Compared with Côte d'Ivoire and Venezuela, the Polish men's basketball team is the strangest mysterious opponent of the Chinese team. Although in the strong European basketball world, the historical record of the Polish team is relatively mediocre - the 2017 men's basketball European Championship only won 18th place, and the 2015 men's basketball European Championship 11th place, which also led to their long absence from the Olympic Games and the World Cup (World Championships) such as the World Championships. If it were not for the expansion of the Men's Basketball World Cup to the round of 32, they might not even have the opportunity to come to China.
However, we also know that there is a saying in the fan circle called "No weak brigade in European basketball", although the Polish men's basketball team is not high, but it can double-kill croatia in the qualifiers (there are 4 NBA players, even including Saric, Bogdanovic, Zubac, such a stable starting rotation), in fact, it is enough to show their amazing combat effectiveness, and through personnel analysis, we will find that although once by the fans as a possible soft persimmon and expect the Chinese team to pinch the opponent, But in fact, in the whole group, the Chinese team is most unsure of the fact that it can fight with one, but it is this mysterious Polish team.
No "Gotat + Lampe"? Double shots in the backcourt cannot be underestimated
Poland and China have not previously had a chance to meet at international competitions. One of the few clashes between the national teams of the two sides dates back to the Chinese men's basketball team of Deng Huade's era - in late July 2012, the Chinese team led by Yi Jianlian had two warm-up games with the Polish team in preparation for the Olympic Games. The Chinese team first won 73-72 and then lost 79-81. Then this team brings more memories to Chinese fans, I am afraid that the "Polish Hammer" Gotat who played in the NBA and the foreign aid Lampe who played in the CBA.
However, in the upcoming Men's Basketball World Cup, the two acquaintances of Gortat and Lampe will not appear, and the core of the Polish team's battle will be their two-gun outside line - Bonitka, the leader of Poland's "Golden Generation of 93", and their naturalized player Aj Slauter.
Mateus-Bonitka was born in August 1993, at the age of 25. He has been playing for Lokomotiv Kuban in the TVB League in recent years, averaging 9.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1 steal per game in the 2018-19 season, shooting 61.2% from two-point range and 38.8% from three-point range, with comprehensive offensive and defensive skills. It could be a core attacking defender with the strength to challenge the NBA.
In the Polish national brand, Ponitka showed its core essence early. As early as the 2010 U17 World Youth Championship, he became the leader of the team with an average of 19 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. In that tournament, he led the Polish team all the way to Australia, Spain, Serbia, Lithuania and other strong teams, only to lose to the United States team led by Bradley Beale in the final championship and runner-up final. Bonitka was thus selected for the best team at that World Youth Championship.
At this World Youth Championship, Beal was ranked No. 3 on the scoring list and won mvp, Bonitka was no. 2 on the scoring list, and it was Guo Allen (averaging 22.4 points per game) who won the tournament. The collision between China and Poland in the group stage happened to be a head-on duel between two young talents in the original Class of 93 players after 9 years.
In the previous World Preliminaries, Bonitka averaged 13.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, his personal offensive skills are quite versatile, the style of the ball is gorgeous, and the use of cover to change the rhythm and then burst into the inside line to play is his common offensive style of play, and the visual impact of the play is very strong.
In addition, Bonetka's shooting ability is also first-class, with a three-point shooting rate of more than 40% in the World Preliminary Round, whether it is using blocking and dismantling to catch the ball, or strong shooting against the defender.
In addition, his air-cutting awareness and low-post defensive ability are also excellent, knowing how to feed the ball to the inside line, and his passing technique is a bit rough but aware of the position.
If you want to find a template in the NBA, his playing style may be closer to a more individual offensive version of Dragic, a player with strong attack (fiba range), a combination of sudden throwing and passing.
From the current point of view, the Chinese team may be difficult to find players who can match him, and can only rely on internal protection to reduce his lethality as much as possible, while paying attention to protection can not let him kill our internal players too much.
In addition, it is necessary to pay special attention to limiting his fast attack as much as possible, Portnica plays extremely passionately, can dunk and never go to the basket, and very much likes to find confrontation, and the fast attack is often a signal for the Polish team to counterattack.
In addition, Ponitka's defense is also above the average line, and because of his passionate play + excellent physical fitness, he occasionally has the following amazing play...
If Bonitka is the core of Poland's attack, then aj Slottle, who received his assist and hit three points in the picture above, is the engine of the whole team. Strauss is a 1987 american naturalized player born 1.91 meters tall. As early as NCAA, he played for Western Kentucky University and had a partner experience with Courtney Lee, a shooting guard who later entered the NBA.
Sloter began to represent Poland in the European Championships in 2015, and has been cooperating with the existing main force of the national team for 4 years, which is a long-term stable naturalization, and the experience and tacit understanding of fiba competitions have long been no problem. He averaged 14.7 points and 4.7 assists per game in the World Cup, perfectly qualified for the role of engine in the backcourt. His 57.7 percent two-point shooting, 53.3 percent three-point shooting and 88.9 percent free throw shooting demonstrate his strong shooting ability and efficient scoring ability.
In the 2018-19 season, Sloter played for Ligue 1 powerhouse Esville, averaging 9.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He also played for Greek giants Panathinaikos. Years of success in the European arena, thanks to his strong shooting ability, relying on rhythm and technology to play the ball is very high, the ball control small skills are very set, not completely rely on the physical fitness of the ordinary American defender.
