Taking advantage of her height, Luo Yan jumped a finger's width higher than the Japanese team's center.
Luo Yan flicked the basketball towards Lu Yu.
Lu Yu deftly leaped towards the direction the basketball was flying, scooped it into his arms, and firmly secured possession of the ball, which Luo Yan had won in the contest, in the hands of the Chinese team.
The basketball bounced rapidly in Lu Yu's hands.
In a matter of seconds, Lu Yu quickly passed the Japanese team's point guard and small forward with a rapid change of direction.
Just as Japan's shooting guard Keiko Kitagawa moved her feet to prepare to surround and defend Lu Yu with her teammates, Lu Yu seized the opportunity.
"boom--"
A quick and consistent bounce pass.
Weng Pei steadily caught Lu Yu's pass.
The Japanese team's inside players reacted quickly, rushing forward the moment Ong Pei received the ball. Ong Pei did not hesitate for a moment and passed the ball to Sun Meng, who was not far away, before being trapped in the corner.
Great opportunity!
Japan's defense under the basket is currently weak.
Sun Meng silently chanted in her mind, her foot speed undiminished. She gave the Japanese team no chance, executing a clean three-step layup.
The basketball went straight into the basket.
This was the first ball that Zeng Ling had arranged in advance before the match.
Taking advantage of China's height advantage over Japan, after winning the jump ball, they should use their first-move advantage to secure the first point.
The Chinese women's basketball team executed their tactics perfectly.
The red wave at the scene surged and danced as the first ball was scored.
"Both of Japan's defenders are agile players with very fast passing speed. Ong Pei and Lu Yu need to be careful," Feng Xu analyzed.
Meng Xiaotong strongly agreed with Feng Xu's view, saying, "Yes, as long as our Chinese team shuts down the outside, it will be difficult for the Japanese team to make up for their height disadvantage inside."
Possession returned to the Japanese team.
Japan's point guard dribbled the ball across half-court.
The Chinese team's perimeter defense was indeed as the three commentators analyzed.
Lu Yu and Weng Pei did not rush to steal the ball, but instead used a close marking strategy to shut down the Japanese team's three-point shooting.
Kitagawa Keiko's position was completely blocked by Ong Pei's high-intensity defense, and she had no chance to shoot at all.
Time was still ticking away, and the Japanese point guard had to pass the ball out before he could commit a foul.
However, her less-than-ideal position forced her to pass the ball to the power forward in the paint.
The Japanese team's small forward and center were completely shut down by Sun Meng and Ji Yun, unable to move. The Japanese power forward, observing the situation, accelerated a few steps and had no choice but to force his way to the basket.
"Thump—"
The basketball made a loud noise.
"It was Luo Yan's block!" Liu Du exclaimed. "That was really powerful!"
The basketball bounced off the ground, and Sun Meng took a step forward to steal possession.
The five players on the Chinese team had excellent teamwork. Sun Meng only glanced at Lu Yu's position from afar before confidently tossing the ball—
A decisive long pass left the Japanese players with no time to get back on defense.
After receiving the pass, Lu Yu accelerated his dribbling run.
Keiko Kitagawa was the first member of the Japanese team to react, and she instantly accelerated to catch up with Lu Yu.
Weng Pei didn't give her a chance to accelerate, and directly sidestepped her, forcing her to stop again.
Keiko Kitagawa's eyes blazed with resentment...
The opponent's reaction excited Weng Pei even more, and he defended Kitagawa Keiko step by step.
Lu Yu drove straight in, took two steps, and scored a layup.
"ah!--"
A long shout erupted from the Chinese team's stands.
Submerged in the red tide, Jiao Yuyin took out his mobile phone and took a close-up of Lu Yu on the huge screen.
All eyes were on her...
The little fish, its entire body shimmering with light, is receiving the cheers that the world is giving it.
Qin Meng, who was standing next to Jiao Yuyin, also recorded a short video of the scene and sent it to Xu Song, who was still working at full speed on research and development in China.
Ruixin Technology.
Xu Song completely lost his composure after clicking on the video, and sent Jiao Yuyin a long voice message full of curses.
