Tang Zihao, many fans should remember it, right?
Some people say that he is a genius defender who regrets to fall, and some people say that he is lucky to ride on the "Forest Crazy Era" hitchhiker.
There are thousands of ways to define him, but going high and going low is indeed the best summary of his career.
Born in 1996, Tang Zihao began to play basketball at the age of eight and entered Lianyungang Major Sports School at the age of 10.
Because of his good talent from an early age, the athlete's father had high expectations for Tang Zihao's basketball road, and he himself was quite competitive.
In 2007, at the age of 11, he won the opportunity to go to the United States to watch the NBA All-Star Game with his eye-catching performance in a tournament, and won the MVP in the NBA Junior Team competition between China and the United States.
It was this trip to the United States that made Tang Zihao's career begin to differentiate itself from that of players of the same age.
When all the players of the same age were training in sports schools and youth teams step by step, Tang Zihao chose to go to the United States to study at a high school.
In 2010, Tang Zihao entered Newport News Hampton Road College in Virginia to compete in the high school league. In the rookie league, Tang Zihao can get an average of 17 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, and such a performance is really difficult not to attract people's attention.
In the sophomore season, Tang Zihao's performance became more and more amazing, and he even scored 41 and 42 points in a single game.
At this stage, Jeremy Lin is beginning to set off a whirlwind in the NBA.
Domestic and foreign media have intentionally or unintentionally compared the two together, and even Yahoo Sports has given Tang Zihao's prediction that he is stronger than Jeremy Lin in the same period.
Therefore, in those years, Tang Zihao's popularity was no less than that of Zeng Fanbo and Wu Yonghao now.
In the third season of high school, Tang Zihao chose to transfer to Durant's alma mater, Oak Hill High School. But in such a prestigious college, Tang Zihao did not get too many performance opportunities, averaging only 6.3 minutes of playing time per game.
Therefore, Tang Zihao once again chose to transfer to the Canary Basketball Academy in Spain. There, Tang Zihao's performance is no longer struggling, and he can average 15.5 points per game this season.
Before graduating from high school, Tang Zihao received many invitations from CBA teams, but he chose to decline these teams aspiring to a higher platform.
In the end, Tang Zihao chose to join the University of California, Riverside, and received a full scholarship, making him the first Chinese defender to land in the NCAA First Division.
Landing in the NCAA under the expectation of all people not only made history, but also the beginning of people's contempt for him.
It should be known that in the first two seasons of high school, there are many famous universities such as the University of Oregon, the University of Maryland, and Davidson College that extend an olive branch to Tang Zihao. And when it was close to graduation, Tang Zihao's choice space became less.
Although the University of California, Riverside, is also a first-tier league, the team level is really not competitive. If it weren't for the talent monster that happened once in a few years, it would be difficult to make a difference in the NCAA.
It turns out that everyone's worries are right, because Tang Zihao not only does not have much to do or even stand firm is a problem.
In his freshman year, Tang Zihao only played 10 games for the team, averaging only 4 minutes per game, and the data was pitiful.
In 2015, under the hopeless situation of impacting the NBA, Tang Zihao chose to return to China for development. Because of his gorgeous resume, Tang Zihao was selected by the Shanghai team, but due to other reasons, the trip did not start immediately.
Then Tang Zihao chose to join the NBDL to find opportunities, but his performance was still unsatisfactory.
After ending the NBDL season, Tang Zihao joined Shanghai with the ninth pick in the draft in the form of "scheduled" and signed a three-year contract.
When Tang Zihao first landed in the CBA, Zhou Qi and Zhao Jiwei, who were his age, had already represented the Chinese team in the Asian Championship.
Tang Zihao, who had struggled to make a career, still did not cash in on his talent.
Playing for Shanghai for several seasons, Tang Zihao has never been recognized by several head coaches, and his playing time has become more and more embarrassing, during which he was also loaned to the NBL Hunan Yongsheng team.
The only highlight period for Tang Zihao to join the Shanghai team was actually in the preliminary stage of the National Games. The National Games qualifying round has just ended not long ago, and everyone understands the intensity of the game.
In 2020, Shanghai team official Announced tang Zihao's departure, and he also left the CBA League.
Last season, Tang Zihao joined the NBL Foshan Junior Team, and his performance was not explosive but had a stable output, at least not as struggling as in the CBA period.
From becoming famous as a young man to having no ball to play, in less than ten years, Tang Zihao has experienced two extremes, and no one knows what kind of gap he has in his heart.
When a player is born, people are willing to put high hopes on him and compare them with their predecessors.
Some people may consider whether the high expectations and evaluations will have a certain side effect on their growth, but few fans really pay attention to it silently.
As the fans struggle with, so does the media. It is said that too much public opinion will make players lost, but without these public opinions, who can see the value of these players?