All three of these matters struck a nerve in the American basketball world.

The United States was gearing up to defend its Olympic gold medal. After all, they had only placed sixth in the last World Championship—and that was on home soil.

If they failed again in these Olympics, the Dream Team would have to be renamed the Nightmare Team.

The pressure on American basketball was immense.

This year’s Dream Six Team lineup truly lacked star power. If not for Iverson and Duncan holding down the fort, it would have been even harder to get excited about.

"Isaiah Thomas is infamous in the United States. A man rejected by the Dream Team actually went over to China to be a consultant. Nothing he says has any credibility; he’s just trying to curry favor."

"Jack Su is a great player, but his greatness was built on the overall strength of the Pacers. Without them, you think he can win a medal?"

"Jack Su represents American basketball; he’s never proven himself outside the United States. I don’t think he’ll be able to develop any chemistry with his new teammates even after returning to China. The Chinese Team might have a chance to advance, but winning a medal? I think that’ll be incredibly difficult."

"Jack Su’s list of honors may be unprecedented, but if you think he can become a player like Jordan or Magic Johnson, you’re dead wrong."

"The pairing of Isaiah Thomas and Jack Su isn’t surprising at all."

"..."

These were the kinds of comments flooding the American media.

Dream Six Team member Lamar Odom also weighed in: "A lot of people say Jack Su’s playstyle is a lot like mine. I’m looking forward to facing him in the group stage."

Shaun Marion said, "Once Little Sheep Su Xi leaves the Pacers, he’ll become a real little lamb, ready to be devoured by the Dream Six Team."

They were the only two who came forward to make public statements.

They didn’t take Su Xi seriously at all. Instead, they eagerly treated him like a prize for clearing a game. Taking down the youngest Finals MVP in history would drop a ton of loot.

There were quite a few others on the Dream Six Team who felt the same way, and LeBron James was undoubtedly the most eager of them all.

Head coach Larry Brown hated Su Xi to his very core. The previous season had been the most humiliating moment of his career; he had been utterly defeated in his rivalry with Rick Carlisle. Now, many people no longer respected him as they once had.

He needed an Olympic gold medal to salvage his legacy.

As for LeBron James, if he defeated Su Xi in the Olympics, he would definitely make a huge deal out of it.

But, can you guess why they didn’t call him out publicly?

Was it because they didn’t want to?

...

Su Xi spent all his time in the training facility, leaving a deep impression on the national team’s head coach, Yonas. Yonas was a European coach—extremely strict, rigid, and a stickler for details.

The arrival of Su Xi and Isaiah Thomas had actually made him uneasy.

He had originally arrived with a certain prestige—a foreign, European coach. In a place where "an expert from afar is always more respected," his authority had been unquestionable.

But suddenly, the Finals MVP from the world’s biggest league had arrived, along with the renowned Isaiah Thomas. And Isaiah Thomas wasn’t just a two-time NBA champion. He had also established the American CBA, founded the Raptors Club, and laid the foundation for a strong team in Indiana... His management and coaching skills were both commendable.

It was perfectly normal for Yonas to be worried; what concerned him more was a potential clash of philosophies.

European basketball and American basketball were very different.

However, Su Xi impressed him on the very first day of training camp. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave, and he trained harder than anyone. He never complained about the conditioning drills Yonas assigned; in fact, he tackled them with the most enthusiasm. He ran the simple tactical plays without a single complaint, and his attitude was far better than that of the domestic players.

Most importantly, whenever Yonas gave him tactical assignments, he executed them perfectly and accepted them without question. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He didn’t have that arrogant, domineering air you’d expect from an NBA superstar.

Su Xi made no attempt to challenge his authority, even though he had every means to do so.

Meanwhile, Isaiah Thomas, the so-called "NBA troublemaker," was also very quiet. He stood on the sidelines, watching without saying a word.

Only during breaks would he occasionally pull a few guards aside to chat and demonstrate some moves. This led to all the guards flocking to him, asking for advice on their technique.

Isaiah Thomas’s skills were beyond question. In the realm of Point Guard techniques, he was the gold standard. While Magic Johnson was the greatest Point Guard in history, when it came to pure skill and experience at the position, Thomas was the true master of the craft—a living textbook for the game.

Isaiah Thomas stuck to teaching technique and never overstepped his bounds.

