On January 5th, the CBA Xinjiang team suffered a rare super comeback at the home of the Shanxi team. In the last quarter, Shanxi scored 41 to 11, not only wiping out the 25-point difference in the first three quarters, but also miraculously winning with a score of 115 to 110. After the game, Liu Wei attributed the reason for the loss to the youth of the players and avoided talking about his own tactical mistakes. This is the third time recently that Liu Wei has spoken without thinking. Who is really young? It seems that this rookie coach is still very inexperienced.
A few days ago, the Xinjiang team just lost a record, which was the unbeaten home record of the season. The Shandong team ended Xinjiang's 14-game home winning streak. In that game, Liu Wei shouted "call SB to shoot" at Yu Dehao on the sidelines! Yu Dehao complained to the referee without success, and then he hit back fiercely with a three-pointer against Liu Wei's insult.
After the game, Liu Wei hinted at the unfairness of the referees in the interview, pointing fingers at the league and opponents, and finally received a fine for improper behavior. However, Liu Wei did not learn from this lesson. After offending the league referees and making enemies with the opposing players, he now points his finger at his own players. His words at the press conference were very unprofessional, seemingly praising young players, but actually trying to absolve himself.
Liu Wei said: The loss of the Xinjiang team is a tuition fee, but overall I am very satisfied with the game. Due to injuries, only ten players were reported as available, except for three foreign players, the other seven were post-00s. In the last quarter, Shanxi beat us 41-11, and when we were leading, the players didn't know how to play anymore. Shanxi's defense was strong, and many young players were not very adaptable.
Liu Wei did not mention his own blunders at the crucial moment. It was not just that the players didn't know how to play, but more importantly, the head coach didn't know how to command. He thought he had a firm grasp on victory with a 25-point advantage, but he called a timeout too late and only thought of stopping the game after being hit 16-0 by the opponent. At this time, the psychology of the young players had already become imbalanced, and morale had completely fallen to the bottom. Perhaps Liu Wei himself had no tactics to deal with Shanxi's counterattack, but as long as he called a timeout, he could disrupt the opponent's smooth scoring rhythm. The result was that Shanxi players played better and better. Liu Chuanxing, who performed average in the first three quarters, dominated under the basket, while Li Yanzhe was already exhausted. Liu Wei replaced him with a big foreign aid to compete with Liu Chuanxing, but the cost of this operation was that Peterson was withdrawn, leaving Xinjiang with even less firepower.
There was not just one blunder, Liu Wei also replaced Ge Haoran, a 19-year-old rookie who couldn't keep up with the crazed Goodwin. Ge Haoran played for only one minute with a plus-minus value of -7, meaning that during his one-minute appearance, the opponent chased 7 points. Liu Wei's timing for training newcomers was wrong! However, Liu Wei always believed that he gave young people opportunities, and at the press conference, he proudly said: I am very happy to pay the tuition fee for this loss, for example, Yang Rui, a 19-year-old child playing his first season in the CBA, made his debut and played nearly 30 minutes, which is quite good.
Liu Wei did not reflect much on his own problems, or perhaps he really doesn't know what mistakes he made. Rookie coaches are just too inexperienced. If the Xinjiang team wants to go further this season, the head coach is a shortcoming.
