On June 30, the final between China and Australia in the U18 Women's Basketball Asian Cup attracted a lot of attention because of the talented girl Zhang Ziyu.
In this final, No. 19 Zhang Ziyu started.
Because the Australian team is known for its strong body and tough playing style in the world basketball world, Zhang Ziyu, who met an opponent of this level for the first time, ushered in the most severe test of his basketball career, which is equivalent to Zhang Ziyu's "college entrance examination".
As soon as he opened, Zhang Ziyu received a different blow. In the opening jump ball, the other teams generally gave up outright, but the Australian team not only actively participated in the scrum, but also grabbed the ball.
In the game, we found that the Australian players were different from the players of other teams who hung on their waists, and they actually jumped up to hit Zhang Ziyu's hand, and even occasionally touched the ball.
In this game, the head coach of the Chinese team arranged it was Zhang Ziyu's tactic to respond first at the top of the three-point arc, and at the beginning, there were two leaks. Once Zhang Ziyu fell, and the second time Zhang Ziyu passed the ball back to the backcourt for a violation. With 5 minutes and 20 seconds left, Zhang Ziyu only scored one assist and two free throws, and did not score a single in-sport score, so he was substituted for the break.
With 3 minutes and 15 seconds left in the first quarter, Zhang Ziyu came on the court again, made 4 baskets, missed one, made 2 free throws, and missed one. It wasn't until the last minute or so that Zhang Ziyu scored the first goal, and the Chinese team ended the first quarter with 3 points behind 19-22.
In the second quarter, Zhang Ziyu came on the court with 8 minutes 06 seconds left and the Chinese team was 23-24 behind, and with 5 minutes and 58 seconds left in the game, the Chinese team was 27-35 and 8 points behind.
After Zhang Ziyu went off the court, the Chinese team collapsed, trailing by 12 points at 32-46. Zhang Ziyu went up again.
On the court this time, Zhang Ziyu scored 5 goals in a row, each time it was a combination of missed shots + grabbed rebounds + shot again, and played three points twice, but the free throws did not score. The Chinese team played a wave of scoring small climaxes and chased it to 42-46.
But the Aussies played up their level in the end, scoring three straight points to end the first half with a seven-point lead at 49-42. But at the end of the first half, Zhang Ziyu seemed to have adapted to Australia's defence, and China still had a chance in the second half.
Sure enough, in the second half, Zhang Ziyu continued to start, and she began to use the mobile scoring method, stride layups, turn layups, dribble layups, and grab rebounds, steals, and blocks, and it took only 4 minutes for the Chinese team to draw 53.
Then, Zhang Ziyu continued to play, and the Chinese team began to lead, leading by five points at 61-56 at the peak.
However, after Zhang Ziyu went off the break, the Chinese team couldn't stand it again, and at the end of the third quarter, the Chinese team fell behind by 5 points 63-68.
In the fourth quarter, Zhang Ziyu started again, and the Chinese team played twice to only 4 points, but at this time, the players also wanted to be heroes, began to shoot waves, and missed the opportunity to tie.
After Zhang Ziyu played for about 6 minutes, his physical strength decreased significantly and he was replaced. This time we were replaced, we thought that the Chinese team was letting Zhang Ziyu take a break, and then go on the field again for the final decisive battle with the Australian team. But without Zhang Ziyu's Chinese team collapsed directly, until the last minute, the head coach did not arrange Zhang Ziyu to play again, and the Chinese team lost the final 79-96, missed the championship, and was the runner-up.
After the game, Zhang Ziyu hid her face and cried bitterly, and the coaches and players came to comfort her. It's good, big baby has a precious competitive heart.
In this final, although the Chinese team lost, Zhang Ziyu won. She scored 42 points on 18-of-36 shooting, shooting 50% from the field and free throws, as well as 14 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. The rest of the Chinese team did not score in double figures.
Australia's radiant No. 4 looked impressively strong, with only 31 points. It can be seen that Zhang Ziyu's performance is completely unique.
After the game, Zhang Ziyu also won the best center and the MVP of this tournament, which was fully affirmed.
Zhang Ziyu was stunned in the "college entrance examination" with the Australian team, from the first quarter to the end of the second quarter and the third quarter to dominate the court again, and finally scored the top score, she has passed all the tests and can go out of the mountain.
So, will Zhang Ziyu be admitted to the national team and be sent to the Chinese women's basketball team for the Paris Olympics? Let's wait and see.