Yang Ming in the player era is the “male god” in the hearts of many female fans: good appearance, standard figure, full of spiritual playing style…… However, the three-year coaching experience has also marked Yang Ming’s face for many years. Although he doesn’t have much white hair like Du Feng, he said in his own words: “The appearance has changed”.
The expectations of the outside world and the pressure of his achievements have greatly changed him in the past three years: “Tension, suffocation and even more exaggerated situations will occur. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like if we couldn’t win this championship.” But this is the road Yang Ming chose, a work destined to be accompanied by great pressure but must be carried forward. Yang Ming said that he did not miss the position of coach at all. He said, “as long as Liaoning men’s basketball is good, my position is not necessary.”
Liaoning is a big province for basketball talents, especially for the defenders, who emerge one by one. Yang Ming is one of them. In the era of players, although Yang Ming was not a defender with excellent body type, he played with spirituality, good brain, good style and outstanding appearance, therefore, he was surrounded by countless fans at that time. The reputation of “The first handsome boy in CBA” spread widely. At that time, Yang Ming said in an interview: “I hope others will mention me in the scope of CBA. It is not that I am handsome, but it is better to say that I am handsome and good at basketball.”
Yang Ming served as the captain of Liaoning and was also selected into the national team. However, after all, there were many players in the back court of Liaoning, and his talent and strength were outstanding. Therefore, at the end of his career, under the condition that he can still continue playing, he officially ended his 15-year career at the end of the 2019 season. However, after finishing his career as a player, Yang Ming immediately turned to the coach position, and he later served as a teaching assistant in Liaoning men’s basketball.
Three years ago, Guo Shiqiang guided the class to finish halfway. Yang Ming, who had just retired, temporarily put out the fire. He was basically not responsible for the team competition at that time, and he did not follow the team in the first stage of the rematch. However, after receiving the work arrangement, he immediately went to the competition area to coach as a “fire fighting coach. Yang Ming, who coached for the first season, found that many things were groping for progress, and there was inevitably something unsatisfactory in the middle, and he would face difficulties and challenges that he had never encountered before. That season, Liaoning men’s basketball entered the finals, but failed to reach the top. After the end of the season, Li Hongqing, then the general manager of the team, revealed that Yang Ming had offered to resign, but the team did not agree.
In the following season, Yang Ming continued to lead the team to hit the championship. In that year, for Yang Ming, how to integrate and play a role in inner and foreign aid Molander became a big challenge. Morland played for Liao basketball in the first year at that time. He himself had distinct characteristics, but how to integrate into the system of Liaoning team, the team needed to constantly explore and try. However, this process actually lasted for a long time and didn’t really improve until the end of the regular season. According to the reporter of Beijing Youth Daily, the coaching staff even had the idea of cutting Morland at that time, but in the end, Yang Ming kept communicating with Morland to give him more time and patience, it finally made Morland play very well in the playoffs. That year, Liaoning men’s basketball was able to win the second championship in young pioneer team history, which was directly related to Morland’s strong play in the playoffs.
This season is the third season that Yang Ming taught Liaoning men’s basketball. The challenge is also not small, but it is not the same as before. Liaoning men’s basketball, as the defending champion, is the “target” of other teams. People all say that “it is easy to play JS, and it is difficult to guard the Rivers and Mountains”. Yang Ming, who has been engaged in professional basketball for so many years, must have his own meaning.
There were also many problems in Liaoning men’s basketball this season, especially the players’ injuries always troubled the team. This also filled Liaoning men’s basketball with uncertain factors on the defending road. What followed was that Yang Ming’s pressure as the head coach increased sharply. Especially after the recovery of the main stadium in the third stage, such expectations increased day by day, which made him feel a little breathless.
Coach is a high-risk industry and a job with great pressure. As a once-famous player, Du Feng transformed earlier than Yang Ming. His appearance changed obviously over the years, especially the white hair on the temples increased continuously, it is unimaginable for normal people to feel what they bear every day as a coach. Yang Ming also talked about similar changes several times during the season, such as pouch. During the All-Star season, Yang Ming was interviewed, and his left eye bags were obvious. He himself said, “as long as you sleep less, this will happen.” However, staying up late to watch the video and preparing for the game is the norm in the championship coach season.
At the age of 35 to 38, even in the whole basketball arena, it is less handsome, and it is also a hot team for coaching Champions. The pressure on Yang Ming can be imagined. In these seasons, we saw the picture of his “wet shirt”, the picture of his “dry bottle of water”, and after he eliminated Guangsha, sitting on the bench, he quietly “bowed his head and said nothing”, and he was relieved to win the championship “raise his hands. These physical movements are only one side of his inner activities, and the more pictures we can’t see need Yang Ming to digest and endure by himself.
After winning the championship, Yang Ming said something like this: “for the position of coach, frankly speaking, no one is nostalgic. Tension, suffocation, and more exaggerated situations will occur. Especially in Liaoning men’s basketball, the expectations of the outside world are very large. You see, although Zhejiang men’s basketball did not win the championship this time, they have created team history and they have also won many honors, but even so, when you do not meet the expectations of the outside world, there will still be many voices of doubt. In any case, coaches have such special attributes. For me, the pressure is on me, making the players win as easily as possible. As long as Liaoning men’s basketball is good, my position is not necessary. The position of coach is too stressful at present. I can’t imagine what it would be like to win this championship.”
