After the defeat in Manila, the basketball association should pay close attention to the youth training and the U series national team, and the CBA conducted in-depth research to brew reforms

On the evening of September 10, Beijing time, the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which lasted for more than half a month, ended in Manila. Serbia and Germany presented basketball fans around the world with a wonderful international top basketball "model game" in the final, and in the end, Germany defeated Serbia 83:77 and topped the men's basketball World Cup for the first time.

In this men's basketball World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team, which hired foreign famous coaches and naturalized NBA players, wanted to play a turnaround battle, but unexpectedly lost Manila due to many reasons such as unfavorable grouping and coach dissatisfaction, and finally ranked 29th in the World Cup with a dismal result of 1 win and 4 losses, the worst record in the World Cup in team history, not only did not grab the only Paris Olympic direct ticket for the Asian team, but even did not qualify for the Olympic Games, and completely missed next year's Paris Olympics.

The Chinese Basketball Association and CBA have begun to plan a series of reform measures, the purpose of which is to let Chinese basketball catch up with the international basketball development trend as soon as possible, especially to let the Chinese men's basketball national team, which has fallen to the bottom, recover its vitality as soon as possible, so that the majority of fans can regain confidence in Chinese basketball.

Chinese Basketball Association: Pay close attention to youth training and build a U-series national team

In the 2019 Men's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team, which played at home, failed to seize the opportunity, regrettably broke the group stage, and finally missed the Tokyo Olympics. Afterwards, when asked who should be responsible for the Chinese men's basketball team's failure to participate in the Olympics, Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, said without hesitation: "I." "In the 2023 Men's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team once again disappointed the fans. However, after the Chinese men's basketball team ended its journey to the World Cup, Yao Ming has not publicly expressed his opinion.

In fact, Yao Ming has two goals to accomplish: first, at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the goal of the Chinese men's and women's basketball team is to win gold medals in all four basketball (including three-man basketball) events; Second, the three-man men's and women's national basketball teams are aiming to qualify for the Paris Olympics through the world rankings on November 1.

Yao Ming did not speak, but Zhang Bin, director of youth training of the Chinese Basketball Association, revealed some of the basketball association's views on the World Cup and some plans of the basketball association in an interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago. Zhang Bin said that this men's basketball World Cup shows that the trend of world basketball is high, fast, agile, accurate and ruthless, the space between everyone on the court is very open, and anyone on the court can shoot three-pointers, it is difficult to assist in defense. In this regard, the gap between Chinese basketball and world basketball has indeed widened.

Speaking about the problems existing in Chinese basketball, Zhang Bin said: "Position blurring is indeed the trend of modern basketball, but the premise is the overall improvement of the level of individual technical and tactical ability of athletes. We don't have technically proficient, well-rounded players in every position now, and the overall fundamentals aren't good enough, so it's hard to blur positions like others. Zhang Bin also believes that a common problem of Chinese basketball is "slow". The Serbian men's basketball team has achieved excellent results in this World Cup, and their youth training has also left a deep impression on Zhang Bin, "When I was in Serbia, I went to see the training of their youth team, and the coach required that the ball should not be dribbled more than twice, and the ball should be passed as soon as possible, emphasizing the combination of dribbling and passing, and emphasizing the transfer of the ball. ”

Zhang Bin also used the "three threats" (athletes can pass, shoot, and dribble to break through when doing a certain posture) as an example of the gap between youth basketball in China and Serbia: Chinese young players often spend more than two seconds to pause and observe when doing the "three threats" action, while Serbian coaches require their young players to start using the "three threats" immediately after getting the ball or within 0.5 seconds to make choices of luck, pass or throw.

Although the Chinese men's basketball team did not perform well in this World Cup, Zhang Bin said that the foundation of Chinese basketball is actually not bad, and the domestic youth basketball population has really increased in recent years. In order to strengthen youth training, in the future, the Chinese Basketball Association plans to organize some week-long short training camps in different regions of the country according to different age groups, and coach experts hired by the Basketball Association will coach and guide, so that they can not only discover and select good seedlings, but also directly bring more advanced training concepts and methods to grassroots coaches and athletes. At the same time, the Chinese Basketball Association will also make great efforts to build national teams of all ages in the U series and provide talents for adult national teams.

