"That’s Yi Jianlian, right?" Chen Yu said, pointing to the court.
With 37 seconds left in the second quarter, the China Team was down by nine. Yi Jianlian, who had just curled out from under the basket, received a pass from Liu Wei. With not a soul within two meters of him, he took a long two-pointer.
His shooting arc was high, just like Nowitzki’s, but he still managed to shoot an airball.
Chen Yu was dumbfounded.
Beside him, Su Jun was so embarrassed he wanted to find a hole to crawl into. "He’s still too young," he explained. "He’s probably nervous."
Chen Yu shook his head to himself.
’Being nervous is one thing, and it’s understandable, but making such a rookie mistake just shows a lack of practice.’
After another two terrible possessions, Chen Yu noticed that Spain also had plenty of problems. They got four free-throw opportunities in the last 20 seconds but only made one.
During halftime, Su Jun proactively went to buy drinks for Chen Yu.
When he returned, Chen Yu was no longer in his seat.
He waited a while before Chen Yu came back.
But he didn’t come from the general spectator walkway; he seemed to be coming down from the top-level skyboxes.
"Thanks."
Chen Yu took the drink without explaining who he had gone to see.
It was Queen Sophia of Spain. The old lady was a die-hard basketball fan and had come to the game today.
She had spotted him during the first half and had her assistant come over to invite him during halftime.
The two had never met, but Chen Yu was a world-class orthopedic specialist. After all, who could guarantee they wouldn’t have backaches or sore muscles in the future?
She invited Chen Yu to watch the game from her box, but he declined.
Su Jun sat down and, after a moment’s hesitation, asked Chen Yu for his thoughts on the China Team’s performance in the first half, and whether there was a problem with their strategy.
From what he had seen, Harris just stood on the sidelines, looking anxious the entire first half.
The adjustments during timeouts didn’t seem to have much effect either.
Chen Yu thought for a moment and said, "Let’s not talk about tactics for now. Given the China Team’s current situation, there’s no need to start by looking for tactical problems."
Harris had, after all, led a team to the finals and won Coach of the Year. How could Chen Yu say his tactics were flawed?
However, as the Mavericks’ defensive coach, he hadn’t exactly whipped their defense into great shape over the past two years either.
But you couldn’t blame him for everything.
’If the ingredients are bad, you can’t make a good dish. You can’t blame the chef’s skills for everything.’
Besides, with the China Team as it was, they really needed to build up their physicality and fundamentals before they could even begin to discuss tactics.
However, Chen Yu, who had studied Mourinho’s tactical periodization theory, had already drafted a plan in his mind.
One-star, four-shooters!
For the current men’s national team, there was no way they could give up on Yao Ming.
Trying to develop another Yao Ming would be far too much to ask.
But as for the others, every single one of them, Chen Yu wanted to give up on.
With the Lakers, Jackson’s development plan for Yao Ming was also to mold him into an Olajuwon-type player—someone who could pass, set screens, and attack aggressively under the basket, serving as a pivot.
So, if they were to build a team around Yao Ming, NBA history had already provided the answer: the Rocket teams of the past.
With Olajuwon as the core, surrounded by a group of shooters like Horry, Maxwell, Cassell, and Kenny Smith.
’Since your physical abilities are limited, you’re not great at handling contact, and you like to float on the perimeter, then you might as well just shoot more threes.’
Anyway, in the international arena, many teams play zone defense, which collapses the paint and is conducive to outside shooting.
Take Spain, for example; they were aggressively shooting threes in the first half too.
It was just that their touch was off today. They were 1-for-12 from three-point range in the first half. If their shooting had been even slightly better, the China Team would absolutely not be down by only 12 points.
Coming back for the second half, Harris seemed to have made some adjustments. At least, Chen Yu could clearly see what tactic the China Team was running now.
As soon as the ball crossed half-court, they would pass it to Yao Ming first, letting him decide whether to attack himself or pass it back out.
The pace slowed down. No more chaotic running and passing. With Yao Ming passing out of the post, Zhu Fangyu hit two consecutive threes, and Yao scored once himself. Taking advantage of the window while Spain kept clanking their threes, they managed to go on an 8-0 run.
But in the end, it was just a flash in the pan.
Whether it was because he was passing to his teammates too much or for some other reason, Yao Ming’s performance was also limited today. He failed to score on two consecutive possessions, and then only managed to get 2 points by forcing his way to the basket and drawing a foul.
Then, he was subbed out.
Chen Yu glanced at Harris.
’Yao Ming’s stamina has always been a major issue. He’s been working on it, but it can’t be this bad, can it?’
Of course, his high foul count was also a factor.
But as soon as Bartel came on, the situation instantly reversed.
It was utter chaos, with no strategy whatsoever. They went scoreless for over three whole minutes again.
In the end, Spain seized the opportunity, entering the final quarter with an 18-point lead.
Su Jun was already scratching his head in frustration.
Chen Yu also relaxed, leaning back in his seat to wait for the game to end.
It looked like there was no hope left.
The China Team’s performance today was truly mediocre.
Although there was a clear skill gap, for them to be trailing by so much when Spain was shooting so poorly from three was just unjustifiable.
If Spain had been just a little more accurate, the deficit would already be twenty or thirty points.
In the fourth quarter, Harris actually put in a twin towers lineup.
The result was another two minutes without a single point.
After letting a man slip by behind him for an and-one, a furious Yao Ming grabbed the ball and slammed it hard on the floor.
Chen Yu saw this and sighed softly.
’Great, now his mentality is a problem too.’
