"Thank God for Xie Yalong, believe in ghosts and gods, believe in Lan Cheng! Horizontal batch: football and basketball are empty!"
Back then, Lan Cheng alone pulled the Chinese men's basketball team off the altar!
Ever since he took office, all the achievements of the men's basketball team have been destroyed.
Forcing Yao Ming to retire, making Wang Zhizhi a "traitor"...
As a recognized "men's basketball sinner," Lan Cheng has set the men's basketball team back 20 years.
How did he manage to destroy Chinese men's basketball when he was just a coach?
Speaking of Lan Cheng, everyone is very familiar with him.
He once contributed his own strength to Chinese basketball, and thus became controversial.
In 1997, Lan Cheng officially became the deputy secretary of the Basketball Management Center of the General Administration of Sports.
In fact, when he first took office, the state of the Chinese men's basketball team was still very good, and the future was even brighter. Lan Cheng could take on this position, which was also supported and expected by many people.
But what no one expected was that the path of the Chinese men's basketball team would be changed from then on.
In the 2002 match against South Korea, the Chinese team suffered a crushing defeat. This match not only left a deep impression on people, but also had a great impact on Lan Cheng.
After the game, there was a chorus of criticism online, and Lan Cheng's level and behavior were even more rejected by netizens.
At this point, someone might say that game errors are common, and the state of the athletes is also a very important point. Why did everyone point their fingers at Lan Cheng after losing to the South Korean team?
In fact, there is another reason behind this that makes people angry.
Wang Zhizhi is an excellent basketball player in the Chinese men's basketball team. Under his leadership, China can be said to be like a fish in water in various competitions.
But it is said that in this match against South Korea, Wang Zhizhi did not participate.
And behind this is Lan Cheng who has been playing tricks.
In everyone's view, if Wang Zhizhi could participate in this game, the result would not have been so disastrous, and it might even have succeeded in making a comeback.
I thought this was just an accident, but in fact Lan Cheng's influence on Wang Zhizhi goes far beyond that.
With outstanding strength, Wang Zhizhi successfully entered the NBA and achieved many results on the court.
But at this time, Lan Cheng began to frequently ask Wang Zhizhi to return to China to participate in various competitions and activities.
This also greatly affected Wang Zhizhi's training and development opportunities in the NBA.
During this period, Lan Cheng also used the media to maliciously speculate about Wang Zhizhi, causing the public to misunderstand that entering the NBA was Wang Zhizhi's decision and regarded him as a traitor who disregarded national interests.
For a time, the label of "traitor" was also attached to Wang Zhizhi.
These remarks also led to the end of Wang Zhizhi's NBA career.
Not only was he cyberbullied by netizens, but he was eventually expelled from the national team.
Although Wang Zhizhi later tried to prove his innocence, this experience undoubtedly left an indelible scar on his basketball career.
It also made him reluctantly end his basketball career, which has become a major stain in basketball history.
Of course, some people may feel unfamiliar with Wang Zhizhi, but the person I'm about to talk about should be very familiar to everyone.
Yao Ming, as a miracle on the basketball court, with a height of 2.26 meters and a strong physique, added a lot of charm to him on the basketball court.
The contributions he has made to Chinese basketball are countless, but unexpectedly, such a person has also been persecuted by Lan Cheng.
After being removed from his position, Lan Cheng calmed down for a while, until 2009, everything returned to the original point again.
After Director Li Yuanwei retired, Lan Cheng immediately filled the position. This time, he became even more arbitrary, directly targeting the then-popular Yao Ming.
At that time, Yao Ming had a very high appearance rate on television and in the media. As long as there was a game, everyone could basically see him.
As one of the leading figures in the Chinese men's basketball team, everyone was eager to pursue him, but he was directly regarded as a "cash cow" by Lan Cheng.
We all know that as an athlete, maintaining physical fitness is equally important besides daily training.
Yao Ming was already very hardworking, but now Lan Cheng also sent her a lot of work, various commercial advertisements and games, as long as there was one, he would help Yao Ming receive it.
And this series of operations also made Yao Ming immersed in high-intensity work every day.
Lan Cheng, eager for quick success, still arranged many events for Yao Ming in the later stage of his career, resulting in excessive physical burden and ultimately retiring early due to injuries.
At this time, Yao Ming was only 31 years old, and after that, the Chinese men's basketball court lost another fierce general.
Believe in ghosts and gods, believe in Lan Cheng
Ruining Wang Zhizhi and forcing Yao Ming to retire, Lan Cheng's character is too harsh.
Lan Cheng's influence on the Chinese men's basketball team is profound and complex. During his tenure as head of the Chinese men's basketball team, he continuously implemented a series of "closed-door" reform measures.
However, these actions have not promoted the progress of the Chinese men's basketball team to a large extent, but instead caused a series of problems.
It is said that before Lan Cheng participated in basketball management, he was always engaged in track and field related work, that is to say, his understanding of basketball is very limited.
But after taking office, Lan Cheng did not act cautiously, but instead reformed drastically.
Reduced the CBA league's game cycle, reduced games, in the hope of providing more training time for local men's basketball teams.
These measures seriously damaged the level and commercial value of the CBA league, causing local clubs to lose valuable game experience in large numbers.
Players also lack practical training due to long-term training.
Moreover, Lan Cheng often changes the game coaches for the players.
We all know that a person's playing habits will gradually take shape, but Lan Cheng doesn't think so, so this also leads to the players becoming more and more impetuous, and they cannot clearly understand their abilities.
Over time, under this vicious cycle, the CBA has become much worse than before, and has even been on a downward trend.
Of course, there are also opinions that Lan Cheng is not completely useless. He has made certain contributions in youth training, such as establishing a four-level youth training system and cultivating a group of young players for the Chinese men's basketball team.
Where is the future of the men's basketball team?
Nowadays, although the Chinese men's basketball team no longer has the glory of the past, it is slowly improving.
In 2024, the Chinese men's basketball team is still facing unprecedented challenges and difficulties.
For example, the poor performance in the Paris Olympic cycle, failing to participate in the Paris Olympics, as well as multiple failures in the Asian Cup and competitions held by FIBA, etc.
Although the current results are not satisfactory, the Chinese men's basketball team is still striving for change and improvement.
The new basketball association leadership hopes to take measures to continue to deepen reforms and lay a solid foundation for the future development of the Chinese men's basketball team.
The short-term goal is to prepare for the upcoming Asian Cup, while the long-term goal is to compete for the qualification to participate in the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.
Through continuous efforts and improvements, the Chinese men's basketball team is expected to achieve revival in the future and return to the peak of the international stage.
Fans need to maintain patience and support, and witness the rise of the Chinese men's basketball team together.
Editor: Zhao Cai Xiaofen
Information sources: Modern Express August 18, 2009 Lan Cheng witnessed the worst two defeats of the men's basketball team, the tragic defeat in Busan was staged again
May 10, 2009 CCTV.com Sina Sports - Review of Yao Ming's career injury history, repeatedly injured fate is bumpy
Beijing News August 12, 2013 Veteran Dazhi laughs off the national basketball team
The Paper February 7, 2017 Dialogue | Li Yuanwei: The weakness of the men's basketball team is due to the failure of the leadership, how could Lan Cheng work for 14 years