The Chinese women's basketball team was preparing to let newcomers play in the Asian Cup, but the FIBA merged the Asian Cup with the Olympic qualifiers, so that the Chinese women's basketball team had to change its plans and go all out to attack the Asian Cup. However, the four Chinese players who played in the WNBA were not going well, and they had a bad fate in the United States, and they were in a difficult situation, and they encountered great difficulties in all aspects.
Li Meng is in Washington Mysterious Man, currently 4 appearances, but the first three minutes of playing time are pitiful, there is no shooting opportunity at all, teammates do not trust Li Meng, basically do not give her passes, Li Meng just did a few switchback runs on the court and was replaced. On May 31, Beijing time, Li Meng got another chance to play, and this was only when her teammate was injured that she came off the bench to play. In this game, Li Meng played 1 minute and 48 seconds, shot once, took the ball and shot, hit a long-range 3-pointer, which was also her first goal since landing in the WNBA, but then the coach put her on the bench and never played again.
From the absolute core of the Chinese women's basketball team to the "knowing three when three" with team leader Zhang Long, external public opinion is flying, Li Meng suffered a lot of physical and mental blows some time ago, and the majority of fans are also worried about her, hoping that she will get out of the negative news as soon as possible. Fortunately, Li Meng won the opportunity to play in the United States, and soon flew to the United States with her husband Zhang Long to participate in the team training of the Washington Mysterious Man.
In the WCBA last season, Li Meng was the main core of Sichuan, averaging 17.7 points, 3.6 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game, helping Sichuan win the championship, and she herself won the title of Most Valuable Player in the Finals. No one could have imagined that the top star in China would find it difficult to get a chance to play in the United States, perhaps this is the gap between Chinese and American basketball.
Li Meng was snubbed by the American basketball club, and the fans also felt sorry for her. To be fair, Li Meng is the only existence in China, but when it comes to the US WNBA league, her physical condition is not very prominent, in her position, like Li Meng's conditions, even better than her conditions, there are not a few, Li Meng's height, strength, speed, bounce, etc., no longer have an absolute advantage like in China.
The house leak coincided with the overnight rain, and recently, there was news that Li Meng was going to be cut off by a mysterious person. According to people familiar with the matter, the Washington Mysterious Man is seeking a player trade, and they plan to find an inside player to strengthen the squad. In order to free up the position of the inside player, the mysterious man may have to cut Li Meng. For Li Meng, this is tantamount to making things worse. It seems that it is indeed too difficult for Chinese players to gain a foothold in the WNBA.
At present, Han Xu's situation in the WNBA this season is also not ideal. The latest news is that in the New York Liberty and Seattle Storm game, Han Xu did not get a chance to play, and the whole court was sitting on the cold bench. After all, the team had to grind the lineup at the beginning of the season, but Han Xu would soon return to China to participate in the Asian Cup, which made the team make some adjustments in the use of players, temporarily abandoning the reuse of her, and Han Xu became very little playing time. But playing for the country is the unshirkable responsibility of the national team members, and Han Xu is helpless in the face of the New York Liberty' roster adjustment.
Han Xu averaged 18.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2.6 steals, 2.3 blocks per game in the WCBA Finals last season, shooting 63.4% from the field, and was elected the Finals MVP after the game. In the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup, Han Xu averaged 21.9 minutes per game, averaging 12.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, making her a well-deserved core workhorse of the Chinese team. In the third game of the New York Liberty, although Han Xu's team defeated the Connecticut Suns 81:65, Han Xu only got 1 minute and 20 seconds of playing time, shot 2 times, hit 1 goal, scored 2 points, and gradually became a fringe player of the New York Liberty.
Han Xu has fewer and fewer opportunities to play on New York Liberty, which is obviously not fair to Han Xu, the runner-up of the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup and the best team of the tournament, and many fans are crying out for her, but this is the cruel reality.
Yang Liwei, the captain of the women's national basketball team, did not even play a game in the WNBA, and was cut by the Los Angeles Sparks before the start of the season. It is also said that Yang Liwei took the initiative to terminate the contract in order to help the national team play the Asian Cup, but now it seems that this statement is not reliable. Because until now, Yang Liwei has not gone to Europe to join the women's basketball team, but has stayed in the United States to train, and is still looking for opportunities to play in other WNBA clubs. Because Yang Liwei could not return to the team in time, head coach Zheng Wei gave the position of team captain to veteran Li Yuan.
The main center of the women's basketball team, Li Yueru, because of the injury in the WCBA finals, after the initial examination in China, the doctor thought that it was not a big deal, only need a short adjustment, many people think that Li Yueru can still play in the United States, but the domestic medical level is really not reassuring. When Li Yueru went to Australia for further examination, it was confirmed that the cruciate ligament was severely torn, and the degree of tear was so severe that it was almost broken, and if surgery was not performed in time, it could affect his future career. However, Li Yueru's recovery after surgery took 10 weeks, so Li Yueru not only could not play at Sky Club Chicago, but also missed the opportunity to represent the Chinese women's basketball team in the Asian Cup.
The absence of Li Yueru in the Asian Cup is a big loss for the Chinese women's basketball team. Although Han Xu is a little stronger in terms of comprehensive ability, on the inside, Li Yueru's ability to protect the basket and fight under the basket are unmatched in Asia. Especially against the main opponents of the Chinese team such as South Korea and Japan, Li Yueru's position in the interior line is irreplaceable.
However, there are also two good news for the Chinese women's basketball team. First, Wang Siyu can participate in training with the team after recovering from injury, and can play in the next European training competition. The second good news is that the former national player Shao Ting is about to return to the women's basketball team as an assistant coach of the national team, she can well assist Zheng Wei's team training and reduce some of Zheng Wei's pressure.
Shao Ting was the main player of the former national women's basketball team, a professional forward on the court, and played for many domestic clubs such as Sichuan Yuanda Meile and Beijing Shougang, and participated in the WCBA League. Shao Ting represented Beijing Shougang in the 2015-2016 and 2016-2107 league championships twice, and won the finals MVP twice. Shao Ting represented the national team in the 2018 Asian Games and scored 17 points and 6 rebounds in the Asian Games women's basketball final, helping the Chinese team win the Asian Games championship. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Shao Ting played in 5 games, averaging 9.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. In 2019, Shao Ting played for the WNBA Minnesota Bobcats. Shao Ting's rich experience can bring a lot of help to the players in the team.
The Women's Asian Cup will be held in Australia from June 26 to July 2, 2023, with China in a group with South Korea, New Zealand and Lebanon. Because FIBA revised the schedule of the Paris Olympic Qualification Tournament, the Asian Cup also became the Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics, so the Chinese women's basketball team attached great importance to this competition and issued a notice to several players playing in the United States very early on. At present, the women's basketball team is also in Europe to play a training game, in the first game, the Chinese women's basketball team with Gao Song's free throw, 63:62 against the Italian team. In the second game, the Chinese team was suppressed by the opponent and lost to the Spanish team 60:76. The Chinese women's basketball team plans to play against teams such as France before heading to Australia to prepare for the Asian Cup.
With the blessing of the runner-up of the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup, fans' expectations for women's basketball have also become very high. It is hoped that the women's basketball girls will live up to expectations, have the courage to fight, play their technical and tactical level in this Asian Cup, and successfully obtain a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games.
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