Liaoning Basketball Loses Again to Qingdao, Yang Ming's Lineup Choices Spark Outrage, Legendary Liaoning Players Are Furious
On the evening of January 12th, Beijing time, the CBA regular season saw Qingdao Men's Basketball host Liaoning Men's Basketball. The last time these two teams met, Liaoning Men's Basketball was not in full strength and could be described as a weakened lineup, resulting in a victory for Qingdao Men's Basketball. This time around, although Liaoning Men's Basketball's main player Zhang Zhenlin was still unable to play, the lineup was much more complete than the previous encounter, and the fourth foreign aid, Weber, had also arrived. Shouldn't they have been able to avenge their previous defeat?
However, after the game started, Liaoning Men's Basketball's performance was disappointing. This disappointment could be seen from the starting lineup: Li Xiaoxu, Zhao Jiwei, Yan Shouqi, Wells, and Patton. Li Xiaoxu and Zhao Jiwei were fine, and Wells with Patton was also acceptable, but what made Yan Shouqi worthy of being in the starting lineup?
This disappointment became apparent from the beginning of the game. Yan Shouqi was tasked with defending against Qingdao's small foreign aid, Wessex, but he couldn't stop him at all. In fact, because he couldn't stop him, Wessex seemed to have divine assistance, forcing Yang Ming to replace him with Li Huyi, which led to some improvement in the situation.
Zhao Jiwei, on the other hand, continued his poor form in this game. His defense was still passable, but his offensive organization was terrible.
Li Xiaoxu, although he scored crucial three-pointers and big two-pointers at key moments, his defense was lackluster, as if he hadn't woken up.
As a result, Liaoning Men's Basketball struggled throughout the first half, trailing Qingdao Men's Basketball by 8 points at halftime. Although in the second half, Liaoning Men's Basketball launched a 12-5 offensive wave, with Li Xiaoxu making consecutive mid-to-long-range shots to overtake the score, and Ferguson hitting three consecutive three-pointers to lead by 10 points, in the fourth quarter, Liaoning Men's Basketball suddenly lost power, scoring no points in the final four minutes. Qingdao Men's Basketball's Wang Ruize hit consecutive three-pointers, Yang Hanshen scored inside, and Qingdao Men's Basketball went on a 10-0 run to tie the score. Duan Angjun made one of two free throws to take the lead, and Ferguson's shot missed everything, ultimately leading to Qingdao's narrow 103-100 victory over Liaoning.
For this game, fans were very angry. The reasons for their anger are as follows:
- What is the use of Yan Shouqi being on the court? Yet he was in the starting lineup and used in the fourth quarter?
- Zhao Jiwei's state was clearly not as good as Wang Lanchen's, with many turnovers. Why was Wang Lanchen benched for a minor mistake?
- Li Huyi played so well, yet when he couldn't defend, he was called to the sidelines for a scolding and then not used again.
- Ferguson was so exhausted, why wasn't Wells allowed to substitute for him just because Wells made a mistake?
- The fourth foreign aid, Weber, was only given a few minutes with no tactical status. Spending so much money, was it just to let him come on and make a cameo?
- In the last game against Beikong, Liaoning lost power in the last five minutes and was beaten 15-0. In this game, they were beaten 14-0 in the last four minutes. With such repeated issues, hasn't the coaching staff drawn any conclusions?
- Is Yang Ming's tactical system limited to only Han Dejun, Li Xiaoxu, Yan Shouqi, Zhao Jiwei, and Ferguson?
- Han Dejun was so tired in the second half that he couldn't even run or jump anymore. Using him like this, do they want him to get injured sooner?
- Knowing that winning this game would secure a top-three position, with Liaoning Men's Basketball's current strength, they could easily finish in the top four in the regular season standings, avoiding an early playoff matchup against Guangsha, giving them a great chance to defend their title for a fourth championship. But why don't they try to win?
- Even though Ferguson was exhausted, he was still asked to dribble in the backcourt, while Yan Shouqi and Zhao Jiwei just watched, leading to a turnover in the backcourt. Liaoning often makes such mistakes; where was the head coach during all this?
- Still about Yan Shouqi, he couldn't even serve the sideline ball, couldn't defend, and couldn't shoot. Is there really a connection?
In summary, fans are not just angry about losing to Qingdao in this game; they are furious about Liaoning Men's Basketball's current state.
After the loss to Qingdao Men's Basketball, Liaoning Men's Basketball legend He Tianju was also furious. During his live broadcast, his face turned green with anger, saying, "I'm too disappointed, I don't want to continue broadcasting. There's nothing to show off or set as an example for everyone. If we play well against Shanghai next game, I'll continue broadcasting. If it's like tonight, then don't wait for me, everyone should just go to sleep. I really can't keep broadcasting."
Therefore, Liaoning Men's Basketball needs to seriously reflect and summarize. If Yang Ming really has no new strategies or good countermeasures, then he should take a break and let Ugo temporarily take over for a while. Otherwise, continuing like this, Liaoning Men's Basketball might even be in danger of not making the playoffs.