At that time, legendary coach john wooden had just retired for two years, and Yu Wei of this famous basketball school was still alive. In this year, he also reached the western semi-final of NCAA National Championship (top 16). Before the game started, the two teams were warming up on the field. While running to the basket as usual, Zhang Weiping secretly glanced at the UCLA players opposite to see what they could do.
If you don't look, you will be surprised at first sight. At that time, because the legendary center Abdel-Gabbar had just graduated, the NCAA lost its restricted object and announced that it would give up the previous "no dunk" rule specifically for Jabbar. After dunking, players are no longer sentenced to technical fouls, which can be described as changeable. Although the rules have changed, UCLA players still don't adapt on the court. I saw them take off, with their elbows far beyond the basket, but they subconsciously chose to "lie down" in the middle of the action. Suddenly, they remembered that dunks were allowed now and immediately pulled the ball back. It was a thunderous dunk, and it was really amazing. Peeping at each other's Zhang Weiping was surprised.
UCLA's players are not only amazing in physical fitness, but also obviously higher in technical and tactical level than China men's basketball team at that time. Although Coach Wooden has retired, the play style of UCLA bruins team is still strongly advocated by him when he coached: full court press, flank defense, breaking the ball and counterattack. Less than 5 minutes after the opening, the China men's basketball team has fallen behind by nearly 20 points, and at one time it could not even pass the half-court. When the strength of China men's basketball team was ascertained, UCLA head coach waved the flag and shouted, and the whole team immediately changed to another style of play. The offensive end fell into position in an orderly way. As long as there are defenders in front, he won't force a shot. He will create open shooting opportunities through multiple passes, and the defensive end will also defend normally. He emphasized maintaining posture, rather than using his physical advantages to cling to his body. To put it bluntly, he will not "bully" people with his body. Even so, China men's basketball team scored more than 20 points after a game. It was really convincing after the game, and I really saw what the world's leading basketball level was.
Convinced orally, Zhang Weiping still tried his best on the court, continued to maintain the scoring level of 20-30 points per game, and did not fall behind in the confrontation with African-American center. After the game, the local Chinese newspaper Qiao Bao published a large report: "Zhang Weiping, No.4 of the China Men's Basketball Team, dares to fight and fight, and deserves to be a dead shot in the World Championships!"
There is another episode of this game. Many years later, in a China game, Zhang Weiping met Kiki Vandewich, the former general manager of teams such as the Nuggets Nets. He had single-handedly selected China players such as Xue Yuyang of Bater, and casually mentioned that he had played such a game in UCLA many years ago. Vandewich suddenly clapped his hands and said, "Hey, I was there!" "It turned out that he was studying in UCLA and was the absolute main force of the school team. Thinking of that year, they were filled with emotion.