Shandong men's basketball team 102:119 Qingdao, the away game ended dismally
"Little brother" comes to class and "big brother" is not easy to do
A steady spring rain fell in Qingdao, giving the visiting Shandong Express Men's Basketball Team a chill.
On the evening of April 2, the CBA regular season staged the last "Qilu Derby" of the season. The Shandong Men's Basketball Team lost to the Qingdao Men's Basketball Team for the third time this season with a score of 102:119 in an away game. Amid the roaring cheers of the home team's fans, the Shandong Men's Basketball Team was dejected. Ending all away games of the season.
Shandong, which missed the playoffs, and Qingdao, which advanced early, have completely different trends this season, which also highlights the gap between the two sides. Although the reality is cruel, it also makes the Shandong Men's Basketball Team realize how important stable investment and fresh blood are to a team.
One provincial team, two destinies
This family is happy and that family is sad
Before the game, all 12 teams entering the playoffs this season have been determined in advance. The Qingdao Men's Basketball Team locked in the playoffs 5 rounds in advance and occupied the 8th place; the Shandong Men's Basketball Team was eliminated 6 rounds in advance and missed the playoffs again after 9 years.
The mentality of both sides in this game is also different. With the support of the home court, the Qingdao Men's Basketball Team became more and more relaxed as they played, leading by 24 points at one point; and from the cold start, it can be felt that the Shandong Men's Basketball Team played very nervously.
After the game, team coach Ding Wei was obviously in a bad mood. At the press conference, he hurriedly left the venue without saying anything. On the contrary, Qingdao men's basketball coach Liu Weiwei chatted a lot with reporters and looked forward to the playoffs.
As the "big brother", the Shandong Men's Basketball Team can only watch the brothers from the same province continue to compete in the playoffs this time.
If you sail against the current, you will retreat if you don't advance. Even though the Shandong men's basketball team's scoring average is higher than last season, the winning rate of less than 50% shows that they have gradually stopped moving. Beijing Enterprises and Qingdao, which failed to enter the playoffs last season, successfully broke through this season; Nanjing Tongxi, once regarded as a "fish belly", finished 13th this season, just one step away from the playoffs. The Tianjin team, which was second to last last season, is also ranked in front of the Shandong Men's Basketball Team this season.
Changed owners three times and changed coaches many times
Twists and turns affect team style
If a professional club wants to achieve rapid development, it must have stable investors and a stable coaching staff.
In 2014, the Shandong Provincial Sports Bureau, Shandong Hi-Speed Group and Shandong Gold Group signed the Shandong Men's Basketball Cooperation Framework and the Shandong Men's Basketball Property Rights Transfer Agreement, and the Shandong Men's Basketball Team was handed over to Shandong Hi-Speed Group. Four years later, Shandong Hi-Speed Group began to intend to retire, and Shandong Xiwang Group officially took over the team. In September 2021, Shandong Hi-Speed Group took over the Shandong Men's Basketball Team again. It is now in its third season.
In the head coaching position that is more closely related to the first team, there are six coaches including Caesar, Gong Xiaobin, Wu Qinglong, Xu Changsuo, Wang Han, and the current coach Ding Wei.
In the past 10 years, the Shandong Men's Basketball Team has changed owners three times and its head coach six times. In the past three seasons, the coach has been changed every year. Different coaches have different styles. The Shandong Men's Basketball Team has also gone from focusing on defense back then, to playing "run and gun", to today's "four different styles", and it is difficult to form a stable and suitable style of play.
In contrast, the Qingdao men's basketball team is improving steadily. In 2017, Guosen Group took over 90% of the equity of the original Qingdao Double Star Basketball Club from Double Star Group and established Qingdao Guosen Double Star Basketball Club Co., Ltd. In July 2020, the Qingdao Men's Basketball Team was completely taken over by Guosen Group, and the club completely entered the "Guosen Era". With every plan in mind, Guosen Group, the financial backer behind the Qingdao Men’s Basketball Team, has supported the team for seven years.
From the perspective of coaching replacement, the Qingdao men's basketball team is also a more stable team. In 2022, head coach Wu Qinglong, who led the team for three seasons, left the team, and current coach Liu Weiwei took over as the coach of the Qingdao Men's Basketball Team. Judging from the current situation, the latter will continue to be the coach in the future.
Seven newcomers, only one blooms
When will the "old tree" sprout new leaves?
In the "Qilu Derby", the matchup between Shandong men's basketball center Tao Hanlin and Qingdao super star Yang Hansen has always been the focus. In this game, Yang Hansen achieved a "double-double" of 17 points and 12 rebounds, while veteran Tao Hanlin played less than 20 minutes and scored 6 points and 5 rebounds. In the third quarter, Yang Hansen received a pass from his teammate and completed a dunk. He chased Tao Hanlin to no avail and could only watch him "set the sky on fire". I don’t know what “Little Shark” thinks when he looks at the young man leaping high in front of him.
This duel between "Qilu's number one center" is like a microcosm of the two teams.
As a CBA first-year team, the Shandong Men's Basketball Team, which is about to enter its 30th year, and many veterans in the team are caught in a "mid-life crisis" - young players are embarrassed to be used, and there is a serious talent gap.
In fact, this season, the Shandong Hi-Speed men's basketball first team has recruited as many as 7 newcomers, but only Chen Jiuzhang has successfully squeezed into the regular rotation and become one of the few bright spots among the newcomers. However, standing out does not mean spring. From the overall quality point of view, the problem of young talents in the Shandong Men's Basketball Team has not been fundamentally improved.
The imperfect construction of the team echelon is one of the important reasons. In 2017, the Shandong Youth Men's Basketball Team joined Anhui Wenyi, but the team's personnel recruitment encountered big trouble. After Shandong Hi-Speed re-entered the club, it restarted the construction of the youth training echelon, but it will take time for it to bear fruit.
On the other hand, the Qingdao Men's Basketball Team, which officially started its CBA journey in 2008, is growing vigorously like saplings in spring. As one of the youngest teams in the league, the Qingdao Men's Basketball Team has returned to the playoffs after two seasons thanks to the "youth whirlwind" created by a group of rising stars such as Yang Hansen, Wang Ruize, Duan Angjun, and Zhao Jiayi.
This is inseparable from their deep youth training foundation. It is understood that the Qingdao Men’s Basketball Team currently has more than 60 five-level youth training players including U21, U19, U17, U15 and U13. Yang Hansen was selected into the club's youth training system from Zibo at the age of 15.
"Spring rain is as precious as oil." When will the nearly dry Shandong men's basketball team receive the "spring rain" that makes new seedlings grow?
Qilu Evening News Feng Zihan