Zhao Weilun, who is only 1.85 meters from the Italian youth academy, is the answer to the Chinese men's basketball team?
He played 24 minutes, scoring 25 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists on 9-of-10 shooting, including 18 points in the fourth quarter. Zhao Weilun, who is not yet 18 years old, played the best game of his national team career. With this excellent performance, Zhao Weilun was selected as the best player on the second matchday of the U19 World Cup. Zhao Weilun began professional basketball training in Italy at the age of 5, and he is called by some fans as a combination of Zhao Jiwei and Guo Allen, so will he be the answer on the guard line of the Chinese men's basketball team?
After the second game, FIBA official Bo wrote: "Break through for a layup, step back to mid-range, stop a jumper." Zhao Weilun showed his rich 'arsenal' in the U19 men's basketball team China vs Canada match, and played 18 points in the final quarter, what is your assessment of his game?
U19 Men's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team played both games, the first game of the Chinese team lost 63-83 to France, the second game of the Chinese team lost 79-88 to Canada. In the first game, Zhao Weilun had 12 points, 2 assists and 3 steals, and in the second game, he had 25 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. Yang Hansen, the inner core of Guoqing, scored 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks in the first game, and 6 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocks and 1 steal in the second game.
Zhao Weilun, born on September 8, 2005 in Italy, 1.85 meters tall, is a Chinese basketball player, a point guard, who plays for Varese Basketball Club in Serie A. His ancestral home is Zibo, Shandong, and it is worth mentioning that Yang Hansen is also from Zibo.
In June 2010, Zhao Weilun, who was less than 5 years old, officially started basketball training at the Varese Basketball Club and accepted the complete European youth training system. On September 7, 2022, Zhao Weilun entered the adult professional league two years early and was promoted to the first team of Serie A Varese.
On June 20, 2023, the Chinese Basketball Association officially announced that Zhao Weilun was selected as the second team of the Chinese men's basketball team in the 2023 U19 Men's Basketball World Cup. It was his first trip to the national team and his chance to prove himself. Although the Chinese team lost both games, the performance of Zhao Weilun and Yang Hansen was quite good. You must know that 4 years ago, when Xu Jie, Guo Haowen, Wang Quanze, Jiang Weize and other national youth thighs led the team, the Chinese team only won 1 game.
According to these two group games, Zhao Weilun is the only one. His handling, passing, projection, and ball intelligence are all among the best among players of his age. He is able to give opponents enough lethality in terms of breakthrough power. And the path and position when catching the ball is also very smooth. Especially when passing the ball to teammates, basically the person gets the ball and is very in place. Unfortunately, the basic skills of teammates are a bit worse, and many passes are wasted.
There are still some stories worth sharing about Zhao Weilun. He received a Chinese passport at the Chinese Consulate in Florence and has been living with his parents in Italy. Because he accompanied his brother, who was eight years older, to the club to participate in basketball training, he gradually fell in love with basketball.
Although his physical condition is not very outstanding, he is very diligent. He has the energy to not admit defeat, and at the same time he is a very hard training child. In order to exercise physical fitness and reduce joint damage, he insisted on playing water polo while training basketball for more than three years. The coach of the water polo team is very strict, and the players swim 3,000 meters to warm up after entering the standard pool, and then practice confrontation, etc., which is very intense.
For the Chinese men's basketball team, the emergence of Zhao Weilun is undoubtedly good news, the Chinese men's basketball team has always had offensive problems with guards, and even Allen Guo cannot change the status quo. Many believe that he is expected to succeed Allen Guo and become the core of the new generation of guards in the Chinese men's basketball team.
Compared with Allen Guo, Zhao Weilun's level of control is comparable, and in the World Junior Championships, the opponent can't wait to pinch him with three people, because the other party knows that only he can dribble the ball through the half. In addition, his passing ability is better than Guo Allen, and his projection is also better than Guo Allen, especially he has a long-range stop jumper, a skill that is basically invisible among domestic players. His disadvantage is height, which is a hard injury to the body, but he is not yet 18 years old, and there is still the possibility of growing taller.
The main point is that he grew up in Europe and embraced advanced basketball concepts and systems, which is a huge advantage that the rest of our domestic guards have not matched. Zhao Weilun still needs to continue to work hard in many aspects, but he has shown his talent and ability to everyone, I believe that he is expected to become a new generation of guards and fierce players of the Chinese men's basketball team, shining in the international arena, Zhao Weilun's birth has brought new hope to the Chinese men's basketball team, and we have reason to believe that under his leadership, the future of the Chinese men's basketball team will be brighter.