947 An Invitation from French Rocket
The eight teams advancing to the men's basketball quarterfinals had now all been decided.
They were divided into Groups D and E.
Group D: United States, Italy, Germany, Argentina;
Group E: China, Slovenia, France, Australia;
As for Japan, perhaps after China had crushed them in their first game, their morale had completely collapsed over the next two.
Even with Crazy Tom leading the team, they were still crushed by Slovenia and Spain in succession.
They lost one game by 33 points and another by 47.
Across their three group-stage games, they lost by an average of 53.7 points.
Japanese fans were up in arms.
One after another, they lashed out at their national team.
"You've got no shame."
"I can accept losing, but I can't accept losing with absolutely no dignity."
"Is there anything Japan won't lose at?"
Japan's men's basketball team was now in exactly the same situation as China's national football team whenever they lost.
Hachimura couldn't help speaking up for his teammates.
In an interview, he said, "When you lose, even breathing is wrong. When you win, everything you do is right."
But Japanese fans weren't buying it. One fan fired back:
"Then go win."
That one sentence left the Japanese men's team speechless.
After the loss, Hachimura Rui had also returned to the United States early to train.
Hachimura Rui had somewhere to go, but the other Japanese players weren't so lucky.
Although they had returned home early, they were still met with insults and ridicule from scores of Japanese fans.
Of course, the fans weren't just targeting the Japanese players.
They also went after Wang Yi, the culprit behind the infamous 81-point massacre.
They hurled every insult imaginable at Wang Yi, even cursing his ancestors' graves.
It wasn't