The Paper: From being yelled at to being "strong to urine test", is Wang Junjie the answer to the Chinese men s basketball team?

Before the 2025 Asian Cup of Men's Basketball Team officially kicked off, there are few stories about Wang Junjie in the Chinese basketball world. However, after the Chinese men's basketball team reached the semi-finals of the Asian Cup again after ten years, Wang Junjie became the most talked about name.

21 points, 7 rebounds, plus-negative efficiency values as high as +12, 3 of 4 three-pointers, and a shooting percentage of up to 75%. This is the amazing answer Wang Junjie gave in 24 minutes of the "China-South Korea showdown".

In fact, when the Chinese men's basketball coach Guo Shiqiang confirmed the list of the Asian Cup, Wang Junjie, who made the outside world unfamiliar, had already attracted a lot of curiosity and attention. After all, in the past 20 years, only 5 people entered the national team without participating in any professional competitions. Wang Junjie was tied with seniors such as Chen Jianghua, Zhang Zhaoxu, Guo Ailun and Zhou Qi.

And if the condition is added to "having never experienced traditional Chinese basketball youth training", then Wang Junjie is the only one in the Chinese men's basketball team.

Why can Wang Junjie become the most special one in the Chinese men's basketball team? The 20-year-old power forward has given the answer in four official games. In the words of basketball celebrity Ma Jian, Wang Junjie has some different game temperaments and understanding of basketball than other Chinese players, and this is exactly the hope of Chinese basketball.

From "being yelled" to "forced to urine test"

Wang Junjie was widely discussed by the public for the first time in this Asian Cup, because of a slightly embarrassing scene. During the game, Wang Junjie made a three-pointer foul on the defensive end. In the subsequent timeout, Coach Guo Shiqiang yelled at him: "Can he make a shot?" Faced with Guo Shiqiang's anger, Wang Junjie, who was sitting on the bench, could only nod in frequent nods.

This scene happened to be caught by the broadcast camera, and the radio on the scene also clearly recorded the entire process. After that game, Coach Guo Shiqiang's blame for Wang Junjie and his subsequent choice to "abandon Wang Junjie" all sparked controversy and even doubts among fans.

After that "good start", Guo Shiqiang also publicly explained his employment, "Wang Junjie is a player I like very much. He did score some points in the first half, but his execution ability and experience in defense still have some gaps. In addition, almost all the opponents are 'one big and four small', so we will also choose the position of our player based on the opponent's situation."

Coach Guo Shiqiang's yell not only brought a lot of external attention and discussion to Wang Junjie, but also put him in the main position. From the second game, Wang Junjie has firmly taken the position of starting power forward of the Chinese men's basketball team, and he has not disappointed Coach Guo Shiqiang's trust in him. In the second game against India, Wang Junjie scored 13 points in 22 minutes. More importantly, he made all five shots, including three-pointers, becoming the "100%" on the spot; in the third game against Jordan, his three-pointers felt fluctuating, making 1 of 4 shots, but he still scored 11 points, and scored 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

When it comes to the focus of the "China-South Korea showdown" in the knockout stage, Wang Junjie scored 15 points in the first half, setting a new record for the individual national team's single-game scoring. In the whole game, he contributed 21 points and 7 rebounds, and his three-point shooting percentage rose to 75%. In the first half of the match against South Korea, it was Wang Junjie's several three-point shots that helped China stabilize its advantage and laid a solid foundation for Yu Jiahao and Hu Jinqiu's explosion in the second half.

Even if he was counting his debut as a substitute, Wang Junjie scored in double digits in all four main games in the league. While averaging 13.8 points and 4 rebounds, he was able to maintain a shooting percentage of 66% and an astonishing 63% three-point shooting percentage.

After helping the Chinese men's basketball team return to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup after ten years, Wang Junjie updated his status on social networks, posted a photo of his urine test, and added a sentence, "I'll get my urine test for my brothers."

So, after the night of defeating South Korea, "it's so strong that urine test" became a new label for the 20-year-old.

From campus to NCAA, he was not smooth sailing

After the sharp edge of the Asian Cup, Wang Junjie's basketball story began to be understood by more and more people. Under the name of "the only one who has not experienced traditional youth training in the past 20 years, has no CBA experience, and has direct access to the national team's main competition list from campus basketball", there is actually a growth story that is not smooth.

It is reported that Wang Junjie first entered the horizon of fans because of the outstanding performance of the Hailiang Foreign Language Middle School basketball team. At that time, in the National U15 final, Wang Junjie scored luxurious data of 31 points and 19 rebounds, helping Hailiang win the championship and thus won the MVP title.

As a boy who discovered Wang Junjie, Coach Mao Weilin still remembers his initial joining the team. "We can't unilaterally say that we discovered Wang Junjie, and he (family) also came here."

