Reporter Ji Mengnian reports from Dingzhou
“Lucky, it was a lucky game.”
After the game against Guangdong, Zhang Qingpeng always had a smile on his face. 103 to 89, Tianjin defeated Guangdong again. Not only that, they also got tickets to the quarterfinals of the Club Cup in advance.
Although before the start of the game, Zhang Qingpeng repeatedly emphasized that he and his players did not deliberately pay attention to the qualifying of this group. However, both the process and the result of the game showed the Tianjin team’s desire for victory. They were well prepared for this decisive battle.
Seeking a breakthrough on the Club Cup stage
Compared with the relatively complicated plots of other groups, the overall structure of Group A is actually much simpler.
Beijing Enterprises won three games in a row and secured a spot in the quarterfinals in advance. Before the start of the fourth match day, Tianjin, Guangdong and Jiangsu all have opportunities. In comparison, Tianjin and Guangdong may advance further, and these two teams will also have a direct dialogue on the fourth match day. The outcome of this game will directly determine the second qualifying spot in this group.
On Saturday morning, Guangdong took the lead in training, followed closely by Tianjin. Zhang Qingpeng led the players to the stadium early and entered the locker room for video analysis. After the Guangdong team finished practicing, Tianjin came to the venue for pre-match training.
Zhang Qingpeng seemed very relaxed. He told reporters: “I didn’t pay attention to the qualifying situation, because for a young team to compete in the cup, this was discussed with everyone before, mainly to train the team. If you are lucky enough to qualify, That’s everyone’s effort.” After the training, Zhang Qingpeng specifically told reporters: “We must pay more attention to our young players!” and named Jiang Qiyu. When the game came in the evening, the 2005 young player unexpectedly entered the team’s starting lineup.
Zhang Qingpeng always maintained a calm attitude during interviews, but his attitude was always meticulous when preparing for games. Before the game against Guangdong, Tianjin came to the venue two and a half hours in advance to warm up. Zhang Qingpeng sat under the basket and urged the players to warm up. The inside players practiced rebounding, setting up screens, and mid-range shooting, while the outside players shuttled back and forth between the two bottom corners and the top of the arc to ensure that their hands were hot.
In fact, since last season, Tianjin has had a certain advantage in record against Guangdong. Some people even gave the title of “Guangdong Nemesis” to the Tianjin team, but Zhang Qingpeng still maintains a low profile.
He said: “We still have to learn more from the championship team and Big Brother.”
A perfect start sets the tone for the game
Not long after the game started, Du Feng called the first timeout of the night.
The Tianjin team’s low-key and modesty all remained off the court. After the game started, they completely changed their faces. The young Zheng Haoran went straight to the basket and scored 2+1. David James switched offense and scored a three-pointer. Tianjin also spared no effort on the defensive end, and the point difference quickly reached double digits.
Guangdong still has their old problem. After missing Xu Jie and Hu Mingxuan, the team’s offensive launch has a big problem, and the scoring efficiency in positional battles is very low. The addition of Ames can improve these problems to a certain extent, but he seems to be better at serving as the end point on the offensive end rather than the initiator. “With Xu Jie and Hu Mingxuan away, our offense can’t be organized at all.” Du Feng said helplessly.
In response to this problem in Guangdong, Zhang Qingpeng’s strategy is simple. First, the first-line defenders led the defense on the spot and did not give Guangdong a chance to counterattack. Second, they worked hard to grab offensive rebounds and nip Guangdong’s counterattack in the cradle. Third, if you have the opportunity, you must take a three-pointer resolutely and suppress your opponent’s momentum.
In the entire first half, Guangdong only scored 30 points, so Tianjin could frequently use its own counterattacks to complete the scoring. Falling into a positional battle, Tianjin also has their weapon to break the situation. The third foreign aid, Hamlet, had a hot touch during the game, and his throws made it difficult for opponents to guard against. The other is Zheng Haoran’s efficient performance from beyond the three-point line. After his good performance in the first two games, Zheng Haoran once again scored 24 points in this campaign, including a total of 5 of 8 shots from beyond the three-point line.
