Sports Medicine Master System

Chapter 620: Chapter 546: One Star, Four Shooters

"What do you mean?" Chen Yu asked.

Su Jun quickly shook his head. "Nothing, just a thought that came to me."

He looked at Chen Yu, his eyes filled with the urge to speak his mind.

Chen Yu smiled. ’This guy, trying to be mysterious with me.’

"Mm."

Chen Yu gave a slight nod and didn’t press the issue.

Su Jun immediately looked as uncomfortable as if he’d swallowed a fly, bottling it all up.

Seeing that Chen Yu still wasn’t asking, he waited until he saw the China Team on offense, where Bartel, a center, was constantly loitering above the free-throw line.

Su Jun pointed to the court. "Take Yao Ming and Liu Wei, for example. They’re from the same hometown and play together for the Modu Team, so they’re one clique. Then you have the guys from the Capital, Li Nan and Bartel; they’re another. And then Du Feng and Zhu Fangyu are from Yuehai, so they’re a clique too."

"Back in 2000, Yao Ming was still young, and going to Sydney was just about experiencing the atmosphere of a major tournament. But this year, he’s supposed to be the team’s core and should be leading by example. However, from what I know, there are still a lot of people on the team... how should I put this... Dr. Chen, you should understand what I mean, right?"

’What’s so hard to understand about that?’ Chen Yu thought.

Even though they were on the same team, playing in the same arena, they were all professionals, all adults. It was only natural for there to be different degrees of closeness between them.

You could only say it was completely normal.

Just like on the Suns, Head Coach Skiles, O’Neal, and Hardaway had all been teammates on the Magic. As long as there were no problems between them, the team’s locker room would likely be stable.

Su Jun continued, "As far as I know, some veterans on the National Team still don’t really like Yao Ming and pull rank on him. And that has a pretty big impact."

Just like a moment ago, Bartel comes in and dares to chuck a three from beyond the arc. He’s a big center, and it’s not like the paint is empty. Can he really be that casual?

Su Jun’s words were sharp, but Chen Yu didn’t respond, quietly watching the court.

Whether they were pulling rank or not, Chen Yu couldn’t tell just yet.

But he could see signs of scattered morale and a weak will to win.

For a center like Bartel to habitually float on the perimeter was indeed somewhat inexcusable.

And the overall defense was too lax; a lot of the time, they were just strolling around.

They weren’t even aggressive with inbounding the ball. The first quarter was almost over, and they hadn’t had a single fast inbound.

Of course, these weren’t huge problems yet, because they weren’t behind on the scoreboard. The score was still tight.

"What is it you’re trying to say?" Chen Yu asked in return.

Su Jun glanced at Li Yuanwei on the sideline, then said, "Dr. Chen, you understand China. We have an old saying, ’A monk from abroad chants the scriptures better.’ Do you know what that means?"

Chen Yu nodded. He had a general idea.

Su Jun looked toward Harris on the sideline and said with emotion, "Harris is a good man, there’s no doubt about that."

He’s a championship-winning coach whose annual salary should be at least a million US dollars, yet he voluntarily coaches the men’s national team for free, only asking the Basketball Association to reimburse his plane tickets.

And it wasn’t just him. He also brought in Little Nelson to help for free. For these Olympics, Little Nelson is still a consultant for the National Team.

The national team didn’t have video playback equipment, so he bought it with his own money.

For this trip to Athens, he bought two video recorders and a printer in Lithuania and carried them all the way here himself.

Because the video format was different, he even had a friend at Nike buy a small, compatible TV.

The national team didn’t have a scout, so he found his friend, Australian scout Robert Beveridge, to help prepare scouting reports on their opponents.

With the national team, he hasn’t enjoyed any special privileges. Even now in the Olympic Village, he’s living with the players, without even a private bathroom.

So in Su Jun’s eyes, Harris was truly a good man who had sacrificed a lot for the national team.

"But?" Chen Yu prompted, having a good idea of what Su Jun was about to say.

Su Jun sighed. "But his hands are tied. There are many things where he has the will but not the power. Look, he doesn’t speak the language, so he taught himself a few simple phrases. But the National Team never assigned him an English-speaking assistant coach. They waited until it was time to leave for the Olympics before finally bringing Old Xia over."

"Player selection, tactical arrangements... on the surface, it seems like he can make the decisions, but in reality, he’s in a difficult position."

"So, Dr. Chen, even this ’monk from abroad’ is finding it hard to chant the scriptures. But you... you’re different."

Su Jun gazed at Chen Yu, his eyes burning with intensity.

"You’ve told me some of your ideas before, and while I don’t know if they can succeed..."

"No one knows!"

"But I believe that change is always good, especially a thorough change like this. And only you have the ability to accomplish it."

Chen Yu had greater influence.

During the Women’s World Cup, Chen Yu had helped China.

Yuan Weimin was originally supposed to retire this year, but he insisted on staying on.

With that connection, if Chen Yu wanted to do something, would Li Yuanwei or Yan Shiduo dare to say no?

Then there was the selection of the national team players.

Even though Harris was also a ’monk from abroad,’ could he really just pick whoever he wanted?

Su Jun thought that was probably impossible. He definitely had to take various interests into account.

