The second stage of the CBA regular season is in full swing, with a fierce battle between the championship favorites Guangdong men's basketball team and the rising Jilin team. After four quarters of intense competition, Huang Rongqi exploded and teamed up with Xu Jie to lead Guangdong to an easy 106-65 victory over Jilin on the road. However, Guangdong's new recruit, Les, was unable to seize the opportunity, playing less than two minutes without scoring. In contrast, top CBA foreign players such as Samner, Wells, Brown, and Diawara scored nearly 50 points in this round, forcing Guangdong to reassess their future reinforcement plans.
Guangdong has completed reinforcements with a four-foreigner lineup of Morland, Bazley, Jilunwater, and Les, but recent games have shown problems at both ends of the court. Guangdong lacks a qualified and stable ball-handling offensive foreign player, leading to excessive reliance on local guards like Xu Jie and Hu Mingxuan. Among the four foreigners, newcomers Bazley and Les have yet to showcase their strengths in key battles. Veteran Morland excels in defense and facilitation, being the only foreigner capable of tough games for Guangdong. However, Morland's lack of independent offensive ability is also frustrating.
As for Jilunwater, he may be more suitable for the third foreigner role. Although he can score aggressively in offense, his defense and stamina are limited. Looking at Shanghai's success with strong foreigner Lofton, who can complement the team's weaknesses in inside offense, outside organization, and rebounding, Guangdong must introduce a true top-tier wing foreigner to challenge the finals again. To adapt to the new competitive environment of the CBA league with significantly increased playing time for dual foreigners this season, Guangdong, after failing with foreigner choices like Arms, Barton, and Les, now finds the most suitable wing foreigner to be former CBA's strongest foreigner, Blackney.
Even if it requires cutting Bazley or Jilunwater to make room for Blackney's salary, Guangdong should take the risk. After all, Les cannot meet the team's needs at the three position, and being cut by Zhu Fangyu and Du Feng is just a matter of time. Top CBA foreign players like Lofton have proven that strong foreign players can complement multiple aspects of the team. Individually, Blackney not only has the size for the three position but also possesses superior offensive capabilities compared to current top CBA foreign players like Goodwin, Lofton, and Ferg. If Guangdong wants to solve their wing and tough game issues, investing heavily in Blackney is the best choice.
Undoubtedly, Guangdong must find a new wing foreigner with championship potential to have a chance to catch up this season. A wing three position foreigner with hard-solving abilities like Blackney, who plays almost identically to the former Marshon Brooks, is what Guangdong dreams of reinforcing.