This season, the CBA has opened up its foreign player system, changing from four quarters and four players last season to four quarters and seven players this season. This has greatly increased the impact of foreign players on the game and reduced the playing time of local players. However, despite the reduced playing time, there are still some high-paid slackers in many teams who do not work hard. They do not train much and when they play, they either miss shots or make mistakes, acting like moles for the opposing team. The player mentioned below falls into this category.
In a CBA regular season match between Beijing and Guangsha, facing the strong and top-ranked Guangsha men's basketball team, Beijing played exceptionally tenaciously. Although they trailed by double digits in the first half, they managed to tie the score at 78:78 in the third quarter through their fighting spirit. In the fourth quarter, both sides exchanged leads with the intensity of the confrontation reaching its peak. However, with 35 seconds left and Beijing leading by one point, they made consecutive mistakes.
First, Fan Ziming committed a three-point foul on Sun Minghui outside the line, allowing him to take three free throws. He made two of them to overtake the score. Then, head coach Xu Limin made a puzzling move, replacing the powerful Zeng Fanbo with Fang Shuo to inbound the ball. The first attempt failed and they called a timeout, but the second attempt resulted in a direct turnover, allowing the opponent to counterattack. A teammate had to commit a foul, and Sun Minghui made both free throws, further widening the gap to three points. With a three-point difference, theoretically, there was still a chance for a buzzer-beater, but the tactic was given to Fang Shuo, who missed two consecutive three-point attempts, resulting in the team's regrettable loss of 91:94.
In this game, Beijing's loss can be attributed largely to Fang Shuo. He played for 16 minutes, shooting 7 times and making only 1 shot for a total of 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, with as many as 4 turnovers. His plus-minus value of -18 was the lowest in the game, meaning that during his 16 minutes on the court, the team lost by 18 points. It's basically fair to say that whenever he stepped onto the court, the team lost points. Judging from the game, it's unclear what exactly Fang Shuo was doing on the court, with all sorts of inexplicable turnovers and missed shots, which truly betrayed the efforts of his teammates throughout the game.
Players can have off days, and if it were just one poor performance, it would be forgivable. However, this season, Fang Shuo has repeatedly cost the team games. Last time, it was also his crucial five-second violation that caused the team to miss a good opportunity. This season, he averages 18.8 minutes per game, scoring only 5.5 points with a shooting percentage of 33.5% and a three-point percentage of 29.8%. For a guard, such a shooting percentage is clearly unqualified, especially for three-pointers, where his previous percentages were above 30% or even 40%, but this season it is only 29.8%. It's unclear whether he trains regularly or not.
Fang Shuo has been playing for Beijing for more than a decade and has also entered the national team multiple times. He should be considered a veteran, but it's unclear why he still makes absurd mistakes on the court, behaving more like a rookie than an experienced old hand.