Big Man No. 21 hugged the talented young man and whispered in his ear: The future is yours!
Tim Duncan had told LeBron James this after the 2007 Finals, but he stole a title from the top James seven years later. People chase James's historic talent and extraordinary legends, but some people prefer the greatness of the 21 because he can do the simplest things on both offensive and defensive ends.
The 41st time in the CBA Zhejiang derby, the second game of this season, Hu Jinqiu, who was wearing the no. 21, held the ball and turned around and jumped to hit a jump shot, and yu Jiahao, a talented inner line under 19, sighed in vain. He shot 15-of-17 from the field and scored 32 points and 17 rebounds with incredible efficiency.
When the dust of the competition settled, I don't know if Hu Jinqiu would gently recite the famous saying of The 21st in Yu Jiahao's ear.
The Zhejiang derby is still playing anxiously, the two top four teams in the league, the masterpiece of Zhejiang basketball's youth training in the past decade, their confrontation is destined to be another bloody storm. This is still not a complete Zhejiang derby, Guangsha is missing the suspended Xu Zhonghao, aside from his recent wind comments, he is actually the only full-size heavy center in Zhejiang's inner line, with a strong strategic role.
In the Zhejiang squad, although Nicolas Rakosevic has returned, it is very different from the pre-injury performance. Zhejiang has also lost important pitchers in the front line, Zhu Xuhang has averaged 2.6 three-pointers per game with a shooting rate of 35.2% this season, although the game often has ups and downs, but at key moments he is an excellent choice to open up space.
The axis of this battle is still the inside line, is the talented Yu Jiahao with a height of 221cm. Since Zhu Xuhang was injured, Liu Weiwei has been looking for an interior combination of starting, Yu Jiahao, Liu Zeyi, Lai Junhao have taken turns to combine in the past three games, and finally Gaota Yu Jiahao and all-rounder Liu Zeyi became the starters, but there is no room before, which undoubtedly loses the three-point threat that Zhejiang relies on for its livelihood.
On the contrary, Guangsha has maintained an extremely stable starting combination after the arrival of Jalil Okafor, the golden partner of Sun Minghui and Hu Jinqiu, the fake starting license, and the defensive tip Zhu Junlong. In the last battle, relying on Okafor's counterpoint to suppress Yu Jiahao's playing style, Guangsha had the upper hand for a long time, and Wang Bo guided this battle to repeat the same technique as the prescription.
On the eve of his 19th birthday, Yu Jiahao showed off his top talent.
The one that was blown up by Okafor may be Yu Jiahao's most difficult moment of the season, just like when Yao Ming bumped into Yu Jiahao's father, Yu Leping, the rookie of the professional league always had to pay tuition in some places, or physical confrontation, or the style of the ball. Yu Jiahao lost his way under the footsteps of the NBA's exploration of flowers, and his height and weight arm span seemed useless.
Just 9 days later, when Yu Jiahao met Okafor again, the teenager did his homework, he was like an old tree stuck on the ground in defense, with his arms held high, constantly pressing his opponents with confrontation. Okafor's offense frequently hit iron, the strategy that Guangsha had followed since the last battle failed, and Zhejiang happily ran a defensive counterattack, even if it did not score three points, it still maintained the lead.
Zhu Junlong was injured and temporarily left the scene, Feng Xin was expelled twice in a short period of time for physical fouls, and the Guangsha house leaked during the overnight rain, and the rotation suddenly became stretched. But this season's Guangsha is really different, Zhao Jiaren stepped forward, and Guangsha maintained a tall lineup on the field most of the time.
But what really makes Guangsha different is the growth of Sun Minghui and Hu Jinqiu, both of whom played for at least 42 minutes, Sun Minghui kept sending the ball into the penalty area, Guangsha tried his best to impact Yu Jiahao, and finally, let him back 4 fouls to rest. Yu Jiahao tied his hands and feet at the defensive end in the last quarter, and he did not escape the repeated collisions of Guangsha after all, with a very low foul rate.
