The Shanghai men's basketball team has been able to go on a northern campaign in the second stage, moving from the bottom of the league to the top 12 playoff spots. This is not only due to the super foreign aid Lofton but also closely related to the "Li Hua brothers," Li Tianrong and Li Hongquan, who have both played their career-best this season. However, for the guard line with a lower tolerance rate, if Li Tianrong's state cannot be guaranteed, it will be difficult for Shanghai to compete with some strong teams.
In the recent away game against Shanxi, which Shanghai lost by 11 points, Li Tianrong can be considered the "culprit" of the team's defeat. Throughout the game, he played for 25 minutes, missing all 10 shots (including 0-for-7 from three-point range) and scoring no points, with a team-worst plus/minus value of -22. Fans bluntly say: "Revealing his true colors."
Despite knowing that he was cold-handed, Lu Wei still let Li Tianrong play for a full 10 minutes in the final quarter, during which he did not repay the coaching staff's trust with any action, going 0-for-4 in that quarter. As the current domestic backcourt core of the Shanghai men's basketball team, Li Tianrong's state, to a certain extent, also determines how far Shanghai can go in the playoffs.
Unlike most teams where small foreign players occupy the absolute core, Shanghai relies on the big foreign player Lofton as the axis. Due to Blackney's failure to show up, they eventually gave up on Waters, who had average performance, and brought back Xue Bu while signing Hawkins, who is of average ability.
Xue Bu, after returning this season, no longer has the same offensive influence as before, focusing more on organizing and defense. Hawkins, on the other hand, although occasionally impressive, is not reliable in tough games. Therefore, Shanghai needs local guards to support the offensive firepower even more, which significantly lowers the margin of error for Li Tianrong.
This season, Li Tianrong has played 28 games for Shanghai, averaging 31.1 minutes per game, scoring 15.3 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, with shooting percentages of 51.5%, 47.1%, and 79.3%. In the previous game against Liaoning, which Shanghai lost, Li Tianrong was also out of form, playing for 24 minutes and scoring 7 points with 4 assists from 11 attempts. If Shanghai wants to aim for the championship, they should not rely on Li Tianrong as a savior; he is more of an "icing on the cake" rather than a "lifeline in the snow."
However, for the current Shanghai men's basketball team, which has basically formed a chemical reaction, they indeed dare not rashly change the foreign aid positions. After all, if the team really signs a super scorer like Blackney, it would affect Lofton's tactical status and also have a certain impact on the performance of local players. Therefore, how Shanghai will break through next is a test for both the coaching staff and management.