When this epoch-making opening game finally ended, the entire basketball world erupted. Zack, the new GOAT, dropping 55 points on Team USA didn't just tie the Olympic Men's Basketball single-game scoring record; it was also the highest individual scoring performance ever recorded against Team USA in Olympic history.
Could the Dream Team really find redemption in these Olympics?
Former Dream Team member Christian Laettner said in an interview, "If you told me in 1992 that someone could score 55 points against Team USA, I would have thought you were crazy."
David Robinson looked grim, stating, "I know the guys gave it their all in the game, but that's precisely what's so despairing. The decline of American basketball seems to be an irreversible fact."
Scottie Pippen, for a rare moment, spoke fairly for Michael Jordan: "If someone had scored 55 points against us back then, I believe Michael would have scored even more to answer back."
Legendary commentator Mike Breen, who called the entire game, concluded, "As much as I want to tell you this is just an opening game, and Team USA still has hope to catch up later. But if you watched this game, you'll deeply realize that the era of American basketball is over. We certainly gathered a group of talented, gifted players in this tournament. However, the best player in the world isn't on this American team."
If there were still doubts in the US about Zack's "new GOAT" status before, after that night, there was only one voice left in the entire American basketball world: Zack is the undisputed new GOAT.
The importance American basketball placed on these Olympics, and the funeral Zack personally held for American basketball, had already elevated Zack's current prestige to a level that overshadowed everyone, far surpassing Jordan.
And in , the adoration Zack received was unprecedented. The day after the game, Zack became a famous "must-visit" landmark for various Olympic teams.
"You'll have to be careful when you go back home," Yao Ming said. "The entire nation is now worshiping you like a national hero"
"..."
The hype from Zack single-handedly shattering Team USA's redemption dream in the opener hadn't faded when the team welcomed their second opponent in the Olympic group stage: Team Spain.
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During the pre-game warm-ups, several Spanish national team players actively sought out Zack, hoping to take a picture with him. Marc Gasol was like a newborn bull, rudely bumping past several teammates: "After the game... can we swap jerseys?"
Seeing this, the other Spanish players were highly displeased: "Hey, Marc, you play in the NBA, you'll have plenty of chances to swap jerseys with the GOAT later, so you have to give us a turn!"
Zack's dominant performance in the opener had already made him a god in the eyes of all international players of his generation. Therefore, it was naturally impossible for the Spanish team to underestimate this team with a god on their side, as Zack remembered them doing.
However, shortly after the game began, the Spanish team found themselves in the same predicament as Team USA. On the FIBA court, Zack's violent pull-up jumper was simply too devastating. Moreover, since the Spanish team lacked the athleticism of Team USA, they couldn't even cope when Zack unleashed his pull-up jumpers without restraint. This was precisely why Kevin Durant caused so much trouble for various world powerhouses later in history. On the international stage, due to the rules, the court space available to teams should theoretically be smaller than in the NBA. But if the opposing team's primary scorer can launch three-pointers at will... how do you defend that?
Compared to Team USA, however, the Spanish team, unafraid of 's zone defense, managed to keep the game somewhat competitive until the fourth quarter, thanks to the excellent play of their wings and Pau Gasol.
However, in the final quarter... Swish, swish, swish!
As Zack's pull-up jumpers from the top of the key swished in like a rapid-fire cannon, the suspense of the game was ended by Zack's own hands in an instant.
Final score: 90 to 108. Regarding Zack's 48 points for in the game, Spanish head coach García Reneses looked helpless: "The GOAT of the basketball world collapsed before he even used his full strength. He made all tactics meaningless. In international play, you just need to give him the ball and let him shoot like a shooting machine, and you'll win the game."
In the face of absolute individual strength, tactics truly don't hold much meaning. This has been amply proven by Durant single-handedly crushing Serbia later in history, and Curry's combined 60 points in the semifinals and finals of the Paris Olympics.
In the NBA, Zack had never had so much fun shooting threes. In the first two games combined, he had already made a total of seventeen three-pointers. This made many top European teams gradually realize the importance of the three-point shot in the future of basketball. Just as Mike Breen said, Zack was leading the entire basketball world into a new era.
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Throughout the Olympic group stage, Zack was replicating these victories for the team almost every night.
In the fourth game against Germany, in the second quarter, when the score was still somewhat close, Zack, with German forwards draped all over him, hit four consecutive three-pointers, immediately opening up a significant lead for .
In the fifth game against Greece, the Greeks, attempting to replicate their 2006 victory through team basketball, had a seven-point lead in the final quarter but were eventually overturned by Zack's five consecutive three-pointers.
