The top four of the CBA are inextricably linked, and the competition for playoff tickets has also entered a white-hot situation, Stephen Marbury shook his head helplessly, and a year later, he encountered a defensive battle, but the piles were like a nightmare cycle.
In the previous leg, Zou Yuchen scored a key 2+1 to chase the point difference to 5 points, and in the next leg, he accidentally landed and was injured while chasing Liu Xiaoyu. In the final two minutes of the Beijing derby, Beijing Control lost an important internal barrier, and finally regretted not being able to turn over, and their winning percentage fell below 50%, only 2 wins away from the pursuers Tianjin and Xinjiang behind them (as of the 31st round).
What makes Beikong more sad than losing the Beijing derby is that Zou Yuchen was injured, and after the game, the official confirmed that his ankle had multiple ligament injuries and tears, and it was difficult to see him again in the case of only 7 regular season games remaining. Before the injury, Zou Yuchen had scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games, the second longest consecutive double figure in his career.
The last time Zou Yuchen scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games was in the 16-17 season.
In the third season of his career, starting with his 23 points and 11 rebounds at home against Beijing on December 28, 2016, he scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games, including 7 double-doubles and 6 20+10s, losing to Guangzhou, he scored 40 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks, which was the only single game of his career 40+.
Unfortunately, at the end of the 16-17 season, Zou Yuchen, who was in good shape, went to the United States to participate in the training camp to prepare for the NBA draft, after which he withdrew from the draft and returned to China, reporting to the red team led by Li Nan non-stop, and played 8 minutes in the game against Iran on the night of June 16, scoring 12 points, 3 blocks and 2 rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting.
After being hit on his left knee by an opponent, he was treated on the sidelines, when people did not realize the seriousness of the problem, until July 5, his 21st birthday, when the highly anticipated young star suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee, a fatal injury that basketball players who mainly played by running and jumping.
At the age of 21, fate gave him a black gift. In that game against Iran, he saw his injured national team teammates, Zhai Xiaochuan, Fang Shuo, Fan Ziming and Chang Lin, who were now in the Beijing team and played this Beijing derby with him.
From that injury, in the long time that followed, Zou Yuchen began to fight repeatedly with the injury. In the summer of 2018, he was in the national team again, and he did not even officially return, he suffered another cruciate ligament rupture, and two major injuries made him absent from the summer of 2017 to January 2020, a talented inner line of the Chinese men's basketball team was destroyed by injuries and his talent was exhausted.
The returning Zou Yuchen gasped for breath, but he left himself on the battlefield so strongly, his bones are a struggle against the injustice of fate, and a pure love for basketball. But the big injuries passed, the minor injuries continued, and in the 19-20 season rematch, he suffered an Achilles tendon strain, fortunately, there was no major problem, and at the beginning of the season, he missed many games due to leg muscle strain.
Breaking free from the shackles of injury and illness should have been an excellent starting point for Zou Yuchen to recover after 5 years.
This season, Zou Yuchen averaged 10.4 points, 7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, and he also brought his shooting rate to more than 50%. His game temperament is gradually returning, averaging 3.2 offensive rebounds per game, ranking 3rd in the league, and because of his protection with big foreign aides, North Control's rebounds, defensive rebounds and blocks this season are ranked first in the league, and it can be said that the forbidden area is the absolute lifeline of North Control.
Coach Marbury always pays attention to Zou Yuchen's physical condition to avoid injuries caused by fatigue, and this season he has only averaged 24 minutes per game while handing over good statistics. However, the weather was unpredictable, and he actually played less than 24 minutes against Beijing, but he was accidentally injured in defense.
It is not easy to return to the field, it is difficult to find some of the old state, Zou Yuchen may have to end his journey of the season with regrets. From Bayi to Beijing Control, it is difficult to believe that such a talent has not tasted the taste of the CBA playoffs so far, and his regret may only be to expect his teammates to help him complete.
A year ago, Beijing Enterprises and Guangzhou began the life-and-death speed of playoff seats at the end of the season, and After Beijing Enterprises beat Guangzhou face-to-face in the 52nd round, it almost took the last playoff ticket into its pocket. However, in the next 4 games, The North Control was full of branches, Joseph Yang was banned, Wang Shaojie, Yu Changdong and others were banned, and the team only won 1 win and 3 losses.
The CBA's jianghu is human, but only those who hit the negotiating table in a hard battle are human feelings.
In the final step, North Control lost the playoff opportunity, and in the foreign aid crisis and injury troubles throughout the season, Marbury's second year in charge, North Control failed to retain the rising position as expected. This season, Beijing Control is still in trouble, and on the night of Zou Yuchen's injury, Zhang Fan, who has been absent for two months due to injury, has just returned.
