Volume 1: The Road to the European Emperor Chapter 35: Meeting is fate!
After visiting Venice, the embassy had already helped him get a travel permit.
At that time, our motherland was not as powerful as it is today, but its efficiency was already very high.
After returning from Italy, Sun Hao put this "unforgettable experience" aside and began to prepare for the new season.
The team's performance was partly responsible for his elimination in the semi-finals last season, but his personal abilities still have a lot of room for improvement.
Not to mention long-range shooting, his first step in ultra-long three-point shooting also needs to be improved.
Training, plus occasionally going out to play football with Prigioni and others, more than two months have passed in the blink of an eye, and the new La Liga season is about to begin.
At this time Sun Hao received a message.
He was not from Italy, so his case became an unsolved case with no result.
The news was released by the European Basketball Association.
One year after the European Super League was suspended, some of Europe's top basketball teams and leagues are unable to sit still.
They created a new sports event across Europe based on the private organization model, and Sun Hao was very familiar with the name of this event.
European Champions League, abbreviated as UEFA Champions League.
La Liga is one of “some of the top leagues in Europe”.
According to the rules of the competition, there are 24 teams participating in the first Champions League, and La Liga has three places.
In other words, as the top team in the La Liga regular season last season, Real Madrid will not only have to compete in La Liga in the new season, but also in the Champions League.
This is undoubtedly great news for Sun Hao.
Because of the uniqueness of Europe, the Champions League is equivalent to a small World Cup or Olympics.
The competition is played across borders, with matches interspersed between leagues of various countries, and foreign players can also participate to balance the strength, which makes it extremely competitive and interesting.
Because of this, its exposure and influence will be groundbreaking.
Take the most direct broadcasting as an example. In the first Champions League, there were as many as 15 major European media outlets, which is something La Liga cannot compare to at all.
Calderon made a splash last year, but in the end he was not actually selected by an NBA team.
Instead, Ginobili, who was playing in Italy, was selected at the end of the second round.
This shows a problem, that La Liga’s current influence in the whole of Europe is still limited.
If Sun Hao wants to run for election next year, the Champions League is undoubtedly the best stage.
A week later, the La Liga curtain opened and Real Madrid also started its journey in the new season.
Their first game was against the Radar team.
Facing an opponent that was eliminated in the first round of last season's playoffs, Real Madrid played with a greater gap in strength than last season.
71 to 51, a 20-point massacre.
Compared with last season, the team also showed a higher level of tacit understanding, especially between Prigioni, Sun Hao and Gabayosa .
Sun Hao had 12 points and 2 assists, Gabayosa had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Prigioni had 8 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists.
After a season of running-in, plus training and playing together during the offseason, they already have the feeling of Real Madrid's trident.
Defeating the Radar team was just the beginning. In the following nearly half a month, Real Madrid won consecutive games without a single defeat, starting with an 8-game winning streak.
Sun Hao averaged 9.6 points per game in 8 games, ranking second on the team only after Gabayosa's 10.5 points.
Moreover, his field goal percentage and three-point shooting percentage reached 52% and 40.3% respectively.
These data have been significantly improved compared to last season.
It was at this time that Real Madrid faced their first Champions League match against Virtus Bologna from Italy.
Lasso attaches great importance to the first game of the Champions League.
The night before leaving for Italy, Lazo organized the team members to watch videos together in the video room.
At that time, technology was still relatively backward and recordings were basically made on videotapes. Moreover, this was the first Champions League and our understanding of the opponents was limited.
As soon as the video started, Lazo guided the players to focus on the core defender of Bologna Virtus.
Sasha Danilovich.
Former NBA star, top shooter.
Although he only played two seasons in the NBA, in his first season, 1995-1996, he averaged 13.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
In that year's playoffs, although the Heat team he played for was eliminated in the first round, he averaged an amazing 25 points and 4 assists in three playoff games.
In the following season, he moved to the Mavericks and averaged 16.6 points per game in the regular season.
But later he chose to return to the European league. Now he is 29 years old and at his peak.
The players Sun Hao had come into contact with before, whether it was Gasol or Navarro, or even Fernandez and Gabayosa around him, were all younger versions.
Danilovic, who we will face in the next game, is a real famous star.
And as both are defenders, they are bound to face off on the court.
The first game of the Champions League is a tough one!
The next day, Real Madrid boarded a plane to Sicily, Italy, where Virtus Bologna is home.
This is also Sun Hao’s second trip to Sicily.
When he arrived at Palermo Airport, Sun Hao still felt very familiar.
You have to know that it has only been four months since he last came here.
