Basketball has a saying called "the heart of a champion," and football calls it "Guo'an always striving for first place." This is the spirit of Beijing people. We may not be strong enough, but we must persevere and maintain a spirit of striving and effort.
This season in the CBA league, both Beijing teams have made significant investments during the offseason. The Shougang team has successively signed Zhou Qi and Chen Yingjun, adding them to the roster with Zeng Fanbo, Lei Meng, and others, making their paper strength comparable to some championship-contending teams. On the other hand, Beikong is not to be outdone, having signed a package deal with Shenzhen for the frontcourt duo of Salinge and Shen Zijie, with Zhu Songwei joining the team on the perimeter, complemented by foreign players Rile, Tres, and others, making their strength also formidable.
However, both teams have not performed as expected this season. Currently, Shougang ranks ninth in the league, while Beikong ranks tenth. Forget about contending for the championship; now, whether they can even enter the playoffs is questionable. In fact, your Beikong lineup, starting with Rile, Salinge, Liu Xiaoyu, Zou Yuchen, Zhu Songwei, and substitutes including Shen Zijie, Tres, Guo Hao, Zhang Fan, Meng Zikai, Liao Saning, Jin Xin, among others, is already a super-luxury battleship in the CBA. These substitute players could start for other teams, like Meng Zikai and Jin Xin, who were once the ironclad starters for Tianjin. But with this current record, aside from the impact of injuries, frankly, Min Lulei really needs to take responsibility.
With such team performance, the team management is also restless. Beikong has taken the lead in adjusting their coaching staff, with European assistant coach Bedev Glan joining the Beikong team. Bedev Glan is also an old acquaintance of the men's basketball team. He previously served as an assistant coach under Jokic for the Chinese men's basketball team. He was also a candidate for the head coach position, but ultimately, the basketball association chose Guo Shiqiang. His tactical concepts and systems should have been recognized by the Beikong club, and he will serve as Min Lulei's chief assistant coach.
However, this is also a signal. If Beikong's performance does not improve, it is likely that Beikong will replace their coach, and Glan will take over. This is a common practice among CBA teams. In fact, Min Lulei is suitable to be an assistant coach. If Min Lulei could be an assistant coach, responsible for training and improving physical fitness during the team's off-season, it would be great. Pre-game opponent research is also good. What he lacks is on-site command, basically relying on the players to perform on their own.
Honestly, when I saw Liu Xiaoyu replacing Chen Guohao, I felt that Beikong fans were about to break down.
Min Lulei previously relied on Marbury to achieve results during his time at Shougang. Currently, there are no issues with the three foreign players within Beikong, but Min Lulei always blames the foreign players after losing games. Liu Xiaoyu, who he heavily relies on, played for 29 minutes and scored only 2 points. Many Beijing fans have complained, saying that Xu Limin and Min Lulei are truly the "Lone Dragon and Phoenix" of the CBA, both in Beijing.
What do you think about the head coaches of the two Beijing teams, Min Lulei and Xu Limin?