After joining the campus team supported by NBA China, Wang Junjie embarked on a non-traditional sports school path to campus basketball. According to the school’s coach Zheng Bowen, because Wang Junjie worked too hard in training, the coaches had to be "forced to work overtime" every day. It is precisely through such almost crazy efforts that Hailiang Foreign Language Middle School and Wang Junjie's amazing performance on U15.

The MVP title made Wang Junjie the fifth Chinese player to enter the NBA Global Elite Program after Li Tianrong, Peng Senao, Qu Honglin and Cui Yongxi. He went to the Australian NBA Academy for training, and then began his overseas campaign.

In 2023, Wang Junjie will become a member of the Chinese U19 men's basketball team and fight side by side with Yang Hansen. After scoring 21 points against Spain, he left the Spanish coach with a sentence, "We never expected that the Chinese team had such a powerful forward player.". ”

After helping the U19 national team to achieve the best record in the World Youth Championship in ten years, Wang Junjie chose the University of San Francisco in the NCAA Division I League. But in the American campus basketball world, Wang Junjie encountered setbacks. Wang Junjie, who was positioned as a blue-collar player in his freshman year, failed to give enough outstanding performance on defense and rebounds. So in 34 games, he only played 20 games on the bench and averaged 7.5 minutes per game.

"From my playing ball to now (freshman season), my journey has been smooth sailing, and I have never had the experience of not playing in the whole game. Now I will be transferred back to my original self. "Wang Junjie once talked about his true feelings at a low point in a video interview. During that time, Wang Junjie did not stop. He was sleeping in the gym to increase strength and confrontation, and constantly polished his defensive skills.

"No matter when he is in his sophomore year, junior year or senior year, I hope there will be a chance to play in the future, and I don't forget this feeling. ”

The opportunity Wang Junjie was waiting for finally came in his sophomore year, and he was ready. When the team's main No. 4 position suffered a serious injury, Wang Junjie performed stably in the NCAA's first starting game, and then gradually got a stable game time of 20 minutes per game and gained a firm foothold in the team.

It was this setback that allowed Wang Junjie to have stronger physical confrontation ability, and he also had stronger psychological qualities. After coming to the Chinese men's basketball team of coach Guo Shiqiang, he positioned himself as a blue-collar worker, and said more than once, "I hope to do a good job of the task assigned to me by the coach first, that is, defense and rebounds. ”

"The answer to the forward line of the Chinese men's basketball team"

In fact, from the warm-up match of preparing for the Asian Cup and until now entering the semi-finals of the Asian Cup, the Chinese team has not encountered a truly strong opponent. Even the Korean men's basketball team, which caused some trouble for the Chinese team in the quarter-finals, actually lacked two main players due to injury problems.

For Wang Junjie and this Chinese men's basketball team, the real test kicked off from the semi-finals. After the Chinese men's basketball team grabbed a semi-finals place, the New Zealand men's basketball team reversed and eliminated Lebanon 90-86 in another quarter-finals. In that game, the Lebanese team led by up to 22 points, but in the fourth place In the quarter, he failed to withstand the counterattack of the New Zealand team and finally gave the victory to New Zealand.

The main scoring points of the New Zealand team were concentrated on their back line, and the number one scorer was No. 3 player Jackson King. Although New Zealand's inside line is not strong, the height of several inside lines is around 2.05 meters, and they are strong in muscles, and they are good at confrontation. For Wang Junjie, who is 2.06 meters tall, his ability to confrontation will be truly tested.

After defeating South Korea, Wang Junjie himself revealed that because his physical recovery was not handled ideally, when half of the remaining in the last quarter, he had some cramps on his left leg. "This kind of high-intensity game is a bit difficult to support, and I am very sorry. ”

It was not until this time that many fans came back from his eye-catching data and realized that he was only a 20-year-old college student player and had not really experienced the polishing and training of the professional league.

When Wang Junjie played a stable offensive and defensive performance in consecutive games, many people in the Chinese basketball circle have begun to look forward to Wang Junjie's future.

Chinese basketball legend Ma Jian is very optimistic about Wang Junjie's development. "This Asian Cup, the 20-year-old Wang Junjie made us shine and see the hope of Chinese basketball. Chinese basketball needs such surprises, more innovation and cognition, and we look forward to his more impressive performance in the semi-finals. ”

And when talking about the goals of the last two games, the young Wang Junjie did not hide or "low-key", "Our goal is the championship. ”

For a college student player who was still competing in the NCAA a few months ago, the first adult game was to follow the national team to compete in the Asian Cup, which was a very rare experience. Wang Junjie also cherished this opportunity.

"This summer vacation has improved a lot for me. My college teammates are still on holiday, but I am playing for the Chinese team. Whether it is going abroad to Europe or studying with my predecessors, all of this is my most valuable experience. ”