Breaking News in Liaoning-Guangdong Clash! NBA Center Snatched Again! Yang Ming Caught Off Guard! Du Feng Smiles
The 24th round of the CBA regular season continues, and according to the schedule, the match between defending champions Liaoning Men's Basketball Team and Guangdong Men's Basketball Team will kick off at 19:35 Beijing time on December 30. This highly anticipated focus match is the first encounter between the two teams this season. Looking back at their last six encounters, Liaoning Men's Basketball Team has a record of 3 wins and 3 losses against Guangdong Men's Basketball Team, indicating that both teams are evenly matched in terms of strength.
Liaoning Men's Basketball Team won a big victory over Xinjiang Men's Basketball Team in the 23rd round of the regular season, who are also one of the favorites to win the championship this season. Guangdong Men's Basketball Team defeated Jilin Men's Basketball Team by a whopping 41 points in the 23rd round of the regular season. Both teams have been in good form recently, so the outcome of this match mainly depends on two factors. The first is how Guangdong Men's Basketball Team can maximize their advantage in the paint. This season, Guangdong Men's Basketball Team has recruited three powerful foreign players for their frontcourt. Jilunwater, despite his age, is an offensive powerhouse, capable of scoring 40+ points per game if given sufficient ball possession.
Morland is a master at protecting the basket and grabbing rebounds, with excellent playmaking skills. His "15 pick-and-roll" with Xu Jie has become the most stable scoring tactic. As long as Morland plays happily and gets into a rhythm, Liaoning Men's Basketball Team's frontcourt will be thrown into chaos.
Secondly, Bazley, who was re-signed by Guangdong Men's Basketball Team, is also a formidable force on the wing. In the victory against Jilin Men's Basketball Team, he played for 18 minutes, shooting 11 for 7, easily scoring 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Bazley has strong ball-handling and impact ability, decent three-point shooting accuracy, and exceptional defensive capabilities, able to defend from position 1 to position 5. Therefore, Guangdong Men's Basketball Team has a significant advantage in the paint.
When it comes to comparing Guangdong Men's Basketball Team's frontcourt with Liaoning Men's Basketball Team's, an unexpected event caught Yang Ming off guard. Media reports revealed that NBA foreign aid Patton, who had reached a verbal agreement with Liaoning Men's Basketball Team, suddenly raised his price, demanding a new signing condition from Liaoning Men's Basketball Club. He insisted on a $500,000 increase before agreeing to sign, otherwise, the Patton team would join a club offering a higher price.
It should be noted that Liaoning Men's Basketball Team is currently facing great difficulties in their frontcourt. Their main foreign player, Tu Lei, has been placed on the layoff list, leaving Yang Ming with no choice but to use two small foreign players in recent games. The frontcourt can only rely heavily on the "Xuanming Two Elders." These two veterans not only have to engage in high-intensity running back and forth but also compete for rebounds with the opposing team's big foreign players. On the offensive end, they repeatedly dive to the floor, resulting in an increasing number of new injuries for Han Dejun and Li Xiaoxu.
If this high-intensity consumption continues, it is possible that these two veterans may suffer serious injuries before the playoffs even begin. This is a major concern for Yang Ming. Therefore, it is likely that former NBA center Patton will be intercepted by another team like Morland, and Yang Ming's headache has just begun. Du Feng is also pleased because Guangdong Men's Basketball Team has experience in intercepting players this season, and the acquired Morland has performed exceptionally well after the price increase.
Secondly, Liaoning Men's Basketball Team needs to maximize their advantage in the backcourt. With the shortage of personnel in the frontcourt, Yang Ming can only make more use of Fu Hao and Zhang Chen Zhi Feng. The advantage in the backcourt is obvious, with Wells exploding for 50 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals in the previous game, leading Liaoning to a big victory. Additionally, Wang Lanyan, acquired this season in exchange for Guo Ailun, has proven himself, delivering a perfect performance of 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals in 33 minutes as a starter, which brings great comfort to Yang Ming.
Therefore, under the circumstances where Zhao Jiwei and Hu Mingxuan are injured, the new "Wei Feng" combination of Liaoning will be the key to victory in this Liaoning-Guangdong battle. It is expected that Yang Ming will continue to deploy a three-guard system, with Ferg focusing on shutting down Xu Jie defensively. Moreover, Yang Ming will consider arranging a 2-3 zone defense. Because in the previous loss to Zhejiang Men's Basketball Team, Coach Du struggled to break through the 2-3 zone defense. Hence, both teams have their strengths and weaknesses in this focus match, and we will have to wait and see who will come out on top.