The Paper's reporter Ma Zuoyu
CBA's latest standings.
Zhejiang Guangsha has lost again – the team that was still the "strongest all-China class" in the mouths of fans last season has recently been pushed to the forefront, not because of the five-game losing streak and the dismissal of coach Li Chunjiang, but because of their farce with foreign aid Wilson Chandler.
In the game that lost to the bottom-ranked Tianjin men's basketball team, Chandler, who had only played three games before and "went on strike", appeared on the sidelines. And just one day after the five consecutive defeats, that is, on December 27, many domestic media forwarded a message from people in the basketball circle: "Chandler appeared on the bench of Guangsha, and is still in the stage of negotiation with guangsha team..."
In fact, the reason for Chandler's "strike" has been well known in the domestic basketball circle - can't stand the life of the quarantine park, and plans to leave the team early.
This ongoing farce has also sounded the alarm bell for the management of all CBA teams: What kind of foreign assistance does Chinese basketball need? When the team "burns money", what does foreign aid bring to Chinese basketball?
Chandler (right) previously left the NBA and joined Guangsha again
Fell into the same pit twice,
Chandler's farce is not alone
If you consider Chandler's personal ability, he can be regarded as one of the best "small foreign aides" in the CBA league this season; but if you consider his professionalism, he should be the "worst foreign aid" this season.
The reason is simple, Chandler's "willfulness" alone, ruined the plans and efforts of the entire team.
Guangsha's five-game losing streak, Li Chunjiang's dismissal, and the anger of the fans, although it cannot be said that it is directly related to Chandler, his "strike" has become a turning point in the collapse of the team.
"Wilson Chandler was still in Zhuji and didn't leave, but he asked to go home and refused to play... A temporary desertion like him is to ruin the efforts of dozens of people in a team, because if you look for foreign aid, you have to go through the process of finding, signing, entering, and isolating, and in the case that most teams already have two or three foreign aides, Guangsha will be very passive next. ”
This is a comment by well-known basketball commentator Su Qun on social networks, "I think that foreign aid with this history should not appear in the CBA in the future, and the league should be in charge." ”
The "history" written by Su Qun is actually Chandler's "enmity and entanglement" with Zhejiang Guangsha 8 years ago.
Teammate Radulica scored and Chandler applauded on the Guangsha bench.
At that time, the NBA was suspended, and Chandler came to the CBA to "pan for gold". However, as soon as the NBA shutdown ended, the "strongest foreign aid" thought of returning to the NBA.
It is worth mentioning that when the CBA signed the foreign aid contract, it took into account the factors of the NBA shutdown, so it was stipulated that NBA players must play a full season, even if the NBA shutdown ended, they could not return home at will.
Chandler, who signed a contract, was upset by this, and at one point in the regular season of that season, he "did not work hard" and forced the management of Guangsha to let him go.
In the end, the Guangsha team made a compromise - although Chandler helped Guangsha reach the playoffs, his departure still had a great impact on the team, and eventually Guangsha lost to Beijing Shougang in the first round of the playoffs, and the season ended.
This is also why, when Guangsha was exposed by the media as "still negotiating with Chandler", the fans were angry - "can you be tough", "Guangsha please don't let the fans look down on you, this kind of foreign aid directly pulls the blacklist", "This kind of person should give up, no matter how strong the ability, the character is not good" ...
In fact, although the CBA league has been regulating foreign aid contracts and labor agreements, disputes like Chandler's are not alone, before JR Smith's "escape" made the management cry bitterly "we regret bringing him in", and then Stephenson "said to go away" and offered to terminate the contract...
Chandler has become a "cancer" on the team.
Personal ability above all else?
The "scoring machine" is also a double-edged sword
Whether it is Chandler who has "pitted" Zhejiang Guangsha twice, or JR Smith and Stephenson who have broken up with the team, the owners of the CBA team know that these players have distinct personalities and are difficult to control, but still "burn money" to bring them into the league, and the most important reason is their personal ability.
