Guangdong, playing at home, engaged in their second fierce battle with the Shandong men's basketball team this new season. Despite being short-handed in the backcourt, the team ultimately secured victory over Shandong by a margin of 5 points, thanks to the strong performances of Xu Jie and two big foreign players, as well as Du's miraculous use of personnel. In this game, Shandong also faced injury issues; Gali was unable to play in the final quarter due to a knee injury, which was one of the reasons for their defeat.
In this match, Xu Jie had a hot hand, scoring 6 out of 8 three-pointers and accumulating 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 11 assists throughout the game. His performance was comparable to that of a top-tier small foreign player. Xu Jie remained calm under pressure; despite Chris' attempts to unsettle him with unsportsmanlike actions, Xu Jie did not react. Even after being roughly taken down twice, Xu Jie chose to respond on the court, earning a perfect score in his post-game evaluation.
Wu, Morland, Du Runwang, Ren Junfei, Huang Rongqi, and Zhang Haofa, who hit a crucial long two-pointer at the end, were all key contributors to Guangdong's victory. Morland fought hard, recording 8 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks, completely filling up the stat sheet.
Against Shandong, Guangdong's biggest advantage lay in their interior game. Although Shandong had two big foreign players, Chris and Kumajie, as well as Tao Hanlin, their high-paid center, they fell short against Wu and Old Mo. Tao Hanlin had no rebounds throughout the game, while the arrogant Chris only managed 11 points and 4 rebounds. They were perfectly controlled by Morland and Jilun Wu.
The most impressive player in this game was undoubtedly Huang Rongqi. He provided enough pressure to Gali on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he continuously passed to Ren Junfei from the 45-degree angle. When Xu Jie rested, Huang Rongqi was the most reliable ball-handler on the court.
Ren Junfei was called upon in the final quarter and his appearance was a miraculous move by Du Feng. Ren scored 8 points in the final quarter. The addition of this fresh force caught the opposition off guard, ultimately leading to their collapse in the final quarter at the hands of Guangdong.
In this game, Bazel and Zhang Wenyi performed quite ordinarily. Zhang Wenyi made only 1 out of 6 three-point shots, which is understandable for a role player as shooters naturally have ups and downs. However, Bazel's inability to perform in tough matches has become an undeniable fact. Although Du Feng revealed that Bazel had a fever, this was not the main reason. His inability to perform in tough matches has become a label for him.
Scoring only 3 points in 15 minutes is indeed unacceptable. If Bazel does not change his approach, there is a high likelihood that he will be cut again in the second stage. He is currently under a lot of pressure. For Du Feng, Bazel's arrival was more like that of a firefighting foreign player; he could buy some rest time for Old Mo and Wu. If Bazel continues to fail to adjust and make an impact on both ends of the court, he may face a second contract termination!