This season, the Shanxi men's basketball team under the guidance of the famous coach Wang Fei, has currently achieved a record of 18 wins and 12 losses, ranking tenth in the league, as if it has become a dark horse in the CBA league, after restarting the league, as long as the Shanxi men's basketball team can maintain its current state, then they will easily get a playoff seat. The 2011~2012 season was the most brilliant year for the Shanxi men's basketball team, they broke the playoffs and advanced to the semifinals in one fell swoop, only to lose when facing the powerful Beijing Jinyu (the predecessor of Beijing Shougang), but this also made Shanxi fans see the hope of the team to set sail.
At that time, the Shanxi men's basketball team mainly relied on two foreign aides, Marcus Williams and Charles Gannis, both of whom are absolutely plug-and-play players, and the 2011-2012 season was the first season of the Shanxi men's basketball team that the two of them just joined together. Then in the first season when the duo joined, they won the best result in history for the Shanxi men's basketball team - the third place in the CBA. Marcus Williams was the NBA's No. 22 pick in 2006, and during his rookie season at the New Jersey Nets, he averaged 6.8 points and 3.3 assists per game, becoming the team's primary rotation player in the No. 1 spot, but after being traded to the Golden State Warriors two years later, Marcus gradually lost his place on the team and was cut by the Warriors. He then began his own journey of playing overseas.
In the first season of joining the Shanxi men's basketball team, Marcus Williams can help the Shanxi men's basketball team to get 32.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, is the team's scoring king, fully demonstrated his talent at the offensive end, stopped jump shots, three-point shots, and created injuries, Marcus has a very rich means on the offensive end. Charles, who is 5 years older than Marcus, does not have the rich experience of playing in the NBA like Marcus, and in Europe, Charles has also shown fans his dominance in rebounding. In the 2011-2012 season, Charles averaged 29.1 points and 14.2 rebounds per game for the Shanxi men's basketball team, and was also known as a "rebounding monster" of the Shanxi men's basketball team.
Marcus Williams and Charles Gannis are affectionately known by fans as the "pants combination". The "pants combination" basically supports half of the Shanxi men's basketball team, and fans are very optimistic that the two can lead the Shanxi men's basketball team further in the future, and even win the CBA championship trophy. However, there are three main reasons why the "pants combination" failed to lead the Shanxi men's basketball team further in the end.
First, the CBA league was indeed too strong, the strength of the Guangdong men's basketball team, Beijing Jinyu is very strong, if in the front hard, Shanxi men's basketball team in the overall depth of the team is still inferior, especially in the inner line, their height is not enough, there are also some problems in the protection of the frame, and most of the players in the Shanxi men's basketball team were young players, and the experience of the competition was still slightly lacking. Second, in the following year of joining, Marcus Williams was banned due to taking marijuana, and the Shanxi men's basketball team, which lacked a thigh, plummeted and lost its competitiveness in an instant. Third, in the third season of the two joining, the Shanxi team had a big problem in terms of management, the team's equity was also forced to be transferred, resulting in an impact on the morale of the team, wang Xingjiang, the former chairman of the Shanxi men's basketball team who had introduced Marcus, was a very good friend of Marcus, and wang Xingjiang's departure also made Marcus and Charles have a good idea.
The following year, Marcus and Charles chose to leave the Shanxi men's basketball team, but the "pants combination" also won a good result of the third place in the league for the Shanxi men's basketball team, and the two of them were also one of the most successful duos in the history of the CBA. Although they have left regrets, they have proved their ability.