As expected, by the next day—or rather, that very night—Yao Ming’s words had made their way back to China, sparking considerable debate.
His comment about "not wanting to play for a National Team like this anymore" in particular was interpreted by many media outlets as a desire to quit the National Team.
The next afternoon, at the medical center, Chen Yu ran into Su Jun, who had come looking for him specifically.
"Dr. Chen, look at these comments. Just look at what they’re all saying."
Su Jun had brought a laptop. He opened his email and showed Chen Yu screenshots of comments he had collected.
"After the Crushing Defeat, Severe Conflict Erupts in the Locker Room"
"A Huge Loss to Spain, Who Is to Blame?"
"Yao Ming Furiously Throws Towel, What’s Next for the Men’s National Team?"
"Yao Ming Implies Someone Is a Prima Donna, Team Conflict Now Public"
These were all from media reports.
Then came the comments from many netizens and fans.
"What kind of game was that? It was completely unwatchable."
"And he’s supposed to be a number one draft pick? Instead of wasting energy flaming his teammates, he should take a look at how few points he scored himself."
"Speaking rationally, a loss is everyone’s responsibility. For Yao Ming, as the team’s core player, to say those things... it really feels like he’s shirking responsibility."
"What kind of core player is he? In clutch moments, you have to rely on the veterans. Look at Li Nan. He was the most consistent player on the team, scoring 14 points."
"Yao Ming definitely choked this game. He has no right to criticize anyone else."
There were many, many more similar comments.
Chen Yu scrolled through them with interest for a while.
’Sure enough, haters are the same all over the world.’
They only saw that Yao Ming scored just 12 points, but they didn’t see him being trapped by zone defenses and double-teamed the entire game, nor did they see him constantly setting screens and passing to his teammates.
Of course, Yao Ming definitely had problems in this game—he wasn’t decisive enough—but he was still the most threatening presence on the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team.
What did the Spanish head coach say before the game? He said the question he was constantly thinking about was how to defend Yao Ming.
What did Gasol, who scored 21 points, say after the game? He said, "We spent a lot of energy to contain Yao Ming. If it were just me, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him at all."
But no one would pay attention to these details.
It was the same in the United States. If you lost, people criticized you. If your shooting percentage was low, people criticized you.
If someone really wanted to criticize you, they could always find a reason.
That’s why Chen Yu usually paid no mind to such comments.
Besides, Chen Yu strongly suspected that Su Jun had only collected the negative reports and comments.
’Anyway, I refuse to believe that out of all the netizens and fans in China, every single one of them is flaming Yao Ming.’
Anyone who had actually watched the game carefully would understand that Yao Ming’s criticism was justified. There were real problems with the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team’s attitude and hustle.
They were lax on defense, strolling around the court, had no confidence on offense, and were just passing the buck to each other.
It was a case of tough love. Yao Ming’s lashing out might even turn out to be a good thing.
A flash of embarrassment crossed Su Jun’s face.
He had indeed reported only the bad news and not the good.
"But Dr. Chen, I’m really worried that if this negative public opinion continues, the impact on Yao Ming and the national team will be huge," Su Jun explained, then cautiously asked if Chen Yu had spoken with Yao Ming yesterday.
Chen Yu thought for a moment and said, "Don’t worry, there are no problems on that end."
Anyway, from what Chen Yu understood, the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team had held an internal meeting that morning.
Li Yuanwei had also spoken with Yao Ming.
He estimated that the Basketball Association would soon issue a formal statement to refute the rumors.
And in the end, Chen Yu wasn’t all that concerned about whether the national team could advance from the group stage or what their final ranking would be.
’It’s not like they’re going to win a medal.’
Since they wouldn’t be winning a medal, it didn’t really matter much whether they finished fourth or eighth.
They finished 10th last time. Would finishing eighth, or even sixth, this time be some huge breakthrough? Would it be enough to just gloss over the problems?
If you don’t win medals, if you don’t win championships, you’ll always be a weak team on the international stage.
"Su Jun, since you’re here, I was actually hoping you could do me a favor." Chen Yu closed the laptop and then asked him if he knew that the United States Team had lost yesterday.
After Su Jun nodded, Chen Yu continued, "I’d like you to help me gather news reports, analyses from industry insiders, and even some fan opinions from back in China. I want to see how they’re analyzing why the United States Team lost."
Su Jun was taken aback and subconsciously asked why Chen Yu wanted to collect this information.
’The Dream Team losing... that must have been an accident, right?’
"I just want to understand it better. You have sources in China, so the information you gather will be more comprehensive." As a veteran Chinese basketball journalist and industry professional, it was much more convenient for Su Jun to gather this kind of information than for Chen Yu to do it himself.
As for why he was doing this, Chen Yu’s objective was simple.
Chen Yu just wanted to know why the Dream Team lost.
And how could a second-tier team like Puerto Rico beat the Dream Team!
Of course, Chen Yu had his own views and thoughts, but he also wanted to see what others were thinking.
That morning, Chen Yu had already sent the game tape back to China for his people at his company to analyze thoroughly.
Last night, Popovich had said that the whole world was studying the Dream Team.
That was the honest truth.
If you wanted to get results on the national stage, you had to study the Dream Team.
If he were to take over the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team in the future, Chen Yu would first have to thoroughly study how to deal with the United States Team before he could build his own team with a targeted strategy.
