The first game of the CBA playoff semifinals ushered in the much-anticipated Liao-Guangdong war, and finally Liaoning Bengang easily defeated Guangdong 92-79, leading 1-0 and winning the series. Judging from the history of the two sides, in the playoffs, Liaoyue has met nine times, and 8 of them have won the first game of the team and finally won the series. Obviously, both sides want to try to steal this start.
Although this game is a well-known Liaoning-Guangdong war, but the game only lasted for two quarters of the game has no suspense, when the first half of Liaoning Bengang led by 23 points at 47-24, Guangdong Hongyuan created its worst playoff half record in history, in fact, the whole game has ended ahead of schedule.
In this game, the performance of Liaoning Bengang potential newcomer Zhang Zhenlin has once again attracted the attention of many people, this battle he played for 41 minutes of the highest team, but also got 15 points, the second place in the whole team, of course, these are not the main reasons for his attention, if only by scoring, then the last game against Shanxi Fenjiu's 8 three-pointers is really a four-seater. The real reason he got the attention of this game was his flawless performance on the defensive end.
The two major opponents Zhang Zhenlin faced in this campaign are Zhou Peng and Weems, one is a brother of the active domestic front, and the other is the standard template of the foreign aid front, for Liao Basket, the reason why he lost in the finals with Guangdong Hongyuan before, although there are many reasons, but specific to the competition field, the short board of the front line is a short board that cannot be avoided, Zhou Peng and Weems have always been a deadly double gun that Liao Basket cannot crack.
After Zhang Zhenlin entered the first line of Liaoning Basketball last season, with his outstanding physical talent, many people pinned their hopes on him to crack the Guangdong Hongyuan forward line. However, although the fledgling Zhang Zhenlin occasionally had amazing performances, he also had an amazing record of leading the team to win with 46 points when facing Guangdong Hongyuan. But realistically speaking, his performance on the defensive end is not satisfactory, neither the defensive hardness nor the defensive technique has met the requirements, and it has not become a key to cracking the Guangdong Hongyuan forward line. Liao Basket also did not take any advantage in the championship final with Guangdong Hongyuan.
For the shortcomings of defensive awareness, this point after Zhang Zhenlin was selected for the national team, Du Feng as the manager of the national team has also strictly polished him, from the Olympic Play-offs to the Asian Cup qualifiers, Zhang Zhenlin has been accepting the requirements and pressure brought by the defensive end, at that time I thought that his national team trip would be his best experience to become a full front, and the performance of the defensive end will be the final answer to his growth path that needs to be cracked.
In this game, he finally made a show of his two years of cultivation on the defensive end, incarnated as the Liao Basket Front Gate, the whole game was under his main defense, Guangdong Hongyuan Frontal Line double gun was basically limited, Zhou Peng shot 2 of 11, the shooting rate was only 18%, only got 8 points, and Weems shot 5 of 13, shooting only 38%, scoring 13 points, setting his lowest score of the season. This also became the first major reason why Guangdong Hongyuan lost the game.
Zhang Zhenlin said after the game: "What the coaching staff has always instilled in us is defense, defensive pressure and defensive area are the most important, the first game we should tell other teams the attitude of our team, mainly in defense." Perhaps Zhang Zhenlin's growth at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends solves not only the shortcomings of Liaoning basketball, but also a short board of Chinese basketball. When Zhang Zhenlin rose from the ground in front of Yi Jianlian in the game to complete the dunk. Maybe the old and new inheritance will freeze the moment of emotion.
Of course, for Du Feng, although he is the party who lost the game, but if he considers from the position of the national team manager, perhaps he will be more pleased, after all, Zhang Zhenlin's growth means that the national team has finally appeared a strong newcomer on the front line, which is certainly good news for the national team in the reconstruction, Ding Yanyuhang and Zhou Peng's absence due to injury, resulting in the tragic loss of the World Cup at home in 2019, and after Du Feng became the national team coach, the front line has been relying on the aging Zhou Peng. Now that Zhang Zhenlin can finally take over Zhou Peng's baton, for Du Feng, such a loss may be another note that Sai Weng has lost his horse.