The 1979 basketball match between the Chinese Bayi Team and the U.S. National Team

From April 7 to 16, 1979, the U.S. men’s national basketball team, composed of all-American college basketball stars, visited China. The U.S. team, which considered itself invincible, sent a national team composed of all-American college stars (the average height reached 2.01 meters, which impressed Chinese players at the time) to visit China. To demonstrate the invincibility of American basketball in the country with the largest population in the world. You know, at that time, NBA players never participated in competitions organized by FIBA. The teams that represented the United States, even the U.S. team that won the men's basketball championship at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, were all composed of college players. Before the game, many people who watched the training of the American team said: "The Bayi team will lose at least 30 points." However, the result of the game was unexpected. Facing the U.S. team with an average height of 2.01 meters and 9 players over two meters tall, Lu Ting, then captain of the Bayi Engineering Team, asked all the comrades of the Bayi Men’s Basketball Team at the preparation meeting: “Do you have the confidence to defeat them? "No one picked up the fight. Captain Lu couldn't wait any longer, so he pointed at the captain Wu Xinshui: "Xiao Wu, tell me." Wu Xinshui looked at the eyes of the whole team turned to him and said categorically: "Fight, fight!" "Me too. Fight!" Mu Tiezhu, who is 2.28 meters tall and is known as the "Chinese Giant", said. "There's me." "There's me, I'm just like them." Kuang Lubin, Guo Yonglin and others followed suit not to be outdone. On the evening of April 9, the Bayi team played against the American team. From the beginning, the Bayi Men’s Basketball Team played smoothly. The team was organized by Wu Xinshui, with Mu Tiezhu attacking hard on the inside, Xing Weining and Li Yulin playing alternately to provide support at the second center position, and sharpshooters Guo Yonglin and Kuang Lubin flourishing on the outside. The Bayi team had a good start and led all the way. The American team found that the key to the Bayi team was the little man Wu Xinshui, so they sent a special person to carry out oppressive defense against Wu Xinshui and pay special attention to him. Wu Xinshui, who was 35 years old at the time and covered with injuries, was very active on the court. He tried his best to get rid of the defense and rushed left and right. But after all, age is not forgiving and Wu Xinshui, who spent a lot of energy, sprained his foot during a steal shortly after the start of the second half. Wu Xinshui can no longer remember the tenth time he sprained his foot in the game, let alone the dozens of times he has been injured in the game. His head, nose, eyes, waist, legs, knees, feet, and all parts of his body, including his little finger, were injured. His right clavicle was once shattered and fractured during a game. After the injury, Wu Xinshui cheered for himself, "As long as I can persist, I will never leave the court." He got an injection of anesthesia after the game and told the coach: "I can still play." Then he limped back onto the court. After a while, the anesthetic gradually lost its effect. He endured the pain and endured a load beyond his physical ability, and persisted until the final gong sounded. In this game, the Bayi Men's Basketball Team defeated its opponent 104 to 96. Wu Xinshui and Mu Tiezhu each scored 25 points, Guo Yonglin scored 23 points, Kuang Lubin scored 14 points, and Xing Weining scored 11 points. Of course the American team was not convinced and offered to play another game? The Chinese gave the guests this opportunity to save face. Six days later, the Bayi Men’s Basketball Team faced off against the United States again. The coaching staff analyzed that due to Wu Xinshui’s excellent performance in the last game, the United States team must focus on Wu Xinshui. If Wu Xinshui cannot play, this game The ball is not easy to hit. According to the coach's intention, the injured Wu Xinshui was started again to attract the opponent's attention. As expected, the U.S. team made Wu Xinshui the focus of its defense, and fell right into the trap set by the coach of the Bayi team to use Wu Xinshui to attract and suppress the opponent's defensive strength, creating conditions for the Bayi men's basketball team's inside attack. . It was just a pain for Wu Xinshui, who dragged his swollen injured foot until the end of the game and once again successfully completed the task. Although he did not score a point in this game, the Bayi team defeated the American team again 72-69. The Bayi men's basketball team defeated the national team composed of American college stars twice, which became a legend in the Chinese basketball world. It was a feast for the eyes of the 18,000 spectators. At the same time, it also gained face for Chinese basketball.

This game received great attention from all walks of life at the time. The only professional sports newspaper at the time, "Sports News" (now "China Sports News"), even put the news of the Bayi team's victory over the US national team on the front page. Cover this news at great length. Only by defeating your opponent can you win the opponent's respect! Four months after the U.S. national team, which was made up of college students, lost two games to the Bayi team, the Americans came back to "seek revenge." They actually sent the 1977-78 NBA championship team, the Washington Bullets, led by league MVP Unseld, to visit China and stated that they would have another game with the Bayi team. The Bayi team lost this game, 85:96, losing by 11 points. At the end of the first half, the Bayi team still led by 1 point, but after 20 minutes of the second half, it was obvious that their physical strength could not keep up, and they were full of loopholes, and finally lost.