NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 572 Chinese Men's Basketball Team

Chinese men's basketball team head coach Li Nan couldn't help but applaud, feeling a surge of confidence. Jia Fei's ability was undeniable; the NBA's top player, his performance in the recently concluded playoffs was phenomenal. With such an NBA superstar leading the team, he was confident he could guide the Chinese men's basketball team to a spot in the Tokyo Olympics at this FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup.

It's important to know that the results from the first stage will carry over to the second stage, so with Jia Fei on the team, the chances of the Chinese men's basketball team advancing have greatly increased.

Li Nan felt he was quite lucky; having a superstar like Jia Fei appear in such a major tournament was like a divine intervention.

Moreover, Jia Fei didn't come alone; it was a "buy one get one free" deal. Although Art Mayok is no longer a core rotation center for the Clippers, he is still an NBA player, and NBA-level players are definitely not too many for the current Chinese men's basketball team.

Jia Fei's overall impression of Li Nan is quite good. Back in his Bayi days, this player was known as "Little Li Flying Dagger" and "Microwave Oven" because of his incredibly strong shooting ability; he rarely missed open shots. Many young players today simply can't do that. While their physical attributes have improved, their fundamentals are not as strong as those of the older generation.

The 2019 FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup is the 18th FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup since 1950, and China will be the host country.

As the host nation, the Chinese men's basketball team was placed in Group A, along with Ivory Coast, Venezuela, and Poland. This is indeed a fantastic group, an absolutely perfect draw.

The draw for the 2019 FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup took place on March 16th in Shenzhen, witnessed by NBA legend Kobe Bryant, hit song producer Jason Derulo, and lucky charm Yang Chaoyue.

The Chinese men's basketball team received an absolutely favorable draw! In fact, China was able to be placed in a relatively ideal group thanks to the changes FIBA ​​made in mid-February this year for the three major tournaments: the Men's Basketball World Cup in China, the U19 World Cup in Greece, and the U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Thailand.

After conducting research, FIBA ​​ultimately classified all the host countries of these major tournaments as seeded teams. This means that China, along with the seven top-ranked teams in the world—the United States, Spain, France, Serbia, Argentina, Lithuania, and Greece—was placed in the same tier and into eight different groups.

It's worth noting that when the Chinese men's basketball team last participated in the 2010 FIBA ​​World Championship in Turkey, they were only placed in the second-to-last tier (i.e., the fifth tier), alongside teams like New Zealand, Iran, and Angola. In that tournament, China was ultimately drawn into Group C with Greece, Turkey, Puerto Rico, Russia, and Ivory Coast.

Originally, the Chinese men's basketball team, ranked 30th in the world, should have been placed in the fifth tier; but now, thanks to the "bonus" of being the host country, the Chinese men's basketball team has successfully avoided strong teams and is grouped with teams from the fourth, fifth, and eighth tiers.

More importantly, this "bonus" may directly affect the Chinese men's basketball team's chances of participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

With a favorable draw and Jia Fei confirmed to play, this double insurance will be a strong guarantee for the Chinese men's basketball team to obtain a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics!

Jia Fei certainly liked the current group assignments. With him on the team, he wouldn't stand idly by and watch the "Egg Pancake Prince" encounter another "world-class problem." What "Polish center forward"? That won't happen again; he's going to change the course of history!

Jia Fei reported to the Chinese Men's Basketball Team. On the other side of the ocean, on July 1, the annual free agent market officially opened!

On the 1st, according to renowned reporter Shams, the Clippers signed their starting guard Patrick Beverley to a three-year, $30 million contract, with the third year being a player option.

The Clippers keeping Beverley was expected. Although Beverley is often injured and his attendance rate is not particularly high, he does not need the ball, and his 3D attributes can provide passion and energy to the team. Acquiring him with a mid-level exception with an annual salary of 1000 million is definitely a good deal.

Jia Fei and Art Mayork haven't signed yet; he wants to wait until the team completes its transactions before signing them. Both of them have Bird rights and could easily re-sign on cap exemption.

On the 1st, none of the big fish had been caught yet, and everyone was watching and waiting.

Although Jia Fei opted out of his contract and became a free agent, everyone knew he wouldn't leave, so even the media didn't include him as one of the big fish of the summer.

Starting from the 1st, Jia Fei and Art Mayork began training at the China Men's Basketball Training Base.

FIBA rules differ from NBA rules in many ways. For example, each quarter in FIBA ​​is 10 minutes long, while in the NBA it is 12 minutes. The FIBA ​​three-point line is shorter than the NBA's. FIBA ​​does not have a defensive three-second rule, while the NBA does. In FIBA, you can try to steal the ball if it touches the rim, while in the NBA it would be considered goaltending. FIBA ​​is very strict about traveling violations; a move like the "Eight Steps of the Sky" used by NBA players would likely be caught very badly in FIBA.

But basketball games are generally similar, and Jia Fei felt that he could definitely adapt to FIBA ​​games, as could his best friend Art Mayok.

Jia Fei's visit to China this time wasn't just about him and Art Mayork; he also brought his team, including trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, rehabilitation massage therapists, nutritionists, and so on. At first, Li Nan, the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team, didn't quite understand and thought Jia Fei was just showing off by bringing so many people. But after getting to know them better, he found that they were all incredibly professional.

This was Jia Fei's goal: to let the Chinese men's basketball team experience the professionalism of the NBA, not only in training but also in nutrition and physical therapy. If this could also boost the development of basketball in China, that would be ideal.

Competition results are temporary, but the development of basketball in China is sustainable and represents the future. It's not enough to be complacent with temporary achievements; only when basketball truly develops can it benefit the entire nation.

"Ah, I can't eat this or that?" Zhai Xiaochuan scratched his head, looking somewhat surprised.

Zhou Qi and Yi Jianlian, having played in the NBA, know that NBA players are extremely disciplined with their diets, rarely eating junk food. NBA players need to control their weight and body fat percentage to protect their bodies and extend their careers as much as possible.

"Yes, we should also try to eat as little sea cucumber as possible!" Jia Fei said with a grin.

Everyone laughed... After all, the Chinese men's basketball team isn't the Sea Cucumber team.

"I was very careful about what I ate in the US, but when I came back to China, I often ate egg pancakes!" Zhou Qi said with a smile.

Yi Jianlian looked at Zhou Qi. He knew that the players of the Chinese men's basketball team rarely had strict dietary control. In fact, everyone was quite casual about their diet.