After the game, Zheng Haoran said in an interview: “I performed beyond my level today. I would like to thank the coaching staff for giving me the opportunity to play.”
After the first half, Tianjin led Guangdong by 18 points. Subsequently, Guangdong was also looking for changes. Du Feng used the team’s signature zone defense and regained the initiative in a short period of time, and the point difference was once returned to 4 points. But from the perspective of the entire game, Tianjin is still the side with the greater advantage, and they have always controlled the rhythm of the game.
Even though some frictions and conflicts during the game briefly interrupted the game, the momentum of the Tianjin team was never suppressed. “During the timeout, we listen to the coaching staff’s arrangements, and we strictly implement (the coach’s arrangements) on the defensive and offensive ends.” Zheng Haoran said.
In the end, Tianjin defeated Guangdong by 14 points and got a ticket to the Club Cup quarter-finals in advance. Zhang Qingpeng attributed the victory of this game to luck after the game – “Many players from Guangdong were called up to the national team and played the game with an attitude of learning from strong teams and big brothers. Let the players adjust their mentality before the game. Young people’s courage to challenge and not being impatient is the key to victory, and it is also a process that young teams need to learn and experience. “
It is true that the absence of Guangdong Hu Mingxuan and Xu Jie has a great impact on them. But here in Tianjin, Lin Tingqian also did not appear in Dingzhou. Under such circumstances, Tianjin was able to perform such an outstanding offensive performance in three consecutive games, and Zhang Qingpeng played a major role in the team’s transformation.
The victory of Zhang Qingpeng’s basketball philosophy
At the end of 2022, Zhang Qingpeng began to serve as the head coach of the Tianjin team. Since then, he has begun to transform the Tianjin team’s style of play.
In short, Zhang Qingpeng is transforming the team around one word – space. Last season, the Tianjin team averaged 40.2 three-pointers per game, ranking first in the league in the proportion of three-pointers. This season, Tianjin’s three-point shot ratio is still at the forefront of the league.
Whether in the NBA or European basketball, lineups with five foreign players are no longer strange. However, there are not many coaches in the CBA who dare to arrange a lineup with five players, and Zhang Qingpeng is one of them. In this Club Cup group stage, his strongest five-man team is a standard five-man lineup, and at the same time he does not suffer in terms of size. Lavitt serves as the core defender, with Zhang Yunmeng and Zheng Haoran at the forward position, and Shi Deshuai and James in the frontcourt. When this set of rotations is on the court, Tianjin can beat its opponents by as many as 41.6 points per 100 possessions, and its score in 100 possessions has reached an astounding 134.6 points.
In addition to the high proportion of three-pointers, Tianjin’s emphasis on transition offense has also been integrated into the team’s DNA. In the regular season this season, their fast break ratio is the highest in the league, reaching 21.6%. In these fast break rounds, the Tianjin team made a large number of transition three-pointers, and it was the team with the second highest proportion of fast break three-pointers in the league. The above data all reflect the uniqueness of Tianjin’s overall basketball philosophy.
As a young coach, Zhang Qingpeng has established a very modern style of play for the team. There is an overall plan, and the next step is to implement the details, especially the shooting ability of each athlete. Zhang Qingpeng, who is a pitcher, has given the players a lot of help in daily training.
As Shi Deshuai said: “Director Zhang will give us a lot of help. He is very experienced. But there is no shortcut to shooting. Just shoot more and invest more in training.”
However, in Zhang Qingpeng’s view, Tianjin still has many areas that need improvement. His transformation of this team is far from being described as “successful”. Now that Tianjin can stabilize its offense, it needs to make the defense no longer appear so “severe”.
“The offensive end is very confident now. In fact, as a young team, how to make everyone more confident should be the first step we need to do. On the defensive end, it still takes a long time to go.” Get rid of their previous bad habits. These bad habits were formed when they were young, between the ages of 14 and 18. Nowadays, they need to be combined with modern basketball, and both offense and defense need to be updated. Of course, it is still difficult in a short time. To get rid of their previous bad habits, we need to give them more time, opportunities, and more reminders.”
