Beijing, 12 Jul (Xinhua) -- The hoarse voice has almost recovered, and the nervous beating of the eyelid under the left eye will appear from time to time. Just like during the event, sleep short and light each night. The U19 Men's Basketball World Cup has been over for more than a week, and Han Deng, the head coach of the Chinese men's second team who led the team to finish tenth, has not fully emerged from the state of the game.
Handen conducts during the game
In this competition, the Chinese team, which was not favored before the competition, won the highest ranking since 2013. In the group stage against last-winning Spain, China lost by just nine points. Against the United States, they led by one point in the second half of the third quarter. Although the overall record of the Chinese team is only 2-5, the overall performance is commendable. Compared with previous competitions, the difference between the loss points of the Chinese team and the strong team has been significantly reduced, and the scene has also come and gone. Han Deng said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago that the future of the Chinese men's basketball team will be better.
Intensive training and training have achieved results
In last year's U18 Men's Basketball Asian Championship, China lost to South Korea in the semifinals and finished third. In order to prepare for the U19 World Cup, the second Chinese men's basketball team began training in Hainan at the end of January this year, and went to Serbia to train in early May. Han Deng said that the training in China, the competition of the development league and the training in Serbia for more than one month have greatly helped the team to improve.
According to him, during the training period in Hainan, the Chinese team spent more effort to solve the problems of general forward breakthrough and fast attack technique, and weak overall shooting level. After participating in 10 games in the Development League, the team has accumulated competition experience, which has also exposed the lack of targeted anti-blocking and demolition. During the training period in Serbia, the coaching staff also focused on solving the problems of defense and dismantling, the overall rotation of defense, and supplementary defense, and strengthened the offensive means of enriching the target and breaking the joint defense, so that the defensive system of the Chinese team is close to the world development trend, and the offensive system also has some characteristics of its own.
Handen said: "Especially important is the Serbia stop. First, Serbia's youth training system is very complete, and second, foreign teams also train in Serbia before the game, which is conducive to our selection of opponents with simulation value. After training in Serbia, the team's ability has been qualitatively improved. ”
Chinese player Wang Haoran (right) during the game
Han Deng told reporters that the Chinese team participated in more than 10 warm-up matches in Serbia, and the overall quality was very high. In recent years, domestic teams of all ages rarely win matches in Serbia, and this time the Chinese team won some warm-up matches to boost confidence. After seeing the performance of the Chinese team, some teams, including Serbia and Slovenia, took the initiative to ask the Chinese team to play warm-up matches.
Another takeaway from training in Serbia was the adaptation to the European referee's penalty scale. With corresponding preparation, the Chinese team can face some controversial penalties during the U19 World Cup more peacefully.
Earn respect with performance
Looking back at the entire U19 World Cup, Handen said that it is necessary to see the gap and build confidence. In the group stage against France, the opponent's expanded defense initiated by a number of tall players from the second half of the third quarter caused a lot of trouble for the Chinese team, and we did not find a way to deal with it due to the limited height of the guard line. Against Spain, although they lost, the score was close, and Handen predicted that Spain and France would be contenders for the title, and they actually met in the final.
Handen believes that the most regrettable of the 7 matches is against Canada. In that game, the Chinese team's strategy of fighting joint defense and catching counterattacks effectively limited the opponent's attack, but the success rate of their own attack was not high, counterattacks and positional battles could not be scored, and there was no crosshair on the outside, plus 21 mistakes in the 3rd quarter, it was a pity to lose, it was originally the most promising game for the Chinese team in the group stage.
Chinese player Yang Hansen during the game
The most bloody and toughest is the battle against the American team. Handen asked everyone to work hard before the game, but the players were still a little shy in the first half. At halftime, Han Deng lost his temper in a rare way, and as a result, the Chinese team played a small 13-2 climax in the third quarter, and was still up by one point with just over one minute left in the quarter. However, Wang Junjie's injury when he dunked became a turning point in the game, and the Chinese team's attack was unsustainable after the United States team rose up. Although they have not won a single game in their four games against France, Canada, Spain and the United States, the Chinese team has fought to the extreme in defense and hardness.
