binnovel Chapter 159 Basketball Tournament
Chapter 159 Basketball Tournament
After three days of tallying, the participant lists for both those with superpowers and ordinary people were finally finalized. As originally planned, the mass participation events began first. There were twelve mass participation events in total: basketball, table tennis, badminton, Chinese chess, half marathon, cycling relay, mahjong, billiards, volleyball, rope skipping, five-a-side football, and boxing. Participation was very high; according to statistics from the central computer room, more than 5 people participated.
The Dawn City Games will begin after the National Games conclude. The games will mainly consist of track and field events, with not many other events.
For the past three days, Li Chenglong has spent every spare moment practicing basketball with his teammates. Fortunately, most of them have some basic basketball skills. Li Chenglong used to be the starting point guard for their special forces basketball team when he was in the Xiaolong squad. Now, due to his height, he has switched to the small forward position. Dong Meng used to play for their company's basketball team, and Liu Dongliang also plays basketball frequently. Among the others, only Jiang Dali hasn't played basketball much, but he will be playing as a backup center, so he won't be used much.
After a week of tallying, the competition finally began. Li Chenglong looked at the rosters in the report: there were 18 men's basketball teams and 12 women's basketball teams. According to the rules of the preliminary round of the superhuman basketball competition, each team would be randomly drawn to play against two different teams within a single day. Teams with two wins would earn 4 points, teams with one win and one loss would earn 2 points, and teams with two losses would be eliminated based on their point differential.
Li Chenglong's team also had a match in the morning. They first faced a team mainly composed of level three ability users, one of whom was a high-ranking figure in Dawn City—Ma Tiancheng. He was currently also a level three ability user. If you counted age, Ma Tiancheng was the third oldest ability user. However, becoming an ability user would extend one's lifespan, and one would gradually return to their prime. Therefore, he had formed a team with ability users from several other departments.
The basketball game was played in a full-court format, with each quarter lasting only five minutes in the preliminary rounds, and the game consisting of four quarters divided into two halves. Li Chenglong and his team won relatively easily, defeating their opponents 61-49. Li Chenglong scored 30 points, the highest score of the game, while Ma Tiancheng also scored 20 points.
The afternoon match was a bit more intense. Li Chenglong's team faced a squad composed of Dawn Army soldiers, the strongest of whom reached level five. While Li Chenglong's team was clearly superior in terms of level alone, the opposing team consisted of an entire battalion, with excellent teamwork and solid basketball fundamentals. In the first quarter alone, Wang Bing was stripped of the ball three times by the opposing point guard. At the end of the first quarter, Li Chenglong's team trailed 20-24 by four points. In a basketball game with only five minutes per quarter, this was already a significant score.
During the break, Li Chenglong said, "The score was very high in the first quarter, and neither of our teams played much defense. Wang Bing, you can rest for a bit. In the second quarter, Liu Dongliang will handle the ball. Jiang Dali, you can replace Jiang Cheng for a bit. I'll pass you the ball, and if you can dunk it, it will be perfect. Let's strengthen our defense and use a full-court press. Since the opponent's outside shooting is good and they don't attack the inside much, we'll use a 32 zone defense, mainly focusing on defending the outside."
After the start of the second quarter, Li Chenglong signaled for substitutions, with Liu Dongliang replacing Wang Bing and Jiang Dali replacing Jiang Cheng. Li Chenglong's full-court press immediately proved effective, forcing the opponents to make several turnovers and steals from them. During this period, Li Chenglong also executed several exquisite passes, culminating in several alley-oops with Jiang Dali. The physical attributes of a superhuman allow even someone 1.8 meters tall to easily dunk. Dong Meng delivered several blocks, drawing cheers from the crowd.
At halftime, Li Chenglong's team led 42-36 by 6 points. At the start of the second half, Li Chenglong returned to his starting lineup. In the third quarter, Li Chenglong hit 5 consecutive three-pointers to widen the gap, and the game ultimately ended 78-65. Li Chenglong scored a whopping 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists, becoming the biggest contributor to the victory, including 5 offensive rebounds out of his 8 rebounds.
After the first day of the preliminary rounds, Li Chenglong's team ranked 4th out of 18 teams with 4 points. When teams have the same number of points, they will be compared by point difference. Wu Gang's team, which has the best point difference, won by 47 points in two games, while Li Chenglong's team only won by 25 points in two games.
