In history, Liaoning Province's contribution to Chinese basketball may not be comparable, this contribution penetrates history, covering all levels, Liaoning accompanies every period of the rise and fall of the Chinese men's basketball team, "the cradle of Chinese basketball talents" The words are not empty.
Regardless of the past, the current Liaoning players occupy almost half of the CBA league, and most of them play a very important role in their respective teams, such as Zhou Peng, Zou Yuchen, Zeng Lingxu, Shi Hongfei, Li Jinglong, Lu Yiwen, Raymond and Zhang Haojia, liaoning's current lineup is not very tight players loan or transfer to other teams is the main force, and the original coach, Gao Shiyan is one of the most prominent representatives.
Not only that, in the CBA coaching position, Li Chunjiang (Shanghai), Cui Wanjun (it is reported that he joined Jilin), Wu Qinglong (or joined Shenzhen), Guo Shiqiang (Guangzhou), Liu Weiwei (Qingdao) and Yang Ming (Liaoning) are all Liaoning coaches, including Wu Naiqun, Li Xiaoyong and Zhang Qingpeng, who also came out of Liaoning.
There is no doubt that in China, Liaoning is the largest province in Chinese basketball. But from another point of view, unfortunately, no one in Liaoning has been able to play in the NBA so far. Inner Mongolia has Bartle, Beijing has Wang Zhizhi, Shanghai has Yao Ming, Guangdong has Yi Jianlian, Hebei has Sun Yue, Henan has Zhou Qi.
In terms of sending talents to the national team, as the cradle of Chinese basketball talents, how can Liaoning fall behind, after Zhou Qi, Chinese fans are extremely eager to have someone to play in the NBA, and Liaoning people do not want Zhang Zhenlin to succeed? They looked forward to their talented striker taking the ball in the air, rounding his arms and smashing it into the basket on the other side of the ocean.
But it has to be said that among the 4 young players who are currently impacting the NBA, Zhang Zhenlin's probability of success may be the smallest. Not only is he older, he has been unable to land in the NBA through the draft, he can only get the opportunity to interview some teams through the operation of the agency, Zhang Zhenlin needs to meet an NBA team that lacks manpower in the No. 3 position, and also needs to perform well in the trial.
And even if these conditions are met, in a good situation, Zhang Zhenlin will probably only get informal contracts - NBA development league contracts, two-way contracts, 10-day short contracts or participate in some NBA preseason games. Then prove yourself through game performance during this period, and finally get a formal contract in the NBA.
Therefore, compared with Yu Jiahao and Zeng Fanbo, Zhang Zhenlin's process is more difficult and the success rate is the smallest.
Moreover, although it stands out in China, it is not so prominent in the NBA. In the previous report given by the scout of a team in the western NBA, the evaluation of Zhang Zhenlin has more shortcomings than advantages, summarizing the evaluation of this scout, the advantages include:
1. Have a good talent, physical fitness is better than many American professional players. 2. Very fond of attacking the basket, is a courageous player, and has a lot of energy in the game. 3. Have had the experience of playing on American campuses.
Disadvantages include:
1. The ability to hold the ball is below the average level. 2. The mind is not too clear in the game. 3. Defensive position and timing should be improved. 4.3 points are unstable, sometimes accurate and sometimes inaccurate, and the shooting speed is OK, but it is not very fast. 5. Age does not predominate.
The analysis of this scout should be said to be relatively objective and accurate, but I have to add that Zhang Zhenlin's advantages are also one, that is, the psychological quality does not lag behind the physical quality! He played jaw-dropping performances in the playoffs for two consecutive years in the Xingrui season, including in 2021 in the G3 regular time reading stage of the Liaoyue Finals, Zhang Zhenlin completed a shocking basket, and in 2022, "then beat Cantonese, then dance", 8 three-pointers in the Liaoning-Guangdong semifinals G3! The person known as "Zhang Zhenyue" is indeed worthy of the name!
But in any case, I sincerely hope that Zhang Zhenlin can impress the NBA team with talent, technology and mentality in the interview as reflected in those classic moments in the playoffs.
In fact, in the history of Liaoning Basketball, in addition to Zhang Zhenlin, there are two players who have had the experience of impacting the NBA, they are Guo Allen and He Tianju.
