at the appropriate time.
Just as Yang Yi said, Serbia started to frequently use physical contact at the beginning of the second quarter.
This initially made the Chinese team somewhat unaccustomed to the situation.
After resting for two minutes, Wang Xiucheng, Jokic Bogdan, and the others all returned.
The game became intense and close.
Various fouls broke the game into pieces, and the referee's whistle was practically glued to his mouth, blowing it almost every round.
The Serbian players seemed more accustomed to this pace of the game, and the score gradually narrowed.
However, in the last minute of the first half, thanks to Wang Xiucheng's logo three-pointer, the Chinese team still managed to score 23 points in the second quarter.
They are only 2 points behind Serbia, who have already found their rhythm.
At the end of the first half, the Chinese team surprisingly led by 12 points, 54-42.
The Chinese team's coaching staff was clearly satisfied with the result. Guo Shiqiang stood on the sidelines and gave each of his players a high-five before walking into the players' tunnel with the rest of the staff.
Ben Sullivan walked at the back, side by side with Wang Xiucheng.
“Jokic is very tired. You probably won’t be able to rest in the second half. I’ll have someone give you a full-body massage later,” Ben Sullivan said to Wang Xiucheng in English.
Wang Xiucheng nodded, a resolute look in his eyes.
He understood what Ben Sullivan meant. In this game, because of Hebei China Fortune's targeted defense against Bogdan, Jokic had to participate in the offense more, and sometimes even had to hold the ball himself.
This took a lot of physical effort from Jokic.
Jokic will inevitably be more tired in the second half, and Bogdan must step up to relieve the pressure on Jokic.
In response, Wang Xiucheng had to maintain even closer defense against Bogdan.
Just as we said in the pre-match briefing, the key to winning this match lies with Bogdan.
Back in the locker room, Wang Xiucheng took off his shirt and lay down on the massage chair that China had brought in from China. He closed his eyes, ate a banana, and enjoyed the massage.
On the other side, in the Serbian locker room.
Head coach Pesic ranted for a few minutes before calming down and starting to plan the tactics for the second half.
As Ben Sullivan predicted, Pesic demanded that Bogdan must be more present.
Inside the venue, Fan Chengcheng and Deng Chao went outside to smoke.
Fan Bing sat alone in a chair, staring blankly at her phone.
A few minutes later, Yao Ming appeared to return to the Chinese team's locker room, carrying several bottles of water.
Yao Ming handed the water to Fan Bing behind him and explained, "Xiao Wang asked me to get this for you. It was brought from China."
Fan Bing paused for a moment, then took the water and thanked Yao Ming.
Yao Ming smiled and said nothing more.
He didn't care about the relationship between Wang Xiucheng and Fan Bing; he only cared about whether Wang Xiucheng could play well.
Yao Ming knew, of course, that Wang Xiucheng knew many female celebrities, but he didn't care.
Yao Ming himself has cleaned up Wang Xiucheng's mess several times.
As long as Wang Xiucheng plays the ball well for him, he is willing to continue to handle these troublesome matters for Wang Xiucheng.
Fan Bing stared blankly at Wang Xiucheng's smiling face on the mineral water bottle.
A few minutes later, the second half of the game began.
The confrontation between the two sides became more intense and thorough, and Bogdan finally began to show more of his abilities.
Wang Xiucheng and David Muoka took turns guarding Bogdan, but with Jokic's screens, Bogdan still managed to make several brilliant assists.
With one minute left in the third quarter, Bogdan scored 7 points and dished out 4 assists.
This allowed Jokic to stand and set screens more often and make fewer ineffective back-and-forth runs.
Harden once said that when he sets a screen, it's like he's taking a break.
The same applies to Jokic.
When he was providing cover, he stood still, which was also a form of rest, similar to Wang Xiucheng squatting in a blind spot and pretending to be dead.
Thanks to Bogdan's performance, Serbia scored 25 points in the third quarter with one minute remaining.
The Chinese team, hampered by fewer counter-attack opportunities and a drop in shooting percentage, only managed 17 points.
Fortunately, the game came down to the last minute.
The score was 71-67, and China's lead had been eroded to just 4 points.
Fortunately, it was "King's Time" and the Chinese team gained possession of the ball.
Li Kaier quickly dribbled the ball through midfield and passed it to Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi passed the ball to Wang Xiucheng, who was coming over from the side, with one hand, and at the same time turned his body to block Bogdan, who was following Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng threw the ball out at an angle.
Swish!
The ball goes in!
The "Guaranteed Three-Point Shot Card" is now active.
It only took 14 seconds.
74:67.
Serbia attacks, Jokic passes the ball to Bogdan.
Wang Xiucheng immediately moved closer, blocking Bogdan's path.
Jokic came to the side and stood still. Bogdan used Jokic's screen to change direction several times and get to the frontcourt.
Jokic ran towards the paint, keeping an eye on Bogdan and ready to assist at any moment.
Bogdan lowered his body and looked around, especially at the black-Chinese man.
As soon as that big, clumsy guy shows any sign of coming over, he will immediately pass the ball out.
When he had used up the timer to leave only 6 seconds left on the attack timer, Bogdan made his move.
Without dribbling, he simply lobbed the ball into the paint and then led Wang Xiucheng to run elsewhere.
However, Wang Xiucheng suddenly turned around and took a step into the paint.
Jokic, who had just received the ball, pushed back as soon as he got off the ball. If he could push Zhou Qi aside, he would have space to shoot or pass the ball to an open player on the outside.
His attention was entirely focused on Zhou Qi and the positions of his teammates, and he didn't notice that Wang Xiucheng had suddenly appeared in front of him at this moment.
With a snap, Jokic felt his palm being slapped again, and then the basketball slipped from his hand.
This time, Jokic didn't even call out. He reached out to grab Wang Xiucheng, but couldn't catch him at all.
Wang Xiucheng passed the ball to Li Kaier on the outside as soon as he received it.
At the same time, Wang Xiucheng turned and ran.
Bogdan, who was not far from Wang Xiucheng, did not dare to make a move at this time.
So he could only accelerate and run forward at full speed, bumping into Wang Xiucheng with his shoulder.
It's fortunate that he was closer to the center circle, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to approach Wang Xiucheng so quickly.
Wang Xiucheng was knocked and ran towards the sideline.
Under normal circumstances, Wang Xiucheng would slow down to prevent himself from running out of bounds.
But at that moment, Wang Xiucheng reached out and caught the ball that Li Kaier passed to him.
The next moment, Wang Xiucheng caught the ball with one hand, turned around, and threw the ball behind him.
Then Wang Xiucheng finally reached the sideline, but he only stepped on the sideline once before returning to the field.
Wang Xiucheng seized control of the ball and charged forward!