Zhang Fan and Liao Sanning, a powerful combination of Beijing Control's outside line, have given people great expectations from the beginning of the season. This year's Zhang Fan averaged 18.6 points, 3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game, averaging 3.2 three-pointers per game with a three-point shooting rate of 39%, making him the league's hottest outside scorer.
His young teammate Liao Sanning, in his rookie year, has averaged 13.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. In addition to 2.5 turnovers per game and a 29.5% three-point shooting rate, Liao Sanning is already an all-round defender with both attack and defense.
It is such a pair of excellent backcourt partners, both wearing masks on the night of the Beijing Derby, which is not some kind of mysterious ceremony, nor is it a fashion to pretend to be cool and handsome. Zhang Fan collided with Wu Qian against Zhejiang, resulting in a fractured cheekbone, Liao Sanning confronted Guangsha and hit Xu Zhonghao head-on, and after a facial fracture, the pair could only protect the wound with masks and try to stand on the court.
Not only these wounded soldiers, Isaac Haas, Yu Changdong, Wang Junjie, Kevin Luo, Li Weihao and others have not yet appeared in the third stage. Marbury started from the second stage to use rookie Liu Chang, reusing Ma Yong, barely maintaining the team's 10-man rotation, but the disrupted lineup coupled with the addition of new foreign aides actually made it difficult to control mistakes in the face of strong defense.
The knife was already on the neck, and the 12th-ranked North Control could only let go.
In the next 7 games, the schedule of Beijing Control is the devil, they will play against Guangdong, Tianjin, Beijing, Guangdong, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Fujian, in addition to the final battle of Fujian, the beijing-Guangdong-Shenzhen top three are in the anxious card battle, and Tianjin is the direct opponent of the playoffs of Beijing Control.
In contrast, the schedule between Tianjin and Xinjiang is much easier, Tianjin can play two games in Ningbo, and Xinjiang can play two games in Fujian. However, Beijing Control is still at least 2 wins ahead of their opponents (Tianjin played 32 rounds first, only 1 win), even if they lose 2 games and the opponent easily wins these 2 games, the record is only flat.
The real decision on their life and death is actually precisely the card position battle, Tianjin has just won a head-on battle with Xinjiang, and there is still a fight between them. Beikong has played xinjiang twice this season, killing each other in the 4th and 10th rounds, and then they have to play two games with Tianjin, and these two games are life and death battles.
Unfortunately, it is the same as the script that North Control hated last season, they have the lead, but the pursuers behind them enjoy the convenience of the schedule, and the two teams have to fight for the head and bleed. Unlike last season, Beijing Control has now injured Zou Yuchen, Zhang Fan and Liao Sanning have become "mask men" who fight with injuries, the good news is that Xinjiang is a single foreign aid after all, and Tianjin's big foreign aid John Henson, who was originally determined to join, has not arrived.
Some other good news is that Todorovic played for Tianjin for two seasons and knows most of the players in this team. In the pre-season warm-up match, Beijing Control also played against Tianjin and won that game.
The curtain has been lifted on the battle for a playoff spot, and the optimism of last season has long since dissipated, and they can only rely on themselves to break out of the crisis. After Zou Yuchen's injury, the team may only rely more on Marco Todorovic, and Zhang Fan's timely return will change the team's poor three-point performance in the past few games.
Speaking of which, right on the sidelines of the tianjin and Guangzhou matches, Marbury watched the whole game intently. Tianjin averaged 37.1 three-pointers and 13.3 hits per game, all league-first, with a double-small lineup of Taylor Rochester and Kenny Burton, they are one of the league's most capable three-point shooting teams, and they are also the hottest teams in the near future.
North Control is not a team that is good at offense, they sit on the league's first rebound, but they only average 21.2 three-point shots per game, the league's fewest, 7.5 hits are only in the league's second-to-last, with the sixth most free throws in the league, but also maintain the league's worst free throw shooting rate, while also averaging 18.8 turnovers per game.
In short, the situation of North Control's waste of opportunities is very serious, as in the good situation at last year's playoff card slot, North Control can build an advantage in the game, but there are often sudden power outages at both ends of the attack and defense. Marbury's third year in charge still did not solve the problem of offensive and defensive system and team leadership on the field, of course, after all, he took over the North Control without local stars, and after Sun Yue retired, the leaders who can inject vitality into both offensive and defensive ends and maintain concentration need to be cultivated.
If injuries don't bring them down, then at this moment, such a bad trough is the best time to test a team and coach. The role of The playoff contenders of North Control has been maintained for three years, they have waited for Zhang Fan's growth, waited for Liao Sanning's brilliance, and they are close to the cocoon into butterflies to survive the most painful stage.
Fate is cruel, but the pitch is fair, players have to overcome injuries, teams have to win respect, and in the end only the unyielding party is the hero.