Li Feng, though off the court, didn't sit. He stood by the sidelines, cheering for his substitute teammates. This was what a team leader should do.
In contrast, Argentina's substitutes were weaker, which was their misfortune. If Ginobili retired, the new generation truly couldn't keep up. This was because most young Argentinians preferred football, leading to a shortage of basketball talent. This was somewhat similar to China. Although China enjoyed watching and playing basketball, its professionalization wasn't very successful. Outstanding young talents were also scarce. That's why everyone had high hopes for Li Feng.
China's substitutes held a slight advantage. By 4 minutes and 21 seconds into the second quarter, the score was 36:31, with China leading by five points. When the substitute players came off the court, Li Feng and Yao Ming high-fived them on the sidelines for encouragement, and the home crowd also gave them a warm round of applause. The fans knew that China's substitutes hadn't been very effective in the past. However, today's substitutes played very well, especially Wang Zhizhi. In fact, with Da Zhi's ability, he could have started, but his age and stamina were a bit lacking. So, he voluntarily agreed to come off the bench, allowing Yi Jianlian to start. Coming off the bench, Da Zhi was very efficient, often single-handedly dominating the opponent's interior players. This was Da Zhi's capability! It was the same today. Da Zhi played for over four minutes, scoring 7 points and grabbing 5 rebounds, making him a god among substitutes.
Argentina's head coach, Prigioni, quickly called a timeout. He hadn't expected China's substitutes to be so strong. Li Feng brought not only perimeter strength to the team but also chemistry. Through Li Feng's efforts, the team's substitutes underwent a subtle change, becoming more cohesive. Generally, team substitutes played individually without well-formed tactics, leading to insufficient chemistry between players. However, championship-caliber teams had systems for their substitutes, who were expected not only to score but also to defend. Jonas didn't dare to be careless and brought in his starters.
Ginobili, after a few minutes of rest, was full of energy. As an NBA superstar, he wasn't easily defeated. Indeed, after Ginobili entered the game, he first drove to the basket and passed the ball to center Oberto. Although Oberto's skills weren't as refined as Da Yao's, he was tough. He leaned against Da Yao's arm and made the shot. A 2+1! Oberto had only scored 2 points in the first quarter and was thoroughly outplayed by Da Yao. This time, he finally vented his frustration, roaring to the sky. Half of this score was Ginobili's contribution, as his pass was so perfect that Oberto simply had to finish it. Yao Ming was also helpless.
Oberto stood at the free-throw line but missed the additional free throw. After all, no center had better shooting skills than Da Yao. One had to remember that Yao Ming could even take technical foul free throws for the Houston Rockets. Seeing Ginobili on fire, Li Feng knew he had to respond, or he would be suppressed. So, Li Feng once again took the ball and drove. Unfortunately, Ginobili directed his teammates to double-team him suddenly. Li Feng wasn't paying attention and had the ball stolen by Ginobili. Although there was some contact, the referee didn't blow the whistle, so Li Feng had to accept it. After stealing the ball, Ginobili immediately launched a counterattack. Li Feng was anxious and closely followed Ginobili. Argentina's teammates quickly came to receive the pass, but Li Feng was too fast. He got ahead of Ginobili and stole the ball back! In these two possessions, both sides displayed extremely fast reactions, thrilling the audience. If it were anyone else, they would have been successfully ambushed by Ginobili.
After stealing the ball back, Li Feng didn't dribble. He directly passed the ball to Yi Jianlian, who was in the frontcourt. Yi Jianlian became exceptionally decisive, taking a three-pointer directly from the 45-degree angle. Swish! "Thousands of mountains and rivers, all for love; can you make a three-pointer?" Yes! This was Yi Jianlian's first three-pointer. After making the shot, he was very excited and also overcame his inner demons. Both Yao Ming and Li Feng rushed over to chest-bump him in celebration. Yi Lian's growth was very important. After Da Yao retires, he would have to carry the banner for China's men's basketball inside.
...
Argentina launched another offense. Ginobili, dribbling past half-court, called Oberto over, and they started a pick-and-roll. Although the combination of Li Feng and Da Yao was effective, they had a small weakness: their pick-and-roll defense wasn't very synchronized. This required a lot of game experience to accumulate. Oberto screened Li Feng, and Ginobili drove into the paint. Da Yao, after all, was tall and strong, and not as fast, so he could only camp under the basket. At this moment, Oberto rolled to the basket, Ginobili threw a lob pass, and Oberto caught it for a thunderous dunk! One had to admit that as a championship team, Argentina's tactical execution was very strong; their pick-and-roll was performed masterfully. Li Feng and Da Yao could only shake their heads slightly.
Jonas's expression on the sidelines was grim. He was well aware of the weakness in the pick-and-roll defense between Yao Ming and Li Feng. Although they had been practicing pick-and-roll defense in training, and their defense had been decent in the group stage, they were still a bit inexperienced against the defending champions. Da Yao pulled Li Feng aside and whispered a few words to him. Li Feng nodded frequently. Failure was not scary, but one had to learn from failures to make progress!
On the next possession, Argentina ran another pick-and-roll. Li Feng saw Da Yao execute a high hedge. Ginobili was very good at iso-plays against bigger players, so he intended to exploit Da Yao. At that moment, Li Feng suddenly pounced, joining Da Yao to double-team Ginobili. Just as Ginobili was about to pass the ball to Oberto, Da Yao suddenly retreated, blocking Oberto again. It was successful! This time, their pick-and-roll defense was perfectly synchronized, completely breaking Ginobili and Oberto's pick-and-roll. Jonas saw this scene on the sidelines and clenched his fist in excitement. Both Da Yao and Li Feng had very high basketball IQs and were improving at an astonishing rate!
Ginobili was very shocked. He saw Li Feng standing in front of him again, with only 5 seconds left on the shot clock. In desperation, he had to rely on his individual ability and attempt a long two-pointer. But Li Feng was prepared. He leaped high, extending his right hand to interfere. Sizzle! Li Feng's middle finger lightly brushed the basketball, changing its trajectory. The ball hit the front rim of the basket and bounced out. Da Yao roared, secured the rebound, and passed the ball to Sun Dasheng near the top of the arc. Sun Dasheng, Li Feng, and Yi Lian all started sprinting simultaneously, launching a counterattack. Argentina's players also reacted quickly and immediately fell back, with Fieldeno and Ginobili guarding three players on a two-on-three situation. Facing Fieldeno, Sun Dasheng lacked confidence and passed the ball to Li Feng. Li Feng used his speed to get past Ginobili and drove to the baseline. In fact, with his breakthrough ability, he could have easily bypassed Fieldeno and gone for a layup himself. However, two teammates had already arrived. The first thing Li Feng thought of was to involve his teammates. So, after drawing Fieldeno, Li Feng passed the ball to Yi Jianlian!