This fostered a close collaboration.

Yonas wasn’t a completely inflexible person, either. As the old saying goes, "There are straight trees in the mountains, but no straight men in the world." Who in this world is truly stubborn to the very end?

That evening, Yonas took the initiative to find Su Xi.

He pulled out his playbook to consult with Su Xi, explaining that he wasn’t yet fully familiar with Su Xi’s playstyle and needed his suggestions on tactics.

The conversation was a success.

Su Xi was given significant tactical priority. He received an unlimited green light to shoot and was made the primary ball-handler.

Although the playbook still emphasized playing team basketball centered around the big men in the paint,

in reality, Yao Ming’s workload was significantly reduced.

He would become a pure ’finisher,’ no longer responsible for ball transition or playmaking.

He would also spend more time in the paint, which is where he was most threatening.

Su Xi’s arrival would completely solve the Chinese guards’ problem of needing a screen just to bring the ball up, and it would also unleash Yao Ming’s nuclear-level offensive firepower.

In the FIBA system, which had no defensive three-second rule, Yao Ming was an unrestricted, all-day nuclear weapon in the paint.

This became clear on July 9th, during the warm-up game between the Chinese Team and Angola.

In the Guangzhou Gymnasium, with ten thousand fans watching,

Su Xi put on the No. 10 jersey for the Chinese Team for the first time and recorded 10 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, 8 steals, and 2 blocks.

When the game ended, the score was 111-45.

Angola had originally planned to send two starters and a few rotation players over to do some sightseeing and collect an appearance fee. Instead, Su Xi turned the game into a circus and made a complete fool of them.

Su Xi started the game with three consecutive steals off Angola’s Point Guard, leaving the man so shaken he no longer dared to bring the ball up the court alone. Angola had to assign a big man to come out to half-court just to set a screen for him.

To the Chinese fans, this scene was both familiar and strange.

They couldn’t help but recall the cry of Emperor Wu of Han: "From this day forward, the roles of offense and defense are reversed! If the enemy can invade our lands, then we too can march upon theirs!"

Another change Su Xi brought was that after his smothering defense stifled the opponent’s offense, the Chinese Team’s fast break became effortless.

Su Xi crashing through Angola’s defense was like a sledgehammer hitting tofu. The players from Africa were strong, but compared to Su Xi, the gap was enormous.

Su Xi charged forward like a bull, while the other guards on the Chinese Team just stood by like spectators watching the show.

Yao Ming had never had it so easy in the paint.

"Angola isn’t a high-caliber team. Their skill level is about on par with an American high school team."

Su Xi told the team manager after the game, "Don’t schedule opponents like this in the future. There’s no training value."

Uh...

The team manager looked a little embarrassed.

Because just a week earlier, the Chinese Team had lost to this very same team. At the time, Yao Ming hadn’t played, and Wang Zhizhi had yet to rejoin the squad.

The Chinese fans went wild. They had only ever seen scorelines like this from the Dream Team. When the Dream Team played internationally, it was normal for them to win by sixty or seventy points, with their score in the triple digits while holding opponents to double digits.

"I woke up to find that we’re the world power now."

On the website hupupu, this post became the top trending topic.

Here’s what users were saying in the comments:

"That was so fucking hype! I almost crushed my own balls from excitement! How many years has it been? How many years since we’ve had a win this satisfying?!"

"My dad asked me why I was watching the game on my knees. I told him the Chinese Team was up by 38 at the half. Then he got on his knees and watched the rest of the game with me."

"Su Xi is a beast! And I feel like he was still holding back. Isaiah Thomas was right, he’s perfect for FIBA. He’s strong, has great handles, and his defense is so damn tough and sticky. Who can handle that?"

"I’m calling it: this is the strongest Chinese Team of all time!"

"With Su Xi, Yao Ming, and Wang Zhizhi, this isn’t just about making it out of Asia anymore. We should be thinking about taking on the Dream Team!"

"It should be: Invincible against all, save for the Dream Team!"

"..."

The Chinese fans were ecstatic.

Meanwhile, Dream Team fans had little to cheer about. Their team was also in Europe for training, but in a warm-up game in Cologne, Germany, they had been crushed by Italy by 17 points.

Comparing the two results, was the Dream Team really doomed?

...