The 33rd 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 the dark horse Tongxi team. Ultimately, Guangdong won 112-94 against Tongxi with outstanding performances from Xu Jie, Jeron Walters, Bazley, Zhang Wenyi, and others. It is worth noting that after this victory, Guangdong has won nine consecutive victories and climbed to fifth place in the standings. Despite the absence of star player Hu Mingxuan, Guangdong was able to display such a dominant force, with Zhang Wenyi's performance at the No. 2 position becoming the highlight.
As the main guard of the Chinese men's basketball team and the CBA All-Star vote king, Xu Jie continued to deliver phenomenal statistics in this game. Jeron Walters and Morand continued to play the role of top foreign aid in the league, and Bazley's integration with Guangdong is gradually improving. Zhang Wenyi's ability to carry the No. 2 position without Hu Mingxuan is the key to Du Feng's winning streak. Unlike Zhang Haojia, Xu Xin, and others who still have significant advantages and disadvantages at the No. 3 and No. 5 positions, Zhang Wenyi has basically established his own characteristics at the No. 2 position. Although Zhang Wenyi's defensive capabilities are still a focus for other teams, his compatibility with Xu Jie, Jeron Walters, Morand, Bazley, and others is even better than Hu Mingxuan.
In fact, although Guangdong currently only has Xu Jie with the ability to thread the needle in the backcourt, the three foreign players Bazley, Morand, and Jeron Walters all have certain passing and controlling abilities, which is undoubtedly a perfect combination for Zhang Wenyi, a top shooter. Zhang Wenyi possesses very stable three-point shooting ability, and his decent dribbling can serve as an auxiliary control. Unlike Hu Mingxuan, who needs the ball to score, Zhang Wenyi's off-ball play will not take away Xu Jie's ball rights, but can also fully leverage the facilitation abilities of Jeron Walters, Morand, and Bazley, and win more offensive space for Xu Jie, Morand, Jeron Walters, Bazley, and others.
For Guangdong, even if Hu Mingxuan returns in the third stage of the regular season, it may not be able to produce a better chemical reaction than Zhang Wenyi. After all, although Hu Mingxuan is the strongest No. 2 position in the Chinese men's basketball team, he needs some games to find his competitive form. In this battle, Zhang Wenyi played 24 minutes and scored 6 points, 1 rebound, and 3 assists with an efficient 2 out of 4 shots (2 out of 3 three-pointers). With the double foreign aid forming a threat and Xu Jie needing a lot of ball handling, Zhang Wenyi can even produce an enhanced version of Hu Mingxuan in this lineup. Although Zhang Wenyi was just the 14th pick in the draft, he has indeed become Guangdong's top No. 2 position.
In summary, even if the home star Hu Mingxuan can make a strong comeback in future games, Du Feng will definitely put Zhang Wenyi into the 12-man regular rotation list. Even if Zhu Fangyu can invest heavily to bring in stronger attacking foreign aid for Hongyuan later, Zhang Wenyi will still have a place in the 12-man roster of Guangdong men's basketball team.