Redefining Chinese Basketball: A New Era, New Challenges
Behind the loss: the Chinese men's basketball team suffered a counterattack in the Asian Cup qualifiers.
In the second round of the group stage of the men's basketball Asian Cup qualifiers, the Chinese men's basketball team lost 73-76 to the Japanese men's basketball team in a high-profile matchup. This game is not only an ordinary Asian Cup qualifier for the Chinese team, but also the first time in 88 years that it lost to the Japanese team in the Asian preliminaries, writing a new chapter of shame for Chinese basketball.
Behind the contract dispute: Djordjevic may be leaving.
Before this loss, the domestic basketball ** revealed an even more shocking news, that is, the contract of the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team, Djordjevic, is about to expire, and the Chinese Basketball Association does not plan to renew his contract. Since Du Feng's resignation on the eve of last year's World Cup, Djordjevic has taken over the coaching whip on a one-year contract, but the performance of this year has clearly made the basketball association unhappy. However, we have to admit that Djordjevic has brought advanced basketball concepts to the Chinese men's basketball team. The problem lies in the gap between concept and practice. It's like a university professor teaching in an elementary school class, where the content is novel but difficult for students to understand.
Thoughtful Basketball Association Choice: Here is the opportunity for a homegrown coach.
The main reason for the Chinese Basketball Association's decision not to renew Djordjevic's contract was his dissatisfaction with his coaching performance during the Men's Basketball World Cup. Although Qiao Shuai brought advanced basketball concepts to the Chinese men's basketball team, these concepts were too profound for Chinese players to be understood and absorbed by the players. And the Chinese men's basketball team's away loss to the Japanese men's basketball team in the Asian preliminaries also illustrates this problem once again.
As Djordjevic is about to leave office, the Chinese Basketball Association should seriously consider the possibility of a local coach coaching the national team. There are a number of outstanding coaches in the Chinese basketball world, such as Yang Ming, Liu Weiwei and Qiu Biao, whose coaching ability in the CBA league has been widely recognized. After all, local coaches know more about Chinese basketball and communicate more smoothly with their players. Give more opportunities and trust to local coaches, and they are expected to bring performance that is no less than that of foreign coaches.
The Road to Choice: What is the Future of Chinese Basketball?
The Chinese men's basketball team is now faced with two choices: learning from European team basketball, which requires a drastic reform of the CBA league and even liberalizing the number of foreign players on each team. The second option is to stick to your own path, use players who have performed relatively well, and let local coaches do the training camps. The former is full of thorns and bumps, and the team's poor results will be criticized; The latter is relatively conservative and will be of limited help to the future of the Chinese men's basketball team.
Let's wait and see how the Chinese Basketball Association led by Yao Ming will choose. Whichever path you choose, you need more innovation and deep thinking. The defeat was a wake-up call and an opportunity. Chinese basketball needs to re-examine its own development direction and pay more attention to infrastructure construction and training local players. Only in this way can the Chinese men's basketball team emerge on the international stage and usher in a new glorious era.