On the 17th, the Chicago Sky of the American Women's Professional Basketball League (WNBA) confirmed that Chinese player Li Yueru will miss the playoffs and will join the Chinese women's basketball team to prepare for the World Cup.
The team's reporter revealed on the 18th that coach James Wade was quite critical of this, believing that the Chinese team recruited Li Yueru but did not recruit Han Xu of the New York Free men, which was "disrespectful to the Sky team.".
The remarks caused controversy in the sports circle, and whether Li Yueru, who had no chance to play in the second half of the regular season, should return to the team in advance to prepare for the World Cup has become the most discussed topic.
On the morning of the 18th Beijing time, the U.S. Women's Professional Basketball League (WNBA) started, and the free agent team played by Han Xu defeated the Sky team played by Li Yueru 98-91. Han Xu played 5 minutes and 24 seconds, scoring 4 points, 2 boards and 1 assist.
During the game, in addition to regretting that they could not see the "Chinese derby", Chinese fans were still talking about Li Yueru's early end of the WNBA schedule and the meeting with the Chinese women's basketball national team that was training in Europe.
Because just before the start of this game, Sky and team reporter Danny revealed on Twitter that team coach James Wade was dissatisfied with the recall of Li Yueru by the Chinese women's basketball team, "Li Yueru was called up to the national team, and Han Xu can continue to play, I think this is disrespectful to our club." ”
In this regard, some netizens believe that Li Yueru should stay in the team, "I have to integrate into the team, and I have to learn to communicate with my teammates." Maybe just a little bit of a feeling is broken again. ”
Some netizens also believe that Li Yueru almost faded out of the Sky team lineup, and returning to the national team in advance is conducive to maintaining the state.
Domestic basketball media person @Ferdinand_ Takumi retorted to Wade, "It's funny, Li Yueru basically didn't play time in the latter part of the regular season, and Han Xu could at least play in the free man." The Women's Basketball World Cup is about to start, is there any problem with Li Yueru hurrying back to the team? Sit on the bench and don't let me beat, you don't feel sorry for me, I still hurt. ”
As Li Yueru, who played in the WNBA for the first time, she did not play much time this season. In addition to the need to adapt, it is also related to the fact that the Sky team is already as strong as a cloud.
After officially starting her career in May this year, she played in 16 games with the team, averaging 5.1 minutes of playing time per game, 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds. Since the battle against the Freers in late July, Li Yueru has not played again.
Chinese women's basketball coach Zheng Wei said in an interview with @China Basketball Team, "Xiaobao (Li Yueru) may not have enough time to run into the team because she went late, and her team is a champion team, and it will not change some systems and tactics because of her, so her adaptation may be relatively slow." ”
Perhaps considering Li Yueru's game time and competitive status, the Chinese women's basketball team took the lead in recruiting him back to the team after consideration. As an important member of the Chinese women's basketball team, she can get more opportunities to play when she trains in Europe.
The 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup will be held on September 22 in Sydney, Australia, and the Chinese women's basketball team is in Group A with Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United States. Previously, the Chinese women's basketball team set off for Europe on August 11 to train and warm up in France, Spain, Belgium and other places.
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