The Journey to Winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship (Part 1)

The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the last tournament to bear the name "World Championship." After that, it was renamed the "Basketball World Cup."

This edition of the FIBA World Championship was held in Turkey.

Compared to the FIFA World Cup, basketball's popularity and influence were obviously far, far smaller. The difference could only be described as heaven and earth.

Yet this year's FIBA World Championship drew more attention than any previous edition, even rivaling the Olympic basketball tournament.

And all of that was thanks to—Zhou Ze, the number one player in basketball today.

A total of 24 teams participated in this FIBA World Championship.

The group stage was divided into four groups.

Just like in his previous life, the China Men's National Basketball Team was placed in Group C. Each group had six teams and played a single round robin. A win was worth 2 points, while a loss was worth 1 point.

The top four teams in each group advanced to the Round of 16 knockout stage.

The knockout stage used a single-elimination format—one game decided everything.

Group C, where the China Men's National Basketball Team was placed, consisted of China, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Puerto Rico, and Ivory Coast.

Uh...

In his previous life, the China Men's National Basketball Team had won only one game in the group stage.

But back then, the team was caught between generations. Unlike later on... when it simply withered away altogether...

The core lineup of the China Men's National Basketball Team was:

Zhou Ze, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, the fleet-footed youngster Da Zhi, Sun Yue, and the Chinese guard best at feeding Yao Ming the ball—Liu Wei.

To make up for the China Men's National Basketball Team's lack of perimeter firepower, Zhou Ze, the GOAT of modern basketball, directly shifted