"It's really like a dream..."
stay Asian Cup After losing the Japanese team for 6 consecutive times and losing the Japanese team for 3 consecutive times in the final Li Yueru Huang Sijing, Yang Liwei China Women's Basketball , finally ended the long nightmare personally, and won the Asian Cup championship in Sydney, a lucky place that just won the runner up of the Women's Basketball World Cup.
If we can say that the dawn of the darkness of the Chinese men's basketball team was temporarily broken was Changsha in 2015. The 20 point reversal of South Korea gave people the hope of a new generation of core players. For the Chinese women's basketball team, Wuhan in 2015 could not see the darkest moment of the dawn - they were beaten 35 points by the Japanese team in the final, and the Japanese team scored double points, while the Chinese team's hit rate was only 27%.
In fact, as early as the 2008 Asian Youth Championship and the 2009 U19 Women's Basketball World Youth Championship, the gap between the youth teams of China and Japan's women's basketball team has been visible to the naked eye. Although before 2011, the Chinese women's basketball team had won 11 Asian Championships, from 2013 onwards, with the departure of Miao Lijie, Chen Nan and other main core players, the Chinese women's basketball team instantly entered an awkward situation of youth and youth shortage. They were defeated by South Korea and Japan in the group match of the 2013 Asian Championships, so they embarked on the 10-year road of resistance against Japan.
The peak of the Japanese women's basketball team is catching up with the low point of the Chinese women's basketball team. Mashiko Takada, Caizi Motohashi, Sakuyi Lin, Qianxia Yamamoto, Zaozi Miyazaki Most of the main players of Japan's women's basketball team now come from the training of this group of echelon teams. In addition, the first female spiker in Japan, Du Jiafu Laimeng, who played in WNBA (the center played in Wuhan in 2015 Han Xu The naturalized player Stephanie Mahuri and the mixed blood striker Monica Okye are ready to dominate Asia and win five consecutive championships.
However, the Chinese women's basketball team refused to be outdone. After the Wuhan Massacre, each confrontation between the Chinese and Japanese teams was only one millionth of an inch. In the Asian Cup final in 2021, the Chinese team even entered the fourth quarter with a five point lead. But this kind of failure is even more regrettable. In the repeated failures, Han Xu, Li Meng, Li Yueru, Yang Liwei, Wang Siyu, Li Yuan A number of new players gradually gained a foothold in the FIBA arena, and finally came to another opportunity for revenge.
Compared with the era when Du Jiafu came to his dream, today's Japanese team is more modern. They pursue fast-paced shifting attack, high-intensity rotation and replacement, as well as a large number of three-point shots. In the semi-final, the Japanese team has won 67 sports games against New Zealand, with 39 three-point shots and a considerable 39% hit rate (while the opponent was forced to make only 9 three-point shots and 2 shots) 。 Even in the finals, Japan also threw 28 times, and the quasi heart was also close to 40%, but this time, the Chinese team won the initiative.
From the beginning of the Japanese team, we can see their first thought - to seize the fast, grab three points, seize the opportunity to change the emptiness of the attack inside, break through and kill. This is also the way they used to blow up New Zealand in the last game.
From the three-point selection of the Japanese team, it is not difficult to see their tactical intention against Han Xu: use the screen wall of Maki Takada to let Han Xu have no time to make up; Or directly pull Maki Takada out of the three-point line and let her shoot three points. If you enter the natural blood, you can also pull Han Xu out of her comfort zone and consume her physical strength.
The Japanese team made great efforts on Han Xu. From the beginning to the end, the attack and defense of the Japanese team were closely followed. Because of this, we can feel Han Xu's superstar influence more intuitively.
With Han Xu and Li Meng as the core of the two internal and forward lines, the Chinese team will not be led by the Japanese team to speed up, and their pick and roll cooperation has also become the starting point of the Chinese team. The Japanese team in the first round was just a simple cover. After Li Menggan pulled it out, in the second round, the Japanese team began to attack in the morning. The two men's range threat took turns to dismantle the Japanese team's defensive moves.
In addition to the small ball attack and defense routine, another strong point of the Japanese team is the naturalized player Stephanie Mahuri, from Ghana, Africa, who won 13 points, 2 breaks and 1 hat in the 2021 Asian Cup final. But in yesterday's game, Jin Weina, Pan Zhenqi and Han Xu behind them limited Ma Wuli to 4 of 14.
Although she failed to stop her pressure on the online ball holder at the defensive end (five steals were five times as many as the Chinese team, and the break of Zhang Ru directly led Lin Sakixi to equalize the score), her body and speed were not inferior, and she successfully held the attack engine.
As far as this game is concerned, Mahuri's physical quality is more directly reflected on the defensive side, and she is also the embodiment of the Japanese team's defensive style.
Ma Wuli had no voice at the attack end. The Japanese team continued to make contributions to Han Xu. For two consecutive rounds, the Japanese team first challenged Han Xu with a pick and roll breakthrough. After being defended, they pulled her to the outside line and used a no ball cut to shake off Han Xu's defense.
Every team with a heavy center has to accept this price, as long as they respond on the offensive side - from the end of the first quarter to the beginning of the second quarter, Han Xu held high and scored 9 points in a row. Make up the basket, catch the three points, pick and remove the cake Han Xu didn't use the ball more than once. She even rarely played back-to-back singles in this game. She played the most diversified end in the most labor-saving way.
However, the Japanese team is very patient. They are still implementing the "Han Xu principle": taking advantage of pick and roll to lead Han Xu away, creating dislocation and vacancy opportunities. Yamamoto Ma Yi easily passed Li Yuan, relying on his teammates to pull Han Xu out of the restricted area in advance.