By the end of the group stage, except for the third game against Angola, where Zack only played half the game before calling it an early night, Zack had made a total of an earth-shattering thirty-five three-pointers in the other four games. If this were the NBA, they would just be thirty-five long two-point jumpers. But in FIBA, Zack converted them into threes, which are always worth one more point than a two. He was like an efficient, never-stopping scoring machine, steamrolling one world powerhouse after another for in the group stage.
After the group stage, 's odds of winning gold had already surpassed Team USA's. However, Zack wasn't letting the outside praise go to his head. Just as Zack remembered, because the situation in Group B of these Olympics was overly chaotic, the team, who advanced to the quarterfinals as group leaders with a perfect 5-0 record, would face the Australian team, notoriously known for their dirty play. This was not an easy opponent to deal with.
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Soon after the game began, the weak side, guarded by Yi Jianlian, was frequently breached by Australian wing players. The Australian players seemed to have targeted Yi Jianlian. No matter where he stood, the Australian ball-handler on the court would relentlessly attack the side he was guarding.
Zack knew very well that this was the predicament Yi Jianlian had been facing on the court since February of this year. In Minnesota, the Timberwolves' front office gave Yi Jianlian far more resources than historical players at the same stage. And at first, Yi Jianlian really seemed to be "soaring" like a dragon. But as NBA teams gradually began to understand Yi Jianlian's playing habits, many of his problems began to surface.
On defense, Yi Jianlian's defense was always not strong enough, and because he had enjoyed star treatment in for years, he often subconsciously avoided physical contact. On offense, Yi Jianlian's shooting release was too long, he could only drive with his right hand, and in the higher-intensity NBA games, his finishing efficiency at the rim didn't even exceed 50%. While Yi Jianlian's fans might not be happy to hear it, at this time, Yi Jianlian truly felt like a "delicate flower" on the court.
In the first half of the regular season, Yi Jianlian was once called one of the best five players of the 2007 draft class. But since hitting a wall in February of this year, he had been unable to regain his former glory. Even in these Olympics, Yi Jianlian became the player most "bullied" by Zack on the court. Zack knew very well that to survive in the NBA, Yi Jianlian had to commit to defense and work towards becoming a stretch-four defender. Because in the NBA, a league full of superheroes, there were simply too many players who could match his athleticism. Yi Jianlian simply couldn't "soar" using his physical gifts like he could in .
So... halfway through the first quarter, Zack, unsatisfied with Yi Jianlian's progress over the past season, simply had Jonas substitute in Wang Lei and personally take over as the power forward on defense. On the court, the twin towers of Zack and Yao Ming in the paint had an obvious deterrent effect on defense. However, the Australians' brutal physicality caused 's usually accurate outside shooters to lose their rhythm. Only Zack and Yao Ming could maintain a certain shooting percentage under such brutal physical play.
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At halftime, the score was 44-39. After the group stage, the team had given fans hope for gold, but they were trailing Australia by 5 points at halftime. Zack was not satisfied with this result. In the locker room, he pointed to the box score and said, "I don't expect you to make every open shot, but can you at least show some fighting spirit on defense?! Those Australian bastards are all descendants of criminals, they like brutal physical play, so you hit them with even more brutal physical play!"
After halftime, the team's morale significantly improved. Zhu Fangyu led the charge, immediately bear-hugging Joe Ingles of the Australian team from outside the arc at the start of the third quarter. Sun Yue also, on the next defensive possession, dragged down CJ Bruton body and ball as he attempted to drive to the basket. These two acts of rough defense by , giving them a taste of their own medicine, immediately drew the displeasure of the Australian players. But Zack, maintaining a calm demeanor, proceeded to sink four consecutive threes from both 45-degree angles, igniting the entire arena.
And then, on the possession where the Australians tried to double-team Zack to stop his outside pull-up, Zack first powerfully bumped Ingles away on the perimeter, then dribbled straight into the Australian paint, and slammed the ball down hard over Andrew Bogut! This incredibly satisfying dunk over a defender, combined with Zack's triumphant "Wo cao ni ma ge bi!" (a expletive) after landing, instantly made the cheers in the entire arena thunder to the heavens.
From the start of the third quarter, Zack officially took over the game. Except for the times when Yao Ming was in such a good position that Zack had to pass, whether the Australians brought a double-team or a triple-team, Zack, with his pass button seemingly "removed," relentlessly and unbelievably finished on the court. All of this left Yi Jianlian, who was never subbed back in by Jonas in this game, wide-eyed in astonishment.