[Xu Song: That unscrupulous boss is having a blast!!! Exploiting and exploiting us workers!!! Yesterday, Qin Meng told me that you set the opening ceremony for the Youyu-themed Hotel and amusement park for August 28th, while the Women's Basketball Finals don't end until August 27th. You want me to go and attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony in your place and that of star player Lu. What, now I not only have to work for you, but also for your star player Lu?]
[Jiao Yuyin: I take this as a blessing.]
[Xu Song: ?]
[Jiao Yuyin: I wish my little fish (my son) all the best in making it to the finals.]
[Xu Song: Jiao Yuyin, you're not human—!]
[Jiao Yuyin: Xu Song enjoys a lifetime membership to the Youyu series of hotels, aquariums, and theme parks, with unlimited free visits.]
[Xu Song: Okay...wait, how many times in my life can I go?]
[Jiao Yuyin: ...Please do not disturb while watching the game.]
The discussion in the commentary booth was still lively.
"As long as the Japanese team is forced to drive into the paint, they will have a hard time scoring. I must say, Weng Pei and Lu Yu executed their close marking on the perimeter very well," Feng Xu praised.
"My God, our women's basketball team is in excellent form!" Liu Du exclaimed excitedly. "Luo Yan's block stunned the Japanese team."
"For a moment I couldn't even tell who the point guard was, haha." Meng Xiaotong said with a laugh, "Sun Meng and Weng Pei created an excellent layup opportunity for Lu Yu."
At the end of the first quarter, the Chinese team maintained a 9-point lead.
The Japanese team is no weak team. Seeing that things weren't going well, they immediately adjusted their tactics. In the second quarter, the Japanese team stopped focusing solely on Kitagawa Keiko's three-pointers and instead concentrated their efforts on guarding Lu Yu.
As soon as the ball gets into Lu Yu's hands, the Japanese team will immediately deploy two defenders to double-team him, preventing the Chinese team from exploiting a time difference.
After several rounds, the scores of the two teams remained close, with the Chinese team maintaining a lead of about 5 points.
"The Japanese team has made another substitution, and the new player still has only one goal: to relentlessly mark Lu Yu," Liu Du said.
Feng Xu was somewhat worried about the current situation. "In the first quarter, Lu Yu's touch was obviously improved. The Japanese team was preparing to use a rotation strategy to greatly wear down Lu Yu's stamina. The Chinese team is only maintaining a temporary lead. I'm afraid that the Japanese team will launch a counterattack in the second half of the game. You know, the Japanese team has always been a very resilient team. The Chinese team needs to be careful."
Meng Xiaotong said, "Yes, we have suffered a similar loss in the Olympic qualifiers before. We must pay close attention to the issue of physical exhaustion of key players."
The discussion in the commentary booth hadn't stopped when the whistle for a substitution interrupted the three commentators' analysis.
"It's the Chinese team making a substitution," Liu Du said matter-of-factly. "Oh—the Chinese team replaced number 6, Lu Yu, with number 13, Yu Mengmeng."
"Haha, although we're providing commentary live, the audio played on the loudspeaker is in French, not from our commentary booth. I seriously suspect Coach Zeng and Coach Feng are on the same page," Meng Xiaotong joked with a laugh.
Feng Xu smiled and said, "Yu Mengmeng played in the group stage. Her playing style is very similar to Lu Yu's, except that she can't play the combo guard position. Although she lacks a three-point scoring option, Yu Mengmeng's defensive ability is good. As long as she and Weng Pei can suppress the Japanese team's outside offense, they'll be fine."
Liu Du chimed in, "Yu Mengmeng just needs to hold the score and guard against Japan's second-half comeback. However, what worries me more is Weng Pei's form. Although she has contained Japan's Kitagawa Keiko, her scoring ability has also been limited by Kitagawa Keiko."
"Weng Pei hasn't found her rhythm yet. This is the Olympics, we can't afford to be slow to start. The Chinese team still needs to find a way to get Weng Pei, our scoring option, moving up. Next, let's see how well Yu Mengmeng, Weng Pei, and Sun Meng coordinate. They need to hold on at crucial moments," Feng Xu commented sharply.
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