During the Chinese New Year, the league came out with shock bombs. The Hsinchu Jiekou Siege Lions released Leiter Julian Wright on the grounds that they did not meet the needs of the team. This early season was hailed as “the best foreign player in Taiwan’s basketball in 20 years.” “He was replaced within half a season, which triggered a lot of discussions among fans. Is it the right decision for the Siege Lions to abandon Julian Wright? What changes did the addition of Branden Dawson bring to Hsinchu Siege Lions?
Low three-point firepower
The Hsinchu Siege Lions finished the first hemisphere season with 3 wins and 10 losses, ranking bottom in the league. Among them, the team’s three-point shooting percentage is less than 27%. The team only has foreign players Ladontae Henton and Chen Jianen who have performed steadily outside the three-point line. They have hit 40.4 and 37.8 respectively. In other words, deduct these two. People’s performance, the shooting percentages of the other Siege Lions players from beyond the three-point line can only be described as “terrible”. However, these two men also stopped because of injuries, which also seriously affected the Siege Lions’ performance. Exertion of peripheral firepower.
So if one of the siege Lions should not be replaced, Ladontae Henton will definitely make a fierce shot. Without his firepower on the flank, the situation of the siege Lion’s offensive crash may be more serious. .
Is it possible to replace Hasheem Thabeet?
Spreading out the Hsinchu Siege Lions roster, the only local players currently able to carry the penalty area are basically Wu Daihao, Rong Yishen, and Pan Guanhan. However, Rong Yishen’s experience is still too tender. Pan Guanhan can play at the fourth position at most and only the fifth position. Wu Daihao can carry it on his own. With Wu Daihao being 36 years old and suffering from injuries, he has to carry more than 30 minutes of the inside line per game. For him, the load is too great. Once a serious injury occurs, the attacking Lions’ It is possible that the inner line will completely break the embankment.
Although the first few games are clearly seen, Hasheem Thabeet has not been integrated into the Siege Lions, but at the end of the first half of the season has gradually improved. Moreover, Thabeet’s rebounding and rim protection ability is the performance of the former class in the league. He averaged 15.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game, and replacing Hasheem Thabeet shouldn’t be an option for the Siege Lions.
So the answer is already ready to come. If the siege lion really wants to change the foreign general, the only candidate who may change is Julian Wright, but is there anything wrong with JuJu?
Julian Wright was able to contribute 14.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in the first half of the season. His performance was very comprehensive. He averaged more than 4 assists per game and ranked first among all No. 4 and No. 5 players in the league. But the dilemma encountered by the siege lions is that they urgently need foreigners to be able to jump out and take on the responsibility of the “offensive end”. This is obviously inconsistent with Julian Wright, who prioritizes the team. Under the pressure of record, if Julian Wright can lose another 10 kilograms and get back to his previous body, I believe he will definitely be able to share more of the responsibilities of the siege lions on the offensive end, and even serve as the offensive terminator, but Time waits for no one. The Siege Lions have to make a choice, and he finally made the decision to sign SBL scorer Branden Dawson and discard Julian Wright.
Branden Dawson won the first game of P. League+. He played 36 minutes and scored 21 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 interception, and 1 hot pot with a 9-of-16 shooting rate exceeding 50%. He only joined for about a week. This performance is indeed remarkable.
Branden Dawson’s big victory did give the Siege Lions more maneuverability on both ends of the offense and defense. His face-to-face ability, speed and explosiveness within the three-point line are very good. The important thing is that he can provide offense that Julian Wright lacks. Ending ability. In addition, the Siege Lions significantly improved the speed of offensive and defensive transitions in the second half of the season, played more Early Offense, and tried to improve the efficiency of scoring. With the addition of Branden Dawson’s victory, it can really help.
Especially yesterday, the Fubon Warriors defended almost the entire field defense. Branden Dawson’s handling of the ball in the elbow area is considered stable. If facing man-to-man defense, I believe that with his athletic ability, he should play more easily. But on the defensive end, after all, Branden Dawson is only 6 feet 6 inches tall and about 199 cm tall. If he is not on the court with Hasheem Thabeet at the same time, his personal ability to protect the rim is not very good. The attacking Lions will encounter a lot in the penalty area. The big test.
“Is it the right decision for the Hsinchu Siege Lions to abandon Julian Wright? I would say it was a decision that I had to make.”
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