Since the 1980s, most of the defenders in Chinese basketball have been known as "little fast spirits". In a less confrontational play environment, they can play with ease, but once they encounter some European and American teams, the weakness of physical confrontation ability will often make them unable to give full play to their own standards.
However, as Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian and others have seen the NBA confrontation, more and more Chinese players, especially defenders, have begun to realize the importance of physical confrontation in the game.
Li Gen is a typical representative of this, and has been holding iron in the power room all year round, creating a body of tendon meat. Fans even gave him the nickname "Jiaozuo LeBron", which is enough to see Li Gen's ability to fight physically.
The rookie season is a blockbuster
Before being called "Jiaozuo LeBron", Li Gen experienced a period of high and low walking in the Shanghai men's basketball team. Li Gen's CBA debut season coincided with the "eventful autumn" of the Shanghai men's basketball team, and the team decided to let go of the training of young players under internal and external troubles. In this way, Li Gen wore the No. 10 jersey of the Shanghai men's basketball team and played 50 league games for the team.
Li Gen, who is the main shooting guard, handed over a relatively gratifying rookie answer sheet, scoring 9.3 points for the team with 44% of the shots. Li Gen's rich offensive means have also made many fans shine, not only can rely on the body back to play defensive players, but also the average three-point shooting rate of 38% per game is also qualified.
To have such a bright rookie performance, it is indispensable to the contribution of Li Gen's parents. Li Gen's mother was a member of the Henan Provincial Basketball Team, and his father was also a basketball enthusiast in the army. When Li Gen was 8 years old, they began to train him in basketball. In 2006, Li Gen won the basketball championship of the Henan Provincial Games for Jiaozuo, but because Henan did not have a professional basketball team, Li Gen could only transfer to the university league.
Because of his outstanding performance at Ningbo University, Li Gen attracted the attention of Shan Weiguo, the basketball coach of Wuhan Sports Academy. Shan Weiguo once played in the CBA League for Shanghai as Yao Ming's teammate, and at this time he was looking for basketball seedlings for the Shanghai men's basketball team nationwide. Li Gen was selected by him and joined the Shanghai men's basketball team.
Moved to Qingdao to become an All-Star MVP
After a turbulent period, the Shanghai men's basketball team introduced iron-fisted coach Deng Huade, and Li Gen gradually reduced his playing time due to some misunderstandings with the head coach, gradually becoming a marginal member of the team, and even once abandoned by the team.
After a depressing season, Li Gen transferred to the Qingdao men's basketball team. At this time, the Qingdao men's basketball team is a team dominated by young players, and Li Gen seems to have found the confidence of the rookie period again. Especially in his second season in Qingdao, he averaged nearly 14 shots per game, shooting 60% of two-point shots, and scored 17.6 points per game, becoming the main scorer in the Qingdao team.
That season, Li Gen also made his first selection for the CBA All-Star Game. In the All-Star Game in Guangzhou, he did not shy away from the field, contributing 4 wonderful dunks, shooting 4 three-pointers, scoring 31 points, and was elected the MVP of the All-Star Game. Li Gen is also the first All-Star MVP from the Qingdao men's basketball team.
The All-Star Game MVP is encouraged, but Li Gen's goal is always to be a CBA championship. At that time, the Qingdao team had a small youth whirlwind in the CBA, but the hard power was still not enough to impact the CBA championship. At this time, the defending champion Beijing men's basketball team issued an invitation, hoping that Li Gen could strengthen the team's backcourt strength.
Joined Beijing and won two CBA championships
For his CBA championship dream, Li Gen came to Beijing. In the face of the ST All-Star MVP, the Beijing men's basketball team and fans also gave Li Gen high expectations. Maybe it's because I'm carrying such a heavy pressure for the first time, or maybe I don't have enough running-in with my teammates. Li Gen's first season in the Beijing men's basketball team had great ups and downs, and the Beijing team failed to reach the CBA Finals that season.
Whether in Shanghai or Qingdao, Li Gen is the outside core of the team, and both teams hope that Li Gen can fully release himself on the offensive end. But in the Beijing men's basketball team, Marbury is a well-deserved core of the outside line, and Li Gen also said:
'I have to adapt to my new role on the pitch as soon as possible, Marbury is a great team leader and I need to learn a lot from him.
After a season of adaptation, Li Gen gradually began to show his strength in the Beijing men's basketball team. He is still sharp on the offensive end, especially the ability to break through with the ball, and has stepped forward many times when the team is in a scoring drought.
'On the offensive end, the coach wants me to strengthen the breakout, in addition to scoring, but also distract the opponent's defensive attention and create more scoring opportunities for other players."
The backcourt combination of Reagan and Marbury also became one of the strongest backcourt combinations in the 2013-14 CBA, and with their full cooperation, Reagan won his first championship ring. Although Marbury is still the most talked about player, no one can erase Li Gen's contribution to the championship.
In the 2014-15 season, Li Gen once again embarked on the road to defend his title with the Beijing men's basketball team. At this time, Li Gen was in the year of fighting, and after Marbury was one year older, Li Gen took the initiative to carry the offensive banner of the Beijing team. That season, he contributed 17 points to the team, and what was even more terrifying was that the two-point shooting rate reached 64%, and the three-point shooting rate increased to 45%, both of which were new career highs for Li Gen.
In the finals, the Beijing men's basketball team defeated Liaoning 4-2 to successfully defend the CBA championship, and Li Gen got his second championship ring.
Li Gen's outstanding performance in the Beijing men's basketball team also made him a fragrant feast in the CBA transfer market, and the Xinjiang team recruited him with an annual salary of tens of millions. After joining Xinjiang, although his personal data declined, Li Gen still brought the first CBA championship trophy in team history in the second season of joining the team. Along with Su Wei, he became the only two players to have won the CBA championship for different teams.
Can eat, discipline, love to drink tea
Because of Li Gen's tendon meat and bulldozer-like breakthrough on the court, he was jokingly called "Jiaozuo LeBron" by fans. Being able to have such a breakthrough ability is inseparable from his perennial insistence on "soaking in" the power room. During his time with Xinjiang, he would practice his strength alone with his trainers every morning before training. Even during league breaks, he was a regular at the gym.
Li Gen was once complained by teammate Morris that he was the most edible player in the team, but Li Gen's eating was not a nonsense. Once in an interview, it was lunchtime, and the reporter followed Li Gen to dinner.
"One steak, four egg whites, no egg yolks. Add a little less sauce and two more loaves of bread. ”
Li Gen's amateur life is also quite interesting, and when a familiar reporter meets him, he will ask him, "Did you bring a tea set this time?" "He loves to drink tea, and he is also half an expert in the meticulous classification of various types of tea."
At the age of thirty, Li Gen was plagued by injuries, especially his knee injuries for many years, which greatly weakened his explosiveness. In 2019, he returned to the Shanghai men's basketball team after a decade of absence, and recently joined the Beijing Point men's basketball team. For Li Gen, he may not be as shining as Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, but for Chinese basketball, Li Gen's success may become another direction for future material selection.