When getting on the team bus, Sun Hao encountered a police patrol and consciously quickened his pace to get on the bus.
He was really afraid of meeting the policeman. If his teammates knew what happened during the offseason, he would be laughed at for the whole season.
"Sun is a little impatient. I think he will definitely have a good performance tomorrow night."
Looking at Sun Hao's agile figure, Prigioni turned to Gabayosa and said.
"Hopefully he'll be in a good mood so we can have a chance to have a good meal."
Garbajosa nodded in agreement.
Prigioni laughed when he heard this.
It can be said that they and Sun Hao got along very "pleasantly" during the offseason.
This is also an important reason why Real Madrid has made a perfect start to the new season.
But then again , who doesn’t like to be friends with someone who can cook?
Like Spain, basketball is not the number one sport in Italy, but the basketball atmosphere here is stronger.
All this is thanks to the Italian team's recent performance in international basketball.
They finished sixth in last year's World Championships and won the European Championships that just ended this summer.
It was Real Madrid’s first game in the Champions League and also the first game in the Champions League for an Italian team.
The next night, the Sicilian Stadium, which has a capacity of 6,000, was packed.
The success of the Champions League model can also be seen from the attendance rate. Even if it is only the first game, it has such great appeal.
The Real Madrid team arrived at the stadium an hour early to warm up.
After practicing for half an hour, Sun Hao felt his body was refreshed and sat on the sidelines to rest.
It was at this time that the players of Bologna Virtus team finally arrived.
Sun Hao saw Danilovich at a glance.
Lasso emphasized this so many times yesterday that it’s hard not to make people pay attention.
Ever since Danilovic started his warm-up shooting, Sun Hao's attention has never left him.
After watching it, he felt that it would be difficult to play tonight.
Danilovic is really unique. He is even better at three-point shooting than he looks in the video.
Russo said yesterday that the player, who is in his first season in the NBA, shot 43.6% from three-point range.
Although it was not included in the NBA statistics due to insufficient number of games played, it was an outrageous hit rate in an era when three-pointers were not yet popular.
And judging from the warm-up, his hit rate is no lower than Sun Hao's.
While Sun Hao was thinking, Danilovic had already gone off the court to rest.
Just at this moment, his eyes suddenly froze, and then an incredible expression appeared on his face.
He was staring at Danilovic in front and didn't notice it. It was only after the latter left the court that he noticed that there was someone on the court shooting three-pointers.
And the guy in the first three points, with a straight nose, a handsome face, and Prigioni...
This is actually Ginobili!
The crew cut, which was totally inconsistent with his impression of long flowing hair, was really eye-catching!
Ginobili, playing for Virtus Bologna?
That's not right. He remembered that when he was at the police station, Lartiqi said that Ginobili should be playing for Reggio Calabria.
Did he misremember it? Or did Ginobili change teams?
Sun Hao turned his head and looked at Danilovic again. Not long after the latter sat down, a young player next to him handed him a towel.
He suddenly felt that the latter was more likely.
Although he never told anyone about what happened at the police station, there is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable, and most of the Italian teams probably knew about it.
This kind of thing is never a good thing, especially for an overseas player. Although it didn't happen, it definitely had an impact.
Otherwise, it is really hard to explain why a player who is playing well and has been selected by the NBA would suddenly change teams.
Moreover, the core player of this new team is also a shooting guard like him.
But this also made Sun Hao more curious.
The butterfly effect brought about by his own time travel did not affect Ginobili.
In other words, Ginobili in history also played in this environment.
After the warm-up, the opening ceremony began.
First the visiting team, then the home team, all the players of both teams are introduced.
Sun Hao was the third to last player to appear on the Real Madrid team.
At this moment, on the other end of the court, Ginobili was completely stunned, as if he was petrified in an instant.
Because it wasn't long since they met, he still had a deep impression of Sun Hao.
The guy he met by chance at the police station was also a basketball player?
What's more, I met him in the Champions League?
This was not only magical, but more importantly, both sides would have to shake hands later, and he didn't dare to think about it any further.
But what is coming will come.
At the end of the entrance ceremony, the players from both sides exchanged a final handshake.
When Sun Hao and Ginobili shook hands, the two looked into each other's eyes. Sun Hao will remember the latter's expression for the rest of his life.
That was an expression that was more uncomfortable than constipation, and it was so painful that he would laugh even when he was asleep.
If Ginobili were Chinese, he would definitely sigh at this moment.
If we are not destined to meet, we will not meet each other. If we are destined to meet, we will meet each other even if we are thousands of miles apart!
Looking at Ginobili's magic, Sun Hao actually wanted to say something.
Meeting is fate! Don’t worry about the past!
