At ten o’clock at night, the Olympic Village was still brightly lit and bustling with people.
Chen Yu greeted people along the way as he strolled toward the building where the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team was staying.
As he got closer, Chen Yu spotted a familiar figure.
It was Yao Ming!
From a distance, Chen Yu saw him walking side-by-side with an equally tall girl.
When they reached the base of the building, Yao Ming glanced around. Seeing no one, he opened his arms and hugged the girl.
’That must be his girlfriend, Ye Li, a player for the Chinese Women’s Basketball Team.’
Chen Yu didn’t approach or interrupt, watching from afar as the young couple said their reluctant goodbyes.
Yao Ming watched his girlfriend disappear into the night. When he turned around, he was startled by Chen Yu, who had suddenly appeared behind him.
"Dr... Dr. Chen, what are you doing here?" He glanced around in a panic, his face full of embarrassment.
His face was red even under the streetlight.
Chen Yu, unfazed, waved his hand and curiously asked why the two of them didn’t apply to live together.
’At least they’d have a private place to be affectionate.’
"That... how could we?" Hearing this, Yao Ming’s face turned even redder. He flusteredly explained, "We’re just a normal couple. We only made it official a short while ago."
’A short while ago?’
If Chen Yu remembered correctly, he had heard Yao Ming mention before that he’d known his girlfriend since ’99.
They had been together for five years now.
If this were in the United States, they probably would have been inseparable from day one of dating.
"What does that matter? Sometimes, relieving the pressure from the court in private can be good for maintaining your competitive form."
’Otherwise, what’s the point of the Olympic Village handing out so many contraceptives every year?’
Just look at the Dream Team. Living on a yacht, they were probably partying harder than anyone.
All those airballs today might have been because they partied too hard and their legs were weak.
"Dr. Chen, please... please don’t joke with me."
When Chen Yu offered to help them find a private villa, Yao Ming was so ashamed he couldn’t even lift his head.
Chen Yu stopped teasing him and asked about the post-game press conference.
"Dr. Chen, I’m sorry." Yao Ming lowered his head and apologized.
During the game, Chen Yu had specifically reminded him to be mindful of the occasion, but after the match, he still couldn’t hold back.
"I just can’t stand their indifferent attitude. We lost the game!"
And it was a crushing defeat!
Yao Ming clenched his fists and said angrily.
He had been holding it in, but when he got back to the locker room and saw the others laughing and chatting, completely unfazed by the blowout loss, with some even discussing plans to tour downtown Athens if they had time tomorrow, Yao Ming just couldn’t take it anymore and said what he said at the press conference.
Yao Ming felt that a lack of desire to win was far more terrifying than a lack of skill.
"Do you regret it, then?"
Chen Yu asked in return.
Words, once spoken, are like water spilled; you always have to face the consequences.
"I don’t regret it!" Yao Ming shook his head without hesitation, then said with a serious expression, "Dr. Chen, it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. I just feel that this can’t go on. I’m not trying to fight for anything. I just want to win."
And with that kind of lax attitude, winning is impossible.
Especially after already losing one game. If they didn’t start fighting, they might as well pack up and go home.
"As long as you don’t regret it."
Chen Yu nodded in satisfaction.
On his way over, Chen Yu had been planning how to talk to Yao Ming, but after just a few words, he realized he didn’t need to say anything.
Yao Ming wasn’t just momentarily confused; his head was on straight.
And he was willing to bear the consequences of his words.
Having that sense of responsibility was actually a good thing. On the men’s basketball team, he was without a doubt the future core.
Even if Chen Yu were to take over the National Team in the future, Yao Ming would still be the core.
If you want to be the leader, you can’t do it without that kind of awareness and responsibility.
"Give this to your coach. I doubt they’ll be getting much sleep tonight. Tell them to study it carefully. Then, before the game the day after tomorrow, I’d like you to tell me how Puerto Rico beat the Dream Team."
Chen Yu handed him a bag.
The Dream Team had lost.
Down by 22 points at halftime, the Dream Team still couldn’t find its rhythm in the second half.
to 92!
The supposedly invincible Dream Team had made history by losing a game at the Olympics.
Chen Yu found this game incredibly interesting.
First of all, the Dream Team’s loss wasn’t simply a matter of underestimating their opponent.
When they hit a scoring drought in the first quarter, the players on the court had already started playing seriously.
But they still couldn’t win.
The second quarter, in particular, was an absolute disaster.
Compared to last year’s Copa America, the Olympic roster was much weaker, but led by two major stars, Duncan on the inside and Iverson on the outside, it wasn’t actually that bad.
Yet they still lost so badly. This meant there was a lot worth analyzing and studying.
So, Chen Yu had specifically gone to the organizing committee, requested copies of all of today’s game tapes, and had them sent to Harris, hoping they would study them thoroughly.
If he had gone to ask for them himself, he probably wouldn’t have gotten them.
"Okay, I’ll give it to him right away. Dr. Chen, are you coming up?" Yao Ming quickly took the bag.
Chen Yu shook his head.
’My own business isn’t finished yet.’
Adjusting their post-game mentality could wait until tomorrow, but there was one situation that had to be dealt with tonight.
During the second half of the game, Iverson had gotten injured.
When he arrived at the Olympic Village’s medical center, Brown, Popovich, and the team doctor, Austin, were all there.
Iverson was there too, joking around and flirting with the girl at the front desk.
Who knows what he said, but the girl’s face was bright red.
Chen Yu cleared his throat, interrupting Iverson.
"Go wait inside." Chen Yu pointed toward the inner rooms.
’It’s better for this guy to stay out of trouble.’
Two days ago, after the Dream Team’s only practice session, a little Greek boy had approached Iverson to ask for a photo.
