In the fierce opening game of the CBA Finals, the 37-year-old Han Dejun defended the dignity of the Liaoning men's basketball team at home, and helped the team get off to a good start with 23 points and 6 rebounds. The former league rookie of the year is now a dying old man, but he stepped up at critical moments to stabilize the team's position and become a key figure in stopping the wave of Xinjiang's comeback. In this battle, Han Dejun showed that he is still the dominant power of the league's top interior line, and kept the hope of the championship for the Liaoning men's basketball team.
However, we must also face a cruel truth: the years are fierce, and Han Dejun's career is coming to an end. Every time he goes down the field, every time he struggles to prop up his body on his knees, it's a reminder that the veteran's fitness reserves are rapidly depleting. The price of this victory may be that Han Dejun has to bear a greater risk of injury, and once he does fall, where will the Liaoning men's basketball team go?
The twilight of a career
For Han Dejun, this year's finals can be described as the last fight of his career. With only a few months left until his 37th birthday, it is not easy to keep playing at this age, let alone the pain of being injured in such a brutal tournament.
In fact, injury troubles have always been a stumbling block in Han Dejun's career. Not long ago, he left the playoffs with a knee injury, raising questions about whether he still has a chance to make a comeback. Surprisingly, however, the veteran made a comeback at crucial moments, putting on a reaping of dominant inside prowess in the semi-finals against Guangdong. He taught his young teammate Shen Zijie the skills of inside confrontation, and suppressed the inside wolves of the Guangdong team with strong defensive dominance, showing that he is still a rare inside leader in the league.
And in the opening game of the finals, Han Dejun once again stood in the spotlight. In the face of the Xinjiang team, head coach Yang Ming decisively increased his playing time. In return, the veteran scored 12 points in the third quarter to help the team contain the opponent's comeback. In the end, he scored 23 points and 6 rebounds, and his +24 appearance stats became a team-high.
There is no doubt that Han Dejun is still the indispensable core of the Liaoning men's basketball team. It is precisely with the solid defense of the two veterans on the inside that Liaoning has paid more attention to defensive ability rather than pure offensive firepower when choosing foreign aid in recent years. They built a solid defensive system that allowed Liaoning to maintain a balance on both offensive and defensive ends and become a strong team in the league.
But we can't ignore Han Dejun's signs of aging. In this game, he fell to the ground several times, and every time he got up, he looked extremely difficult. Some internal sources even revealed that Han Dejun personally admitted that his knee pain was getting worse and worse, and he felt that his body was about to be unable to support it. These red flags are the best footnotes to the end of his career.
The coach's difficult choice
Faced with Han Dejun's situation, head coach Yang Ming will be in a dilemma. On the one hand, Han Dejun is undoubtedly the biggest contributor to the team's impact on the championship, and his performance directly determines the upper limit of the team's combat effectiveness. But on the other hand, over-reliance on the veteran also means increasing his injury risk, and once he does fall, the Liaoning men's basketball team will be in a predicament where no one is available.
Therefore, Yang Ming needs to be more flexible in the next games. When Han Dejun needs to rest, whether he should give young player Liu Yanyu more opportunities to exercise, or choose to trust the fluctuating foreign player Moreland, this needs to be weighed according to the specific situation.
After all, we can't completely rule out the possibility that Han Dejun will suddenly be out due to injury. Once this happens, the strength of the Liaoning men's basketball team will plummet, and the young and energetic inside line against Xinjiang will be hit hard. At that time, Yang Ming will have to turn to Liu Yanyu and Moreland for help, but it is still unknown whether they will be able to give full play.
However, even if Han Dejun could hold on to it until the end, Yang Ming was faced with the problem of whether to overconsume him. In the opening game of this round, Han Dejun played for a full 30 minutes, including a single quarter. This kind of high-intensity playing time is undoubtedly a huge load for a 37-year-old veteran. If Yang Ming greedily asks for it again and again, then what awaits Han Dejun will be a complete overdraft of his body.
So at this juncture, Yang Ming must think twice. He needs to carefully calculate Han Dejun's physical condition and find the best balance between maintaining the team's combat effectiveness and protecting the health of the players. Should Han Dejun be given more time to rest, or should he continue to give him all his might? This realistic trade-off will test Yang Ming's coaching wisdom.
Opportunities for a new season
Looking at the current situation of the Liaoning men's basketball team, it is not difficult to find a worrying fact: the team's next interior core is still missing. 37-year-old Han Dejun is on the road to aging, and so is 35-year-old Li Xiaoxu. Their form is uncertain and they could be sidelined at any time due to injury.
New Season Alternatives
In the face of this dilemma, before the start of the new season, the Liaoning men's basketball team must add more personnel to the inside. They need to come from the rookie draft or bring in mature interior strength directly to reserve strength for the team's future development.
In terms of rookie drafts, there is no shortage of excellent interior players in this year's draft. Late-forming rookies like Zhang Tiehong and Li Sijia are expected to get good positions in the draft. If Liaoning can get such potential elements, through the careful training of the coaching staff, the next core of the team like Han Dejun may be born in the future.
The other path is to directly introduce mature internal strength. There are many reliable insiders like Zeng Cheng and Towne in the alliance, and their arrival can quickly make up for the shortcomings in Liaoning's formation. Although it may be expensive, it is worth the price if it can help the team lift the championship.
No matter which plan is chosen, improving the strength of the interior line should be the top priority of Liaoning's new season. Only by ensuring that the team has a solid inside iron bucket lineup, can the Liaoning men's basketball team continue to maintain its championship strength in the next few years and continue its dynasty.
Last stand
Back to this season, for Han Dejun, this finals may well be the last fight of his career. At this age when he doesn't know how long the cold winter will last, what little physical strength and fighting spirit he has left will be spent in this battle for the championship.
We certainly want to see the veteran play the "final boss" and lift the FMVP trophy in one fell swoop, closing it with a fantastic ending. But the more realistic situation may be that he can only use what little energy he has left to make the final contribution to the team in his own way.
No matter how it will be interpreted in the future, Han Dejun has used his career to interpret the perseverance and love of a generation of basketball. From the league's best rookie to an aging veteran, he has moved forward on a difficult road step by step, winning applause from the audience with his strength and willpower.
Let's bless the veteran and may he leave us with the best possible legacy in the last season of his life. May the years let go of his knees, let him go home happily, and harvest the championship jersey he has always wanted.
In short, no matter what the future holds, Han Dejun has been engraved on the monument of CBA history, becoming an eternal symbol and composing a basketball version of the final swan song.