But Chen Yu could. Even if Chen Yu said Yao Ming wasn’t suitable for the National Team, Yao wouldn’t dare to complain.

"I get it."

Chen Yu nodded.

At this point, Chen Yu completely understood.

Just like last time in the Capital when he took him all over the place, Su Jun was giving him another reminder.

Glancing at Su Jun, Chen Yu smiled. "You say Harris is a good man, but I think you’re pretty decent yourself."

For a journalist to think about these things was quite remarkable.

Su Jun looked down at the court and let out another long sigh.

As Spain tightened its defense, the China Team went a full three minutes without scoring, falling behind by as many as 12 points in one stretch.

"Some people always talk about the new replacing the old, that the national team is getting better and better. But I feel that while we are improving, other teams around the world are improving even more. In other words, we’re slowly falling behind."

The ’94 Golden Generation of the national team could beat Spain, beat Argentina, and even go toe-to-toe with the Dream Team and have some highlight moments.

But Su Jun felt that back in that era, everyone was more or less at the same level.

But since then, other countries’ training levels have gotten higher and higher. The trend of scientific training that Chen Yu started in the United States, in particular, was absolutely astounding to Su Jun.

But the China Team was still the same as always: unscientific training and outdated equipment.

Even with the emergence of a top player like Yao Ming, in Su Jun’s view, if they didn’t change, the gap would only continue to grow.

It’s not that we aren’t working hard, it’s just that others are working harder.

"That’s a very accurate point."

Chen Yu couldn’t help but want to give Su Jun a thumbs-up.

The case was right in front of them.

For example, at last year’s Women’s World Cup. In ’99 they were the runner-up, but by last year, with the core players largely unchanged, they had inexplicably dropped to 6th place.

It wasn’t that the women’s team’s strength had severely declined, but simply that their opponents had gotten stronger.

Their opponents’ training levels were higher, their physical conditioning was better—they were on par with men’s teams. How could you possibly win?

And just as Su Jun said, the men’s national team didn’t even have video playback equipment; Harris had to buy it with his own money.

Zhao Ruirui’s fracture was also a clear sign of the team doctors’ limited abilities.

If the training level itself is poor, wanting to get results is obviously just a fantasy.

The men’s soccer team made it to the World Cup, the men’s basketball team wanted to make history by breaking into the top eight... it seemed like everything was thriving. But only those who truly understood the situation knew that it was just a slow death.

"So, in my opinion, this is a truly critical moment for both the men’s national basketball and soccer teams. Your appearance combines the right time, the right place, and the right people."

Chen Yu’s status was special, he was an expert in his field, he had ample resources, and he had close ties with the leaders of the Sports Bureau. This all coincided with the commercial reforms in basketball and soccer. What’s more, Chen Yu was of Chinese descent, so at least those leaders wouldn’t see him as a complete outsider.

"If you can succeed this time, if *we* can succeed, then we can still keep up with the global trends. But if we fail, things will only get worse, and making a comeback will be incredibly difficult."

One false step leads to another; the gap will only grow wider.

"Most importantly, this is our own team. Who doesn’t want to see it do well?"

Su Jun looked down at the court. Another two minutes passed, and the China Team still hadn’t broken their scoring drought.

But what could he do? Curse the players on the court, call them trash, useless, and claim he could do better himself?

No, he couldn’t. All he could do was keep cheering for them, hoping they could fight their way back.

Chen Yu looked at Su Jun, able to understand his feelings at that moment.

"I know what I’m doing."

Chen Yu reached out and patted Su Jun’s shoulder.

It really wasn’t easy for him to go to such lengths to remind him, all for the sake of the national team.

Of course, feelings were feelings, but business was business.

Chen Yu was willing to do this mainly because he saw potential profit in it.

So, in reality, Su Jun didn’t need to give him a special reminder. For the sake of profit, Chen Yu already knew what to do.

On the court, Mo Ke missed both free throws, and the China Team still hadn’t scored.

Chen Yu frowned as well.

’Mo Ke’s fundamentals are pretty terrible.’

A Spain player entered the lane early, so the China Team got the ball in the frontcourt.

The China Team inbounded the ball. The players passed it around, ran around, and after Gasol lunged too aggressively and fell out of bounds, a full 15 seconds passed without a single player taking a decisive shot.

Another inbound, another flurry of running and passing. Finally, with only five seconds left on the shot clock, Li Nan drove to the basket and forced a shot.

It missed. Yao Ming tipped the ball, and Li Nan grabbed the offensive rebound. He passed it back out. Zhu Fangyu caught it but didn’t dare to shoot, so he passed it back to Li Nan, but it was a turnover—an opponent poked the ball out of bounds.

And that entire minute was a microcosm of the China Team’s second quarter.

A complete mess. They didn’t even have the confidence to take a shot.

Harris stood on the sideline, anxiously scratching his head, but he was completely helpless.

But Chen Yu saw a deeper problem: their physicality was too poor.

Running in and out, passing it back and forth, but never daring to shoot. To put it bluntly, they couldn’t handle the physical contact. They couldn’t get to advantageous offensive positions or create space for a shot.

Physicality is the foundation of everything.

And against a Spain team with an average height of over two meters and stronger bodies, these guys on the China Team clearly had no advantage whatsoever.

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