The biggest surprise of the Chinese men s basketball team, the youngest but the most powerful, once beat Yang Hansen to become the national youth scoring champion

The jerseys soaked in sweat every day turned into charge armor. The lights in the training hall illuminated his basketball path and guided him to the stage of the national team. From the high-spirited Chinese National Youth Team scoring champion to the NCAA's water dispenser administrator, to the starting power forward at the University of San Francisco, to the current treasure line of the Chinese men's basketball team, what kind of counterattack story does "Oriental Blade" Wang Junjie have?

The Asian Cup has started, and the Chinese men's basketball team defeated Saudi Arabia 93-88 to get a good start. Although most fans are not satisfied with this narrow victory, they all praised Wang Junjie very uniformly. At the age of 20, he is the youngest player in the team, but he played the most fiercely. He played for 15 minutes, made 4 of 8 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, scored 10 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, with a plus-minus value +9, ranking third in the team. Unfortunately, he didn't get many opportunities in the second half, which was surprisingly unsatisfactory.

This is the first time that Wang Junjie was selected into the senior Chinese men's basketball team, but he is not at all nervous. He dares to make moves on the offensive end, can play back singles at low posts, can break through with the ball, and has a mid-range shot and three-pointer, and has a little support ability. His mobility, physical strength and comprehensive skills have become a sharp knife to break the joint defense. It reminds fans of Ding Yanyuhang, who was called the four-character foreign aid at the time. Next, let us walk into his story together. After reading it, you will know how he developed his character of daring to fight.

On April 3, 2005, Wang Junjie was born in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. His father was a physical education teacher and an avid basketball enthusiast. Influenced by his father, he had been in contact with basketball since he was a child, but he had not received professional basketball training. It was not until he was 12 years old that he was attracted by Mao Weilin, the basketball coach of the Zhuji Hailiang Middle School in Zhejiang due to his outstanding height and athletic ability. He only received systematic basketball training after transferring to Hailiang Middle School.

Thanks to the improvement of campus basketball level in recent years, Wang Junjie has received more modern training. His height is among the best in the team, but he is not trained as a traditional inside line, but he practices dribbling and shooting like a guard. This training method has made him a power forward with ball-holding ability. With his outstanding physical fitness, he soon stood out in the country. When he was in junior high school, he represented Hailiang Middle School in provincial middle school basketball competitions many times and won the championship many times. He also won the National U13 Youth Basketball League Championship and the National U15 National Championship. In 2019, at the age of 14, he was selected into the NBA Global Elite Program for his outstanding performance and went to the Australian NBA Academy for training. During his time at the NBA Academy, the coaching team's control of details improved his skills and improved his understanding of basketball, making him become a dominant player after returning to China.

In the 2020 National U15 Men's Basketball Finals, he scored a large double-double with 31 points and 19 rebounds, led the team to defeat Guangdong Experimental Middle School with a big score to win the championship, and was elected the Most Valuable Player. In the next two years, he went to the Australian NBA Global Academy every year to further his studies. By 2023, at the age of 18, he was selected for the U19 National Youth Team and became one of the only two high school players selected. He, Hansen Yang and Weilun Zhao, are known as the three major national youth teams.

In the game against Spain, he scored a team-high 21 points, plus 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, and 4 of them made a deep impression on his three-point shooting performance. When he was constipated against the US team, he often relied on his face frame to score points. In that game, he only played for 17 minutes due to injury, but scored 13 points and 5 rebounds on 6 of 10 shots. In the entire game, he averaged 12.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, surpassing Yang Hansen, who became the first-round pick of the NBA this year, becoming the team's scoring leader.

Later, he received notices from 7 NCAA universities, and eventually he decided to join the University of San Francisco because the coach of the University of San Francisco promised him to have enough playing time and tactical status. However, fate played a joke with him. After the new coach took office, all the promises of his ex were invalid, but this was not all the problem of the new coach. As the saying goes, the blacksmith must be strong himself. His skills did not meet the requirements of the coach, and the root of all this is his omnipotence.

