The 2024 U18 Women's Basketball Asian Cup came to an end in Shenzhen, and the Chinese U18 women's basketball team lost to Australia 79-96 in the final, unfortunately relegating to the runner-up. Zhang Ziyu, the core of the Chinese team, continued to play well, scoring 42 points and 14 rebounds in an astonishing statistic, becoming a well-deserved "thigh" of the Chinese U18 women's basketball team! However, limited by the overall strength, under the unfavorable situation of "one against five", the Chinese team habitually lost power in the fourth quarter, collapsed completely, and missed the championship!
After the game, Zhang Ziyu, who contributed an average of 35 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, won the MVP of this Cup! It is no exaggeration to say that if there is no Zhang Ziyu, let alone the finals, I am afraid that it will be very difficult for the Chinese team to enter the top four.
Looking back on this competition, from the group stage to the finals, Zhang Ziyu gave the opponent a great threat with an absolute height advantage of 2.23, and she was also called the "female version of Yao Ming" by fans, especially in the last game of the group stage, in the face of the Japanese team, Zhang Ziyu was 20 in 22, scoring 44 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists, not only helping the Chinese team to win, but also successfully refreshing the 39-point single-game scoring record held by Chinese Taipei player Xiao Yuwen, quite coincidentally, Chinese Taipei's opponent at that time was also the Japanese team!
Although Zhang Ziyu's lethality is undoubted, the Chinese team's defeat in the final fully exposed the huge disparity in the overall strength of the team. Through statistics, it is not difficult to find that except for Zhang Ziyu, none of the other players scored doubles, which to a certain extent reflects the problem of the Chinese team's single scoring point, in stark contrast to the Chinese team, the Australian team is more balanced in scoring, and the Chinese team's defense is stretched thin.
Especially in the final quarter, when Zhang Ziyu had physical problems, the Australian team quickly extended the score with a quick counterattack.
In addition, the Chinese team's individual defensive skills and overall defensive awareness need to be improved urgently; Moreover, in the chasing stage, when Zhang Ziyu was in place, the timing of the Chinese team's passing and tactical execution were to be discussed, and many times they were hesitant in individual offense and passing, resulting in a delay in the fighter!
Throughout this Asian Cup, the Chinese team actually took advantage of Zhang Ziyu's height, but as he grew older, the national team level was more of a contest of technology and tactics, and the physical advantage would gradually be weakened. This requires the players to refine and strengthen their individual skills, and the coaching team needs to be more refined and changeable in tactical design.
Zhang Ziyu's birth can be described as the coexistence of pros and cons, the advantage is that the fulcrum of the inner line is obvious, and the disadvantage is that it is overly dependent on the inner line.
The loss of the Asian Cup, timely for the U18 women's basketball team sounded the alarm, in the era of small ball, "the inside line wins the world" has long been a thing of the past, in the future, the Chinese women's basketball team needs to continue to learn, continue to improve, the position is stable, fast attack, three-point shooting accurate, in order to maintain competitiveness, empty weapons, will not use is also in vain!