Hu Mingxuan, who is 191cm tall, has become the mainstay of the Guangdong men's basketball team after four seasons. Winning the CBA Finals MVP in the 2019-20 season is the biggest affirmation of his performance on the court.
According to Hu Mingxuan's parents, he was sent to the Xinjiang Flying Tiger Basketball Training Camp because he was busy with work. His parents didn't think he could become a professional player, they just cultivated his interests and exercised his body.
After being exposed to basketball at the Flying Tiger Basketball Camp, 7-year-old Hu Mingxuan fell in love with the sport. Since then, after school, weekends, winter and summer vacations, Hu Mingxuan has chosen to spend time on the basketball court. He enjoyed the small satisfaction of scoring goals, imitating the signature action of idol Iverson on the pitch and sweating profusely.
In 2011, Du Feng, a famous guangdong men's basketball player, returned to his hometown and opened a basketball training camp. Seeing Hu Mingxuan's performance on the court, he had the idea of bringing him back to Guangdong. For Hu Mingxuan's parents, they are faced with a choice, whether to continue to let their children learn, or let them enter the professional basketball system, which is particularly important for their children's future development.
Seeing Hu Mingxuan's love for basketball, his parents finally let him go south to Guangdong at the age of 12 to receive professional basketball training.
After 7 years of training in the youth team, in the 2017-18 season, Hu Mingxuan was promoted to the Guangdong men's basketball team and officially became a CBA professional player.
At that time, the coach of the Guangdong men's basketball team was the world famous coach Yunas, who led the team with strict discipline, but because of this, he rarely used young players to play. However, Hu Mingxuan is an exception. Yunas has repeatedly expressed his importance for Hu Mingxuan in media interviews:
'I love the way he thinks on the pitch, but I still hope the fans can give him more space, he's not yet 20 years old after all.
During Zhao Rui's injury, Hu Mingxuan was appointed to the danger several times and became an important rotation player in the team's defender position. That season, he made 43 appearances, averaging 19 minutes per game, although the superficial data such as points, assists and rebounds were not obvious. However, as Yunus said about him, Hu Mingxuan's interpretation of the game on the court was not as mature as a rookie.
In Hu Mingxuan's rookie season, fans remember Hu Mingxuan's handsome face, and in the basketball circle, everyone appreciates his basketball IQ. Du Feng, who was called bole by Hu Mingxuan, also had high hopes for the "rookie" period:
"He's still very talented at playing, he's always improving, and he's working hard."
After a season of tempering, Hu Mingxuan gradually became the core defender of the Guangdong men's basketball team. As his playing time increased, some of his shortcomings on the pitch were magnified, and he quickly hit the rookie wall.
At this time, Du Feng has become the manager of the Guangdong men's basketball team, and he is deeply responsible for Hu Mingxuan's love, and many classic quotations criticizing Xiao Hu have also been regarded as jokes by many fans.
"I've eaten your heart." "Hu Mingxuan, your ball passed, super advanced level." "You go play games, don't play ball."
In the face of external doubts, Hu Mingxuan once again showed maturity that did not match his age.
"These criticisms from Director Du are all for my own good, he wants me to mature as soon as possible and help the team to win."
After breaking through the rookie wall, Hu Mingxuan grew rapidly on the court. In the 19-20 season, he repositioned himself on the pitch, starting defensively. No matter how big the foreign aid is, he dares to confront them head-on. Flexible steps, gradually strengthening the body, so that many foreign aides known for scoring have suffered losses on Hu Mingxuan.
Not only on the defensive end, but also on the offensive end, his no-ball ability has also improved rapidly under the guidance of Du Feng. He improved his three-point shooting percentage to 44 percent, making him a powerful offensive weapon for the team during his playing time as an attacking defender. At the same time, he reduced his percentage of attacks with the ball, and nearly 80 percent of his points that season came from running without the ball.
Fans have said that Hu Mingxuan really played a super advanced level.
Hu Mingxuan's growth path is both rapid and steady, from the CBA best rookie to the best sixth person, to the 2020-21 CBA Finals MVP, step by step.
After becoming the CBA Finals MVP, he did not flutter, but attributed everything to the team's efforts.
"This Finals MVP should belong to our whole team."
Because in the Finals series, he averaged only 13.7 points per game, so the outside world still has some doubts about his MVP trophy. However, if you watch the 2020-21 finals, you should understand that Hu Mingxuan's MVP is on his own.
It should be known that in the finals, the opposite of Hu Mingxuan is the long-established Guo Allen and Zhao Jiwei, who are the main point guards of the national team. The Guangdong team pays attention to the overall oppressive defense, and Du Feng often lets Hu Mingxuan oppress Guo Allen all over the field and consume the attacking time of the Liaoning team. Hu Mingxuan's super execution and hard work have allowed him to complete the tasks assigned by Du Feng excellently, and the 3 steals contributed by the finals series per game are the best proof.
After the finals, the mainstream media also praised Hu Mingxuan by name: "The MVP of the Hu Mingxuan finals is really deserved! ”
In August 2021, the NBA champions Milwaukee Bucks extended an invitation to Hu Mingxuan, hoping that he could come to the trial and play in the NBA Summer League. In the face of the favor of the NBA championship team, Hu Mingxuan also appeared unusually calm.
"I'm still young and there's a lot to improve on the court, so going to the NBA may not be the best time to go."
After much consideration, including communication with the team, Hu Mingxuan gave up the trial opportunity, and he chose to play for the Guangdong team in the National Games, hoping to show a more mature self to the world through more competitions.
In the new season, Hu Mingxuan can already stand alone, he can become the core of the team's attack, but also in the defensive end of the team. His ball-holding attack combined with no-ball projection is so versatile that in some games, Du Feng will give him unlimited firing rights. In the match against Sichuan, he scored 36 points to lead the team to victory.
Since his first selection for the national team in 2018, Hu Mingxuan has been a regular for the national team. With the gradual accumulation of game experience, he has been regarded as the hope of the Chinese men's basketball team's defender line, and he himself is looking forward to leading the Chinese men's basketball team to play a better performance on the world stage one day.