As a famous basketball player in China, Zhang Qingpeng soon ushered in a role change after he made his retirement decision in 2020. Although his record in the first season of officially coaching Tianjin team was not ideal, he still brought many positive changes to this “Youth Army”, showing his ability and potential to become an excellent coach.
“Mutual understanding is the foundation of team cohesion”
Zhang Qingpeng’s resume of the player period is brilliant. For more than 20 years, he has played in Liaoning, Xinjiang, Shandong and other teams, and realized his dream of CBA championship when playing for Beijing Shougang team. Since he was first selected as the national team in 2006, Zhang Qingpeng joined the team to enter the eighth top of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and won the championship in the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou. He was “the first guard of CBA” in Marbury’s mouth, and was also the only local player who scored the top 10 in CBA league except Wang Zhizhi, which was synonymous with talent and hard work.
In 2020, 39-year-old Zhang Qingpeng chose to retire. After a short adjustment, he soon started his teaching career. In 2021, Zhang Qingpeng joined the coaching team of Tianjin team as an assistant coach. In view of his success in scoring three points during the player period, Tianjin team just played a three-point projection, and the marriage between the two was quite anticipated. “Transforming into a coach has always been my goal. At that time, I received the invitation from Tianjin team and wanted to seize this opportunity to explore different fields and help Tianjin team achieve good results as much as possible.”
At that time, the Tianjin team was in a bad state and had a poor record in the first stage of the CBA league. Foreign coach Caesar, who signed the contract before the season, finished class quickly after four rounds of matches. Assistant coach Zhang Degui was promoted to head coach immediately. Before the start of the second stage of the competition, two small foreign aid Rochester and Burton from Tianjin team came to the team one after another, and the strength of the coaching team expanded to lay the foundation for the rebound of Tianjin team’s record.
During the period of assisting Zhang Degui to coach, Zhang Qingpeng quickly entered the role and brought great help to the team at both ends of attack and defense. At that time, under the leadership of two small foreign aid, Tianjin team sacrificed the “running boom” tactics, and three-point shot percentage was at the forefront of the league. Since the beginning of the second stage against Jilin team, Tianjin team won 16 games in the next 25 rounds, and the third stage locked the playoff seats in advance with a wave of eight-game winning streak.
Looking back on the first season of his coaching career, Zhang Qingpeng said: “from players to coaches, it is definitely necessary to go through the transition period. As a coach, he should not only be proficient in tactics, but also be able to convey tactics to players, help them grow and progress. It is a very rare opportunity for me to be able to cooperate with an experienced coach like Zhang Degui, and I have learned a lot from it.”
In the playoffs, although the Tianjin team failed to defeat the Guangdong team in the first round, it still ushered in the best record of nearly nine seasons. This feeling of leading the team’s counterattack made Zhang Qingpeng more sense of accomplishment. He was more like the big brother of the players in Tianjin team. He soon became one with the whole team. He often shared his playing experience with the players and the secret of success in the player’s career. “I think as a coach, it is very necessary to understand each other with the players. The players trust me very much, which is a successful season for all of us, it greatly improves the cohesion of the whole team.”
“James’s injury changed my mind”
In the CBA league this season, Tianjin team laid out early and was eager to replicate the success of last season. Because two small foreign aid Rochester and Burton performed well and got olive branches thrown by other teams, Tianjin team failed to renew their contract from the perspective of operation. In order to continue the “running boom” tactics last season, Tianjin team reintroduced two small foreign aid Hanlan and Jie McPherson, but Hanlan left the team early because he could not integrate into the team, although Jefferson had wonderful performances one after another, it was hard to win. The nine games in the first stage of Tianjin team only won three wins.
During that time, the coaching team of Tianjin team was under great pressure. On the one hand, the club has invested a lot in the new season, in order to continue to impact the playoff seats, but the bad record at the beginning of the season undoubtedly plus-sized the difficulty of achieving the goal. On the other hand, the follow-up schedule of Tianjin team was extremely difficult, with rivals including Shanxi team, Guangdong team and the last champion Liaoning team. No accident, the Tianjin team, which quickly gathered three foreign aid, did not stop the decline in the record.
“That time was really difficult, because after the replacement of foreign aid, the two new foreign aid arrived at the team late and lacked the running-in time. Moreover, the team is affected by the epidemic and there are many injuries, because we have fewer people who can play multiple positions and encounter greater difficulties. “Zhang Qingpeng said that although the record was not good, the Tianjin team had been clinging to it during the special period, and the team members also made their best efforts. “Under the situation at that time, we couldn’t ask the players to do more. Although the number of applicants for the match reached the standard, the players who could really play the match were very limited.”
