Before the opening game between host China and the USA team, former NBA star and now famous commentator Charles Barkley once again warned the arrogant "Dream Team":
"I don't know where all our optimism and confidence come from. This US team, touted as the strongest in the last decade, only has two championship players (Kobe and Tayshaun Prince). I admit they're young and talented, but don't forget, their opponent in the opener is China, a team with the best player in the world right now and the strongest active center in the league."
As a member of the original Dream Team, Barkley's warning was already quite subtle. In fact, if he wasn't worried about boosting the opponent's morale and dampening his own country's spirit, Barkley would have said that American basketball had truly reached a point of mediocrity. For a long time, the US team was known for its tradition of having dominant centers. In the past, the centers representing the US were Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and Shaquille O'Neal. But now? Besides Dwight Howard, the "Dream Team" literally had no other decent centers. And over the past three seasons, almost every player from American basketball's proud "Golden Generation" and "Pseudo-Golden Generation" had been defeated by Zack.
When the GOAT is on the other side – Barkley, who had his own basketball dreams crushed by the old GOAT, Michael Jordan, knows better than anyone that in a basketball game where a star's individual ability can solve problems, the US team's desire for redemption in Beijing is far from as simple as people imagine.
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### The Stage is Set
On August 10, 2008, at 9:20 PM, at the Wukesong Basketball Arena, this historic and globally impactful China-USA showdown officially began. During the player introductions, both **and American players received huge cheers. Thanks to the outstanding contributions of Zack and Yao Ming, the NBA's influence in China is unprecedented. Just as Zack remembered, this generation of NBA stars has a considerable number of fans in China. Especially Kobe Bryant. Among both the ** and American teams, the adoration he received was second only to Zack and Yao Ming.
However, the overly polite behavior of the live audience towards the visiting team drew dissatisfaction from countless fans on forums like Hupu.
"What are they doing? This is our home court! Why are they cheering for the American stars?"
"It infuriates me! To hell with 'a nation of courtesy,' this is war! Do they even know what home-court advantage means?"
"Still cheering for Kobe! I admit I'm a Kobe fan, but tonight, the boss has to clang hard for me!"
As someone who's been there, Zack knew that not all audience members who bought tickets for the Olympic basketball games were regular basketball fans. However, as the game progressed, Zack believed that once the Chinese team showed its championship-winning strength, these spectators, who were originally cheering for the US team, would certainly show their true colors to the "Dream Team" stars.
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### A Little Pre-Game Diplomacy
The introductions ended. During the pre-game warm-up, Zack didn't rush to shoot. Instead, he pulled out a small piece of paper from Gary Payton and strode towards the Finnish head referee for the game, Carl Jungebrand. This was a big shot who would later become the FIBA Head of Referees. Although Zack didn't know Jungebrand's resume, in the detailed information Payton provided about Jungebrand, Zack noticed that he had a very lovely grandson. And coincidentally, his grandson was a huge fan of Zack.
So, after approaching Jungebrand, Zack said, "Carl, I heard from the staff that your grandson also participated in my shoe promotion event earlier?"
Jungebrand was surprised that the famous "New GOAT" would care so much about such a trivial matter. "He wasn't very lucky, he didn't manage to get your autograph," Jungebrand replied politely, looking at the friendly Zack.
Seeing this, Zack smiled, "It's fine, I've prepared a pair of my new signature shoes for him. After the game, I'll have the staff hand them over to you."
Hearing this, Jungebrand initially wanted to decline Zack's kindness. But after Zack specifically added, "This is just a gift for a child," Jungebrand eventually didn't refuse.
For the next few minutes, Zack and Jungebrand chatted happily. The "New GOAT" very humbly asked Jungebrand about the differences in officiating standards between FIBA and the NBA. Through Payton's meticulous research, Zack knew very well that on the FIBA court, subjective referee calls could give a team at least a twenty-point advantage, and that wasn't an empty claim. Although Zack didn't need such "subjective calls" to be confident in defeating this US team, playing on home soil, Zack also didn't want to be unfairly treated. So, since some people, due to "damned face," were unwilling to let the team have the home-court advantage that should belong to them, Zack naturally had to find a way himself, by leaving a good impression on the head referee, to ensure that under FIBA rules, he wouldn't encounter foul trouble due to the referee's "subjective calls."
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### The Game Begins: Point Guard Zack!
On the court, warm-ups concluded, and the big screen at Wukesong Basketball Arena immediately displayed the starting lineups for both China and the USA.
USA Team: Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd.
China Team: Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Zhu Fangyu, Sun Yue, Zack.
The moment the starting lineups were revealed, American commentator Mike Breen, who was calling the game, exclaimed, "My goodness! If I'm not mistaken, they're going to play the Messiah at point guard?!"
Breen was right. Since the key to China's break against the USA's full-court press was Zack handling the ball himself, to prevent the USA from deploying a full-court press at the start of the game to disrupt China's offensive rhythm, Jonas Kazlauskas (head coach) didn't hesitate to put Zack at point guard.
