The Paper's reporter Qi Dong
A day earlier, when the WNBA Chicago Sky confirmed that Li Yueru would no longer play for the rest of the season for the team, the discussion of the news was full of mixed emotions.
On August 18, Beijing time, Chicago Sky reporter Dani Bar-Lavi revealed on social media that Sky coach James Wade said that the Chinese national team recruited Li Yueru to return to the team but allowed Han Xu to continue to play for the New York Free agents, reflecting the "lack of respect for the Sky team".
American journalists revealed the sky coach's ideas on social networks.
According to domestic media reports, before Sky's once again game against The Liberty, Coach Wade said in an interview: "The most disappointing thing is that I don't know if this is related to the time of the game, but Han Xu will play against us tomorrow. I think it was very unfair that they decided to take Li Yueru instead of Han Xu. It made me feel bad. ”
On the afternoon of the 17th, according to @People's Daily Sports, WNBA Sky coach Wade revealed that Li Yueru will not play for Sky for the rest of this season, and the Chinese women's basketball team hopes to ensure that she can participate in the World Cup in good condition.
Although neither the Chinese women's basketball team nor the Sky team has clearly stated whether Li Yueru's early return to the national team after ending the WNBA journey is related to her less playing time in the league, it is not difficult to see from the statistics that Li Yueru's appearance in the WNBA is indeed not much.
This season, it is difficult to see the "Chinese derby" in the WNBA.
Since the official start of the trip to the West in May this year, he has played 16 games with the team, averaging 5.1 minutes of playing time per game, and averaging 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. Since the first battle with Han Xu's New York Liberty in late July, Li Yueru has not played again.
On the other hand, the Chinese women's basketball team has gone to Europe on August 11 to train for the World Cup, according to the schedule, the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup will be held in Sydney, Australia on September 22, and the Chinese women's basketball team is in Group A with Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United States.
Judging from the game time and grouping of the World Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team really needs to quickly run into the lineup with the lineup as neat as possible, and Zheng Wei, who has just taken over the Chinese women's basketball coaching whip, as the new manager, also needs enough time to formulate Li Yueru's tactical position in the Chinese women's basketball team when coaching a new lineup, in order to make Li Yueru play the greatest role.
The new coach Zheng Wei is facing a lot of preparation pressure.
In this regard, The Chinese women's basketball coach Zheng Wei also said, "Xiaobao (Li Yueru) may not have enough time to run in with the team because she went late, and her team is a champion team, and it will not be because she comes to change some systems and tactics, so her adaptation may be relatively slow." ”
On social networks, on the topic of "whether Li Yueru should return to the team in advance", many fans lamented that they could not see the "Chinese derby", but also put forward different views.
It is worth mentioning that the Chicago Sky team where Li Yueru is currently located ranks second in the league, and Han Xu's New York Liberty team is ranked 9th, and is working hard for a playoff spot.
Editor-in-Charge: Ma Zuoyu
Proofreader: Shi Gong