The 24-25 CBA regular season is about to complete half of its schedule, and the team that has performed the best so far is undoubtedly Guangsha Men's Basketball Team. They have been at the top of the standings for a long time and have only lost three games, showing strong dominance.
In fact, Guangsha has had good results in recent years, mainly because of their luxurious domestic lineup, with many players having national-level skills. In previous years, Guangsha often stumbled in the playoffs, mainly due to a weak bench lineup and overuse of their main players. However, this year, the CBA increased the number of foreign players, which greatly benefited Guangsha. They are not worried about manpower shortages, as Sun Minghui and Hu Jinqiu's dual-core lineup was already very stable, so achieving their current results is not surprising.
Of course, not all Guangsha players satisfy everyone, and Zhao Yanhao is the most typical example. He was once one of the "three giants" within the team, but now his status and actual performance cannot compare with Sun Minghui and Hu Jinqiu, and he is even lower than Zhu Junlong and Zhao Jiaoren, which makes people sigh.
This season, Zhao Yanhao averages 15.4 minutes per game, scoring 4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists. Undoubtedly, these statistics are relatively low, and in any team, they would be considered a substitute level, not even the first-tier substitute.
It must be acknowledged that after the CBA implemented the four-quarter, seven-foreign-player system this year, the playing opportunities for domestic players have been significantly reduced. However, core players are not affected; even if their offensive opportunities decrease, they can still contribute defensively. Zhao Yanhao, on the other hand, has experienced a cliff-like decline. In the past two seasons, he averaged 24 minutes per game, scoring around 10 points and 2.7 rebounds.
Although Zhao Yanhao's performance is not good, his status within the team is relatively high. He entered the CBA in 2015 alongside Sun Minghui and Hu Jinqiu. Because he was once a key player in the national youth team, his starting point in the league was also high, surpassing his two teammates. For example, in his first season, Zhao Yanhao averaged 11.3 points and 3 rebounds, while Sun Minghui was still sitting on the bench.
However, in the following years, Zhao Yanhao's rise was relatively slow, and the general consensus was that Li Chunjiang did not give him enough opportunities. It must be admitted that at that time, Lin Zhijie and Liu Zheng were mature players who were more experienced than Zhao Yanhao and naturally had priority in playing time. More importantly, both of them were good defenders. Zhao Yanhao, with his slight physique and young age, not being able to play much was normal.
Later, Guangsha's frontcourt only had Zhao Yanhao and Li Jinglong, and Li Chunjiang's tendency to favor his son was quite obvious, which made many fans indignant.
Unfortunately, in 2021, both Li Chunjiang and Li Jinglong left Guangsha, and Zhao Yanhao was unable to fully take on the leading role, getting into trouble with frequent injuries. Especially after exposing his lack of physicality in the national team, he was not as sharp when he returned to the CBA.
Zhao Yanhao has many problems. As a player who is 1.97 meters tall, he has almost no organizing ability as a guard and is more adept at dribbling and attacking; if he were to play as a small forward, Zhao Yanhao's height would be too short, and his physicality would not be up to par.
In the past, Zhao Yanhao was seen as one of the three giants of Guangsha, but now Zhu Junlong and Zhao Jiaoren have grown rapidly, with higher abilities and roles. Zhu Junlong is even a regular in the national team and should have replaced Zhao Yanhao long ago.
Interestingly, when his contract expired in the summer, it was rumored that Beijing Shougang really wanted to introduce Zhao Yanhao, but Guangsha did not want to let him go and ultimately offered him a two-year top salary contract, which seems obviously overpriced at present. After the expiration of his contract, Zhao Yanhao has played for Guangsha for 11 seasons and is also a veteran in the CBA. It is basically impossible for him to get a top salary again. If another team wants to spend big money to poach him, Guangsha will definitely agree. But by then, it is estimated that Zhao Yanhao will not want to transfer, and he can just continue his career with Guangsha until retirement.