At Hailiang Middle School, he is the first core of the team. He is also one of the core members of the National Youth Team. He has a lot of ball rights and can maximize his all-round advantage. In the NCAA arena with many excellent players, he is just a role player with very limited ball rights. He can do anything but is not proficient in anything and it is difficult to gain the trust of the coach.

In his freshman season, he averaged only 7.5 minutes of playing time, scored 2.8 points and 1.1 rebounds, and his 43.5% shooting percentage and 32% three-point shooting percentage were the reasons why he was on the bench for a long time. The embarrassment of not being able to play for 17 consecutive days once made him doubt his life. The ambition of a young man was poured a basin of cold water on the other side of the ocean. He deeply felt the gap between China and the United States basketball and knew that he needed to work hard to compete with them.

He wrote on social media: "I haven't given up yet, why are you sighing?" This sentence kicked off the fight against fate. The coach said that he was not accurate in three points, so he practiced hard every day to turn off the lights in the stadium. His teammates said that Asians could not compete, and he was sweating profusely in the gym... During those dark days, Jeremy Lin inspired him: College basketball career is a four-year journey. It doesn’t matter how to start, nor does it depend on whether you have the opportunity. It is important to train hard, continuously improve yourself, and prepare yourself. When the opportunity comes, seize it well..

In the sophomore season, Wang Junjie, who had been preparing for a summer, finally ushered in a turnaround. In the game against Clemson University, he finally waited to prove his opportunity. When the team was 10 points behind in the last 4 minutes, the injury of the starting power forward was undoubtedly a worse injury to San Francisco University. The coach pointed helplessly at the Chinese boy at the end of the bench. Unexpectedly, he scored 8 points in a row. With his confident shooting and decisive breakthrough, he proved that the Oriental Blade could also tear the opponent's defense. After the game, someone asked the coach how to see Wang Junjie's performance, the coach said he regretted not changing him on the court earlier.

Since then, he has gained more and more playing time and performed better and better. His fighting spirit has conquered the coach and eventually became the starting power forward of the team, but he still trains hard every day. He knows that in this game of the jungle, he will be pulled down if he is accidentally preyed on the jungle. The jerseys soaked in sweat every day will eventually become the armor that charges. On March 10 this year, in the game against Washington State University, he made 4 of 9 shots, scored 10 points and 10 rebounds, including 6 frontcourt rebounds. This is the first time he has double-double data in his NCAA career, but it will not be the last time.

Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. When many forward players were injured and missed the Asian Cup, Wang Junjie, who was still a college student, quickly became the main recruitment target. His performance during the training camp and in the warm-up match was recognized by everyone, and he eventually became one of the 12 people to compete in the Asian Cup. His debut in the adult national team was very amazing, but he was abandoned because of a three-point foul at the last moment of the first half. Guo Shiqiang's words "Can he make a shot?" made Wang Junjie and the fans in front of the screen feel cold.

The past of Clarkson being beaten by himself in the 2023 Men's Basketball World Cup was vivid in my mind. At that time, no one could defend him, and no one used fouls to interrupt his offensive rhythm, allowing him to make the game alone. The No. 5 player Wang Junjie actively saved and defended was Saudi Arabia's scoring leader, with 4 of 9 three-pointers in the game and scored 32 points. If Wang Junjie did not actively defend and was shot into three points by him, would he be scolded for not defending?

For a young man who dares to fight and has the most positive attitude, he should encourage and remind him, rather than scolding him to erase his enthusiasm. Many players who have grown up in China would rather not act than make mistakes. It seems that not being criticized by the coach is their top priority. How to better help the team win is not within their considerations. This is the product of being criticized by the coach for a long time. When more and more players experience this situation, it means that we need to improve not only the level of the players, but also the coaching team needs it, otherwise it will delay the growth of many excellent players!