During dinner that evening, Zhao Rui also mentioned that the team needed a name, and after discussion, they named the team the Raptors. After the preliminary rounds, 16 teams were selected, and then came the brutal knockout stage. Only one round of matches was held each day, with each match consisting of four quarters of 12 minutes each. Three professional referees officiated the matches, and a professional technical table provided statistics.
Meanwhile, the women's basketball team, through the first day's preliminary rounds, selected 8 teams from 12 for the knockout stage. As arranged by Li Chenglong, the first two rounds were held in an open-air basketball court, while the semifinals and finals were held in the newly built Shuguang Multifunctional Gymnasium. Like a stadium, this gymnasium can host a variety of competitions, including indoor sports such as volleyball, badminton, basketball, boxing, table tennis, and billiards. Notably, Li Xue's team ranked second among all women's basketball teams, second only to Wei Lanxin's team.
The next day was the men's basketball round of 16, with eight games played simultaneously in two sessions on four outdoor basketball courts. Matchups were determined by rankings: the 1st-ranked team played the 16th-ranked team, the 2nd-ranked team played the 15th-ranked team, and so on. Li Chenglong checked the schedule and discovered that his team was facing the same opponent they had played the previous afternoon.
Having learned from yesterday's experience, both teams were noticeably more cautious, focusing more on defense today. Even Li Chenglong struggled under double-teams. Furthermore, with the increased defensive intensity, shooting percentages declined for both the inside and outside players. At halftime, Li Chenglong's Raptors led 55-45. He shot 3-for-9 in the first half, scoring only 10 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, and recording 3 steals. The top scorer was Dong Meng, who, with Li Chenglong drawing more attention, made 7 of 12 three-pointers, scoring 25 points.
In the second half, the Raptors' advantage of having higher-level superhumans and more stamina became apparent. Li Chenglong, Wang Bing, and Liu Dongliang combined for 20 assists, and Lin Ruyi also made several difficult shots. Jiang Cheng transformed into a rebounding monster, grabbing 10 offensive rebounds in the second half alone.
最终李成龙的猛龙队以124比100大胜对手，董猛砍下本队最高的40分。王兵则有10分11助攻5抢断的数据，蒋丞拿下16分22篮板9盖帽。李成龙则是砍下30分12篮板11助攻7个抢断的全能数据，成为曙光城本次篮球大赛的第一个三双获得者。不过全场得分最高的还是对手一个4级风系异能者，同时也是战斗团6团的一名副营长，名叫肖锋，全场三分球25投15中，砍下了60分。
Over the next two days, the quarterfinals and semifinals were successfully completed. Li Chenglong's Raptors team and Wu Gang's Wolf Warriors team successfully eliminated their respective opponents and will meet in the final. To ensure that all residents of Dawn City can watch the grand final, all seats in the stadium will be open, and there will also be broadcast trucks and fixed large screens placed in various locations for live streaming.
两个队伍的核心成员李成龙在这三场淘汰赛中，场均出战40分钟，以百分之50的投篮命中率拿下32分12个篮板13助攻和5次抢断的惊艳数据。而吴刚的战狼队的核心吴刚则场均出战42分钟，以百分之49的投篮命中率拿下38分8篮板8助攻和6次抢断。只看两个人数据来说，可以说是针尖对麦芒了。
另外他们队伍中的第二得分点表现同样不俗，战狼队的郑爱国场均可以砍下30分5篮板5助攻的数据，而猛龙队的董猛，场均也能拿下28分9篮板3助攻5盖帽的数据。两队在决赛的先发分别是：猛龙队是由王兵、赵睿、李成龙、董猛和蒋丞，两个6级两个5级和一个8级。而战狼队则是郑爱国、赵刚、吴刚、郝大海和刘建业，除了吴刚一个7级外，都是6级异能者。
The first events were the men's basketball bronze medal match and the women's basketball championship game. Wang Yousheng's team narrowly defeated their opponents to win bronze, while the final championship game would start promptly at 3 PM. The women's basketball team was very evenly matched, with the score remaining close throughout. Finally, a brilliant combination between Zhao Liying and Li Xue resulted in Li Xue hitting a mid-range shot to secure the victory.
The basketball tournament for those with superpowers was nearing its end, while the tournament for ordinary people would continue for another two days due to the sheer number of participants. Li Chenglong was quite satisfied with the turnout; the high level of enthusiasm among the people demonstrated their strong sense of belonging to Dawn City and indicated that their standard of living was at least at a good level.
While the basketball tournament was being held, various mass sports events were also in full swing. Some events with relatively few participants had already determined the top winners, and Li Chenglong and the logistics department worked together to give everyone corresponding rewards.