After Han Xu left the field, the attack and defense problems of the Chinese team were exposed completely - the defense lacked a protective frame, and was played by Japan's 5-out lineup (the double screen in the first round was a textbook). The attack lacked strength, and was forced to gasp by Japan's high-intensity rotation. In the second quarter, the Chinese team only scored 9 points, and was once blown out of the 16-2 offensive.
In the second quarter of the game, the Japanese team took advantage of the Chinese team's dual nuclear truce to regain the initiative in an instant. V cut to catch the ball and then hit the basket, switch to attack and quickly score three points In front of the Chinese team, the Japanese team took the style of "small quick spirit" to the extreme.
Then Han Xu came on and stabilized the situation with a long shot that could not be defended.
Then, the Chinese team began to more closely mark the outside line against Han Xu's pick and roll, blocked the breakthrough route of the ball holding guard, and bet the pitcher's three-point accuracy - Takata Zhenxi, who was released, scored 3 out of 6 points in this game, getting the highest 17 points of the team, while the blocked ball holding guard Yamamoto Ma Yi, scored only 1 out of 6 points.
Han Xu continued to play high and clean on the offensive end, leaving almost all his strength in the defensive end. He even successfully interfered with Yamamoto's all-out breakthrough in the face of a 165cm tall linen suit. Of course, there is the counter attack of the coaching team, but Han Xu's personal ability has also reached the limit - she made 12 of 17 shots on the offensive end, and her physical strength has maintained a full 34 minutes of high-level play beyond the normal duties of a 208cm center on the defensive end.
"Han Xu, a father and mother" finally welcomed the collective feedback of his teammates in the second half. Entering the third quarter, the Chinese team steadied its feet and began to fight back with its own way. Under Han Xu's universal gravitation, Wang Siyu, Jin Weina and Li Meng gradually dispelled the curse of "China's basketball lacks outside players".
In the finals of 19 and 21 years, Wang Siyu only scored 5 points in total. Now, she alone scored 17 points in the second half, forming a trident with Han Xu and Li Meng, and supporting the second half of the disabled Chinese team.
After receiving the ball, Han Xu attracted three people to assist in defense, and passed it to Wang Siyu without stopping. The latter easily layed up. This round showed Han Xu's influence on the court incisively and vividly
Han Xu played 18 kinds of martial arts in this game. She took out all the things that should be in the center's arsenal. The Japanese team had no choice but to spend more time on her defense. The 24 year old young center is a little more calm than three or four years ago.
With the help of the super center, the three-point shot becomes particularly simple. Li Meng, under the cover of Han Xu, scores two consecutive three-point shots and assists Wang Siyu to score another three-point shot. Li Meng hit 5 of his 11 shots and 3 of his 6 three-point shots in this game. He used his range and ability to pull off the ball, and together with Wang Siyu, he supported the whole outside line of the Chinese team. The Chinese team seized the Japanese team's impatience and made use of three mistakes to send out a wave of 11-0.
However, the game was not over yet. The Japanese team in adversity was still patiently running the tactics. Lin Sakuyi once again took advantage of Han Xu's defensive weakness to cut to the basket and hit 2+1.
In the next round, Ma Wuli broke Zhang Ru. Lin Sakuyi did not hesitate to hit the board with three points in a high arc. The Japanese team used their best execution, defensive counterattack and three-point shot to drag the Chinese team back to the starting line.
The online pressure at the critical moment is the most frightening moment of Chinese basketball, which has a longer history than the sideline ball.
But as long as there is an absolute high point like Han Xu, the tactics of the sideline ball will be much simpler. Han Xu once again gained the leading edge for the Chinese team by using this move to catch and release the ball.
With Yamamoto's malposition and the failure of Pan Zhenqi (Pan Zhenqi's defensive performance in this game was remarkable, from first defense to fifth defense), Han Xu took the rebound, and the Japanese team could only gamble a game with free throw tactics. Li Meng hit one of two free throws, Han Xu grabbed the rebound again, and Wang Siyu hit all of two free throws, completely declaring that the game was out of suspense.
After scoring two crucial free throws and narrowly defeating Australia last September, Wang Siyu knocked down the last two nails for his opponent at the crucial moment of the game.
To be fair, this year's Chinese women's basketball team is not all. Coach Zheng Wei and Han Xu mentioned the difficulties encountered during the preparation of the women's basketball team in their interviews after the game, and many new players joined, WNBA players don't have much time to get used to the team. Wang Siyu has just recovered from his injury and Li Yueru is absent... At the same time, after the semi-final consumed a lot of physical energy against Australia, women's basketball girls will continue to burn for 40 minutes in the final arena in less than 24 hours.
However, injuries and setbacks can show the value of fighting spirit and victory. As Coach Zheng Wei said, "The spirit of the Chinese women's basketball team has a very good tradition. This group of people has been inheriting it. They are united and cooperative, dare to fight and never give up."
After winning the championship, the women's basketball team members surrounded the injured Yang Liwei in the middle, and passed the joy of victory to everyone who had fought for it. In every sports world, there will always be such a moving moment.
In addition to the inheritance of spirit, tactics and cooperation are just right: the use of Han Xu, encouragement and delegation of power to Wang Siyu and other outside players, restrictions on Ma Wuli and other opponents' strong points, 83% of the team's free throw shooting rate, and the tacit understanding of the "Trident" from the Sichuan Women's Basketball Team
Han Xu said, "I have never been perfect, but I have never given up pursuing perfection. We will be better, and the Chinese women's basketball team will be better."
Victory comes from every detail, and details come from every drop of sweat and tears. The Chinese women's basketball team has struggled, cultivated and struggled for ten years. This journey of realizing dreams is also the original charm of competitive sports.
"After twelve years of sharpening, we have finally returned to the peak of Asia... We still have many champions to win in the future."
