On March 12, Beijing time, the 34th round of the CBA regular season, the Shanghai men's basketball team lost to the Guangsha men's basketball team 95-101, and Shanghai center Wang Zhelin scored 28 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks on 12-of-24 shooting. Although Shanghai lost, Wang Zhelin's personal performance was quite outstanding. In the confrontation with Guangsha foreign aid and "American Wang Zhelin" Okafu, Wang Zhelin has the absolute upper hand. It is worth mentioning that Wang Zhelin grabbed 11 frontcourt rebounds in the whole game, while the Guangsha team only had 14 frontcourt rebounds.
This "high-end round dialogue" between Shanghai and Guangsha attracted much attention before the game. One is because the two teams have the same record, Shanghai can continue to rank first if it wins, on the contrary, Guangsha has become the new leader; second, because Li Chunjiang was the head coach of Guangsha, and the two sides have complex emotions of cutting and messing; third, both sides have strong foreign aides with high ranks in the former NBA, and the showdown between Shanghai foreign aid Feng Lai and Guangsha foreign aid Okafu is considered to be "the first major foreign aid dispute in the CBA".
But when the game started, the real leader of the inside line was not the foreign aid, but the red-eyed Wang Zhelin. Compared with Vonle and Okafor due to their different playing styles, the direct confrontation between Wang Zhelin and Okafor is more frequent. Wang Zhelin and Okafu, who also rely on basket technology and footwork, and are also deficient in defense and movement, are widely compared by the outside world. Although this is the first time in their careers that the two have met, before that, the two have traveled through time and space to closely link the two. For Wang Zhelin, fans called it "China Okafor", and Okafor was ridiculed by fans as "American Wang Zhelin".
But it's better to be famous than to meet. Is "Made in China" better? Or is U.S. foreign aid better? It's all about the game. From the beginning of the game, the confrontation between Wang Zhelin and Okafor was Mars Splash. With 7 minutes left in the first quarter, Okafor attacked Wang Zhelin with the ball on the left side of the basket, a back turn to dribble, Okafu dribbled along the bottom line to lower the center of gravity of the hard top Wang Zhelin, but was defended by Wang Zhelin with a tough body. Okafor's board shot hit the rebound, but because he was blocked by Wang Zhelin, he did not touch the basket at all. If it were not for Hu Jinqiu's basket score, Wang Zhelin would have successfully defended this attack for Shanghai.
The so-called "coming and going without being rude." The duel between Okafor and Wang Zhelin obviously cannot be won or lost in one move and one style, and the confrontation between the two cannot be hastily ended. The further the game goes, the more frequent your comings and goings between the two of you become. With less than 3 minutes left in the first quarter, Okafor's penalty area dribbled off Wang Zhelin with the ball under his crotch, using a fake action to shake Wang Zhelin and hit the king with a time difference. From defending to attacking, Wang Zhelin quickly regained face. Teammates pass the ball outside the three-point line, and the king receives the ball under the basket. In the face of Okafor's close defense, Wang Zhelin jumped and confronted, using his left hand to hook the hand to break the basket. Attacking again, Wang Zhelin broke through and knocked away Okafor or left hand, and scored on the basket.
Wang Zhelin is extremely eager to win this game, not only because Shanghai can win to keep the top of the list, but also not just for the manager Li Chunjiang. There is also a reason that Wang Zhelin's career is less than a loss in the face of Guangsha. From entering the CBA in the 2012-13 season to this meeting, Wang Zhelin only won guangsha twice in the regular season. One was the first meeting of the rookie season, when Guangsha was not as strong as it is now. One was in the 2019-20 season. In the other 12 clashes, Wang Zhelin was all defeated. At that time, he was a Fujian player, and now that he has moved to Shanghai, Wang Zhelin obviously wants to "turn over".
Therefore, the more the game was glued, the more fiercely Wang Zhelin played. Especially when the big foreign aid Feng Lai did not feel good in his hands and shot only 3 of 12 shots, and the Shanghai inner line especially needed him to stand up, the king also supported the team's inner line with a more fierce performance. He has covered Okafor, hu Jinqiu, and Sun Minghui, the king who has been criticized for defending in the past, and once again tried his best in this game. And Okafor's opposition, the king killed the red eye at the end.
With 6 minutes left in the final quarter, Wang Zhelin attacked Okafu with his left hand in three seconds. After missing the shot, the king grabbed the rebound in the front court. Attacking Okafor again, the referee did not blow the opponent's foul, and the king grabbed the rebound in the front court. In the third attack, Wang Zhelin finally attacked and caused his opponent to foul, completing a valuable 2+1 for Shanghai. At this time, Wang Zhelin's physical fitness has actually declined seriously, and in one hand-to-hand combat, his hit rate is inevitably declining. In the last 4 and a half minutes of the last quarter, Wang Zhelin caused a foul on his opponent when he threw himself and attacked again, and he also lost his balance and fell to the ground, at that moment, Wang Zhelin lay on the ground and rested for a while before slowly getting up. But the king used the toughest way to prove himself. If the shot is missed, he grabs the rebound in the front court to go to the second offense.
In the case of 5 early backs, Wang Zhelin not only did not leave the field by the opponent causing 6 crimes, but almost single-handedly countered the Guangsha inner line at the last moment. In the final quarter, he scored 10 points, allowing Shanghai to recreate the suspense of the game.
Although Shanghai eventually lost, Wang Zhelin's personal performance was obvious to all. In the case of von Lay's serious dysfunction, Wang Zhelin showed a stronger presence in the matchup with Okafor (13 points and 12 rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting). The first showdown was mars splashing, which can't help but make people look forward to the second battle between Shanghai and Guangsha on March 20. At that time, the confrontation between Wang Zhelin and Okafu will also be more beautiful.