Chapter 1868 84: Worthless Opponents

The China Team smoothly advanced to the semifinals, and the entire men's basketball squad was immersed in a joyful atmosphere.

With Ah Gan on the team, it's different. The team suddenly leapt from "barely exchanging a few blows with Europe and America teams" to "crushing the European and American powerhouse teams mercilessly."

Moreover, compared to Gan Guoyang's peak in 1992, although 36-year-old Gan Guoyang's overall ability has declined, his control over the game situation has become stronger.

He is a perfect comprehensive commander, a strategy master, always taking the initiative in matches.

His highly aggressive court style influenced everyone in the national team, like a tiger leading a flock of sheep, the sheep were all stained with the aura of the tiger.

After this match ended, the China Team watched from the sidelines, waiting for the outcome of the next confrontation between France and Canada.

France is the fourth in Group A, Canada is the first in Group B, so theoretically Canada has a strength advantage.

Moreover, the main point guard for Team Canada is none other than Celtics' core guard Steve Nash.

In the group stage, Nash averaged 15 points and 7 assists, leading Canada to 4 wins and 1 loss, defeating Yugoslavia to take the first place and advance to the top eight.

Nash has a strong belief, hoping to beat France Team in the quarter-finals and advance to the semifinals, to once again compete against China Team with Ah Gan.

The shadow of the 2000 finals still lingers. If he can meet Ah Gan again in the Olympics, Nash will surely fight with all his might to claim a victory.

The opponent of Canada, France Team, struggled through the group stage, finally advancing to the top eight based on victory and defeat relations.

The team does not have NBA main player like Nash, the highest scorer being Antoine Rigado with an average of 13 points. The overall strength of the players is relatively mediocre.

Like Lithuania and other European teams, France is absolutely egalitarian and team-oriented basketball.

But compared to Lithuania, their players' individual abilities are worse, and they are a team of entirely civilians.

Such a team lacks absolute strong points and arrows, but the upside is you don't know which cloud might rain, and the team is highly united, often bursting with great energy.

Especially in the single-elimination tournament format, the phased outbursts of ordinary players often bring unexpected surprises.

In the subsequent match between Canada and France, both sides fought extremely fiercely, with the score continuously locked in a close contest.

Both teams had very low shooting percentages, missing shots frequently, with neither scoring more than 40 points by halftime.

By the second half of the game, it was no longer a competition of tactics but entered a state of "brave ones win in a showdown" and a duel of spiritual power.

The confrontation was extremely intense, with constant mistakes, seeing who made fewer mistakes and who seized the opportunities.

Spectators who just watched the previous China vs. Australia match and stayed to continue watching surely felt, "This game looks really ugly."

Although Nash is very capable, he is not strong enough to completely control the game situation.

Furthermore, under FIBA rules, Nash's room for maneuver is smaller, and Team Canada lacks teammates like Duncan and Pierce.

Therefore, Nash played quite strugglingly, with as many as 9 turnovers, which was just too many.

In contrast, throughout the Olympics, Gan Guoyang hasn't made 9 turnovers.

Nash is still a bit immature and has many areas to improve.

As the match neared its end, France Team began to gain the upper hand, hitting consecutive three-pointers from the outside.

Also, the tall center Weiss in the interior well protected the basket, making Canada's offense futile.

During the group stage, the 7 ft 2 in tall Weiss was dunked over by Carter, suffering "humiliation by crotch."

But after the dunk, Weiss did not lose confidence, and rather performed well in the ensuing matches.

In the decisive moment, Canada couldn't prevail against France Team in the Knight duel game, ultimately losing 64:68. France Team successfully overcame the odds and advanced to the semifinals.

Thus, all the quarter-final matches ended, with team A advancing in the semifinals, while team B was completely wiped out.

Seeing the opponent is France Team, Gan Guoyang knew that the next match would be an absolute hard fight.

This French team has ordinary player strengths and no big star players, but the team cohesion is very strong.

Moreover, all 12 players on the team have the ability to make an impact when playing, which is quite frightening.

Once you reach the semifinals, you never know which team might suddenly explode, hitting you with unexpected three-pointers.

In the group stage, the China Team and France Team played very thrillingly and intensely, and it took Gan Guoyang's clutch shot to narrowly pass through.

Against such a team-oriented squad, Gan Guoyang also had quite a headache because there was no strong point to restrain.

Even Lithuania, at least they had Jasikevicius. Lock him up and Lithuania's battle power would greatly drop.

But like the France Team, in this match against Canada, the two best players Antoine Rigado and Chara both played quite ordinarily.

Other players stepped up, deciding the match outcome at the last moment.

But what about the next match? Can you neglect Rigado and Chara's offense to defend against others?

Surely not, in the group stage against China Team, it was Rigado's consecutive three-pointers that helped France Team quickly equalize the score.

The originally leading China Team thereby entered a melee with France Team, finally winning through Gan Guoyang's personal skills.