Data map: Chinese team players Yi Jianlian (right) and Zhou Qi (left) high-five.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Jimin
Chinanews Client Beijing, August 31 (Xingchen Liu) Two years ago, August 31 was the first day of the 2019 Basketball World Cup.
In the Cadillac Center in Beijing, the Chinese men's basketball team used their strength in the second half to beat the Côte d'Ivoire team 70:55 and ushered in a good start.
Fight at the door of the house and get a good start.
In the eyes of the outside world, it is only a matter of time before the Chinese men's basketball team qualify, and then achieve the best results of the Asian team and enter the Tokyo Olympics.
However, the script did not proceed as expected. After that, the Chinese men's basketball team failed to qualify for the team and lost the opportunity to directly qualify for the Olympics.
This story eventually turned into an indelible pain in the hearts of countless fans.
Two years have passed quickly. When the person in charge of Shuaiyin became Du Feng, the best coach of the CBA for three consecutive seasons, when there were more young players in the team, the new Chinese men's basketball team has once again. Set off.
This time, they still have a long way to go.
Data map: Yao Ming (second from left), chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, talks with Chinese team player Yi Jianlian (first from left) on the sidelines.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Jimin
Bring memories back to 2019 again.
October 31 of that year, the day before the start of the new CBA season.
The Chinese Basketball Association officially released a statement that Guangdong Men's Basketball coach Du Feng will be the head coach of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team.
In the previous league, the Guangdong team once again won the CBA championship trophy after a lapse of 6 years.
Du Feng's return helped the team to achieve an 11-game winning streak in the playoffs. People have more hopes for the Chinese team he leads.
However, the sudden outbreak of the epidemic broke the supposedly stable preparations. International matches were postponed and the CBA league could only be played in closed competition areas.
Faced with many challenges, the Chinese men's basketball team has attracted much attention.
Finally, about a year after the end of the 2019 Basketball World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team announced the training list for the first time. Nine of the 24 players have not yet been honed in the CBA.
Data map: Guangdong Hongyuan team held the 2019-2020 season CBA championship parade.
The picture shows the head coach of Guangdong Hongyuan Team Du Feng (middle) signaling to the fans on the parade bus.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Jimin
The epidemic has caused the competition to continue to be postponed, and the first appearance of "Du Jiajun" in the international arena is already in June this year.
On June 13, the Chinese men's basketball team played in the Asian preliminaries and the 14-man roster was settled. After 647 days, the Chinese men's basketball team returned to the international arena.
Even if there are only more than two weeks of training time, even if only three players, Zhou Qi, Zhao Jiwei, and Ren Junfei, have participated in the 2019 Basketball World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team still withstands the pressure and successfully advanced to the Asian Cup finals with a record of four wins. .
In the face of the old rivals of the Japanese men's basketball team, the Chinese team played the role of a chaser for most of the time.
In the final quarter, the "1-3-1" defense was played and the audience pressed on. When the young players headed by Hu Mingxuan killed and wounded the basket one after another, when Du Feng and the players roared and clapped, the Chinese men's basketball team reversed and defeated their opponents.
The Chinese men's basketball team lost to the Greek team.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
When it was transferred to the Tokyo Olympics defeating tournament, facing the Canadian team with 8 active NBA players and the 6th-ranked Greek team at the time, the Chinese men's basketball team failed to create a miracle and lost both games.
But compared to the negative voices during the 2019 World Cup, this time, everyone is more willing to give this Chinese team, which is in the transition from new to old, more tolerance.
In two years, the new Chinese men's basketball team has indeed experienced too much.
Getting out of the shadow of defeat requires not only courage, but also determination to reform.
Data map: On September 8, 2019, the Chinese men's basketball team lost 73-86 to Nigeria in the final match of the second stage of the World Cup group stage, and lost the qualification to pass the Tokyo Olympics.
At present, this Chinese men's basketball team has formed a team framework combining "old, middle and youth".
As the oldest player in the team, Zhou Peng, the captain of the "big brother", teaches skills to young people on and off the court.
After Yi Jianlian temporarily withdrew from the national team due to the recovery cycle, Zhou Qi became the most trustworthy person inside.
Before going to the Asian preliminaries and losing the Olympic Games, Zhou Qi had a tear in his retina. He was supposed to be recuperating after the operation, but he immediately rushed to the Philippines to join the national team.
In the second game with the Japanese team, he used his height to contain his opponents and hit the basket at the last moment of the final quarter, which became the key to the men's basketball team to reverse their opponents.
When he lost the qualifying match, Zhou Qi scored 6 points in the opening game against Canada. Against Greece, he surrendered a "double-double" data, with the highest efficiency value in the team.
When the Chinese men's basketball team needed the name correction and redemption most, Zhou Qi carried the banner of the team.
As the MVP of the Xinke Finals, Hu Mingxuan has become the brightest star of the Chinese men's basketball team this summer.
With sharp breakthroughs, decisive three-pointers, and excellent overall outlook, the 23-year-old Hu Mingxuan has shown maturity incompatible with his age in the international arena.
He scored 24 points against Canada, and contributed 16 points and 5 assists against Greece. The three-point shooting percentage is as high as 62.5%. This report card is already excellent enough.
Image source: Screenshot of the FIBA Asian Cup official website.
The FIBA Asian Cup official website wrote a long article for this young player, "Only time will verify how much potential Hu Mingxuan has." The growth of a group of young players represented by Hu Mingxuan will also illuminate the future of the Chinese men's basketball team. The way forward.
It is true that there is still a big gap between the Chinese men's basketball team and the world's top teams, and bridging the gap in strength cannot be accomplished overnight.
The CBA League’s tournament system and the league’s foreign aid policies have greatly improved the playing time of local players. How to continue to tap potential young players in the league and improve the immediate combat power of domestic players will become a major issue. Target.
Back to the Asian arena, in the face of Iran, Japan, South Korea and other old opponents, while continuing to maintain a strong performance, the Chinese men's basketball team needs to have a longer-term vision.
The Australian men's basketball team, which is showing off in the Tokyo arena, currently firmly occupies the top position of the Asian team in the FIBA rankings.
How the Chinese team can further narrow the gap with its opponents through participating in international competitions and targeted training is also critical.
Data map: The 2020-21 season CBA finals came to an end.
The Guangdong men's basketball team defeated the Liaoning men's basketball team 110:103 and won the CBA championship.
The picture shows Yao Ming presenting awards to the championship team.
Image source: Visual China
The future road of the Chinese men's basketball team is likely to be full of thorns.
Du Feng needs more time to engrave his own brand on the team. After all, it is quite difficult to complete this task in just a few weeks of training. With the continuous reform of the CBA League, more game opportunities will help. The progress of young players; when the injury dissipates, if several main players can return, the strongest lineup of the Chinese men's basketball team will also meet the outside world.
On the second anniversary of the opening of the 2019 Basketball World Cup, on August 31 this year, the draw ceremony for the 2023 Basketball World Cup qualifiers will be held.
In the World Cup qualifiers, the Asian Cup of Men's Basketball and the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Chinese men's basketball team will play again with hope.
"The national team is where you want to kill you. It is where you need to give everything to help fans across the country fulfill their dreams." At the 2020 China Men's Basketball Training and Induction Ceremony, Yi Jianlian sent such a letter to the young players. The weight of the letter.
Perhaps every player has to "kill his life" as Yi Jianlian said, and the future of the Chinese men's basketball team will be illuminated.
(over)