The Chinese men's basketball team narrowly defeated New Zealand, with Zhou Qi's crucial free throw and Li Kaier winning to steal the New Zealand team | Chinese men's basketball team | Zhou Qi
On the evening of the 13th Beijing time, the Chinese men's basketball team narrowly defeated New Zealand 69-68 in the second leg of the German Super Cup, ending their European training journey with a victory. At the end of the game, Zhou Qi's crucial free throw helped the Chinese team take the lead, while Li Kaier intercepted the opponent's serve in defense. In the end, the Chinese men's basketball team struggled to defeat the opponent with a one point advantage.
Although it was a warm-up match, it was almost a must win for the Chinese men's basketball team.
Less than 24 hours before facing the New Zealand team, the Chinese men's basketball team had just suffered a disastrous defeat to the German team by 49 points. This not only makes it difficult for fans to accept, but also makes Chinese men's basketball coach Djorgevic frank in an interview that when facing the German team, which has many NBA players, Chinese players have some stage fright and lack courage.
"We were 'scared' by the opponent's strength and physical confrontation, as if waiting for them to attack. I hope to see my team members full of fighting spirit and courage on the field," Jorjevich said. "We know why we came here, recognize our own level through this game, and know how to improve ourselves."
Djorgevic said that the team could have played better, but the physical confrontation of the German team made the players feel a bit overwhelmed. "We played without aggressiveness, didn't find the right attacking style, made too many mistakes, and some of the balls easily allowed our opponents to score. The players worked hard, but they had to show fearlessness."
"Tomorrow is a brand new day, with new opportunities waiting for us. We need to relax, regain strength and confidence, and return to the field with the dignity we deserve." Jorge encouraged the players.
Without much adjustment time, the Chinese men's basketball team welcomed a match against the New Zealand team. Compared to Italy and Germany, New Zealand, ranked 17th in the new men's basketball World Cup rankings, is clearly a more valuable opponent for reference.
Not only are they evenly matched in strength, but with an eye on the upcoming men's basketball World Cup, this is also a simulated "hypothetical enemy" sandbox deduction - if the Chinese men's basketball team cannot smoothly advance in the group stage of the World Cup, their direct competitor for the best ranking in Asia is likely to be the Philippines. The style of the New Zealand team is similar to that of the Philippines team, and when facing opponents, the advantages of the Chinese team are also similar.
In addition to the "defeat" more than ten hours ago, the Chinese men's basketball team urgently needs to make changes in this game - from attitude to results.
In the first half of the game, the performance of the Chinese men's basketball team fluctuated. Although the score was not drawn by the opponent, they made consecutive mistakes and watched the opponent score during the game. More importantly, from body language to game performance, the Chinese men's basketball team has always lacked some invincible momentum and energy.
Even Li Kaier, who came on as a substitute, was the same, but the change began with Li Kaier.
In the second half, Li Kaier started and showed a strong desire to attack. He successfully attacked the basket consecutively, but also scored under the opponent's basket and received an extra penalty. His roar after scoring broke the previously dull situation of the Chinese men's basketball team.
In the subsequent matches, the Chinese men's basketball team kept catching up with the score as a pursuer. Cui Yongxi's energy, Li Kaier's aggressiveness, Zhou Qi's crucial free throw, and the strong and tough temperament that the Chinese men's basketball team finally showed in the final moments helped them win this "must win" warm-up game.
At the decisive moment in the picture, Li Kaier and Zhou Qi made consecutive free throws to equalize the difference and create an advantage for the Chinese team. In the last 9.9 seconds, in the attacking round of the New Zealand team, Li Kaier directly intercepted the opponent's frontcourt serve in defense, and personally won his first game representing the Chinese men's basketball team.
Throughout the game, Lee Kyle scored 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists, with most of his scoring occurring in the second half.
In the final stage of the competition, Li Kaier's role was evident. And most importantly, under his leadership, the Chinese men's basketball team finally gained some "vitality". This also brought a glimmer of comfort to Jorjevich, who was giving psychological massages to Chinese men's basketball players during almost every pause.
The picture can imagine how the Chinese men's basketball team, which is about to end its European training, would experience a public opinion storm if they could not win this game, even though it is only a warm-up match.
In the final game of his European tour, both in terms of competition and spirit, for the first time, Li Kaier, who was highly expected by Chinese fans, "pressed the whistle" to save the Chinese men's basketball team.