When Yu Jiahao's banner stopped, Hu Jinqiu continued to be hot.
The outrageous No. 21 big man, in the last 3 quarters of 14 shots, he and Sun Minghui frequently connected, in the most difficult moments of Guangsha with 8 offensive rebounds and basket attack to carry the game. Hu Jinqiu read early on Zhejiang's strategy of using Yu Jiahao's height to pinch the edge of the penalty area, and when Okafor's attack was difficult but attracted attention, he grasped one vacant position after another.
In the first game of derby, what really destroyed Yu Jiahao's confidence may not be Okafor's singles, but Yu Jiahao turned to the basket to prepare for a dunk, but was rejected by Hu Jinqiu's big hat. Hu Jinqiu in front of Yu Jiahao, was the core of the inside line of the Chinese men's basketball world youth championship, is an important member of the current national team inside line, his talent may not be as top as Yu Jiahao, but the height of 211CM weight 111KG, can run fast attack will defend, good at blocking and dismantling hands to live well, this league is so all-round big he is alone.
Hu Jinqiu, like Duncan, is low-key and unobtrusive, but how can he hide the flickering light. This season, he averaged 21.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.7 steals and 0.7 blocks per game with the league's first 72.9% shooting rate, he is not like Shen Zijie, he always contributes excellent blocks, nor is he like Wang Zhelin, who smashes the penalty area with a siege hammer, he just stands in advance in defense, constantly covering for teammates in the attack, and completes the offensive opportunities to catch the ball again and again.
In the first quarter, under the control of Yu Jiahao and the defensive strategy of Zhejiang, Guangsha did not play well, Hu Jinqiu only shot 1 of 3, and he has been doing blue-collar work for a long time since the arrival of Okafor. In the first six games of the third stage, Hu Jinqiu did not have more than 20 points in one game, and in the last battle, facing the oppression of Qingdao, he only scored 26 points on 12-of-13 shooting.
This battle is the epitome of Guangsha's recent matches, Hu Jinqiu started from the blue collar, the team suffered setbacks, so he began to increase the number of shots in the last three quarters, and after Yu Jiahao encountered foul trouble, he and Okafu were more at ease. Hu Jinqiu played 46 minutes and 15 seconds, which can be said to have disrupted Zhejiang's defensive system with his own strength.
The future may be Yu Jiahao's, but the current Zhejiang Derby is still Hu Jinqiu's world.
In 2017, Hu Jinqiu was recruited into the Zhejiang team and helped the team win the third place in the youth group of the National Games. Four years later, Yu Jiahao led Zhejiang to the second place in the youth group of the National Games, and then won the third place in the U22 with Zhejiang, and he and Hu Jinqiu were the best internal lines in the Zhejiang option at that time.
This season, Yu Jiahao has averaged 12.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 blocks per game, but as his role in strong dialogues has increased, the defensive pressure has also increased, and now his shooting percentage has fallen below 60%. In the Second Game of Zhejiang Derby, Yu Jiahao only shot 1 of 6, relying on 9 of 10 on the free throw line, barely winning two double-doubles.
The defensive end has a huge deterrent, but the offensive end cannot become the axis for the time being, and Yu Jiahao is still far ahead, but you can still clearly see his growth trajectory in the short interval of each strong dialogue. He is not a stupid big man, he is like Yao Ming, with a very high basketball IQ, but also has a soft feel, the future Zhejiang derby, the center will be him.
19-year-old Yu Jiahao will receive thousands of birthday wishes, but Hu Jinqiu, who is about to turn 25, is more eager to touch the honor. He has come infinitely closer to the regular season MVP this season, and Guangsha has never owned that trophy in the history of the team. Since the 2018 Finals, Guangsha and Hu Jinqiu, who have been floating for 4 years, will continue to launch the impact on the championship with a more mature attitude.
The Zhejiang derby seems to be over, but it's just getting started.