Li Nan was a little worked up. "Even those bird-brains from Angola can give the Americans a game like that. Why can't we?"
Coach Gong hadn't watched the United States play Angola, but the moment he thought of Angola's style, he understood what Li Nan meant.
"You're saying the key is defense?"
"Exactly! Defense!"
Li Nan paused, then continued:
"Every time, we lose by sixty or seventy points, getting run around in circles. Why not set a modest goal this time? For example, let's aim to keep the United States from scoring a hundred points and lose by fewer than forty."
Angola held the United States to just 87 points and lost by only 33. We beat Angola, so setting our sights on that is perfectly reasonable.
Coach Gong nodded.
But Li Nan added fuel to the fire, his expression serious. "Coach, this is a game! We can't treat every match like practice. We have to learn something. Even if we can't win, we should make our opponents pay. Let them know that the Chinese team isn't easy to bully!"
(He awoke from a dream. This time, he would lead Chinese basketball to the summit of the world!)