The German men's basketball team has made great progress in this World Cup, and the vice president of the German Basketball Association, Armin Andrés, said that this is thanks to the development of young players. The German Basketball Association requires professional clubs to have their own youth teams, which maintain close ties with local schools. In addition, in order to allow more outstanding young players to exercise and stand out, the German Basketball Association has also added a transitional team between the national team and the U20 team: the U23 team. Germany's experience in training young players is worth learning from the Chinese Basketball Association.

CBA Company: In-depth research to prepare for the new CBA season

After the Chinese men's basketball team lost the World Cup, the CBA company, as the direct operator of the CBA league, also faced a lot of pressure. On the one hand, the poor record of the Chinese men's basketball World Cup will definitely have a negative impact on the reputation and commercial value of the CBA league. On the other hand, fans are calling for the CBA to integrate with world basketball, hurry up reforms, and improve the intensity of league games.

On September 6, China Basketball Federation (Beijing) Sports Co., Ltd. ("CBA Company") announced that, in accordance with the agenda set by the Board of Directors, upon nomination by Chairman Xu Jicheng and voted by the Board of Directors of CBA Company, Jiang Jian was hired as the general manager of CBA Company and was fully responsible for the daily operation and management of CBA Company. CBA no longer uses the titles of CEO and Chief Consultant, and Mr. Zhang Xiong, the former CEO of CBA, will serve as a senior advisor to CBA upon the expiration of his term.

In the announcement, the board of directors of CBA Company said: "Mr. Jiang Jian has played a vital role in promoting the professional and market-oriented operation of the CBA League, and has maintained a good relationship with all parties. It is hoped that under the leadership of Mr. Jiang Jian, the management team of CBA will further build the CBA League into the most popular brand of Chinese sports events, carry forward the Chinese sports spirit, and dedicate the people's satisfaction to the events. This also reflects from one side that the CBA board of directors has high hopes for Jiang Jian, the new general manager of CBA.

Many fans are not familiar with Jiang Jian. In fact, since the initial period of the CBA League, Jiang Jian has participated in the creation and promotion of CBA in different capacities, and has rich experience and outstanding contributions to the development of the league in various periods, especially business development and brand building. At the beginning of the establishment of CBA in 2017, Jiang Jian served as the general manager of commerce. Fu Zhenghao, a senior media person, said: "Since the era of China's CBA operation, Jiang Jian has been responsible for the business development of the CBA league for a long time. The revenue of the CBA league has risen all the way, which is inseparable from Jiang Jian's operational achievements. Now that he has taken over the baton from his old partner Zhang Xiong and become the general manager of CBA Company, he can ensure the stable and sustainable progress of the CBA league professionalization process, and this personnel appointment is undoubtedly expected within the CBA family. With Jiang Jian becoming the general manager of CBA Company, it is foreseeable that the commercialization, branding and professionalization of CBA leagues are expected to further accelerate. ”

Jiang Jian has been very low-key since taking office. As the new general manager of CBA Company, he has a heavy burden: not only to maintain the smooth transition and steady development of the CBA League, but also to face the reality of the defeat of the Chinese men's basketball team in the World Cup, and make corresponding arrangements and adjustments for the future development and reform of the CBA League. To this end, the Chinese Basketball Association and CBA Company have been holding various seminars to listen to opinions, and are conducting extensive and in-depth research to prepare for the new CBA season.

Industry insiders believe that the Chinese Basketball Association and CBA should clarify their thinking and reach consensus on some focus issues of general concern to fans and the basketball industry, and then make corresponding adjustments to the operation and development of the new CBA season and even in the future. For example, what exactly should be the relationship between the CBA and the national team? How should the CBA evolve to achieve its goal of cultivating talent for the national team, attracting fans and attention, and then strengthening itself? In order to improve the intensity and level of the league, does it need to adjust the foreign aid policy in the new season? How to guide and encourage clubs to exercise and develop young players? I look forward to finding answers to these questions in the new CBA season.

On September 10, the 2023 Men's Basketball World Cup closed. On the same day, the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team, Jordjevic, returned to China after a vacation, and he will most likely continue to lead the team to the Hangzhou Asian Games. I wish Qiao Shuai and the Chinese men's basketball team all the best in the "redemption battle".

Reporter: Li Fujie Photo: Xinhua News Agency Editor: Luo Ning Proofreader: Gao Xin