Copywriting planning and supervising producer: Yuan Zaiyu; Copywriter: Long Siyi
Yao Ming, whether it is in the domestic league CBA, or the top level of the basketball league NBA, or in international competitions, is a big killer. At 226cm tall, he is very flexible in the pace of the offensive end, hooking hands, back-up jumpers to the catch, the inside score is like cutting melons and chopping vegetables, and there is a good free throw; on the defensive end, he can often use the tonnage to jam others, and then use the height advantage to complete the cover and take off the rebound.
There is no doubt that Yao Ming was the first center in Asia before the announcement. Before he was called the first center in Asia, there were also Wang Zhizhi, Liu Yudong and others who also had such titles.
But what is less known is that in the early 1990s, the title also belonged to a Chinese player, who was Shan Tao.
The growth of the first center
Shan Tao has been practicing under the guidance of his father Shan Yuchen since he was a child, and learned a basketball technique from the hands of his basketball player father.
When he was 12 years old, his father sent him to the Beijing Youth Team for a trial. With his outstanding performance, he successfully conquered the coach of the Beijing team and was successfully selected for the youth team.
In the next four years, Shan Tao followed the Beijing youth team to the south and the north, and exercised himself in training and competitions, improved his skills, and gradually dominated the youth tournament. Due to his dominance in the youth competition, he was taken in by the then head coach of the national team, Qian Chenghai, and was promoted to the national youth team.
In the match against the foreign youth team, Shan Tao showed excellent talent. A small hook is even more pure, and the steady middle shot has also allowed him to score a lot of points, and the occasional earth-shattering dunk often makes fans excited. Shan Tao, who excelled, was quickly selected for the national team as an adult.
1992 Barcelona Olympics. After the retirement of veteran coach Qian Chenghai, Jiang Xingquan took over the responsibility of coaching the Chinese men's basketball team. Unlike the previous coach, the new coach prefers to reuse young people, selecting a group of young people with no experience in the competition to enter the big list, forming a youth army with an average age of only 25 years old. Shan Tao, 22, is the main force.
In a match against Central American basketball powerhouse Puerto Rico, Shan Tao flipped the river on the inside. After receiving a pass from his teammate, he was always able to score the ball, feel hot, shoot nine of fourteen in the whole game, shoot free throws, and slash 22 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. However, due to the players' too young, lack of experience in the big game, poor team coordination, and too many unnecessary fouls, the Chinese team defeated Puerto Rico 68:100. Although the Chinese team lost to Puerto Rico, Shan Tao played extremely well in this battle and was deeply appreciated by Jiang Xingquan.
At the 1994 Men's Basketball World Cup in Toronto, after two years of training, this group of young people made a comeback and vowed to be humiliated. In the game against the world's strongest team Spain, although Shan Tao was plagued by five criminals, he still dared to fight, effectively shared the offensive pressure of core player Hu Weidong, scored 13 three points in the case of extremely limited ball power, and hit the key shot to overtake the score, defeating the Spanish team. Later, in the match against the United States, Shan Tao took on the responsibility of defending the young O'Neal.
In the jumping stage, with Shan Tao's angry cry, the strong O'Neill was frightened and jumped high to shoot the ball directly to the Chinese team. This little episode has become the after-dinner joke of many old fans.
Under the leadership of Shan Tao, Liu Yudong, Gong Xiaobin and Hu Weidong, the Chinese team successfully reached the top eight and achieved the best result of the men's basketball team at the World Championships.
At this time, Shan Tao embarked on the peak of his career. In the years that followed, Shan Tao dominated the domestic league and became the big brother of Wang Zhizhi, Battle and others.
proud
In 2008, Shan Tao's physical fitness was much worse than before, and the coach basically did not arrange for him to play, and more often, he only sat on the bench as the boss of the locker room. After much deliberation, in that offseason, the former first center silently chose to retire.
After retiring, he did not completely leave his basketball career, but chose to become a coach, continue to play his residual heat, and cultivate young people.
I have to say that although Shan Tao's fame is not as good as Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian, or even less than Sun Yue, his contribution to the Chinese men's basketball team is huge. The golden generation of China, led by him, made countless fans cheer and applaud in the 90s, opening up a new world for the younger generations.
On a summer night more than twenty years ago, a few teenagers wearing short sleeves and cold mops moved chairs from their homes, gathered around a radio, shook a fan, and listened to a basketball game.
"Now Spanish ace Martinez is holding the ball and he's looking for a chance to break through...
Hu Weidong stepped forward to grab, and Martinez made a mistake...
He grabbed the ball and began to dribble towards the basket...
Martinez tried to chase the cover...
Nice backstabbing! Shan Tao received a dunk from Hu Weidong's pass, and the dunk's basket buzzed. (Looking forward to paying attention to our public account "Yuan Shi")
Reference: Why when it comes to the Chinese men's basketball team, few people mention the 92 Barcelona Olympic Games? - Basket
Voted the strongest team of the Chinese men's basketball team in the World Series Wang Zhelin challenged the former Asian no. 1 center - Tencent Sports