The 31st round of the second stage of the 2024-25 CBA regular season continued with a focus on the fierce competition between the strong Guangdong men's basketball team and their local rivals, the Guangzhou team. Ultimately, the more powerful Guangdong team managed to narrowly defeat the dark horse Guangzhou men's basketball team 85-77, thanks to the outstanding performances of Xu Jie, Jilunwote, Ren Junfei, and Wang Shaojie. Notably, Guangdong was trailing by as many as 19 points at halftime but managed to level the score with an offensive surge in the third quarter. The game remained close until the final moments of the fourth quarter when Guangdong coach Du Feng deployed his ace in the hole, Wang Shaojie, to secure the victory.
In this match, the three main players of Guangdong, Xu Jie, Jilunwote, and Ren Junfei, were once again the key figures in the comeback. Despite the poor performance of core players Morand and Bazley, as well as frequent mistakes by domestic core players Zhang Haojia and Huang Rongqi, Guangdong almost suffered an upset loss to Guangzhou. Fortunately, in the decisive moments, Guangdong abandoned the talented center Xu Xin and the strongest defensive player Morand from previous games, and Wang Shaojie stepped up to deliver crucial blocks and rebounds to help Guangdong win. Although Wang Shaojie had been benched in previous games, his support for Du Feng in this game proved effective.
For Guangdong, the current entire inside line tactical system and personnel rotation is still very clear. When facing teams without a strong center, Guangdong's first choice for domestic inside line is still Wang Shaojie. Since Jilunwote's offensive ability is more suitable for use in the fourth quarter, Morand originally found it difficult to compete with Jilunwote. With Wang Shaojie's absolute mobility and defensive capabilities, Morand is unlikely to be used by Du Feng in decisive moments. In addition, although Xu Xin displayed impressive dominance in previous games, against teams like Tianjin and Guangzhou without inside line advantages, Du Feng clearly prefers to use Wang Shaojie.
In fact, Guangdong currently relies only on the three core players Xu Jie, Jilunwote, and Ren Junfei in decisive moments. For the remaining perimeter positions, before star player Hu Mingxuan returns, defensive guard Huang Rongqi will be the best choice. For the remaining inside or forward position, Guangdong may lean towards using Wang Shaojie. After joining Guangdong on loan this season, Wang Shaojie has already made an impact in multiple games, supporting Du Feng to influence the outcome of victories. In the future, many fans believe that Xu Xin may completely replace Xu Xin to become Guangdong's "new inside thigh." It can even be said that during Wang Shaojie's two-year loan period, he will basically rank ahead of Xu Xin in Guangdong's rotation of inside line personnel.
In summary, although there are significant doubts among external fans about Du Feng's use of Wang Shaojie and Xu Xin regarding playing time and tactical status, especially considering Xu Xin's previous performances. However, Wang Shaojie, with his extremely mobile defensive center qualities, is absolutely worthy of being heavily utilized by Guangdong and could even rank ahead of Xu Xin, becoming the main inside rotation for Hongyuan, second only to Morand.