So what do you guys think? Argentina lost to Spain last night and it will be a HUGE game on both sides. Argentina is super quick so they may pose major problems for the Chinese backcourt. Yao will need to have another monster game for China to have a chance. I predict Arg 78- Chn 68 but I hope I am wrong I think this game is on TV right? Can someone confirm Thx
Yes this game will be on MSNBC at 12 noon (central time) Thursday. http://www.nba.com/athens2004/schedule.html
If Yao put up a monterous game like last night, it's anybody's game. Argentina is not a particular 3pt shooting team and they are not as good as spain. China needs to start knocking down outside jumpers, which is going to help Yao inside.
Even if Yao scores 40 ppg, I don't think China has much of a chance unless somebody else on the team steps up.
If Yao can score 30, Mo Ke/Yi give Yao some help like they did today, and the guards don't turn the ball over and knock down around 6 3s on about 15 tries, China has a good chance of beating Ginobili.
The team need to step it up and make the 3pts or else they are hopeless. Yao can only do so much and they will smother him.
It's not likely that Yao will have another high scoring game. After seeing Yao score 39 on NZ, Argentina will send the whole team to collapse on him in the paint. I think the other players on his team need to step up to hit the outside open shots in order for them to have a chance to win.
But at 7'6", it doesn't matter how many they send, he's still taller. Which is the whole point. Nobody should be able to stop him. Not even in the NBA. I think he should take the quadruple team on anyway. Just like Dream took on the Quadruple teaming Virgina Cavaliers. If you are that good, nobody can stop you. You just have to want it bad enough.
I know. But I saw Yao going against double and triple teams on a routine basis this morning against New Zealand. Maybe he was so pissed that he was gonna crash anyway on his way to the basket. If he shows that kind of passion against Argentina, and his teammates can at least knock down some open jumpers, CNT has a decent chance of pulling off an upset. BTW, Yao has a better chance of giving a dominating performance against Italy. The CNT absolutely needs to do a great job of defening high post P&R from Italy. If they can limit 3s from Italy, CNT can beat them. I hope that a determined Yao can at least carry the CNT to another win in preliminary game. If he can go against Shaq, Garnett, and Dirk and have 3 outstanding games in a row, there is no reason to believe that a totally pissed Yao cannot repeat that feat.
5. The problem is the pool the CNT is in is similar to the Western conference based purely on talent, while the US is lucky to be in the least conference that has 4 teams that China has a chance to beat: PR, Angola, Australia (which they beat two weeks ago), and Greece.
ic.. so to make the medal rounds, china will need to win probably 3 games total (3-2?)???? sounds tough
They need to win another game to be in for the next round. The idea scenario is to grab a win against Italy. Spain is basically in at #1 seed of the ppol, with Argentina and Serbia fighting for #2 seed. China now is literally fighting against Italy for the 4th seed.......If China wins two more games, they are likely to be at least #3 seed and that will be history for the Chinese team since they never come out of preliminary games as a #3 seed in the Olympics.
CNT's goal is to get into next round, top 8. They need to win at least another game to get there. After Spain won 2 games in a row, I don't even think one more win is gonna be eough. Very tough.
the penetrating happy ginobili will cause yao to foul out in 3 qtrs of play.... in order to win, Li Nan and Zhu Fangyu need to make 3 ptrs, Mo Kei need to rebound like crazy and Yi should at least block some shots, which he hasnt have any single block shot yet, to relieve yao on defensive end...
not exactly. we have the ability to control those "super quick" guard, as long as our players can keep composure to carry out the tactics D.harris planned. not necessary. Of course, Argentina will take care of him he'll split the double team inscrubs, deliver good passing when triple teamed, play more pnr with guards, set screen for his teamates. what's more important, grab the rebs!
Man, why can't Steve Francis be playing for the CNT? I mean he is just like Yao, except black and 6'3", and he always wanted to play for the national team. It was such a pain to watch the CNT start pg, he can't handle ball pressure, can't shoot, can't pass, can't make a free throw. It was even more frustrating than watching the Moochie after he got the big contract. I can't believe out of the millions of Chinese people they couldn't find a person who can simply dribble and pass the ball. I am predicting a blowout loss for the CNT.
Actually I don't understand why China does not play a slow it down, grind it out, half court offense that will prevent Yao from running out of gas quickly. The CNT is playing at a pace like NJ Nets/Dallas Mavericks. It just does not make sense to me. It's not like China is superior to other teams. The only way China can win is to reduce the possesions and fully utilize the advantage at 5. And sure if the outside shooters from China get nothing going, China is not gonna beat anyone else at the Olympics.
