China Team vs. Team USA

China Team vs. Team USA, the Final Battle

Before the game, Coach Du Feng and Yao Ming gave the entire team a pep talk.

Yao Ming didn't put any mental burden on the players.

His exact words were: "We've already secured the silver medal. This is a historic breakthrough for China. If we lose this game, we have nothing to lose; if we win, it'll be a huge bonus. But we have to play with heart and show our spirit. When this game is over, we'll leave with our heads held high."

Because Yao Ming and Coach Du Feng hadn't burdened the players with too much pressure, they were able to play freely—and ended up performing beyond expectations.

When the first quarter ended, they were actually leading Team USA by five points.

Team USA wasn't too concerned. Even though veteran coach Popovich was cautious and reminded his players to stay alert,

deep down, the American players were still somewhat overconfident.

And you couldn't really blame them. Most teams with the kind of talent Team USA had would look down on their opponents from other countries.

Being down by five wasn't a big deal to them.

Whether it was Harden, Curry, Durant, or Lillard, any one of them could come in and knock down a couple of threes to erase the five-point gap—and put them one point ahead.

With that mindset, the second quarter got underway.

Team USA came back onto the court and continued playing one-on-one.

Aside from Curry and Harden, who passed the ball, the others basically just took it and went to work.

China Team, by contrast, played with excellent teamwork, standing in stark contrast to Team USA.

And Team USA wasn't playing much defense.

As a result, China Team continued to outperform expectations in the second quarter.