In a game in the fifth round of the 2021-22 CBA regular season, Shanxi defeated Beikong 102-97 to win three consecutive games. In the game, Shanxi foreign aid Kai Feld played 41 minutes, scored a game-high 36 points, and grabbed 9 rebounds and sent 12 assists, playing a quasi-triple-double.
Both Shanxi and Beikong teams have gone through a fierce battle in the last round. Shanxi upset Liaoning for the first defeat of the season, and Beijing Control defeated Xinjiang after extra time.
The two teams glued almost the entire game in this game. Although Shanxi once widened the contrast to 9 points in the second quarter, Beijing Control played a small climax of 14-3 driven by Zhang Fan and surpassed the score. Throughout the second half, both sides were tugging. Although the inner line of Beikong has an advantage, the outer line of Shanxi blossoms at many points. Beikong made as many as 21 mistakes in the whole game, shanxi only 10, and Shanxi's efficiency in using the conversion of offensive points was very high.
Felder's explosive performance made North Control helpless, and the 175cm small man had 36 points, 9 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals, and also gave a big hat to North Control forward Hou Yifan, who was 25 centimeters taller.
The original coach had a stable outside fire output, scoring the second highest 20 points in the team, and Zhang Ning, who came off the bench, also contributed 14 points. The main center Ge Zhaobao carried the North Control inner group and played a comprehensive performance of 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals.
Shanxi's small foreign player Feld became the leader of the team. Having worked as a teammate for the Cleveland Cavaliers and James, he joined Xinjiang in the 2018-19 playoffs as a firefighter. In 13 playoff games he averaged 23 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists. Four of them averaged 25.8 points per game in the Finals, shooting 47.6 percent from three-point range.
In the final stages of last season, Felder became Guangsha's firefighter again, but his performance did not satisfy the club. At the end of the season, Guangsha abandoned Feld and he switched to Shanxi.
Last season' outside signing for The Shanxi was three-doubles King Franklin. In the 19-20 season, Franklin averaged 30.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game in The Shanxi. Under his leadership, Shanxi finished 11th in the regular season and made it to the playoffs.
Last season, Franklin was injured during the season and was on long-term recuperation. Shanxi's record plummeted, and in the end it only won 19 games, ranking 15th in the regular season and missing the playoffs. There are no Franklins, two completely different Shanxi teams.
This season Franklin joined the new local tycoon Shanghai, and Felder took over the triple-double.
After the start of the new season, most of the foreign aides could not be put in place on time, and most of the teams played in the all-Chinese class. Feld quickly entered the game, starting with Guangzhou he came off the bench and had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.
In the second game against Xinjiang, Feld entered the starting lineup, shooting 10 of 11 from two-point range, and had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists, and got a quasi-triple-double. In the next game against Liaoning, Felder efficiently scored 20 points, 13 rebounds, 15 assists and 3 steals in 34 minutes. He destroyed the entire defensive line of Liaoning, and while getting the first triple-double of the season, he led the team to beat Liaoning.
In this game against North Control, he scored a season-high 36 points, and he missed a rebound and failed to get a triple-double. In four games, Feld averaged 25 points, 9 rebounds and 11.5 assists per game, which was excellent.
After defeating Beikong, Shanxi won three consecutive victories. After five games, Shanxi won four games, the only loss was killed by Guangzhou. In the rankings, Shanxi ranks behind the victorious Guangsha and Guangdong. In addition to Shanxi, the top six in the standings are Guangdong, Guangsha, Zhejiang, Liaoning and Shougang, all of which are the most competitive teams this season. Since the start of the race, Shanxi is the biggest dark horse of the season.
This season, champion coach Yang Xuezeng served as the head coach of Shanxi for the third time. For many old players in the team, Ge Zhaobao, Yan Pengfei, Xing Zhiqiang, etc. are already very familiar.
In the off-season, Shanxi's top star, Shanxi local player Ren Junwei drifted south again after five years, joining the local tycoon Shanghai Jiushi. The main striker Liu Guancen also completed the training and returned to Shandong account. The thickness of the Shanxi lineup in Yang Xuezeng's hands has dropped a lot compared to last season, and in a few games, Shanxi's regular rotation lineup is only 8 people.
The stability of the team was guaranteed by Ge Zhaobao, Yan Pengfei and Xing Zhiqiang, who had played together from the Shanxi youth team. Bench point guard Zhang Hanjun also played three seasons with the team. In the past three seasons, Shanxi's local scoring champion has become the absolute core of the team, and he has entered the peak of his career after playing the CBA for 10 seasons.
Second-year rookie Zhang Ning has been polished in the offseason, and this season's goal increase is obvious, filling the vacancy left by Liu Guancen. In order to ensure the attacking power of the second squad, he was placed on the bench by Yang Xuezeng. In the first five games, Zhang Ning averaged 14.7 points and 3.4 assists per game, shooting 50% from three-point range. He has a certain ability to hold the ball and attack, and his role is becoming more and more important. Zhang Ning had formed the Shanxi Outer Line Attack Iron Triangle with Feld and Yuan Shuai.
The departure of substitute forward Zhai Yi gave rookie Jia Hao the opportunity to emerge. He was put into the starting lineup by Yang Xuezeng, who averaged 8.5 points per game in the first four games, averaging 2.3 three-pointers per game.
There is no doubt that Shanxi is the dark horse that has exceeded the expectations of the outside world so far since the start of the season, but it is too early to judge how far this dark horse can go. With a foreign aid that quickly entered the state, Shanxi took advantage of the first stage. The thickness of the team's squad, especially the rotation of the interior line, will become a weak link as the season progresses.
With Shanxi's paper strength, it is unrealistic to maintain the top of the ranking for a long time. But at least back in the playoffs, it's still something you can expect.