And what happened? Who knows if his head was screwed on wrong or what, but he actually refused the little boy in front of countless reporters.
Refusing was one thing, but he even said he couldn’t do that because he was a big star.
Because of this incident, the international media had widely criticized the Dream Team for acting like big shots.
It was hard to say that the overwhelming support for Puerto Rico from the crowd during tonight’s game was unrelated to this incident.
Thanks to Iverson, Boozer, and others, the Dream Team’s public image was pretty much in shambles.
Brown and Popovich had borrowed the medical center’s TV and were using a VCR to review the game tape.
Seeing Chen Yu enter, they gave a slight nod but remained focused on the tape.
Neither of them asked about Iverson’s condition.
The mentor-mentee relationship between Brown and Iverson had long since soured; they were only putting up a front.
Besides, Brown trusted Chen Yu to handle it.
Chen Yu called over an assistant physician and had him take Iverson for an X-ray.
He had injured his right thumb.
Chen Yu had already used his Eye of All-Seeing. It was a fracture of the proximal phalanx of the thumb, likely from jamming it during the game.
It was an old injury in the same spot. He had hurt it the season before last, and Chen Yu had treated it then as well.
This type of fracture would certainly have an impact, but it wasn’t a major issue. Any orthopedic surgeon could handle it; the main things were setting the bone and the subsequent rehabilitation therapy.
"Larry, have you guys figured out how you lost?" Chen Yu walked over and asked.
Today’s game had immense analytical value.
It couldn’t simply be attributed to a lack of star power, like not bringing O’Neal, Kobe, or Tracy McGrady.
Aren’t Duncan, Iverson, Marion, and Mabry top-tier superstars?
But they still lost.
And they didn’t lose to Argentina or Serbia and Montenegro. They lost to the relatively unknown Puerto Rico, a second-tier team from the Americas.
So when they eventually face Argentina and Serbia and Montenegro, won’t they lose by an even larger margin?
Brown sighed and said through gritted teeth, "We lost because of the three-pointer."
Chen Yu glanced at Popovich, who nodded in agreement.
In this game, Puerto Rico went 8-for-16 from three-point range. And the United States Team? They took 24 three-pointers and only made 3.
Iverson alone shot 10 threes and somehow only made 1.
So, Brown saying the three-pointer was the reason they lost was not wrong at all.
"We don’t have shooters, and we don’t have anyone who can organize the offense," Brown added another reason. After a moment’s hesitation, he complained, "Tom and Stu’s player selection was flawed."
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow slightly.
’Is this him passing the buck?’
The formation of the Dream Team was the responsibility of the selection committee under the Basketball Association.
Which is to say, Stu Jackson was in charge.
They sent out the invitations, assembled the team, and then handed it over to Brown to coach.
In other words, Brown couldn’t guarantee that the players he got were the ones he wanted.
But that was just in theory. In reality, the decisions on who to select were made in consultation between the two of them.
He and Stu Jackson had even come to him earlier, asking for his help in inviting O’Neal and Hardaway to play in the Olympics. It’d be a miracle if Brown had no say in the matter.
So if Stu Jackson were here, he would definitely say, "That’s not on me."
But Chen Yu did feel that the roster was indeed one of the reasons.
On the entire Dream Team, if you had to say who was the best three-point shooter, it would have to be Richard Jefferson of the Brooklyn Nets.
The problem was, he ranked close to fiftieth in three-point percentage last season.
If they had actually gotten Ray Allen to come, their three-point shooting wouldn’t have been this abysmal.
And the lack of an offensive organizer was also a problem. Mabry’s assist numbers weren’t bad, but he was a completely different type of point guard from J Kidd and Nash.
He needed to dominate the ball and create opportunities for teammates by driving and dishing.
Unlike J Kidd and Nash, who truly observed their teammates’ positioning to orchestrate the offense.
Popovich also sighed and agreed, "Our player selection really did have some issues."
He picked up the remote, rewound the tape, paused it, and then pointed at the screen.
"We had too many drives to the basket, but look, the paint is too congested. It’s packed with people. LeBron’s drive is sharp enough, right? Yet he still lost the ball while dribbling on a drive. There’s just no space."
LeBron had played briefly, and Chen Yu’s most vivid memory was of him losing control of the ball on a drive, dribbling it off his own foot.
"Their zone defense was excellent, and their help defense was on point. They gave us some opportunities, but we failed to capitalize."
After a pause, he continued with a profound look in his eyes, "For years, our opponents have been studying us, and they’ve even developed more advanced strategies. But we’ve fallen behind. I think that’s the real key to why we lost."
Hearing Popovich say this, Brown felt the need to object.
"Greg, you’re exaggerating a bit. I didn’t see anything particularly special or advanced about their strategy. I think the most important reason we lost this game was that we were careless and our conditioning wasn’t good enough."
"And we haven’t gelled enough as a team."
He listed several reasons for the loss, one after another.
The Olympics were in August, but the Dream Team only assembled in mid-to-late July. They were running all over the place playing exhibition games, with nowhere near enough time to build chemistry.
"As long as we get serious from now on, I don’t think it’ll be a big problem. The gold medal is still ours," Brown said with full confidence.
He even confidently swore to Chen Yu to just watch, that they would definitely win the next game against Greece.
Chen Yu didn’t offer an opinion, instead mulling over what Popovich had said.
’The so-called "more advanced strategy"... is it just three-pointers?’
While the Dream Team was obsessed with isolation plays, drives, and dunks, teams like Spain, Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Serbia and Montenegro were all shooting a ton of threes.
They hadn’t seen them play like this in previous Olympics.
In previous years, the opponents who could go toe-to-toe with the Dream Team on the international stage all played a methodical, inside game.
Like Sabonis.
But in the last couple of years, things had really started to change a little.

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