To put it bluntly, he had to cross the river by feeling for the stones—and the Dream Team was that stone.
"Okay, I’ll see what I can do."
Su Jun didn’t dare refuse. The conversation wasn’t a total loss for him; at least he now knew there were no major issues within the national team.
And just as Chen Yu had said, the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team did indeed hit rock bottom and bounce back.
On the 17th, China versus New Zealand.
This was a game they couldn’t afford to lose.
Yao Ming completely changed his approach from the first game, exploding for 39 points in a 69-62 narrow victory over New Zealand.
On the same day, Brown also kept his promise, leading the Dream Team to a victory over the host nation, Greece.
But after the game, there was still a barrage of harsh criticism and ridicule aimed at the Dream Team.
Because the Dream Team had only won 77-71, a narrow 6-point victory.
If it was this difficult to beat Greece, could you even call this the Dream Team?
Barkley’s taunts were the most cutting.
He said that back in his day, the only wish their group stage opponents had was to get a photo with them. But now? These guys were actually thinking about winning the game!
It was a complete reversal of the natural order.
He stated even more bluntly that the current Dream Team didn’t deserve to be called the Dream Team at all.
The Dream Team’s performance also led Chen Yu to stop paying attention to other games and just follow the Dream Team, studying how their opponents dealt with them.
On the 19th, the third group stage game, United States versus Australia.
At the end of the first quarter, the Dream Team was trailing once again.
to 31, a full 10 points behind!
The reason was simple.
It wasn’t that Duncan and Iverson played poorly. Compared to the first two games, their performance was already acceptable.
But the problem was that Australia had drained five three-pointers in the first quarter alone.
The Dream Team’s perimeter defense had become a complete joke.
"Chen, what are you writing down?" Popovich suddenly asked, leaning over.
He had just noticed that Chen Yu had a notebook out and was writing and drawing in it.
Chen Yu glanced at Duncan and the others listening to Brown’s instructions, then at Anthony, Wade, and the others looking on eagerly from the sidelines. "Nothing much," he said. "Just studying how to beat us."
Popovich was taken aback. He subconsciously felt there was something off about what Chen Yu had said.
’Shouldn’t he have said he was studying why we were behind?’
"So, have you figured out any problems?" Popovich glanced at Chen Yu’s notebook, which was filled with diagrams of tactical plays.
Chen Yu didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked Popovich why the Dream Team was trailing by so much again in the first quarter.
"It’s definitely the threes again."
Popovich said without hesitation.
Australia’s outside shooting was just too accurate.
Chen Yu immediately asked, "Then why can’t we defend against it? Logically, the FIBA three-point line is shorter than the league’s, so the defensive area is smaller."
Popovich’s expression grew more serious. "Their perimeter players have a lot more movement, their screens are well-timed, and the ball is constantly being passed around. Our rotations and defensive switches aren’t fast enough, so they always manage to get an open shot."
As he said this, Popovich seemed to recall something and murmured, "I actually think this style of play is a bit similar to how the Pioneer played late last season."
Late last season, the Pioneer’s most common tactic was to inbound the ball quickly, run around chaotically, and just jack up three-pointers.
"I saw in a media report that this was supposedly a tactic designed with help from Mike."
He was talking about D’Antoni.
"That’s right. He played in Europe and was also a head coach in Europe."
Only then did Popovich remember that D’Antoni had coached in Italy for several years.
He probably learned these things in Europe and then started his crazy three-point shooting strategy with the Pioneer.
"Chen, you don’t need to study this stuff. To be honest, this is all stuff we’ve already researched and discarded. And it’s not suitable for the league."
Basketball was invented in the United States, and even the three-point line was an NBA invention. So, in Popovich’s view, all these so-called tactics and playstyles on the international stage were just leftovers from NBA research; you could find a corresponding reference for all of them in NBA history.
Most importantly, it wasn’t suitable for the NBA.
The NBA is a show, a stage for superstars. All tactics serve the stars. If you really made these superstars play with team coordination, running plays and passing the ball, it probably wouldn’t work out well.
And the audience wouldn’t stand for it either.
Chen Yu nodded. Popovich was right.
But the problem was, this system might be useless in the NBA, but it was effective on the international stage.
In this game, the Dream Team continued to struggle, only managing to come back and win in the final quarter. The final score was 89-79, another narrow victory against Australia.
A performance like this was still far from satisfactory.
On the 21st, the group stage match against Lithuania.
Chen Yu continued to watch the entire game from the sidelines.
After three games, Brown seemed to have found the key to winning. Relying on steals and fast breaks, they managed to build a lead that lasted almost to the end.
But in the final three minutes, the tide of the game suddenly turned.
The European King, Sarunas Jasikevicius—the genius guard who had nearly eliminated the Dream Four Team with a game-winner in Sydney back in 2000—shone once again today in Athens.
Within three minutes, he first drained a difficult four-point play, then hit two consecutive three-pointers right in Iverson’s face, and finally drove to the basket to draw a foul.
In those three minutes, he completely took over the game, scoring a furious 12 points to lead Lithuania in a comeback victory over the United States Team.
The moment the game ended, Brown put his hands on his head, completely stunned.
Chen Yu was a little stunned too!
And amidst his shock, Chen Yu suddenly realized just how terrifying a three-point shooter could be when they got hot.
You could say that Jasikevicius single-handedly shot down the Dream Team.

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