Sloter has a hand of accurate mid-range emergency stop jump shot and a breakout throw, these two moves against the tall inner line is quite lethal, the Chinese team's three major internal line of mobile reinforcement will face a test, in addition, he is very fast to steal, is a very fast thief.
Without Gotat and Lampe, plus the two major attack points on the outside line are so popular, although it shows that the Polish team will be more inclined to the outside line (here it is also necessary to mention that the Polish team's 29-year-old forward Huaczynski, who can average 2.9 three-pointers per game with 52.2% shooting rate during the World Preliminaries, is the strongest shooter that the Chinese team can meet during the group stage), but it does not mean that its internal line is "soft persimmon", and the Chinese men's basketball team will definitely have the upper hand.
The key to the World Cup Polish team's promotion is that they "doubled" Croatia. Especially in the last life-and-death battle, facing Croatia with multiple NBA tough players, Lampe's absent Poland was not afraid of the field, and 35-year-old center Jritsanuk pressed Saric and Zubac to score 14 points and 9 rebounds (5 frontcourt rebounds) in a single game, helping the team to bite the score in the case of only 1 of the first 10 shots in three-pointers, so in general, the Polish team's interior line is not a good person.
In this year's Cup final, the Chinese men's basketball team faced the challenge of the Croatian second team and still suffered a complete defeat at home. In this way, as a reference to the Polish team, whose strength may still be above the Croatian team, the strength of the Chinese team as an opponent is self-evident.
Three-pointers against fierceness, Poland = "enhanced version of Korea"
Before coming to China, the Polish team played a series of warm-up matches in Europe, the first stage they beat Jordan 92-51, lost to the Czech Republic 76-81, lost to Tunisia 64-75, and went to Germany to participate in the invitational tournament in the second stage, losing to the Czech Republic 86-96, losing to Germany 84-92, losing 75-80 to Hungary, and defeating the Netherlands 77-71.
The performance of the Polish team in the above warm-up matches was not ideal, and the two goals won were very weak opponents, and the World Cup teams such as the Czech Republic, Tunisia and Germany were defeated. After coming to China, the Polish team carried out two "precision warm-ups", and as a result, they lost to Nigeria in 84-87 overtime and Iran 88-83, which played a role in simulating the same group of opponents Côte d'Ivoire and China.
Whether it is the World Cup or the warm-up match, the most impressive thing about the Polish team is the team's accurate three-point shooting. In the World Preliminary Round, the 94-78 victory over Italy showed Poland shooting 47.1 percent from 8-of-17 from three-point range; they shot 10-of-23 from the three-point line against Croatia in a crucial victory over Croatia; and Poland threw 11 three-pointers despite losing the warm-up match against Hungary. Throughout the World Cup, Poland was the most accurate three-pointer in The European Zone, shooting 41.7 percent from the field.
Overall, the Polish team maintained an average level of projection from the No. 1 position to the No. 5 position, and the entire team was very fierce. If you want to find a template for the whole team, it is actually equivalent to a south Korean team with fully enhanced internal strength and confrontation ability - and this style of play happens to be the type that the Chinese men's basketball team is most afraid of. At the London Olympics, the Chinese team was able to play with the technical flow of Spain, but it was a touch of collapse when it encountered Russia and Australia, which were tough and accurate, precisely because of this restraint in the style of the ball.
However, although the Chinese team is obviously at a disadvantage in terms of book strength and style of play, this does not mean that there is no chance of defeating them at all. In addition to the hosts' home advantage, the weakness of Poland's squad structure and instability can be exploited.
First of all, after Lampe (who once played for the NBA, was a passer by the Rockets, joined the CBA last season, was in Jilin last season, and signed sichuan this season) withdrew from the national team, although the Polish team still has more personnel reserves in the inner line, the defensive end is not a problem, but their offensive changes are therefore more single. Without Lampe as an internal fulcrum, the allocation of offensive ball rights in Poland is more concentrated in the hands of aj Slauter, which makes the Chinese team's defensive arrangement more targeted.
Lampe scored 43 points against MVP Wang Zhelin in a CBA game last season
Secondly, Poland showed that their interior line was not extremely solid in the warm-up match against Iran. When Iran's Haddadi stood under the basket posing a high threat and preparing his teammates to attack, the Polish team failed to restrain the opponent very well. In the previous warm-up match against Nigeria, the opponent's interior line Diogu was also active. It should be known that the three internal lines of the Chinese team are not traditional standing piles, but have sufficient mobility and medium and long-range range, coupled with air cutters such as Zhai Xiaochuan and Abdul Salam, there are enough opportunities to find empty space under the basket.
The two warm-up matches played after coming to China exposed the weakness of the Polish team's unstable state and the lack of substitutes. Against Nigeria, they once had a huge advantage of about 20 points, but the collapse in the final quarter was dragged into overtime by the other side and suffered a three-point kill; after the match with Iran gained an advantage in the third quarter, the final quarter seemed to be unable to open the point difference, keeping the suspense of victory and defeat until the last moment. This is related to the physical fitness problems of many of the polish team's main players who are older, but also their dependence on three-point shooting.
Poland's offensive method of "winning and scoring three points, losing also three points" is limited, and the Chinese team can try to make a little article on it. Although the expected winning percentage will not be very high, I still hope that the men's basketball team will play its own level against Poland, and also hope that the fans can accept the results with a positive attitude.
The time and place of the match between the two sides: September 2, 8 pm, Beijing.