What's going on with Zhang Zhenlin? Where does his problem lie? Let's talk about the reasons!

Today, let's discuss this topic that everyone is interested in.

If we only talk about his performance in the game against Japan, "repeatedly beating a dead horse," that would be quite meaningless.

After all, winning a game is a team effort.

What Brother Di mainly wants to express is a deeper issue beyond the game:What's going on with Zhang Zhenlin? Where does his problem lie?

Two extremely important words: confidence.

If you ask me whether the Chinese men's basketball team should bring him, I would most likely give a negative answer.

The core reason is that Zhang Zhenlin now is trapped in immense self-doubt; he no longer believes in himself.

This line from "Pegasus 2" never goes out of style:

"Only when a person loses confidence in themselves do they truly become outdated."

Not daring to shoot when open, missing open mid-range shots completely—is this Zhang Zhenlin's true level? Definitely not.

When he was in good form, he could even defend against Weems (CBA fans will remember that). Are those Japanese players better than Weems? I don't think so!

However, when an athlete's mentality suffers greatly, it reflects on the court.

So, when the criticism against him was overwhelming, what I thought was:If that shot against the Philippines had gone in, Zhang Zhenlin's career trajectory would have been completely rewritten.

Although a player's career seems long, the true thresholds and moments that can elevate them are just a few key plays and instants.

Wang Shipeng's game-winner against Slovenia is something he can boast about for a lifetime; Derek Fisher's 0.4-second shot was the pinnacle of his career...

What is the greatest gain for the player themselves?

It's not just the victory in that one game, but the immense confidence that follows.

From then on, that confident state of Wang Shipeng and "Old Fish"... they believed they could make every shot.

Wang Shipeng aimed to challenge the top foreign players.

That is elevation.

Zhang Zhenlin is "unfortunate."

He did not experience such a moment; instead, he faced the other extreme: relentless online abuse.

I too have been puzzled by his choices and have even criticized or complained about his head-in-hands reaction instead of fouling.

But what I find more distasteful now is the direction many media outlets are taking: as if the darkest moment for Chinese men's basketball is all Zhang Zhenlin's fault...

Our situation today wasn't caused by that one shot attempt, nor by the 12 players on the court.

Why did we lose after leading the Philippines by 18 points?

Why did even the steady Zhao Jiwei miss both free throws at the end?

What was the defensive strategy against Brownlee in the final phase? First getting torched by Clarkson, then by Brownlee and Lee Hyun-joong—we kept losing to one dominant opponent. Throughout this, has the coaching staff made adjustments or reflected?

Few people ponder these questions, and even fewer ask them.

Instead, Zhang Zhenlin stands at the eye of the storm.

And over these years, he has gone from an ambitious young man to a player whose eyes have lost their spark.

He still hasn't moved on... That's why he plays hesitantly, lacking the killer instinct he had when he first returned from the U.S.

The other day, Gu Ailing quoted Kobe Bryant's saying:The best athletes have the shortest memories, which is exactly the "goldfish mode" she was trying to embody.

"I finish one competition and immediately focus entirely on the next, as if it were my first game."

We've heard many truths, yet still struggle to live our lives well.

Putting ourselves in his shoes, achieving this is very difficult.

Age-wise, this should be Zhang Zhenlin's prime time, but the immense pressure from that one shot has crushed him.

How to relieve the pressure? Only he can save himself.

Perhaps, he's just one good game away.

Perhaps, he will play his entire career under this immense shadow...

We are all outsiders and cannot truly understand or empathize with his experience.

I'm not saying that Zhang Zhenlin's poor performance should all be blamed on public opinion.

Dealing with public opinion is inherently an important part of being a professional athlete.

But his poor play yesterday, his air-balled shots—it's not surprising.

Not only being benched in the second half, but also temporarily leaving the national team might actually be helpful for him.

The most important thing for Zhang Zhenlin right now is to pull himself out of this mental quagmire.