Furthermore, Zack, who heard from his good friend Anthony that the USA team was planning a dunk contest in this game – whoever could dunk over Sun Yue would win two thousand dollars sponsored by LeBron James – didn't forget to address the USA's starting five before the game: "Do you guys want to make a bet with me too? How about this, anyone among you who can stop me from scoring just one possession, I'll give him ten thousand dollars."
"..."
Seconds later, seeing that no one from the US team dared to take this bet, Zack said with a look of regret, "How could Mike (Coach K) choose such a gutless group of players to redeem American basketball?"
"..."
Originally, faced with the extremely arrogant Zack, Kobe really wanted to take the bet. But Kidd pulled him back. "Kobe, don't argue with him. Winning the game is the priority." Anthony also advised from the side, "Arguing with him is pointless. All five of us together can't out-talk him." Anthony spoke the truth. In today's NBA, if Zack claimed second place in trash talk, no one would dare claim first. Because to turn trash talk into an art, first, you have to be good enough. Just like in the 1990s, no one dared to anger Jordan. Since the cost of trash-talking with Zack was often painful, when Zack displayed his trash talk on the court, how many people dared to talk back?
LeBron James, who would be primarily guarding Zack in this game, joked, "I get ten thousand dollars every time I stop you?"
"Brown, you're a different price."
"What price?"
"If you're willing to guard me for the entire game, every time you stop me, I can give you twenty thousand dollars."
Zack liked guarding James. Because Zack wasn't afraid of James's defensive style of applying pressure through physical contact, so if James was willing to guard him for the whole game, Zack didn't mind raising his offer.
At center court, Jungebrand tossed the ball high. Yao Ming won the tip-off for China amidst cheers from the crowd. Zack easily brought the ball across half-court under the full-effort defense of young LeBron. Then, Yao Ming quickly moved high to set a screen for Zack. Usually playing for the Warriors, Zack, who only enjoyed screens from Brown and Jackson, immediately felt the difference between different types of screens. At the top of the arc, seeing Howard's weak hedge, Zack immediately pulled up for a shot.
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### FIBA Rules, Zack's Advantage
Why did Zack become even more terrifying in FIBA games? Because in the current era, the FIBA three-point line is only 6.25 meters (20 feet, 6 inches) at its furthest point from the basket. It wouldn't be until 2010 that FIBA would extend the three-point line to 6.75 meters (22 feet, 1.75 inches). And the NBA? As everyone knows, except for the period in history when the three-point line was shortened, the NBA's three-point line has always been 7.25 meters (23 feet, 9 inches) at its furthest point from the basket. What does this mean? It means that Zack's usual tough, mid-range pull-up jumpers for the Warriors in the NBA would all become three-pointers in FIBA.
Swish!
At Wukesong Basketball Arena, Zack struck first for China with a signature pull-up three-pointer.
0-3.
On the return possession, Zack actively guarded Anthony. Among the US team's starting lineup, only Anthony could truly thrive under FIBA rules. Therefore, for his good friend, Zack had to hit hard, using a "one-on-one with four-man zone" defense to effectively curb his scoring.
On the court, in the US team's first offensive possession, Howard, trying to move high to screen for Kidd, encountered an incredibly awkward situation. Since FIBA doesn't have a defensive three-second rule, when Howard screened for Kidd, it was almost an ineffective screen for the US team. Yao Ming wasn't lured away from the paint by the US screen. Kidd's limited pull-up shooting ability meant he couldn't immediately pull up after the screen like Zack just did, giving Sun Yue ample time to go over the screen calmly.
On CCTV, seeing that this US possession took seventeen or eighteen seconds before Kobe finally took a contested shot against the zone defense, Zhang Weiping said, "Yi Jianlian needs to pay attention to rebounding; Kobe's shot definitely won't go in!"
Under the curse of a loyal Kobe fan (Zhang Weiping, a known Kobe fan himself, jokingly predicting a miss), Kobe indeed clanked it. However, with Yao Ming boxing out, Yi Jianlian fully exposed his weakness of insufficient physical strength. In this play, the late-reacting Howard was actually able to snatch the rebound over Yi Jianlian's head. But just as Howard was about to score on a put-back, as usual, Zack descended from the sky and directly pinned Howard's put-back attempt against the backboard!
And the moment Zack completed the block, almost every fan in the arena heard his casual "national swear word":
—"Go fck your mother!"
On the court, Sun Yue successfully secured the second loose ball. Sun Yue was about to look up for Zack, but when he did, he realized that Zack had already sprinted towards the US men's basketball half-court after landing. Sun Yue knew very well that if he didn't dare to pass the ball this time, Zack beating him up afterward would be considered light punishment. So, after glancing at Zack's position, "Great Sage" Sun Yue immediately launched a long pass.
Zack could hardly describe the quality of this extremely poor long pass. But James, who touched the ball on defense, unexpectedly tipped the ball to a perfect spot where Zack could immediately attack the rim after gaining possession. Zack gratefully looked back at James, then leaped, and amidst cheers from the live audience, slammed the ball into the hoop with a one-handed tomahawk dunk.
"Brown, I'm willing to give you nine points for that assist, and one point for Sun Yue."
