After the game: Yang Ming exposes the inside story of the loss + Patton's debut time, Xu Limin's praise for Zhou Qi sparks controversy!
It's not surprising that Liaoning's weakened lineup lost on Beijing Shougang's home court. Not only are many of Liaoning's domestic mainstays missing, but they also only have two foreign players, exposing their interior weakness to their opponents, so everyone can accept the loss.
After the game, Liaoning coach Yang Ming revealed the inside story of the loss at the press conference and explained the real reason why Patton was not registered.
Regarding why Liaoning lost to Beijing Shougang, Yang Ming mainly summarized two points: First, the lineup is incomplete, with experienced older players and young inexperienced players. In the third consecutive high-intensity game, the experienced older players had physical problems in the final moments, while the young players lacked match experience, so they couldn't hold on; Second, Beijing Shougang played with a full squad, not only with a complete domestic lineup, but also with the advantage of three foreign players, so Liaoning lost.
Yang Ming also lavished praise on Beijing Shougang, calling them the strongest contenders for the championship this season. This sounds familiar! Yes, in the 2022-23 season, after Liaoning suffered a 42-point defeat to Zhejiang in the regular season, Yang Ming praised Zhejiang in the same way. However, in the finals when the two teams met, Yang Ming led Liaoning to a 4-0 sweep of their opponents to win the championship. So, how strong is Beijing Shougang really? If the two teams compete against each other again in the playoffs, everyone will know who is stronger.
As for why Patton did not complete registration in time, Yang Ming explained that there was an issue with the clarification letter, which caused a delay. However, there's no need to worry as the club is actively pushing for a solution. In other words, the time for Patton's debut is not far off. Once the issue is resolved, he might even be able to make his debut in the next game against Jilin.
The winning Beijing Shougang coach, Xu Limin, could hardly contain his excitement, saying that Zhou Qi had not fully recovered from a cold, and the coaching staff originally planned to let him rest. However, Zhou Qi insisted on playing in this match. Xu Limin expressed his deep gratitude to Zhou Qi for overcoming his illness to contribute to Beijing Shougang's victory over Liaoning.
These remarks immediately sparked controversy. Everyone knows that Zhou Qi had missed six games before this, so why did he insist on playing against his former team while still sick? It gives the impression of being ungrateful.
What's even more puzzling is that in Beijing Shougang's previous game against Xinjiang, Zhou Qi's former team with whom he had a falling out, he not only didn't appear on the 12-man roster but also didn't travel with the team to Xinjiang. So everyone is puzzled: why did Zhou Qi shy away from Xinjiang, the team he should have been toughest on, but show no mercy to Liaoning, the team that cultivated and treated him well? Can someone give me a reasonable explanation?
However, after hearing Xu Limin use the term "volunteered to join the battle," Zhou Qi probably realized he had gone too far. In an interview, he quickly explained that it wasn't really "volunteering to join the battle," it wasn't that exaggerated. He just felt better and wanted to contribute to Beijing Shougang. But isn't this excuse too weak?
Liaoning can't control when Zhou Qi returns, but why do you have to rush back to play against Liaoning? If Beijing Shougang dares to challenge Xinjiang away, then go ahead! Why haven't you dared to set foot in Xinjiang's home court since parting ways with Xinjiang? I'm utterly confused! Who can explain this?