As the second phase of the regular season approaches its end, recent events in the CBA league have become somewhat turbulent. Two conflicts erupted during this round of the regular season. Yesterday, in the match between Liaoning and Zhejiang, some contradictions arose between Yang Ming, Zhao Jiwei, Liaoning team fans, and Zhejiang team fans. Today, after the game between Shanxi and Guangzhou Long Lions, two major conflicts also broke out. It is likely that someone will receive a fine from the CBA company after the game.
After Shanxi defeated Guangzhou 124-116, the players did not exchange greetings. Some conflicts occurred between McCaw and Jia Mingru. The referee intervened in time, pushing Jia Mingru back to the bench and waving to the fans to cheer, which was somewhat disrespectful to the Guangzhou team. However, this should not be entirely blamed on Jia Mingru. Let's take a closer look at what happened in the final stages of the game.
In the last 30 seconds of the fourth quarter, Guangzhou was already trailing Shanxi by 10 points and had no chance of a comeback. However, the Guangzhou team did not give up. The whole team continued to maintain defensive intensity and continued to apply full-court pressure on the Shanxi team in an attempt to further reduce the point difference. After Guo Ailun broke through and made two free throws, Shanxi seemed reluctant to attack, but they were still subjected to Guangzhou's continued pressure. Jia Mingru was fouled while being double-teamed by Guangzhou, and at this point, the somewhat annoyed Jia Mingru suddenly walked towards the Guangzhou bench and flexed his muscles twice, which laid the groundwork for the post-game conflict between the two teams.
After Jia Mingru made both free throws, Guangzhou had 6.2 seconds left. In theory, Guangzhou had no need to continue attacking at this point. However, Guangzhou still continued to launch fast-break counterattacks. McCaw received a long pass from his teammate and continued to counterattack, creating another foul by Zhang Ning and making two free throws, leaving Shanxi with only 2.8 seconds.
At this point, the Shanxi team was also somewhat angry and followed Guangzhou's lead by launching a long pass counterattack from the backcourt. Jia Mingru also took a buzzer-beating three-pointer directly, although it did not go in, it made the Guangzhou team very unhappy. During the handshake between the coaches, Michel also showed some temper, saying something to Pan Jiang (without shaking hands), which seemed to be complaining about Jia Mingru's last shot of a three-pointer. Judging from Guangzhou's attitude at the time, it seemed as if they were saying, "We're not even going to defend in the last 2.8 seconds, so why are you still shooting?"
During the handshake between the coaches, Pan Jiang and Michel were somewhat incompatible, with little communication between them. At this point, the players on both teams were already tense, but there were not many people on the Shanxi side who wanted to fight (Liu Chuanxing, who tried to calm things down, did a great job). There were probably only Jia Mingru and Goodwin, while half of the Guangzhou team wanted to go after Jia Mingru, especially McCaw and Crawford. This post-game conflict was resolved by the referees and Shanxi players, but it did not mean the end of the conflict.
Because there was a "second round" in the player's tunnel after the game. This time, it was clearly Guangzhou's side that started the trouble. The Guangzhou team, whose mentality was somewhat shattered after losing, rushed towards the entrance of the Shanxi team's locker room in a group, wanting to surround the Shanxi team's locker room to seek an explanation. The leaders were suspected to be Guo Ailun, Crawford, McCaw, Warren, and others. Fortunately, Guangzhou's head coach Michel rushed out in time. Michel angrily ordered the entire Guangzhou team to return to the locker room, resolving the conflict in time.
Here, we must commend Michel. Although his refusal to shake hands with Pan Jiang was inappropriate, he did the right thing this time. Although Michel was also dissatisfied with Shanxi's actions at the time and somewhat disrespectful to Pan Jiang, he even more disagreed with the team taking the initiative to cause trouble, which is obviously a very unseemly matter.
These angry shouts and reprimands not only saved the team from losses (they would definitely be fined if things escalated), but also preserved the little remaining dignity of the Guangzhou team. They can lose the game, but they cannot lose and then look for fights, which is quite disgraceful. Moreover, Guangzhou was not justified in the garbage time stage of the game, so what reason do they have to demand anything from the Shanxi team?
What's interesting about this incident is that last season, after the game between Guangzhou and Qingdao, a conflict also broke out. The Qingdao players were dissatisfied with losing to Guangzhou at home with the help of the referees. After the game, they did not shake hands with their opponents and went straight back to the locker room. This action provoked the dissatisfaction of the Guangzhou team. Captain Chen Yingjun, along with Jia Mingru, Jiao Boqiao, and others led the way as the entire Guangzhou team approached the Qingdao team's bench to celebrate and taunt their opponents. Guo Shiqiang, seeing the situation, hurried forward and loudly scolded all the players to return.
When Guo Shiqiang used to lead the team, he actually often maintained full-court pressure even when victory was hopeless. However, he never did so because he couldn't accept defeat and actively got into conflicts with opponents after the game, or even surrounded the opponent's locker room (still on their turf). It's just that the current Guangzhou team has changed greatly. Once Guo Shiqiang is not there, the Guangzhou team seems to be out of control again. Therefore, after the game, some fans commented: "Once Guo Shiqiang is not there, the Guangzhou team becomes lawless."
What's even more interesting is that the core figure of this event's conflict, Jia Mingru, is an old player of the Guangzhou team. Last offseason, the Guangzhou team underwent a major overhaul, with many key players leaving. Jia Mingru was traded to Shanxi, and Guangzhou also invited their head coach Yang Xuezeng from Shanxi. Coach Yang serves as the team's head coach, responsible for training new players. It can be said that the relationship between the two teams is actually quite close. Not long ago, when Shanxi visited Guangzhou for a game, Guangzhou even made a welcome poster and a congratulatory video for Jia Mingru before the game. So why did Jia Mingru "actively" provoke the Guangzhou team this time?
There should still be some unknown contradictions between Jia Mingru and the Guangzhou team. It could be that someone on the Guangzhou bench provoked Jia Mingru, or it could be that Jia Mingru may not necessarily have intended to provoke the Guangzhou team players. After all, there aren't many people on the Guangzhou team now who can be considered familiar with Jia Mingru. Jia Mingru may have been showing off to the Guangzhou management, or it could be a momentary impulse. After all, he played quite well in this game, scoring a season-high 25 points in 12-of-8 shooting against his former team, so it's inevitable that he would be somewhat excited.