The game continued, and Li Chunjiang kept rotating the lineup.
This is also the difference between a warm-up match and a formal competition. Winning the game is not the primary task; it's about team synergy and player evaluation.
Tang Tian also observed the state of each player on the bench.
Including asking Li Chunjiang for the game footage beforehand, it was for this purpose.
At the end of the first half, the Chinese team led by a narrow margin of 32 to 30, only 2 points ahead.
This score led to a large wave of complaints from domestic fans on Tencent Live.
"What kind of trash coach is Li Chunjiang? Rotating 11 players in the first half? Does he think every player is Yi Jianlian?"
"Exactly, playing against Japan like this, how can they compete with the American team!"
"Even without Tang Tian, Ding Yanyuhang, and Abudurexiti, it shouldn't be like this. Li Chunjiang's level is a bit lacking."
"We should have hired a foreign coach in the first place. Aren't Yannis and D'Antoni more reliable than Li Chunjiang?"
"Alas, it's a pity for a group of good players, encountering such a coach, one general's incompetence exhausts the whole army!"
……
Li Chunjiang definitely couldn't see the fans' comments.
However, after returning in the second half, he made tactical adjustments.
He used Zhai Xiaochuan at the power forward position, then spread out the space to allow Yi Jianlian to post up Rui Hachimura or Nick Fazekas.
This move worked very well.
Fazekas is not known for his physical strength, and it was difficult for him to guard Yi Jianlian.
Rui Hachimura further realized the gap between himself and the main players in the NBA.
After a few rounds, the Japanese interior couldn't hold on, and were forced to shrink and play zone defense.
But Yi Jianlian passed the ball quickly, and Wu Qian and Zhou Peng seized several outside opportunities, and the Chinese team widened the score gap at once.
In the end, the Chinese team outscored Japan 40 to 20 in the second half, winning the warm-up match with a score of 72 to 50.
Tang Tian looked at Li Chunjiang with a little more approval.
Team synergy and evaluation in the first half, and winning the game in the second half.
Playing a warm-up match like this is very valuable.
Yi Jianlian got the highest score in the game with 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks, completely dominating the matchup with Rui Hachimura.
This is also reasonable.
Yi Jianlian has played in the NBA for so many years, and he is still the starting power forward for the Nets, averaging 11+7 last season.
And the Nets made it to the playoffs with the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference last season.
Rui Hachimura felt the malice from the NBA, making only 4 of 11 shots and getting only 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Yuta Watanabe performed well, scoring the highest 16 points for the Japanese team. Neither Zhou Peng nor Zhai Xiaochuan could stop him on the Chinese side.
At the end of the game, the players on both sides returned to the locker room to rest.
Tang Tian also went back to the locker room with them.
After greeting the players, he sat down next to Wang Zhelin.
"Da Wang, when you grab rebounds, pay attention to boxing out. You don't necessarily have to get the rebound, but you must box out your man."
Tang Tian was giving Wang Zhelin extra coaching, talking about some details of the game.
Wang Zhelin nodded repeatedly. Although his talent is a bit lacking, his attitude is still very positive.
The other players showed envious looks towards Wang Zhelin.
Although they are all in the national team, being able to get guidance from the NBA's all-time No. 1 player, it's impossible not to envy Wang Zhelin.
"What Tang Tian said is right, you all listen, when defending, you have to box out, if you don't box out, you're just relying on the interior to grab rebounds? Will the rebound fly into your arms? If you box out your man, the rebound is yours even if it's not yours, do you hear me?!"
Li Chunjiang said cursingly.
He really has a bad temper.
Tang Tian shook his head with a smile.
But at this time, he noticed that Guo Ailun was not there, looked around, got up and left the locker room.
He specifically instructed Wang Zhelin not out of favoritism, but because after Zhou Qi was injured, there was really no one left in the interior.
Today he specifically watched Shen Zijie. He has the body, and his boxing out is not bad, but his offensive skills are relatively rough.
Not to mention Hu Jinqiu and Zhang Zhenlin, one can't handle the physical contact at all, and the other can't play at the national team level.
And there's Guo Ailun, who he's been looking for.
He hasn't paid attention to him in the past two years, and originally thought that Guo Ailun had grown a lot, but he's still about the same as he was three years ago. His shooting and organization are still unwatchable.
Guards tearing apart the defense are very important, and he still has a role in this Chinese team.
So he also wanted to give him some individual guidance.
After searching around, he finally saw Guo Ailun in the arena, the latter was doing extra practice on three-pointers.
Guo Ailun actually has no problem with his attitude towards the game. Just like Gong Luming's evaluation of him, he is a ball fanatic.
But after watching for a while, Tang Tian couldn't help shaking his head.
Guo Ailun was slowly shooting one three-pointer at a time on the court, like an old man strolling around.
This three-point training method is too outdated, or too rough.
When he was still with the Spurs, practicing three-pointers required quick ball release and shooting with obstacles in front of him.
Not to mention after he arrived at the Pelicans, he had to do catch-and-shoot three-pointers in motion under the request of Prokopio.
Not to mention strength, just the training methods, there is a bit of a gap between the CBA and the NBA.
It seems that he will have the opportunity to popularize training with Yao Ming in the future.
He didn't go up to guide Guo Ailun. Whether it's three-point organization or training methods, it's not something that can be done overnight.
This is different from the detailed instructions he gave Wang Zhelin before.
Two days later, the Chinese team played another warm-up match with the Japanese team.
It's not enough to beat people up just once when they come all this way.
Tang Tian still didn't play in this game, but Abudurexiti did.
And Ding Yanyuhang also reported to the national team.
The two are teammates on the Pelicans, Tang Tian had something to chat about sitting at the end of the bench.
Li Chunjiang's lineup was about the same as last time, with a lot of rotation in the first half.
However, Abudurexiti was in good form, and his pick-and-pop three-pointers were excellent. The Chinese team widened the score gap in the first half.
As a result, the entire game became a practice session.
Tang Tian wasn't too surprised.
This Japanese team looks good on paper, but physical contact has always been their weakness.
Historically, they also played in this year's World Cup, but they didn't win a single game, and they lost to the weakest Dream Team in history by 53 points, only narrowly beating Poland by 5 points.
"Li Chunjiang is awesome! That first half of the first game was really just a test!"
"Who needs a foreign coach! Coach Chun is the best coach in China! New Coach Chun, get eternal life!"
"Abudurexiti is so handsome, handsome and can play, the Chinese Kuzma!"
"You think, Abudurexiti has already signed a two-way contract with the Pelicans, NBA players are definitely strong!"
"Tang Tian and Xiao Ding haven't played yet, if they both played, the Japanese team wouldn't last half a quarter, I think we have the strength to compete with the American team!"
"That Rui Hachimura is really weak, Yi Jianlian completely destroyed him, if Tang Tian came, I'm afraid he wouldn't last two minutes!"
"World Cup, please start quickly, I want China to play the American team!"
……
After a big victory, the comments in the forum also instantly took a one hundred and eighty degree turn.