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Especially in the fourth quarter, during Zack's relentless attack on the Australian paint. At that time, four Australian players were under the basket, yet they could only watch helplessly as Zack snatched three consecutive offensive rebounds in front of them, and then, with Ingles hanging onto him, he violently slammed the ball into the hoop like Shaquille O'Neal! (Zack: ?)
Final score: 77 to 98. In the second half, under the same level of brutal physicality from the team, the Australian team's outside shooters also lost their rhythm in this high-intensity physical game. Zack, who exploded for 54 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal for , delivered his most violent single-game performance since the opener.
Zack's outstanding play in the quarterfinals once again ignited the entire basketball world. In FIBA games, he was like an unstoppable monster.
"I don't know how to stop him. His dominance in international play far exceeds the NBA," said Yao Ming, who scored 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks for that night. "Luckily, he's my national team teammate."
Yao Ming was happy in these Olympics. This happiness stemmed not only from the hope of winning gold that Zack showed him but also from the joy of now clinging to Zack's coattails, whereas he used to be the main man for the team. Yao Ming knew very well that if this gold medal was a form of redemption for Team USA, then for basketball, this gold medal could only be described as "Pangu creating heaven and earth" (a myth signifying a new beginning). Yao Ming couldn't imagine what positive changes this gold medal would bring to basketball. But he was confident that this gold medal would undoubtedly inspire countless young people in to embrace the sport of basketball.
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One day later, the team faced Argentina in the semifinals. Facing the defending champions, the players, just one step away from reaching the finals, couldn't help but feel nervous. Although reaching the semifinals had already set a new historical record for men's basketball, with Zack, the GOAT, on the team, how could merely reaching the semifinals satisfy this team and fans?
It's worth mentioning that before this game began, Team USA had already defeated Spain 118-108 in the other semifinal. So, for the American players desperate for redemption, they deeply hoped that Manu Ginobili could lead Argentina to defeat .
However, coincidentally, just as Zack remembered, Ginobili twisted his ankle on his own right at the start of this semifinal. Ginobili's unassisted injury was related to his long-standing playing style. In fact, even before the Olympic games began, the Spurs' team doctors had discovered severe ligament swelling where Ginobili's heel connected to his ankle. For this reason, the Spurs' coaching staff even hoped Ginobili wouldn't participate in these Olympics and would rest properly to recover. But Ginobili, eager to play for his country, ultimately came to Beijing with this injury risk. And after playing several high-intensity games, it was clear that Ginobili's injury flaring up was only a matter of time.
Zack didn't know if Ginobili's unexpected injury this time would affect his contract extension with the Spurs, as it did historically. However, Zack could confirm that Ginobili, who was struggling to even stand on the court, was no longer a threat to the team.
Argentina lost a key player right at the start of the game. The team, with overwhelming momentum led by Zack, extended their lead to 19 points by halftime. Although the Argentine team, unwilling to give up, increased their frequency of outside shots in the second half, led by several veterans, and tried to catch up with three-pointers, what disheartened football legend Diego Maradona, who was watching from the stands, and the Argentine players on the court was that every time they hit a three-pointer, Zack would respond with a violent pull-up jumper on the very next possession.
And compared to other powerhouses who had big centers in the paint, this Argentine team could only rely on Fabricio Oberto inside. Luis Scola, Yao Ming's teammate on the Sonics, knew very well that Oberto was no match for Yao Ming, so he repeatedly tried to draw offensive fouls with flopping. But no matter how good Scola's acting was, on a night when FIBA wanted to see a rematch between and the US in the final, it was difficult for him to fool the referees with his acting. Just like the NBA, who says FIBA games don't have scripts? It's just that most of the time, the script only belongs to the strong teams.
Yao Ming, playing as if divinely assisted, scored a total of 34 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks in this game. Zack had a relatively "average" performance, only getting 40 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. The final score of the game between Argentina and was set at 81 to 101.
Zack was now just one step away from personally shattering American basketball's dream of redemption. After the game, when asked about Zack's outstanding performance in these Olympics, Yao Ming humorously said, "You know, I originally thought he came here to assist me."
The team had made an unprecedented entry into the Olympic Men's Basketball final. They would face Team USA at 2:30 PM on the day of the Olympic closing ceremony at the Wukesong Basketball Arena to determine the champion of these Olympic Men's Basketball games. If Zack could personally claim this extremely valuable gold medal, he would not only put a perfect end to his mythical performance in these Olympic basketball games, but this heavy gold medal would also cement him as the God of Basketball in the hearts of all fans of this era.
In Zack's view, if the previous opening game was a meticulously prepared funeral for American basketball, then this upcoming final would be his coronation ceremony, and it would belong only to him. He wouldn't let anyone stop this coronation.
Zack was never greedy. But this era, it can only belong to him!
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