After an upset victory over Spain, the men's basketball team's momentum immediately reached its highest level.
They even stole the headlines of several sports that won medals and even gold medals that day, becoming the most popular sport, team and group of athletes in the country these two days.
The headlines were made, and Director Zhang’s shouting was also quoted by many people.
"The best knockout division, Croatia is a piece of cake, Greece is defeated, and Lithuania is the weakest among the first four!"
"The men's basketball team is going to win the card, and the three major goals are going to make history again!"
"The silver medal is guaranteed, and there is even a chance to hit the gold medal!"
"Don't even think about the gold medal. The dream team is too strong. I'll just settle for the silver medal. I'm already very satisfied."
"..."
The sponsors of the men's basketball team, Bright and China Life, have also been at the forefront of public opinion.
"Guangming made a good deal. Who would have thought that this men's basketball team could achieve such results, the best in history!"
"Don't forget Life Insurance. These two sponsors have made a lot of money and spent a small amount of money to create big publicity!"
"..."
The men's basketball team also received a flurry of interview requests before the knockout rounds began.
It seems that the public opinion is that the men's basketball team has successfully won the medal.
Lin Yu didn't react at all. In fact, like the media and fans who discussed it a lot, he also believed that he had already obtained a silver medal.
It's not that he underestimated the opponent, the knockout division was really good. Of course, this was also related to the fact that Group B was originally a group of death, and Argentina in Group A suddenly pulled its hips.
It can be said that all accidents that are beneficial to the men's basketball team have happened.
Dayao has always adhered to a low-key style. After public opinion began to stir, he was the first to stand up.
First, on behalf of the men's basketball team, he declined all requests for interviews.
Then he spoke out, saying that the men's basketball team needs a quiet atmosphere to prepare for the upcoming knockout rounds.
Finally, he even asked the men's basketball team to end all media interviews,
This directly led to the men's basketball team disappearing from all major media platforms one day later, and the upsurge of public opinion also directly subsided.
#
The first opponent of the men's basketball team in the knockout round is the Croatian team from Eastern Europe.
The peak of the Croatian team should be the Toni Kukoc era, but Kukoc has retired long ago. Now in Croatia, the leader has been replaced by Roko Ukic, a combo guard and the star of Turkey's Fenerbahce.
He will enter the NBA next season and join the Toronto Raptors, with outstanding strength.
Vukic's NBA career was not a success, but one of his juniors, Bojan Bogdanovic, had accumulated a lot of experience, came from behind and achieved good results.
But obviously, the strength of Croatia in 2008 was still far behind Spain, and it might even be inferior to Greece, which could be regarded as a second-tier team in Europe.
If we were placed in Group B, we might not even be able to qualify.
Therefore, this game was just like what many people predicted. The men's basketball team easily won this game without relying much on Lin Yu and Dayao.
After winning the first round, the carnival of domestic fans began, because the men's basketball team has already made history!
"For the first time in the history of the men's basketball team, they won the knockout round of FIBA. After finishing sixth in the last World Championship, they once again created the best result in the history of the men's basketball team. They are already determined to be among the top four in this Olympics!
"
Public opinion began to erupt again. The difference is that this time the men's basketball team has gained experience and they tacitly refused all interviews.
Without their own voices, the media won't be able to write much, and they won't be so crazy when they brag about it.
In the first round of the knockout round, several other groups competed.
The American team defeated Australia very easily. The dominance of the Dream Team has been clearly demonstrated. Originally, Director Zhang wanted to say that the men's basketball team had a chance to compete for the gold medal. Now, Director Zhang has stopped mentioning the gold medal and only talked about the men's basketball team.
The basketball team is only one win away from the silver medal.
Lithuania also defeated Greece, but it was not so easy compared to the US team. After all, Greece is not a soft persimmon to handle.
A difficult victory, but in the eyes of the domestic media and fans, it is good news.
Lithuania does not look strong, and an Olympic men's basketball silver medal seems not far away.
Finally, there was a tough battle between Argentina and Spain. Both teams suffered the consequences of being careless in the group stage. One was too careless against Lithuania, causing it to fall to second place in Group A.
I thought that the opponent in the knockout round might be the Chinese team, which didn't look too tough, but the Chinese team came out strong and pushed Spain to third place in Group B.
Spain was in a similar situation. They did not give their all against the American team. When they beat the Chinese team, although they did not underestimate the enemy, the outbursts of Lin Yu and Dayao gave them an unexpected blow.
Argentina and Spain are considered the second and third best teams in this Olympics on paper, but now, they have to decide the winner in the first round.
In the end, Spain was the more sophisticated one. With 91:86, Spain narrowly won the match and entered the next round.
Argentina was eliminated in the first round, and their results were disappointing. After all, their original goal was to win the card, but now, they can only guarantee a fifth place.
Spain, who won the game, was not very happy, because in the second round, their opponent would be the United States team, and the goal of maintaining second place and competing for first place seemed to be over.
#
Two days later, the men's basketball team returned to action and faced Lithuania.
This Lithuanian team is considered to be at its peak. In the 2003 European Championship, they were the champions. In the 2004 Greek Olympics, they were ranked fourth. The King of Europe, Jaskovicius, was their number one.
In addition, they also have NBA players like Linus Kleiza who started in the United States, and their overall strength is quite good.
Yunus is also from Lithuania, and this game can be regarded as a counterattack against his motherland.
In this game, the men's basketball team had a harder time. Although Lithuania's strength on paper was not as good as Spain and Argentina, when the game started, Lin Yu could feel the power of the European system of basketball.
They do not rely on individuals, only on the whole.
Relying on the whole to kill the time of the game, it also killed the score.
But until the final moment of the game, it was just like Lin Yu's theory all along: the one who determines the outcome of the game has always been the superstar on the court!
The plot was similar to the one against Spain in the group stage. The game dragged on to the fourth quarter, and then relied on Lin Yu's 17 points in a single quarter to win the game.
The men's basketball team finally succeeded in defeating two strong Eastern European teams, Croatia and Lithuania, and entered the finals!
At this moment, the domestic media and fans were excited again.
"History has been made! A medal that is at least a silver medal has been collected!"
On the other side, the United States team fought hard to defeat Spain.
#
After waiting for almost two more days, the decisive battle came.
No one thought that the men's basketball team could win, and the final result was that in the finals, the men's basketball team was easily defeated by the American team.
Lin Yu's performance was certainly not bad. He still performed outstandingly against all the star outside players on the Dream Team.
The same goes for Dayao. As FIBA's inside leader, Dayao's performance is not bad either.
But the overall gap between the two teams was too big. The men's basketball team still lost by 13 points and watched the Dream Team win the gold medal.
However, the men's basketball players holding the silver medals still had smiles on their faces. They had already made history.
