Wang Junjie s NCAA first game data is released, Zhao Weilun becomes "Yang Hansen", Guo Shiqiang is under great pressure

In an NCAA preseason matchup, the University of San Francisco suffered a bad start and ultimately lost to Utah State University with a score of 74-79. Although the team lost the game, the performance of the Chinese forward Wang Junjie in the team was extremely eye-catching. In this campaign, he debuted as a starter and had sufficient time of 32 minutes and 35 seconds. On the offensive end, Wang Junjie showed active aggressiveness, hitting 6 goals in 13 shots. Although he had a poor touch from beyond the three-point line and missed 5 attempts, he performed steadily at the free throw line, hitting 11 of 12 free throws, and finally scored 23 points. This score also set a new single-game high in his NCAA career. In addition, he also contributed 4 rebounds and 1 steal. Judging from the composition of the data, Wang Junjie has made up for the inaccuracy of outside shooting with his excellent breakthrough and killing ability, playing an important scoring role in the team, and his NCAA season has started strongly.

Wang Junjie's large playing time (nearly 33 minutes) in the first game was no accident. This confirms the coaching staff's high level of trust in him. At the previous media open day event in the WCC division, the coach of the University of San Francisco only brought three players to attend, namely No. 0 core defender Ryan Beasley, No. 5 core forward Yyone Riley, and Wang Junjie. This arrangement clearly shows that in the coaching team's tactical blueprint, Wang Junjie has been regarded as one of the core members of the team, and his status is tied with the two main stars in the team. The outside world's optimism about him is also based on the strong potential he has shown. According to evaluation, Wang Junjie, who is only 20 years old, does not suffer in physical confrontations when facing Australian fringe players who have been eliminated by the NBA and are close to the NBA level, and can also show his technical advantages. Considering that he has no previous experience in a professional league and has performed like this as a college player, his room for improvement is worth looking forward to.

However, Zhao Weilun, another Chinese player competing on the same field, is in a completely different situation. In this game, Zhao Weilun only had sporadic playing time of 3 minutes and 27 seconds as a substitute. In the limited opportunity, he tried 2 shots, both from outside the three-point line, but unfortunately neither hit. In the end, his data sheet embarrassingly stayed at 0 points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. This contrast between high expectations and cruel reality has led the outside world to compare his start in the NCAA with Yang Hansen's experience in the NBA. There is no doubt about Zhao Weilun's hard work, but his height is indeed his obvious shortcoming in high-level competition. In an environment full of talent and emphasizing physical confrontation, such as NCAA D1 and even international competitions, physical condition is often the key factor that determines a player's upper limit.

The physical constraints Zhao Weilun faces have clear references in the international arena. Even Japanese guard Yuki Kawamura failed when he tried to break into the NBA. He was eventually waived and did not even get a regular end substitute spot. This seems to indicate that unless one has the epoch-making talent and skills of Iverson, it is extremely difficult for defenders to make up for their height disadvantage. Currently, the Chinese men's basketball team's World Cup qualifiers are about to begin, and the national team is in the process of hiring. Wang Junjie's strong start and core position in the NCAA, and the obvious contrast with Zhao Weilun's marginalization in the same team, undoubtedly brought new thinking to the selection and formation of Chinese men's basketball head coach Guo Shiqiang. How to choose among the existing talent reserves and balance combat power and physical talent has suddenly increased the pressure on Guo Shiqiang.