This season, Liaoning Men's Basketball Team's road to defending their title has not been smooth. Although they made big moves in the offseason with new signings, it was unexpected that within a month of the start of the games, both Shaoyue and Aqiu, who were brought in during the offseason, left Liaoning due to tactical issues. Fortunately, Liaoning managed to sign Wells, which turned out to be a lucky find. If not for this gem found in the second stage, Liaoning would have lost at least three more games. Currently, Liaoning Men's Basketball Team faces many problems, the first being the issue with their frontcourt.
Han Dejun and Li Xiaoxu are very likely to retire next year. No matter how the personnel changes, as long as the "Xuanming Elders" are still with Liaoning, they still have the confidence to dominate. Over the years, Liaoning has had many core players; some have retired and become coaches, some have moved to other teams, and some have started to decline in form. It turns out that Han Dejun and Li Xiaoxu have been the true core of Liaoning all along. In terms of the frontcourt, without Morand, Fu Hao's performance has been inconsistent, and new recruit Patton still needs to be replaced. He can't even do the basics like protecting the rim and grabbing rebounds, let alone scoring. The most basic thing is to grab rebounds, but whenever someone is around him, he can't get them. His rebounding ability is not as strong as Aqiu's, and this definitely needs to change.
In the case of Li Xiaoxu's retirement and without good foreign aid recruitment, Liaoning Men's Basketball Team will call back Wu Changze, who has been loaned out. This season, Wu Changze averaged 30 minutes per game, scoring 7 points and grabbing 4 rebounds. Upon his return to Liaoning, he will also compete with Fu Hao for a position. Fu Hao currently has significant problems; he lacks defense, shooting, and even his once-famous close-range skills have failed him. His athletic ability is not great either. With the double foreign aid policy this year, almost every team has added a big foreign aid in the frontcourt. Fu Hao is now being left open for shots beyond the three-point line on offense, hesitates to attack inside the three-point line, and his defensive capabilities are even worse. Any player with offensive ability facing him almost always scores.
In contrast, Wu Changze has three-point shooting ability, defends better than Fu Hao with faster movement, and has stronger dynamic abilities. The double foreign aid version competes on the upper limit of foreign aid capabilities. What's sadder is the strength or form of domestic players. They now basically have no advantage, or even a disadvantage, compared to other teams. Without Zhang Zhenlin, the entire defensive system crumbles. Zhao Jiwei is also not in good form, and looking at the rest of the team, those who can play a leading role in the playoffs are: Wang Lianqin, Han Dejun, Li Xiaoxu, Fergie, Wells, Liu Yanyu, Yan Shouqi, and Li Huyi.
Now, none of Liaoning's domestic players can score, which is the most painful part. Liaoning is currently on the brink, but we still hope that the young players of Liaoning can unite as one. The frontcourt foreign aid still needs to be changed, and besides that, Yang Ming should really use Wang Lianqin more. Zhao Jiwei also needs time to adjust his state. We also look forward to Wu Changze's outstanding performance when he returns to Liaoning next year.