As the core defender of the Cuba Peking University men's basketball team, Zhang Ning also chose to participate in the CBA draft after the end of his college career, and was picked up by the Shanxi men's basketball team with the 8th pick in the first round last year, but the outside world is not optimistic about his prospects in the CBA, because in the Peking University period, he is the core playing style of a goal in hand, but in the CBA stage where the masters are like clouds, not only to face the competition with domestic players, foreign aid will also occupy more ball rights. When he first entered the team last season, Zhang Ning did not enter the eyes of the then coach Ding Wei, and even once sent him to the Development League, benefiting from the fact that the team was full of injuries at that time, Zhang Ning was quickly recalled by the team when the front foot just went to the Development League to report.
It was also this decentralization that made Zhang Ning feel energetic to prove himself. In the first game against Shenzhen in the second stage, Zhang Ning scored 12 points, and then against the zhejiang Chouzhou team, Zhang Ning continued to score 21 points, it was these two games that allowed Zhang Ning to gain the trust of the coaching staff and gradually entered the main rotation of the team, but for a fledgling rookie player, Zhang Ning still encountered a rookie wall in the middle of the season. Throughout the season, Zhang Ning averaged 7.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 19.8 minutes of playing time, although the shooting accuracy was not very good, and the three-point shooting rate was as low as 27%, but Zhang Ning's vitality on the defensive end did prove that he could gain a foothold in the CBA.
This season, Shanxi replaced the manager with yang Xuezeng, an old acquaintance, and when the two core members of the team, Ren Junwei and Xiaowai Franklin, both went south to join Shanghai, the team's move to cultivate young players was also known to Sima Zhao.com. In the opening match with the new ningbo Fubon, Zhang Ning won 29 minutes of playing time as a substitute sixth person, and with ample opportunities, Zhang Ning also gave back the full trust of the coaching staff with an all-around statistic of 13 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. In the next 4 games, Zhang Ning also ushered in enough playing time as a substitute, and the score also remained in double digits, including a match with Liaoning on October 23, Zhang Ning scored a season-high 17 points, helping the team to defeat this team.
In the game against Liaoning earlier, Zhang Ning won the starting position in one fell swoop, in the only 19 minutes of playing time, 7 shots 5, got 14 points, 1 rebound and 2 steals, although Shanxi eventually defeated the opponent by 32 points 97 to 129, but Zhang Ning-13's plus-minus was the best of the starting five tigers, it is true that the game entered garbage time early, but Zhang Ning is still the most desperate one on the field, leaving no effort to run without the ball and do a good job of defending within his ability. In these 9 games, Zhang Ning averaged 12 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in 26.7 minutes of playing time, and the three shooting rates reached 56.5%, 45.5% and 80% respectively, and all the data set career bests.
From just entering the league and being questioned about not being able to play the CBA, to being delegated to the development league, and then being reassigned back to the team, relying on his own hard work to gradually gain a foothold in the team, and then from the sixth person on the bench this season, step by step to win the starting position, Zhang Ning's CBA experience is indeed very inspiring, as a 24-year-old "older rookie", he has also successfully transformed from a cuba and core to the most outstanding 3D player in the CBA. And to have today's such achievements, in addition to Bole Yang Xuezeng, Zhang Ning should indeed be thankful for his hard work, if he broke the jar after entering the CBA at that time, let the majority of netizens question it, stagnation, then he is estimated to have faded out of the league, not to mention such achievements after that.
Winning the first start of the season this time is also an excellent start for Zhang Ning. The season is still very long, the first stage of Shanxi also has 4 teams to play, namely Shandong, Guangsha, Tongxi, Beijing Control, of which in addition to the strength of Guangsha is relatively strong, the other three according to the state of Shanxi this season, is not without the possibility of winning, if Zhang Ning can continue to win the starting position, in the offensive and defensive ends of the stable performance, this season for him, is definitely an excellent opportunity to prove.