(a)
One thing is certain, Zhang Ziyu will definitely not participate in this Paris Olympics, and the Chinese women's basketball team is unlikely to win the gold medal in this Olympics. Fighting for a medal is still very promising.
Now, most fans are actually looking to the Los Angeles Olympics in four years, because by then, Zhang Ziyu, who is only 21 years old, will be physically mature, and she will form the most terrifying women's basketball interior combination in history with Han Xu and Li Yueru, who are in their playing years. At that time, the domination of the American women's basketball team in the world women's basketball for more than 30 years since 1996 will very likely come to an end and be replaced by the Chinese women's basketball team.
Many fans are now beginning to envision the main lineup of the Chinese women's basketball team in four years. Here, let's also imagine who should partner Zhang Ziyu in four years.
Han Xu said on the Internet a few days ago: I'm ready to play the No. 4 position. It seems that it is a certainty that she and Zhang Ziyu will form an unprecedented double-tower lineup in the future. Han Xu's steps are fast and his movements are flexible, as a big center with a height of 2.08 meters, he can actually play unlimited defense changes with the whole team, which even Li Yueru can't do.
It is conceivable that in the future, Zhang Ziyu and Han Xu will form an inside twin tower, and no team will be able to stop them. And in defense, they will not suffer, with these two towers in charge, the opponent wants to attack the basket, it is a pure dream, and the only hope can only be pinned on the outside touch.
Li Yueru can play as a substitute for Zhang Ziyu. She is also one of the best centers in the world today, with her on the field, the Chinese team's interior can always maintain an advantage in the 40-minute game, and the opponent wants to take advantage of Zhang Ziyu's rest to counterattack, then there is definitely no chance.
Han Xu and Li Yueru will both be 29 years old at the next Olympic Games, which can be described as the best moment for a basketball center. Therefore, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is actually the best opportunity for the Chinese women's basketball team to win the championship. In the future, it may be unrealistic to recreate this kind of grand scene. How can there be so many good centers that can grow like mushrooms at any time?
And Liu Yutong, the big baby who is loved by the majority of fans, is afraid that it will be a tragedy. She is likely to be like Tang Zhengdong back then, because she is in the same era as Yao Ming and other three centers, she will not be able to display her skills.
In the next Olympic Games, the hidden worries of the Chinese team are on the outside. If you want to find a high-level outside player like Li Meng, there is no such hope at present. If it really doesn't work, you can only trouble Li Meng to persist for another term, and in 2028, Li Meng will be 33 years old, and it should be said that it is still possible to continue to maintain a high level of competition.
Equally worrying is the position of the Chinese team's organizational defender. If Wang Siyu retires, then Li Yuan will be left alone. Li Yuan is fast, but he is short, and when he is against strong teams in Europe and the United States, his defense suffers a little. Among the young players, there are no better point guard seedlings. Therefore, if it is not good, Wang Siyu must be allowed to stay. However, when encountering a talented center like Zhang Ziyu, Li Meng and Wang Siyu will probably be happy to play one more Olympic Games.
In other positions, Zhang Ru, Yang Shuyu and Luo Xinqi are basically competent. The younger generation of Li Qingyang, Li Wenxia, Hu Duoling and others can also enter the national team to exercise. Such a lineup should be said to be quite competitive.
(b)
We can also take a look at what lineup the opposite American women's basketball team can come up with in four years.
The biggest concern of the U.S. women's basketball team is precisely the lack of a big center. Grina will be 38 years old by the next Olympics, and she will definitely not be able to play. Aside from her, there really isn't much decent center talent in the United States. McKorwan, who is a foreign aid in the Beijing women's basketball team, is more than two meters tall, but her level is limited, and she is not Li Yueru's opponent now. She can't even beat Li Yueru, and she still wants to deal with Zhang Ziyu?
The American basketball world has been prevalent in small-ball tactics for many years, and big centers have been despised, so for a long time, the interior line of the American women's basketball team has been played by Brianna Stewart, who was born in 1994 and is 1.94 meters tall, and Aja Wilson, who was born in 1996 and is 1.93 meters tall.
In the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup, these two inside players were eaten by China's Xiaobao Li Yueru one after another, and they actually played very embarrassed, but the overall strength of the American team was too strong, so they did not lose.
Both Stewart and Wilson are space-oriented centers with a technical flow. They represent the trend of American centers, the next generation of American centers, the most famous ones, whether it is Collier of the Minnesota Bobcats or Boston of the Indiana Fever, are all one-meter-nine nodding, pure play skills, and they will be deflated when they encounter a strong center.
Therefore, in the next Olympic Games, the Chinese women's basketball team will form an overwhelming advantage over the American women's basketball team on the inside, which is our biggest capital to defeat them.
However, the outside strength of the U.S. women's basketball team will be higher than that of the Chinese team in the next Olympics. Renowned guard Sabrina Ionescu and now popular Caitlin Clarke both have superbly strong three-point shooting abilities. Their three-point shots have a long range, are fast, and are very lethal. It is conceivable that the battle between China and the United States will be a showdown between the inside hammer and the outside knife. How the Chinese women's basketball team defends the outside and how to limit the three-point shot of the American women's basketball team will be the most important topic for the future coaching team.
In addition to the American women's basketball team, the French women's basketball team should not be underestimated. At the moment, the youth basketball systems in France and Germany are among the best in Europe. Both governments invest heavily in youth training, and both countries are more tolerant of African immigrants. So, black seedlings are emerging one after another. At the Olympic qualifiers earlier this year, the French women's basketball team was only 19 years old, and the 1.97-meter-tall rookie Marlonga impressed us. In addition, the French women's basketball team also has outside three-point shooters like Marina Johannes. In the next Olympic Games, when Malunga grows up, and there are other rookies born, the French women's basketball team will definitely have the strength to wrestle with China and the United States. Of course, if they want to have a player who can compete with Zhang Ziyu, it is still impossible. Zhang Ziyu is the kind of genius that comes once in a century, and it is impossible to see it often.
Looking forward to the next four years, the Chinese men's basketball team will definitely still be a piece of chicken feathers, out of control, if one or two rookies can appear that make people see hope, it will be commendable. In the next four years, Chinese fans can only pin their hopes on the women's basketball team, hoping that they can compete for a world championship dream for Chinese basketball fans.