So the question is, how much should individual ability account for in the choice of foreign aid?
There is no doubt that scoring ability is an important criterion for considering foreign aid – after all, among the domestic players in the CBA, there are only a few local players who can have the same level of scoring ability and "big heart" as foreign aid.
In this victory in which Beijing Shougang stopped three consecutive defeats, the scoring ability of Beijing Shougang's "small foreign aid" Gibson became one of the key factors in the team's victory.
When Suzhou Kendia pressed the point difference to single digits in the final quarter, it was Gibson who stepped forward and used a key three-pointer and two two-point hits to help Beijing Shougang widen the point difference to 11 points, completely curbing The momentum of Suzhou Kendia's counterattack and withstanding the most difficult period of time.
Gibson, who averaged 25.9 points per game, scored 32 points in this big win.
Shougang foreign aid Gibson.
But sometimes, when a team's foreign aid's individual scoring ability is too outstanding, their opponents naturally know that the team will hand over the ball to their foreign aid at the final critical moment to complete the "end".
At the same time that Beijing Shougang won the game, the Guangzhou men's basketball team almost won the game against Chouzhou in Zhejiang Province in another arena.
The team's big foreign aid Haas gave and demanded on the inside, however, when his teammates passed the ball to him in the final moments of the game, Haas encountered a tight defense on the inside line; more fatally, he only hit one goal on the free throw line four times in the final counterattack stage, which ultimately ruined the team's chances to rebound...
In this round of Guangsha's loss to the Tianjin men's basketball team, Guangsha's Radulica had 39 points, 16 rebounds and 7 assists, but his physical fouls in the last minute and the blocking encountered in the attack prevented the team from ending the game in regular time, and finally lost to the opponent by 3 points in overtime.
Individual ability is important, but how to equate personal data with the team's performance requires the efforts of the whole team, not just relying on foreign aid alone.
Jeremy Lin left the CBA arena and returned to the NBA to chase his dreams.
The value of foreign aid is much more than a win-win situation
In the arena of competitive sports, results and victory and defeat are important, but the value of foreign aid to the team should be far more than wins and losses and data.
Last season, The Shuhao of Beijing Shougang was actually the most typical positive case.
Jeremy Lin connected the team with a keen and broad vision, and his hard work on the field continued the "iron-blooded defense" of Beijing Shougang, and his professional attitude also brought the team together. Not only that, Jeremy Lin also brought the concept of "passing on love and gratitude" to the CBA.
In that season in the CBA, Jeremy Lin launched the "three distractions" charity campaign - every time he scored a three-pointer in the game, he would donate 3,000 yuan in charity money to help children in need complete their dreams.
At that time, many people questioned him about "putting on a show", and even some people said evil things to each other, "all of them are making Chinese money and doing propaganda for themselves."
But Jeremy Lin was not disturbed by the noise of the outside world, and he insisted on this kind heart throughout the season. Playing in 39 regular season games, Jeremy Lin made a total of 154 three-pointers, and finally hit 52 goals, donating 156,000 yuan.
In the playoffs, he raised the charity fee of 3,000 yuan per ball to 21,000 yuan, "because every game is more and more important, and I also want to do a better job of #three distractions."" ”
This season, although Jeremy Lin failed to re-wear the jersey of Beijing Shougang to play in the CBA, he still insisted on practicing public welfare in China.
Jeremy Lin promised to build 100 basketball courts within 3 years.
Just over a week ago, Jeremy Lin announced via video at a forum, "The Haoqun Foundation has been supporting the construction of basketball courts in rural schools for the past few years, and we have promised to build 100 basketball courts in 3 years." ”
Although Jeremy Lin did not bring a championship to Beijing Shougang, and he is not the best scorer in the league, such foreign aid has made the entire CBA league richer and more exciting on and off the court.
In the arena, victory is important, but when the foreign aides of 19 teams come and go every season, in addition to winning, they can bring positive changes to the CBA and Chinese basketball, and even the whole society, which is worth the team and league managers to think about.
Editor of this issue Chang Chen