Oh! 0 points, again 0 points! The starting forward of the Chinese men's basketball team

During the first match of the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games, the Chinese men's team easily defeated Kazakhstan 99-61. Every player except the injured Wang Junjie and Zhao Jiayi participated and received plenty of minutes, yet one individual's numbers were particularly eye-catching: 0 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals...

Zhu Junlong, the undisputed starting small forward for China, also failed to score any points against a weak team that gave away points like candy., although his role is that of a defensive specialist, he cannot be on the court and cause the offense to play 4-on-5.

This guy hasn't scored in double digits for the Chinese national team in a long time, whether in warm-ups or official games. The last time he did was back in March this year in a World Cup qualifier against the Chinese Taipei team, where he shot 7-of-10 (5-of-6 from three) to score 19 points plus 4 rebounds and 2 assists — but obviously, it was just a flash in the pan.

Even at the club level, Zhu Junlong has been nearly invisible offensively over the past two years. Last season with the Guangsha Lions, he averaged 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game in the regular season, with shooting splits of 41% FG and 36.6% 3PT. This season in the playoffs, he averaged 6.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, with shooting splits of 35.9% FG and 32.4% 3PT.

On the Asian stage, the Chinese team can still compensate for Zhu Junlong's lack of scoring ability with other advantages. However, in major international tournaments such as the World Cup or Olympics, China has always been the underdog. Then not only can they not compensate for Zhu's scoring deficiency, but he will be targeted by defenses that completely leave him open.

So, if Zhu Junlong continues to be severely unbalanced between offense and defense, the Chinese men's basketball team may need to find a replacement. For example, four-time CBA champion Zhang Zhenlin, who is also an excellent defender with more offensive moves and some playmaking skills, or hope that Cui Yongxi quickly returns to his best form.

At the beginning of this year, Zhang Zhenlin played for the Chinese men's team in the World Cup qualifiers but ended up as a fringe player. He played a total of only 11 minutes in the two games against Japan and Chinese Taipei, shooting 1-for-4 for 2 points.

To be honest, Guo Shiqiang still hasn't found the manual for Zhang Zhenlin, or perhaps his coaching system simply doesn't need an all-around forward~