When it comes to the ABL League, many Chinese fans will feel strange. ABL is the Southeast Asian Professional Basketball League, founded in 2009, is a transnational league. A total of 10 teams competed this season, 6 from the Southeast Asian national team and 4 from China, including the Macau Black Bears, the Hong Kong Oriental Dragon Lions, the Taiwan Dreamers, and the Macau Wolves. Among the Chinese players who participated in ABL this season, former Sichuan men's basketball big forward Cai Chen is undoubtedly the most dazzling!
As a new ABL, the Macau Wolves only achieved a record of 2 wins and 24 losses, ranking at the bottom. Despite the team's dismal record, it can not hide Cai Chen's highlights, he averaged 32.8 minutes per game, 19.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.6 blocks, shooting 47% from the field, averaging 1.7 three-pointers per game, and shooting 37% from three-point range! There is no doubt that Cai Chen is the absolute core of the Macau Wolves, and he is at the level of foreign aid in the ABL League. Although the level of ABL is limited, Cai Chen can play such data, which still shows that he has strength. It is believed that through his experience in ABL, Cai Chen is expected to return to the CBA in this offseason. It is worth mentioning that last season, Guo Kai was training in ABL, playing an excellent performance, and then gained a firm foothold in the CBA this season, entering the Guangzhou men's basketball rotation lineup and becoming an important substitute inside line.
The 26-year-old Cai Chen is in the golden age of his career, and he has the strength to become a CBA rotation inside line. In the 16-17 season, Cai Chen played the best season of his CBA career, averaging 14.6 minutes per game, 7.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.4 blocks. In the preliminary round of the 2017 National Games, Cai Chen represented the Sichuan men's basketball team, and he averaged 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, becoming the team's inner thigh. At that time, the Sichuan men's basketball team was very eager to renew Cai Chen's contract, but because the latter's asking price was too high, the two sides broke up unhappily. After entering the free market, Cai Chen was not sought after and eventually joined the Fujian men's basketball team. After coming to the Fujian men's basketball team, Cai Chen did not have many opportunities to play, playing a total of 18 times throughout the season, averaging 8.6 minutes per game, scoring 4.3 points and 1.8 rebounds, which is completely the existence of marginal players. Last offseason, Cai Chen did not get a satisfactory offer in the CBA free market, and finally chose to move to ABL and join the Macau Wolves. Coming to the lower level of ABL, Cai Chen shined and played the performance of an all-round big forward, proving his ability. With ABL as a springboard, Cai Chen has a great chance to return to the CBA and is likely to become a feast for the free market.
This season's CBA regular season increased to 46 rounds, many teams have suffered a wave of injuries, and the shortcomings of the middle and lower teams' thin lineups have been completely exposed. For teams that need to strengthen the inner line, Cai Chen is undoubtedly a very good choice. Although Cai Chen's height is only 2 meters 03, his weight reaches 110 kilograms, and his strength, tonnage, and confrontation do not suffer losses. More importantly, Cai Chen is very flexible, and has stable projection ability, which can adapt to different playing needs. Cai Chen has played in the CBA for 4 seasons, proved himself in the Sichuan men's basketball team, and maintained a good state in ABL, which can bring good immediate combat strength; in the CBA downstream team, he even has the opportunity to play the main force.