As we all know, the Chinese men's basketball team has not achieved very good results in the past two World Cups, and even gradually lost its hegemony in Asia, and even the Japanese men's basketball team can send a semi-main lineup to defeat us. For a while, the outside world questioned that the Chinese men's basketball team showed no successor after the retirement of the older generation of players such as Yi Jianlian, which means that there is a problem with our talent training system.
In fact, fans who know the Chinese men's basketball team know that we have not cultivated excellent young players in recent years, but the vast majority of these people are interior players, such as Zhou Qi, Wang Zhelin, Yang Hansen, these players are talented insiders recognized by NBA scouts, and our shortcomings and disadvantages lie in the shortage of external talents. However, compared with guards, what the Chinese men's basketball team urgently needs now is the No. 3 player with the ability to continue to attack independently, like Zhu Fangyu and Ding Yanyuhang in the past.
Looking at the Chinese basketball world, can we really not cultivate a decent forward player? The answer is yes. In recent years, under the influence of Yao Ming's youth training plan, batches of young talents have emerged in the men's basketball team, including the current CBA star player Cui Yongxi. As a rare domestic excellent forward, Cui Yongxi can contribute an average of 15+6+3+1 per game in the regular season this season, and the three-point shooting rate is also 36.4%, and after entering the playoffs, his personal data has risen instead of falling, and the three major items have increased to an average of 17+4+1 per game, and the three-point shooting rate is also close to 40%.
It is precisely because of his gradual emergence in the CBA, or the influence of Yang Hansen's previous draft rankings, that the 20-year-old Choi Yong-hee recently officially decided to participate in this year's NBA draft. It is reported that Choi Yong-hee will go to the United States for individual training after the CBA this season, and then he will participate in the NBA Development League player training camp and the Chicago joint trial opportunity, and he also won the opportunity to try out for the NBA team alone and participate in the NBA team's summer league.
In all fairness, compared with Yang Hansen, the outside world is not optimistic about Cui Yongxi's trip to the United States to pursue his dream, because Cui Yongxi's as a swingman, his physical talent in the NBA can only be regarded as the level of a water cooler administrator, not to mention that his average score per game in the CBA league is only 15+6+3, which is still a big gap compared to Ding Yanyuhang's two consecutive CBA league MVPs.
However, in the author's opinion, I still very much support Choi Yong-hee's participation in the draft for three reasons. First, although Cui Yongxi's data is not outstanding, he is young, he is just 20 years old this year and there is still a lot of room for growth, as a 2-meter-tall swing man, in the case of static talent is not dominant, Cui Yongxi's athleticism and defensive awareness are still very good, and after two years of CBA league polishing and several international competitions, his skills and mentality have been significantly improved, and the future is promising.
Second, Choi Yong-hee participated in the NBA Elite Program China Training Camp in 2018 and won the MVP. The following year, he was selected for the NBA Elite Program Global Training Center, and he had contact with NBA people, and there was no problem with the language, so he didn't have to worry about repeating the mistake of Yi Jianlian's language barrier. What's more, Choi Yong-hee is still the spokesperson of the Nike brand, and Nike's influence on the NBA goes without saying, with this relationship, Choi Yong-hee will be more convenient than ordinary people to participate in the draft and tryouts. Third, even if he fails to pursue his dream this time, Choi Yong-hee can also get many opportunities for special training and tryouts, which is also very helpful for him to improve his horizons, and he will continue to practice for a few years when he comes back, and there is still hope to enter the NBA in the future. In this regard, the aggressive Cui Yongxi is much stronger than Yang Hansen, who can only "go in the nest" and dare not go abroad, the latter has a lot of talent, he can't drive a laundry and cook, and he completely lacks the most basic life skills.