Originally chatting and laughing with Jiang Siming, Yao Ming suddenly fell silent, his eyes fixed on the court.
"Looks like those Venezuelan guys learned from Poland yesterday how to deal with our team." Yao Ming hit the nail on the head.
Venezuela was using Poland's strategy from yesterday—staying calm and slowly wearing down the Chinese Team's patience and stamina.
The Chinese players had already lost yesterday and desperately needed a big win today. How could they not be anxious?
But the more anxious they became, the more mistakes they made. Many times, they shot as soon as they got the ball, only for their touch to grow worse.
Several Chinese players were even so impatient that they committed fouls and had already been shown several cards by the referee.
After the third quarter, the score was 70–78: China 70, Venezuela 78.
During the break, several players sat in the rest area and listened to the coach's instructions.
But Jiang Siming and Yao Ming could both tell that the coach's ability was only mediocre. He was getting anxious too, and the strategies he came up with were already drifting away from the team's strengths.
This couldn't go on.
Yao Ming wanted to offer some advice, but then he thought that stepping in might disrupt the others' arrangements and the players' coordination. In the end, he stayed seated.
After the break, the final quarter began.
Right at the start, the Chinese Team lost three straight possessions, and the score widened to 70–84.
The main reason was that the Chinese Team's point guard, Guo Lun, committed several inexplicable fouls. The opponents kept getting free throws, and then stole possession, widening the gap further.
Seeing this, all the Chinese fans in the arena stood up angrily and shouted, "Replace Guo Lun! Replace Guo Lun!"