On January 10th, Beijing time, it was unprecedented to see Yang Ming's sullen face after winning, as if he had lost. He directly criticized the team on the spot, which was really anger.
The match between Liaoning and Beikong was extremely dramatic. Liaoning won at home with a narrow victory of 3 points, but in fact, they didn't have to play so dangerously, and the gap didn't have to be so small. In the last 5 minutes of the last quarter, Liaoning played one of the ugliest performances this season, which is why Yang Ming was sullen after the game, even though he won, his expression was as if he had lost. He was really angry and very dissatisfied.
Let's first look at what Yang Ming said in the post-match interview. He directly criticized his team on the sidelines, saying that even if they have new foreign aid now, and even if the personnel are complete, everyone must not be arrogant: "I don't know where the arrogance of the players comes from. Although we won the game, I am very dissatisfied." The implication is that they were too arrogant, thinking that they could win steadily and looking down upon their opponents, being too arrogant, and once paid the price for it.
During the post-match interview, Yang Ming's face did not show a trace of smile, and his expression was very ugly. Why was this? Let's turn back the clock to when there were still 5 minutes and 30 seconds left. At that time, Zhao Jiwei made a three-pointer, leading 102:84 by 18 points. Then Zhao Jiwei completed an easy layup again, and there were still five minutes left. Liaoning still led 104:86 by 18 points. A terrible thing happened. In the last 5 minutes of the game, Liaoning did not score a single point.
You read that right. Liaoning led by 18 points, and there were still 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter. It should have been garbage time already, and Beikong had started to change players. Then Liaoning suddenly stopped scoring and was cut by Beikong, more importantly, Liaoning stopped defending and started playing recklessly, not passing to Ferg anymore, no organization, no cooperation, and was chased by Beikong continuously.
Then referee Yan Jun also made some controversial calls, especially after Han Dejun fouled out with one minute and a half left, Li Xiaoxu couldn't make a layup, Zhao Jiwei missed various shots, Wells missed, Ferg couldn't get the ball, Liaoning suddenly forgot how to play basketball, it was too exaggerated. Even with 55 seconds left in the game, Liaoning started to control the time, completely consuming it, pressing down to 31 seconds, not shooting to avoid missing, resulting in a 24-second violation directly.
This scene was really ridiculous. Liaoning didn't score a single point at that time. They were already leading by 18 points with 5 minutes left, then they didn't score until the end, what kind of game was Liaoning playing? The five players on the court were like suddenly sleepwalking, their souls left their bodies, everyone suddenly couldn't attack, couldn't defend, couldn't organize, and really didn't score a single goal, do you believe it?
That's why Yang Ming was so angry and dissatisfied. Liaoning eventually won the game because Beikong's equalizing three-pointer missed, but we couldn't understand what happened to Liaoning. Without Ferg's outbreak in the third quarter, Liaoning would have lost. There were various mistakes, fouls, and errors in the final moments, Li Huoyi made a low-level mistake and gave away a 2+1 foul. Yan Jun, as Liaoning's nemesis, indeed had problems in law enforcement, sending all of Liaoning's frontcourt players off the court. Honestly, it was normal for Yang Ming to be dissatisfied with this game.
Any coach watching their team play like this would probably not be able to laugh. Yang Ming didn't swear on the sidelines, which was already quite civilized. If it were someone else, they really should have exploded. Of course, he himself also forgot to call a timeout.