In this round of the CBA league, Beijing BAIC Men's Basketball Team defeated Liaoning Men's Basketball Team with a score of 105-90. Although Liaoning could keep up with the score in the first three quarters, they collapsed in the last quarter and lost to us. Although Liaoning didn't start the new year well, this game turned out to be a blessing in disguise for them. Why do I say that? Because Liaoning is not concerned about winning or losing a single game, nor are they focused on their final record in the regular season; instead, they have set their strategic sights on ultimately competing for the championship. Moreover, there were three pretty good pieces of news for Liaoning after the game.
Liaoning's 11-man rotation
Secondly, let's talk about this game. The rotation in our game has increased significantly. Look, Liaoning had 11 players participate in the rotation in this game, even Zhang Junhao, who played the least, got six minutes of playing time. This is the largest rotation since Liaoning entered the second stage. Many players didn't just come on in garbage time; for example, Zhang Junhao and Li Huyi had scattered opportunities in the first half. In the end, Liaoning gave up this game first and sent on many substitutes, and Beijing did the same. These substitute players got great exercise opportunities, which is really good news for Liaoning.
In this game, Yu Zechen was awesome, scoring 9 points, which is no small feat. It's the highest score he's achieved since the second stage began and ranks second this season. Zhang Chenzhifeng also performed well, scoring 4 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in this game. Those 4 points tied his career-high in the CBA. Our young players all got great training in the game.
Han Dejun finally gets some rest
Finally, these young substitute players have finally waited for their chance to play, and the veterans can take a break. Take Han Dejun as an example; he averaged 35 minutes per game in the previous three games, but only played 23 minutes in this one. That's really good news for Liaoning. It shows that Coach Yang Ming is making changes. He plans not to be so competitive when facing stronger opponents and no longer focuses solely on finishing in the top four. It's great that Yang Ming has figured this out. You see, although Liaoning seems to have serious problems now, they're not as unsolvable as everyone thinks. After all, without Zhang Zhenlin and Zhao Jiwei, they've still managed to perform quite well.
Liaoning needs to think more about the future and not just focus on finishing in the top four in the regular season. If Zhao Jiwei and Zhang Zhenlin return, but Han Dejun can't play, that would be a bummer. Even if they don't make it into the top four in the regular season and have to play in the playoffs, Liaoning is likely to sweep with a 2:0 victory, which is just two more games. This year's regular season is two games shorter than last year, so there's no need to worry too much about the playoffs. Now that Yang Ming has realized this, he can give more opportunities to young players and substitutes in future games, allowing the veterans to rest properly. When Zhao Jiwei and Zhang Zhenlin return, they can show their skills in the playoffs.