After the Chinese men s basketball team struggled with Joeljevic, Guo Shiqiang played modern basketball instead

A Chinese men's basketball team, which lacks 7 old players and does not have naturalized players, won all three games in the group stage to lock in Group C. This result may not be beyond the expectations of many fans and media. After all, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and India have relatively limited overall strength, and they are not popular teams competing for Olympic tickets.

But when entering the quarterfinals, the Chinese men's basketball team defeated South Korea and secured the semi-finals to New Zealand to secure the finals. The resilience, team style, and the advantages of the high-end lineup of this Chinese men's basketball team seem to be further reflected.

What did Guo Shiqiang do right?

Many fans have an illusion that Joeljevic, who pursued the grand lineup in the last Olympic cycle, failed to make a breakthrough in transformation. Instead, Guo Shiqiang played modern basketball in this Asian Cup:

In the past 5 games, the Chinese men's basketball team averaged 65 shots per game, accounting for 26.2 three-pointers, reaching 40%, with an average of 10.8 shots per game, and a shooting percentage of 41.2%.

This Chinese men's basketball team has undoubtedly set a new high for a long time in the past. It should be noted that in the two Olympic cycles, the Chinese men's basketball team's three-pointers have become the norm, including having Wu Qian and Chen Linjian, which are difficult for them to reflect the level of the domestic league on the FIBA stage.

What is more worthy of recognition is Zhu Junlong, two tall forwards, Wang Junjie maintains the average data of at least one three-pointer per game. Wang Junjie averages 2.2 per game, with a shooting percentage of up to 55.6%. Although there has been an embarrassment in the back line of 15 shots in South Korea, from 5 games, Hu Mingxuan, Zhao Rui and Cheng Shuipeng's three-point shooting percentages have exceeded 40%, of which Zhao Rui averaged 2.2 shots per game, which is the highest in the team.

Gao Shiyan and Liao Sanning both have strong functions. One is good at biting defense, while the other is the offensive advantage to make up for the shortcomings of insufficient experience on the defensive end.

Another point is also a free throw shooting rate criticized by the outside world. The Chinese men's basketball team has averaged 20.4 free throws per game in the past five games, and 16 hits per game. If Hu Jinqiu's free throw shooting rate was significantly abnormal in the first game, the Chinese men's basketball team gave 20 of 22 shots against New Zealand and 10 of 13 shots against South Korea, obviously not losing the chain. In an interview with the Asian Cup, Guo Shiqiang revealed that during the average training, he attaches great importance to three-point shooting and free throw shooting percentage, and has done a lot of exercises. Perhaps it is also a further emphasis on the coaching staff's ideological attention. The entire Chinese men's basketball team can hand in a three-point shooting percentage of more than 40 in the official game, with a free throw shooting percentage of nearly 80%, which is quite convincing.

Another underestimated adjustment in the Chinese men's basketball team, with no players below 1.85 meters in lineup, and the height of the core rotation is close to that of the Men's Basketball World Cup in 23 years.

From players who average playing time for more than 10 minutes in the Chinese men's basketball team, you can see Hu Jinqiu 2.10 meters, Yu Jiahao 2.21 meters, Wang Junjie 2.06 meters, Zhu Junlong 2.03 meters, Zhao Rui 1.95 meters, Hu Mingxuan 1.91 meters, Cheng Shuipeng 1.91 meters, and Liao Sanning 1.91 meters.

Previously, Zhou Qi participated in the commentary game and joked that Zhao Rui was 1.95 meters tall, and that he might play the swingman in the 3-4 position in the South Korean team. Hu Mingxuan's view that he wanted to play the 3-3 position may further confirm that the Chinese men's basketball team is in line with European and American strong teams in terms of material selection.

The horizontal comparison is the lineup of Taipei, China. Although it has naturalized players to fill the shortcomings in the inside, the size of other positions suffered a great loss and lost to New Zealand for 40 points in the group stage. In the quarterfinals, Taipei, China was reversed by Iran by 21 points. Its size is also too big. A Beijing reporter commented that there is no need to give Zhou Qi, but a Fan Ziming or Qiu Tian, and they also have the ability to go further.

Many fans commented that while Yuki Kawamura took the banner of Japanese offensive, they should also know that they did not win any game in the Olympic Games. Facing Australia, New Zealand's game is also difficult to match.

Next, I will give the Chinese Basketball Association a very clear signal that if you want to compete with world-class top teams, you must at least be inferior in terms of size, confrontation, rebounding, etc.

Should the Chinese men's basketball team adhere to foreign coaches or do they focus on local coaches?

Chinese local coaches have greater advantages in communication and consultation than foreign coaches. For example, Sun Minghui talked about how Qiao Shuai refused to communicate with him during training in Europe, and asked Qiao Shuai's assistant to communicate with him more. In the World Cup, Wang Zhelin's mentality had already had big problems. He did not activate Hu Jinqiu and others until the group stage was about to end.

The professional ability of foreign coaches may be better than most local coaches, but if Zhao Rui mentioned that if Director Guo had not asked me to come back, he might have ended his national team career. Liao Sanning revealed in an interview that Director Guo has always encouraged me to be determined and be myself. Wang Junjie mentioned that many rumors on the Internet are all about rumors, and Director Guo has more requirements for our young team members. And Cheng Shuipeng revealed that he was very grateful to Director Guo, who gave me confidence to show myself on the court.

Obviously, local coaches also understand the psychological changes of Chinese players better in communication, and they play an indispensable role here.

As Guo Shiqiang still leads the residual team to return to the stage of the Asian Cup finals, in the next 2027 World Cup qualifiers, fans should also be more patient in this modern basketball style. Once Yang Hansen, Zeng Fanbo and others return to the national team, the core lineup of the Chinese men's basketball team will be upgraded, and whether they can return to the Olympic stage is full of imagination.