After watching the first round of the clash between Shanghai and Beijing, I understand why head coach Liu Peng dared to say that sentence confidently after losing to Zhejiang in the final round of the regular season: "The Beijing team also has a lot of championship players, but I think we are confident, the ranking is in front, and we also have home advantage, as long as the players adjust their condition, we are not afraid of any opponent".
Because Liu Peng's confidence is really too much, this confidence is not something to talk about casually.
Liu Peng's confidence, one of which comes from the fact that he has two major foreign aids, Bacon and Bledsoe, especially Bledsoe, was banned for 4 games for no reason last year, which caused Xuebu to miss the playoffs that year, and also caused Shanghai to have to take risks, once made a mistake, lost the qualification for the playoffs that year, and was heavily punished.
This season, Xuebu and Shanghai have made a comeback, and the blood cloth that has experienced a big loss, this time it has a long memory, the semi-healthy style of play in the regular season is criticized, and he does not lose his temper when he plays the opponent and is maliciously retaliated, he is also reining in his edge, only waiting for the playoffs to start, and the blood cloth will release all its energy.
In the face of Leimon's marking, Bledsoe scored 41 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the whole game, and 19 points in the half, directly knocking down Beijing Shougang, and in the face of Beijing Shougang's crazy counterattack at the end of the quarter, the score was once narrowed to only 8 points.
Of course, relying on a blood cloth alone is not insured, Liu Peng's other confidence also comes from the outbreak of the team's three young players, first this season's focus on promotion, and then replaced the cancer veteran Ren Junwei's Li Hongquan, he got 12 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks in this game, and fans who often watch Shanghai games must be impressed by him.
Li Hongquan's playing style is quite desperate, as long as he has the opportunity, he will go all out, even if he is injured in the foot, he will not easily go off the court to rest, and strive to win every rebound, saying that he is the PJ Tucker of the CBA, it is not an exaggeration to say that he has strong mental attributes.
For a young player who really plays the playoffs as the main player for the first time, this data is worthy of the most improved player award awarded to him by the CBA.
In the 23 games in which Dai Hao played, Shanghai was 15-8 throughout the season, but in the third period when Dai Hao played and was really reused, the Shanghai team was 5-1.
Li Tianrong, who returned from injury in this game, is even more remarkable, and perfectly staged a wave of kings to return, he is the No. 2 position in Shanghai this season, but because of a broken palm injury in the second stage of Shandong, he had to be reimbursed for the regular season, before the injury, he was the most accurate three-point shooter in the league.
Just when fans thought it would be difficult for him to return to the playoffs, Li Tianrong forced a comeback despite a fracture injury that had not fully recovered, and played a beautiful comeback.
In less than 2 minutes after coming off the bench in the first quarter, Li Tianrong scored 6 points in a row and showed good form.
In the second quarter of the game, Li Tianrong still maintained a super scoring touch, with a 100% shooting rate in the half and 11 points.
After the whole game, Li Tianrong got 17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals, don't look at the points are not much, but he only used 8 shots, of which several key three points are crucial, just like the third quarter Beijing counterattack momentum is the fiercest, once blasted out of the 11-0 offensive climax stage, in the case of Wang Zhelin suffered serious marking, it was Li Tianrong who stepped forward and scored key three points, suppressing Beijing's counterattack momentum.
In addition to scoring, Li Tianrong's hard work on rebounding is also admirable, his hand has not fully recovered, and he also showed a deep surgical scar on the back of his right hand during the interview after the game.
At the risk of a second injury, Li Tianrong did not hesitate, and in the fourth quarter of the team's crisis stage, he grabbed 5 key rebounds, including as many as 3 rebounds in the front court.
In the CBA arena, there are very few players who can play better than when they are healthy after returning from a serious injury, let alone suffering a palm injury (shooter), and the first game of the comeback is on the playoff stage against a higher level, it can be seen that Li Tianrong has been maintaining high-intensity training in the days of injury, without the slightest relaxation, although the injury is a kind of suffering for him, but it is also a kind of grinding.
After the game, Li Tianrong faced an interview with a beautiful reporter and said what he thought, and also explained why he was in such a good state in this game: (I) started to break my fingers from the first day of surgery, because I thought I couldn't lose the feeling of shooting, so after changing the dressing on the first day, I began to do rehabilitation, and I recovered until yesterday, 90 days, I held it for 90 days, and today I was finally released!