Chapter 374: A Perfect Start, Yao and Chen Connect!
Thunderous applause rolled through the arena.
The crowd had seen it clearly, Chen Yan was not here to participate. He was here to compete, to fight, to drag every ounce of pride out of this game.
To be fair, not many people truly believed China could beat Dream 8 tonight. Everyone understood the gap in overall talent and depth.
But the fans also did not want the national team to go down quietly.
They wanted heart. They wanted bite. They wanted the players to meet the moment head on, the way Chen Yan had from the opening whistle.
…
China's possession.
Liu Wei brought the ball over half court with patience, almost carefully.
China's pace in the half court was slow, a completely different world from the Suns. After weeks of training, Chen Yan had learned to live inside that rhythm, even if it still felt like running with a parachute sometimes.
About 2 meters beyond the 3 point arc, Liu Wei turned his back to Jason Kidd and used his body to shield the ball.
Chen Yan stepped up quickly to receive.
This was one of the biggest differences between playing for Phoenix and playing for the national team.
With the Suns, Chen Yan never worried about Steve Nash making a basic mistake. His job was to sprint into space, read the defense, and punish them.
Here, he had to drop back almost every possession.
Not because he wanted the ball early, but because he did not trust that the guards could handle Dream 8's pressure without coughing it up. Team USA's defense was built to steal your oxygen. If you hesitated, they took the ball and ran.
Liu Wei bounced it to Chen Yan immediately.
The moment Chen Yan caught it, Kobe Bryant was already on him, chest to chest, hands active, body leaning, making contact at every legal angle.
Before the Olympics even started, Kobe had made his stance clear.
On this team, he was the defensive workhorse. He wanted the most dangerous perimeter player every night.
It sounded almost absurd coming from a man who had just won regular season MVP, but that was Kobe. He knew Dream 8 did not lack scorers. Any name on the roster could get 20 without blinking.
What Team USA needed was a perimeter defensive anchor, the kind of edge that had been missing in 2002, 2004, and 2006 when international teams stopped fearing them.
The world had changed. The gap had shrunk. Team USA could not just show up, run, dunk, and collect gold like it was a summer tour anymore.
On camera, Kobe hounded Chen Yan with relentless pressure.
Bang.
Bang.
Chen Yan used a quick start, then snapped into a behind the back dribble, followed by a low crossover, keeping the ball tight to the floor. Kobe's defense was suffocating, forcing Chen Yan into a chain of complex handles just to create an inch.
Chen Yan found a sliver of space, but he could not fully shake Kobe. Not even close.
Kobe stuck to him like a shadow with a grudge.
If anything, his defense looked even more vicious than it had in the playoffs.
With the Lakers, Kobe had to carry offense and defense. With Dream 8, he could pour 200 percent of his energy into defense and let the rest of the roster handle the scoring.
Chen Yan did not get frustrated.
Even the best attacker on earth cannot win a clean 1 on 1 every possession. When the defense is that tight, you break it the same way you break any lock.
You bring help.
Chen Yan signaled with his hand.
Yao Ming understood immediately and stepped up to set the screen.
Chen Yan did not wait for Yao to get perfectly planted.
He hit a quick double behind the back dribble and exploded.
Dwight Howard stepped up to help, a wall of muscle sliding into the lane.
Chen Yan dropped his hips, snapped a crossover, and squeezed through the gap anyway.
His handle, coordination, and burst were insane. The ability to keep control of the ball in a phone booth, while changing pace, while reading help defense, it was the kind of skill that belonged in the top tier of guards, period.
Most guards wait for the screen to fully form, pause, and then decide whether to shoot or pass.
Chen Yan never paused.
His offense never stalled, and that constant motion kept defenders guessing and late.
He cleared Kobe. He slipped Howard. Suddenly he was in the paint with daylight.
"Great move, he got in!"
"That's Finals MVP level ball handling, finding a path in that tight space!"
The announcers nearly shouted over each other.
Carmelo Anthony left Yi Jianlian and charged toward Chen Yan.
In that moment, Chen Yan had multiple options.
He could pull up before the help arrived.
He could hit Yi, wide open, and trust him to finish.
He could even try to force contact, draw a foul, maybe steal a 2 plus 1.
While moving, Chen Yan flicked his wrist and fired the pass across to Yi Jianlian.
The safest play.
The smartest play.
For the national team, Chen Yan was noticeably calmer than he was with Phoenix. Less flash, more control. Less ego, more structure.
Yi caught it in stride, took 1 dribble, and exploded upward for a 2 handed dunk, his favorite kind of finish.
0 to 4.
The arena screamed like it had been set on fire.
2 straight dunks, and China had seized the early momentum.
After landing, Yi pointed at Chen Yan.
Yi got the points, but everyone knew where the play truly came from.
…
Team USA's possession.
Kidd crossed half court and found LeBron.
LeBron took a probing step, then used a screen to snake toward the baseline.
China did not switch. Zhu Fangyu chased over the screen, and Yao waited in the paint like a lighthouse.
After 1 dribble, LeBron kicked the ball out to the perimeter.
The lack of a defensive 3 seconds rule in international play changed everything for a driver like him, especially against a center with Yao Ming's size. In the half court, the paint could feel crowded, even for LeBron.
Kobe caught it outside and rose immediately, shooting over Chen Yan.
Some habits do not disappear just because the court has different lines.
Clang.
Chen Yan got a strong contest, and Kobe missed, clearly irritated.
Liu Wei secured the rebound and pushed.
Under Kidd's pressure, Liu Wei nearly lost the ball again.
The fast break looked simple, but it demanded timing and fundamentals. The gap between Chinese guards and elite NBA guards in this area was more than a little.
Fortunately, Chen Yan trailed the play and took control before it turned into a disaster.
When Chen Yan got the ball, 4 Team USA defenders were already back and set.
He did not force it.
He pulled it out beyond the 3 point line, slowing the tempo, resetting the possession.
He was playing with a cool head tonight. Every touch looked deliberate.
Once Yao returned to position, China settled into the half court.
From the corner, Chen Yan lofted the entry pass to Yao Ming, posted near the perimeter.
Yao caught and squared, ready to go to work.
Howard's expression tightened.
The nickname had been a joke for years, but the history behind it was real. Yao and Howard had met 9 times in the NBA. Yao had won 7.
Yao averaged 23.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 2.1 blocks in those matchups, shooting 56.1%.
Howard averaged 12.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 1.7 blocks, shooting 45.1%.
In a real sense, Yao had been his worst matchup, his kryptonite.
As everyone's eyes locked onto Yao, Chen Yan suddenly cut hard along the baseline.
Yao caught the movement instantly.
With 2 hands, he whipped an overhead pass into the space behind the defense.
Chen Yan caught it clean and finished with a smooth reverse layup, all in 1 flowing motion.
Yao and Chen connected.
0 to 6.
Chen Yan's face lit up.
That basket was more than a nice play. It was his first score in the Olympic Games, and it came off a perfect read with Yao Ming in the biggest moment of his life.
"Beautiful!"
"What imagination from Yao Ming, a 2.26 meter big man throwing an assist like a guard!"
The announcers were losing it.
"Yao Ming and Chen Yan showed real chemistry in their first official game together, and that's exactly what every Chinese fan has been waiting to see!"
Yao's passing had always been there. His fundamentals were elite. His basketball IQ was high.
The difference was simple.
For years, the national team did not have enough guards who could see what he saw, move when he expected, and finish when he delivered.
Now, he finally did.
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