"..."
James shouldn't be blamed for that full-effort defensive play. However, in that last possession, luck was indeed on China's side.
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US ball possession. This time, it was James organizing from the top of the arc. Young LeBron's organization was patient. But the US team's half-court offense could still only be described as a pile of garbage. Anthony found it difficult to get open with Zack hounding him. The US team, unable to break the zone defense, instantly made China's half-court crowded and suffocating. Kobe received the ball in the last five seconds and found Howard lurking in the paint with a pump-fake, pass. Since Yao Ming immediately rushed to guard Kobe, who had shaken off Sun Yue, this play should have been covered by Yi Jianlian. But Yi Jianlian's weakness of being overly afraid of contact in this period was exposed again. Howard easily scored with a bank shot lay-up.
2-5.
Zack, dissatisfied with Yi Jianlian's defense, said, "Can you stop being a wuss like a girl? Next time this happens, just pin that son of a bitch, ball and all, to the floor!" Given Howard's free throw percentage, Yi Jianlian allowing him to score so easily was truly incredible in Zack's eyes. And even more incredible was that the future men's basketball team would only be able to rely on Yi Jianlian's tough, aggressive play to barely survive.
Back on offense, China's possession. Zack initiated a "1-5" pick-and-roll with Yao Ming at the top of the arc, successfully switching Howard onto himself. This night, at this solemn funeral, Zack wouldn't allow any US men's basketball player to show even a hint of a smile. So, since Howard was smiling so brightly after scoring the first points for the US, Zack naturally had to teach that son of a bitch Howard a lesson in his own way.
Thump, thump, thump!
High post, Zack's dribbling rhythm became faster and faster. At this moment, you couldn't see any hint of a super interior player in him. Especially the moment Zack lowered his center of gravity and suddenly exploded, he was clearly a much larger Kyrie Irving! Howard tried to stick with Zack with quick slides. But when Zack suddenly pulled the ball back quickly and completed a step-back, Howard's ankle unwillingly yanked him, forcing him to kneel before Zack.
Zack ended Dwight Howard's ankles. And he made the opponent pay for his disrespectful act at this "funeral" with a very devout kneeling.
Swish!
At Wukesong Arena, Zack hit another three! As he retreated on defense, Zack pointed to the top of the arc and said to the US team, "Remember this spot. Next possession, I'll score from here again!"
US ball possession. Kobe used his speed to blow by Sun Yue and finished with a difficult fadeaway. Then, it was China's turn to offense. Knowing that Zack always kept his word, Anthony simply abandoned his defense on Zhu Fangyu and, the moment Zack prepared to attack, rushed at Zack with James. On CCTV, Zhang Weiping was about to say, "Zhu Fangyu is open," but after seeing Zack dribble past Anthony's defense like a graceful butterfly, Zhang Weiping immediately changed his words, "Zack, toy with him!"
On the court, Zack, having dodged Anthony, drove against James's defense and completed an utterly unreasonable one-on-two pull-up shot!
Then... Swish!
Just as Zack predicted before the game, as Zack's dominating three-pointer swished through the net, the entire arena completely transformed into the men's basketball team's home court. Now, which fan would still be cheering for the US team? The entire audience was roaring Zack's name and cheering for China.
And at the scorer's table, as the "New GOAT" displayed his incredibly troublesome dominance on the FIBA court, US head coach Mike Krzyzewski called a timeout, a look of fear on his face. In the NBA, Zack had already proven that as long as he was in form, he could consistently make fifteen to twenty mid-range jumpers at around 45% accuracy. This was a terrifying statistic. Because after Coach K confirmed that Zack was in peak form, what the US men's basketball team was facing tonight was a ultimate killing machine who, with his unsolvable combination of ball-handling and shooting, could shoot threes whenever he wanted on the FIBA court. There was even a moment when Coach K felt that, on the FIBA court, Zack was truly the God of Basketball.
Zack's dominance displayed in the FIBA game tonight could perhaps only be matched by Kevin Durant in the future at the Rio Olympics, who wielded his "scythe" to crush Serbia with 18 points in a single quarter for the US team. But this current US men's basketball team... where was their Durant? Therefore, this night was destined to be the solo dance of Zack, this groundbreaking unicorn.
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### The Beginning of the End
After the timeout, US team offense. Remembering Zack's teaching, Yi Jianlian pulled Howard down during help defense. Howard went to the free-throw line and missed both shots. Then, it was China's turn to offense. Facing young LeBron's widened defense, clearly designed to prevent him from shooting threes, Zack crouched, accelerated, and after bursting into the US team's paint, finished with an aerial-switch reverse layup.
Beep!
And, the ball went in, the whistle blew, and there was an extra free throw – an AND-ONE!
On ESPN, Breen frowned, "I don't want to say the real test has arrived for this 'Redeem Team,' but as the situation stands, the Messiah has almost single-handedly destroyed the US team's defense."
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What do you think of Zack's absolute dominance and his fiery attitude towards the US "Dream Team"? It seems like he's going to make good on his promise to dismantle them!
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