Chapter 673 - 598: Little Spirit Fast

Chapter 673: Chapter 598: Little Spirit Fast

In China, Chen Yu’s company had done a great deal of preliminary work.

Especially after confirming the plan to launch operations in China, they conducted extensive research.

They researched the current market and investigated industry professionals.

As well as outstanding players.

During this process, Chen Yu learned of Qian Chenghai’s name.

In ’56, he joined the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team. The following year, he became the National Team captain, a position he held for eight years.

After retiring, he became the head coach of the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team in ’72. It was under his coaching that the team became the dominant force in Asia.

He was profoundly influential in the Chinese Basketball Community, and his influence even reached the international stage.

The rules of international basketball were even changed because of him.

Before the ’86 World Championship, FIBA rules stated that after a made basket, the ball could be inbounded immediately without a referee touching it.

Then, under Qian Chenghai’s guidance, the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team used a strategy of quickly inbounding the ball after an opponent’s basket and having a player leak out for a fast break. This sneak attack worked like a charm, helping them secure 9th place at the World Championship and make history.

After that World Championship, FIBA changed the rule: on a dead ball, the ball had to be handled by a referee before it could be put back in play.

Although this tactic was first used by another coach, Liu Guiyi, it was Qian Chenghai who popularized it with the National Team. So, it’s fair to say he changed FIBA’s rules.

"The old gentleman should be recuperating now, right? And he left the National Team a long time ago. Dr. Chen, why do you suddenly bring him up?" Su Jun asked, puzzled.

In ’96, Qian Chenghai came to the United States to visit his son and got bumped in his left leg. He didn’t think much of it at the time, but a few years later, the bruised area unexpectedly became cancerous.

He was diagnosed with malignant synovial sarcoma. In ’01, he had no choice but to undergo an amputation and is now back in China, recuperating and fighting cancer.

Down below, the game had begun.

Chandler won the tip-off, and the Suns took the first possession. After a simple pick-and-roll between Hardaway and Nowitzki, Hardaway got the ball back and sank a mid-range jumper.

With the trade for Nowitzki, the Suns’ strategy had changed this season. The core tactic was the playmaking that came after a Hardaway-Nowitzki pick-and-roll.

It was primarily centered on Hardaway driving to the basket after the pick, Nowitzki rolling to the hoop, or Nowitzki getting a return pass for a mid-range shot.

In addition to that, they also added a lot of isolation plays.

Nowitzki might be "soft," but his one-on-one game was top-tier in the league.

Same with Hardaway, and same with Marion.

In that situation, all they had to do was spread the floor and run endless isolation plays.

In the stands, many spectators were clapping and cheering.

The Phoenix fans didn’t have many complaints about trading away O’Neal.

With three consecutive championships under their belt, even the fans had a more relaxed attitude.

So, for the most part, the fans welcomed Nowitzki’s arrival.

Chen Yu said, "I was reading about some of his basketball philosophies and felt they made a lot of sense."

After learning Qian Chenghai’s name, Chen Yu had his people gather some information on him and learned quite a bit.

One particular journalist’s interview with him left a deep impression on Chen Yu.

He said that Americans see basketball as a game, Europeans see it as a battle, and Asians see it as shooting.

He even joked that in China, even circus bears are trained to shoot baskets.

Chen Yu largely agreed with this perspective.

The United States has the best conditions for basketball, thanks to a large number of physically gifted black athletes and a broad-based collegiate basketball foundation.

But due to commercialization, it’s essentially a game, a show.

And he believed that Europeans are tall, big, strong, and have long arms, so their specialty is battling you for rebounds and competing in the paint.

This is precisely the main characteristic of European basketball.

Lastly, there were the Asians. He believed their main problem was short wingspans, so they shouldn’t abandon their own advantage of being small, nimble, and fast. More importantly, they shouldn’t try to emulate others by focusing on developing big men.

Doing so would be tantamount to pitting their weaknesses against others’ strengths while giving up their own advantages.

He also said that the current National Team only focuses on developing big men and neglects the development of smaller players. He predicted that after ten years, without good smaller players, the big men would be worked to death.

Chen Yu strongly agreed with that statement.

It didn’t even have to be ten years later. At this year’s Olympics, Chen Yu already felt that all of the men’s team’s point guards were inadequate.

Take Liu Wei, for example. He could shoot, but he was too focused on his own shot. He’s a point guard; he’s supposed to organize the offense and facilitate for others. From that perspective, he was incompetent.

Yet he was already the best point guard on the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team.

That’s why Qian Chenghai believed the National Team’s development of guards wasn’t good enough or systematic enough. They were too obsessed with big men, always fantasizing about some "twin towers" lineup, which meant their overall direction was wrong.

Chen Yu didn’t dare to agree with these views completely, but he felt they held significant merit and were worth considering.

In his own "one-in, four-out" concept, he also needed the kind of perimeter players who could run and shoot, just as Qian had described.

Su Jun nodded, having a rough idea of what Chen Yu was getting at. He thought for a moment and said, "I’ve also studied some of the old gentleman’s basketball philosophies. They’re very insightful, but to be honest, I don’t know if they’re truly suitable for us or if they would work."

He said developing big men was the wrong path, but didn’t we produce Yao Ming? We also placed eighth at the Olympics and still dominate Asia.

Yao Ming is still so young and has a promising future. We can’t just abruptly change course.

At this point, Su Jun frowned slightly and asked tentatively, "Dr. Chen, you’re not thinking of asking Coach Qian to come out of retirement, are you?"

He knew Chen Yu would be helping to build the National Team in an advisory role.

This news had already been slowly spreading throughout the country.

But Su Jun knew that the foundation of Chen Yu’s career was in the United States, so he couldn’t possibly devote all his energy to China.

That meant they would definitely need a head coach to handle the day-to-day management of the National Team.

Now that he had brought up Qian Chenghai and expressed such reverence for his philosophy, Su Jun couldn’t help but think that Chen Yu wanted to ask him to come out of retirement.

The key thing is, the old man is already 70!

Of course, Harris, who was three years younger than Qian Chenghai, was still running around for the National Team. Being a 70-year-old head coach wasn’t impossible, but Qian Chenghai was gravely ill. It just didn’t seem appropriate no matter how you looked at it.

Chen Yu quickly waved his hand. "You’re overthinking it. Why would I have an idea like that? I just wanted to ask you about his disciple, the head coach of the women’s team, Gong Luming. What do you think of his skill level?"

Chen Yu couldn’t shift his entire professional focus to China.

The professional team side was easy to handle. It was purely commercial. There were plenty of professional coaches in the NBA eager for a position; he just had to hire one.

The main issue was the National Team.

Chen Yu wasn’t keen on finding a foreign coach.

Coaches like Yonas and Harris were very professional and had sacrificed a lot for the National Team, but they didn’t understand the situation in China well enough.

So, it was best to find a local coach.

Thinking of Qian Chenghai naturally led Chen Yu to think of his disciple.

The current National Team head coach, Wang Fei, could also be considered a disciple of Qian Chenghai.

But his true, direct successor was probably the current head coach of the women’s team, Gong Luming.

In ’96, he led the National Team at the Atlanta Olympics using Qian Chenghai’s "small, nimble, and fast" system, so he already had a foundation in it.