Allen Guo was the 2015 NBA draft winner.
In the fifth season of the CBA, Guo Allen averaged 13.5 points and 5.6 assists per game, and the data for a whole season was not very prominent, but in the past few years of playoffs, Guo Allen had a very explosive performance, that year the Liaoning men's basketball team was defeated 4-2 by Beijing Shougang led by Marbury in the finals.
At that time, Guo Allen has not yet grown into the best point guard in China, but as a defender, his solid basic skills and quite American style of play have attracted a lot of attention for him, and many people see him as the future of the Chinese men's basketball team.
In the summer after the end of the 2014-15 season, Guo Allen entered the NBA draft, before ESPN expert Kevin Payton predicted that Guo Allen would be selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 60th overall pick, but as a result, the 76ers ended up taking Serbian Mitrovic with them. It is also worth mentioning that the NBA draft that year was Wongs, Tanhua was Russell, and the list was Okafor (yes, it was the center of the Guangsha team, and Okafor and Jones were swept by Liaoning in this year's finals).
At that time, a scout made a report, and the advantages included: 1.190 height is not a loss for a point guard. 2. Skilled in dribbling, playing style is biased towards European and American players, and has a certain ability to hold the ball and attack. 3. In terms of personality, Guo Allen is a passionate player who is very good at driving the atmosphere of the team.
The disadvantages are more, 1. The shooting has serious problems, the stability is not good, the shooting rate is unstable, and as a point guard on the three-point line he fails. 2. Guo Allen's style of play relies too much on the ball, and the awareness of running without the ball is general. 3. The ability to resist is average. 4. The passionate way of playing makes him prone to a lot of unreasonable choices.
The scouting report was also objective, but it was limited to Guo Allen at the time, and now he has changed a lot of things, such as the stability of the three-pointer, the use of the ball and the connection of teammates. To put it unrealistically, regardless of age, if you use Guo Allen's ability to participate in the NBA draft now, I think the probability of the second round of selection is still there. At least now, he averages 20+ points per game on the CBA court, and about 40% of the outside feel is comparable to many CBA foreign aides who have played in the NBA.
But unfortunately, his growth was still slower, and he woke up a little late. But, in any case, although he did not enter the NBA, he is still the best point guard in the history of Chinese basketball, and the most successful player in the history of Liaoning Basketball. And now, he is still continuing to create his own glory.
He Tianju has participated in the NBA Summer League.
A little later than Guo Allen, in July 2015, the famous American website "Open Air Stand" wrote an article titled "He Tianju is trying to bring Chinese elements back to the NBA", which detailed how He Tianju got involved with the Pelicans and finally appeared on the summer league stage.
In January 2015, NBA Pelicans player department director David Booth made a special trip to Yingkou, Liaoning, and his purpose was only one, that is, to inspect the 25-year-old Liaoning forward He Tianju!
The two sides of the game were Guangdong Hongyuan and Liaoning Bengang, who warmed up before the game, He Tian raised his hand to feel explosive, and once hit 24 three-pointers in a row (Booth wrote, I don't know if he really counted?). In the game, although Guangdong's Will Bynum and Liaoning's Leicester Hudson were the scoring stars on the court, He Tianju also played well that night, playing 16 minutes in the game, scoring a local player's highest 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the outside.
As an aside, judging from the time of He Tianju's appearance, he and the Liaoning team may not know that someone is observing his every attack and defense on the sidelines, but fortunately, He Tianju himself was a positive and serious player at that time, in fact, it was not his sense of his hand that impressed Booth, but his persistent attitude.
After Booth returned to the United States, he naturally brought good news, so soon He Tianju was invited by the Pelicans to participate in the NBA Summer League, and for such a great temptation, He Tianju could not refuse!
But in the 6 summer league games, in addition to the first 4 shots and 3 of 9 points, the other 5 games are very bad, the reason for the poor may not only be shooting, but more because He Tianju does not get the ball at all, and even the playing time can not be guaranteed.
He averaged 7.8 minutes in his last six games and had 3.7 points and 1.2 rebounds. Such a performance is impossible to get the Pelicans contract, so He Tianju packed his bags and returned to China.
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