At the beginning of the second stage of the game, Tianjin team suffered a nine-position defeat. Everyone knows the things behind-Zhang Degui was promoted to the chief coach, Zhang Qingpeng took over pointer and officially became the head coach of Tianjin team, in the second game that led the team, Tianjin defeated Fujian, ending the 14-game losing streak of Young Pioneer team history. For Zhang Qingpeng, it takes courage to take over a team in a difficult period, but his attitude and determination not to be afraid of challenges have played a great incentive role for Tianjin team. “I didn’t think much at that time, so I felt that I should stand up. At that time, the morale of the team was relatively low, which had a great impact on the mentality of the players. It needed a backbone to unite everyone again.”
At the beginning of taking office, Zhang Qingpeng had faced many lessons. At that time, Tianjin team still focused on the “running boom” tactics, but the whole team relied too much on three-point goals and had poor stability, especially in adversity, it was difficult to play the momentum of last season. In terms of the distribution of three foreign aid appearances, he quickly established the tactical status of big foreign aid James, further enriched the team’s skills and tactics, and at the same time stimulated the players’ desire to win, help Tianjin team to achieve a rebound in record.
“When we play well, we mainly rely on James. I think everyone should see his importance. After the adjustment of the intermittent period, his state is getting better and better, which is a positive signal for us. “Zhang Qingpeng said that Tianjin team had some expectations for the third stage after restarting the main and away games, but James’s accidental injury disrupted everything. “To be honest, I have never experienced such a scene in my career. At that moment, I felt that the record was secondary. The most important thing was that the players could finish the whole season healthily.”
For that accident, Zhang Qingpeng has been worried so far. He has visited James many times and hopes that he can return to the game as soon as possible. In the end, Tianjin team experienced hardships and ended the season with three consecutive wins at home. Zhang Qingpeng, as the head coach, had a lot of highlights in the season. However, because Tianjin team dug too deep in the first half of the season and always faced problems of injuries, in the end, it was only ranked 19th in the regular season.
“Need more ’00’ players to play out”
Compared with the 12th ranking last season, Tianjin team dropped seven places, which is the team with the largest decline in the record this season. However, Zhang Qingpeng did not shy away from this, believing that only by facing the past can we better face the future. “We have indeed encountered many difficulties. Of course, this cannot be an excuse. There is a gap between our current strength and experience, and we must work harder in preparing for the future.”
After calculation, since Zhang Qingpeng took charge of Tianjin team Shuai Yin, he has led the team to compete for more than 20 games. In addition to the intermittent period before and after the Spring Festival, the time for getting along with the players as coach has been less than half a year. He himself also said that he is still in the running-in stage with the team. Because of losing the hope of competing for playoff seats early this season, Zhang Qingpeng did not put too much pressure on the players in the final rounds of the regular season. Even if he was scored successively by his opponents or was completely suppressed, he rarely suspended the game, I hope to improve the team members’ ability to cope with difficulties in this way.
“This season, many of our games have been reluctant to lose, and there have been many times in Canada that we have not laughed to the end. First of all, the team’s ability to continue attacking still needs to be improved, and the ability to deal with detailed Balls is also a link that we must work hard. “Zhang Qingpeng said that while striving to improve the overall strength and competition experience of the team, Tianjin team also needs plus-sized efforts to cultivate young players, which is the top priority to be a strong team in the future. “Basketball is a team sport, which requires more young players to stand up. Many other teams have actually started to play the main force after ’00’, and there are relatively fewer young players we can play.”
At present, the Tianjin team, which is in the holiday, has not yet determined the time to collect the team. Zhang Qingpeng will also spend more time with his family. Next season, Tianjin team will enjoy a preferential policy of 4 sessions and 5 times of foreign aid, which will become a major advantage for the whole team to impact the playoffs. Zhang Qingpeng stated that he would lead the team to strive for good results. The goal he set for himself was to bring great changes to Tianjin team within three years. “Many players are trying to change themselves at present. They listen to suggestions, which is a good phenomenon. It takes time for a team to change. I hope to make full use of the next preparation and competition opportunities to bring good changes to Tianjin team.”
(Text/Oriental Sports Daily reporter Haizhou)