At the 4:10 mark, Liu Wei had just brought the ball past half-court when it was stolen.
Gasol led the charge on the fast break.
Yao Ming, who had grabbed the rebound and was trailing the play, saw the two-on-one and gritted his teeth, planting himself in front of Gasol.
Beside him, Su Jun had already subconsciously yelled, "Don’t!"
Chen Yu’s brow furrowed instantly.
’Has he forgotten he already has four fouls?’
CRASH!
Gasol posterized him with a dunk, knocking Yao Ming to the ground.
The referee’s whistle blew.
Unsurprisingly, it was a blocking foul.
Yao Ming rolled over and sat up, his face filled with vexation, but it was too late for regrets.
The players on the court looked lost.
On the sidelines, Li Yuanwei buried his face in his hands.
Harris stood with his arms crossed, motionless as a statue.
With four minutes left, their core player had fouled out, and they were down by 22 points. How could they possibly make a comeback?
"This is real trouble," Su Jun muttered, watching Yao Ming sit down on the bench with a dark expression.
Just then, from the other side, Chen Ke tossed a towel over for Yao Ming to wipe his sweat, but Yao grabbed it and slammed it violently onto the floor.
Su Jun’s expression changed drastically.
Because right across from them, a cameraman was hoisting a camera on his shoulder, pointed directly at Yao Ming.
This scene, nine times out of ten, had just been recorded.
He quickly looked toward Li Yuanwei and the others.
It seemed no one had noticed.
But whether no one had truly noticed, or they were just pretending not to see, Su Jun couldn’t tell.
A disastrous loss in the team’s first game, followed by angrily throwing a towel after losing—Su Jun could already imagine what tomorrow’s media headlines would be.
If Yao Ming couldn’t hold back and ended up blasting his teammates, it would only escalate the conflicts within the team.
And how would the fans and the audience view Yao Ming?
Su Jun couldn’t help but clench his fists. Watching Yao Ming on the bench, still seething with an ugly expression on his face, he had a strong feeling that something bad was about to happen.
Just then, Chen Yu, who was beside him, suddenly stood up, crouched down, and walked down from the stands to the area behind the China Team’s bench.
Waving at Li Yuanwei, who had spotted him, Chen Yu came up behind Yao Ming and patted him on the shoulder.
"Dr. Chen."
Seeing Chen Yu standing behind him, Yao Ming was startled and subconsciously started to get up.
Chen Yu put a hand on his shoulder to keep him seated, then said with a smile, "I feel like your emotions are a bit off. Don’t let anger cloud your judgment. Be mindful of the situation."
After speaking, Chen Yu smiled and patted Yao Ming’s shoulder again before turning to return to his seat.
Yao Ming stared blankly in the direction Chen Yu had left, lost in thought.
The four minutes flew by, and the game was over.
to 83. The China Team lost by a full 25 points.
As the final buzzer sounded, Yao Ming got up, about to head to the locker room out of instinct.
He was in a terrible mood right now, both furious and dejected.
But as he turned to leave, his gaze swept over the stands and landed on Chen Yu, who was looking right at him.
Chen Yu was looking in his direction and then shook his head slightly.
Yao Ming paused for a moment, remembering what Chen Yu had just said to him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yao Ming stopped in his tracks.
He didn’t interact with his teammates, just stood there alone. In the end, he followed his teammates, gave a simple wave to the Chinese fans in the stands, and then headed back to the locker room with the rest of the team.
Only the Spanish team remained, lined up in unison, bowing toward the court-side boxes in the direction of Queen Sophia.
"Dr. Chen, I’m heading backstage now."
Su Jun picked up his camera and stood up to leave.
But before he left, he stopped and said, "Thanks."
It was obvious that Chen Yu had gone down earlier to give Yao Ming a reminder.
Without that reminder, a furious Yao Ming would have probably stormed off the court the moment the game ended.
The fallout from that would have been terrible.
Chen Yu nodded, also preparing to leave and find a place to rest for a bit.
At 8 PM, there was another Group B game: the United States versus Puerto Rico.
Larry Brown had already approached him, earnestly trying to persuade him. He’d said, ’I knew you were busy this Summer, so I didn’t dare ask you to travel with the team for the Olympics.’
’But now you happen to be in Athens, and you’ve even set up a clinic in the Olympic Village. It’s not too much to ask for you to help adjust the players’ condition after the games, is it?’
It really wasn’t too much to ask.
For Marion’s sake alone, Chen Yu couldn’t let him get injured during the Olympics.
As it happened, Queen Sophia also insisted on talking with him a bit longer.
Her husband, Carlos, had been suffering from gouty arthritis for many years. He had sought treatment from numerous doctors but had not been cured.
Now that she had run into Chen Yu by chance, she was bound to ask for some advice.
Chen Yu had his own methods for controlling inflammation. He promised that after the Olympics, he would make a stop in Spain to help treat Carlos.
This was a relationship Chen Yu wanted to maintain.
When his company expanded its business into La Liga in the future, it could come in handy.
After seeing Queen Sophia off, he was about to leave the arena when he ran into an anxious-looking Su Jun at the exit of the VIP skybox tunnel.
"Dr. Chen!"
He hurried over and said anxiously, "Something’s happened at the press conference. Yao Ming said the wrong thing."
Chen Yu was taken aback.
’Said the wrong thing? What does that mean?’
"What did he say to the reporters?"
Su Jun sighed, his face a mask of helplessness. "He told the reporters directly, ’I’ve lost faith in the China Team.’"
In a public interview with reporters, as the team’s core player... Su Jun had no idea what Yao Ming was thinking to say something like that.

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