After that, in the match against the host Hungarian team and the revenge battle against the South Korean team, the Chinese team successfully overcame the interference of off-field factors and won the expected victory. In the last game against Slovenia, the Chinese team also did its best when many players were absent or injured on the field, and left the field with 5 fouls, Ma Mingkun fought until he cramped, and in the end, there was really no one to replace.
Han Deng (right) conducts during the race
Han Deng said that during the U19 World Cup, as the game progressed, the head coaches of some foreign teams were more enthusiastic about him and the Chinese team, and would take the initiative to greet him when they met off the field, which also reflected that the performance of the Chinese team won the respect of the opponent.
"When I took over this team when it was not favored by the outside world and it was more difficult, I was also holding my breath to prove that Chinese basketball is not so bad, and we can wrestle with some strong teams. Judging by the course of the game, we played with spirit and won the respect of our opponents. Handen said.
Combat effectiveness comes from unity
In Han Deng's view, the Chinese team in this U19 World Cup can play its own level, thanks to the unity and harmonious team atmosphere.
According to him, the coaching support team of the Chinese team is basically one person and two roles, such as the team doctor and coach will undertake the task of psychological counseling, and assistant coach Liu Yang will also serve as a physical coach. During the training in Serbia and the competition in Hungary, Handen and the members of the support team took turns cooking, cooking Chinese food and changing the taste for the players. Assistant coach Vukočić from Serbia knows European and American teams very well, and his cooperation with Han Deng is also tacit.
Han Deng, head coach of the second team of the Chinese men's basketball team
In addition, during the whole preparation process, the K8 data team made a very detailed, detailed and professional scouting report and data analysis report for the team. In view of the 7 different opponents encountered in the 7 matches of the World Cup and the possible changes on the field, the K8 team has fully studied and worked perfectly with the coaching team, which has played a crucial role in the team's operation.
Han Deng believes that another feature of the Chinese team in this competition is the wide selection of materials, the team concentrates domestic youth training, campus system and outstanding players developed overseas, and eclectic talents.
During the tournament, Han Deng was on the sidelines shouting for command in almost every single of the first six games of the Chinese team. He said that he would tell the players some tactical intentions loudly at any time according to the situation on the field, and adjust them in time, which was discussed before the game. At the end of each game, he was in a semi-lost state. Before the seventh game, his voice was almost completely lost, and he agreed on a lot of gestures with the players before the game, and the players executed them very well.
After training and matching, Han Deng's mind was always simulating and reviewing the situation of the game, and his spirit was always in a state of high tension. Every night, he slept deeply for a short time, his biological clock was disrupted, and he has not fully recovered until now. However, he was relieved to see the significant changes in the team.
The Chinese men's basketball team will have a better tomorrow
Han Deng told reporters that in the process of preparing for the World Cup, he received strong support from the Chinese Basketball Association. From beginning to end, Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, did not emphasize performance indicators, but paid more attention to the growth and improvement of young players, which also made him firm in boldly exercising the confidence of his players.
Thanks to the relatively relaxed environment, Handeng used a rotation of 10 or more players in most games, giving more players more playing time. Judging from the whole competition, the players also repaid his trust through their own efforts. Players like Sun Yahui and Wan Menglin who entered late also had highlights in the later stage, and all the players were trained and improved through the game. Because of this, Handen is very confident about the future of this group of young players.
Chinese player Wang Junjie (center) during the match
He said: "The young players are very malleable, and it is still necessary to give them relatively loose space to grow. These players finally stepped forward, and we must have confidence in the young players and the future of Chinese basketball. ”
At the same time, Han Deng also clearly sees that there is still a clear gap between the Chinese team and the world's strong teams, which is reflected in personal ability, technical level, tactical literacy, athletic ability and other aspects. In the long run, on the one hand, we must continue to do a good job in domestic youth training and talent training, on the other hand, we must also strengthen exchanges with strong teams in Europe and the United States, play more high-quality games, and make continuous progress for a long time.
Han Deng said: "I hope that my generation will continue to work hard, and all athletes and coaches will work together to slowly narrow this gap and improve the overall strength of Chinese basketball." ”
Source: Xinhua News Agency