She, 19 years old, the ghost of attack

On July 19, 2025, the dark clouds before the typhoon hit did not stop the fans' enthusiasm. The Shenzhen Sports Center, which sold out early, was packed. Everyone was looking forward to witnessing the Chinese women's basketball team reaching the Asian Cup final, but the opponent's first attack made 15,000 home fans feel sad:

Originally, this should be a beautiful defense that would cause the Japanese women's basketball team to violate the rules in 24 seconds, but this was resolved by the 19-year-old Tian Zhong in an unexpected way.

In just 4 seconds, Tian Zhong completed the reading defense, and then she dribbled to the center circle and made a quick move. The ball passed through half the ball and fell into the basket, turning a mistake into a score.

Everyone says that the goal is all fooled, especially the three-pointer in the middle of the arc top, Tian Zhong also smiled slightly after scoring the goal, hiding his achievements and fame. But she herself knew very well that this goal was not only favored by the goddess of basketball, but also her own muscle memory - because "taking action in any area of the court" is a skill she has been polishing.

As early as 2022, the 16-year-old Tian Zhong was already trying out ultra-long three-pointers. After training, she could already complete the shooting in a slightly farther area outside the three-point line. At that time, she was in her sophomore season at the senior year, and her goal was to hit an ultra-long three-pointer in the Winter Cup National Championship at the end of the year.

Tian Zhong, who is 1.71 meters tall, has regarded three-pointers as her secret weapon since she was a child. She has always been very confident in her shooting ability. She will also study the details of other players' movements and integrate other people's good aspects into her own movements.

For example, Tian Zhong's shooting was to imitate the senior Emura Eyou; the latter once went to Japan's US military base with his father every week to play with tall and outstanding athletic foreigners, so he developed the ability to take action at a very fast pace, and this ability was also learned by Tian Zhong.

Use shooting as your signature, and even try to shoot at a long distance like Lillard and Curry. Tian Zhong has his own unique thinking:

"Players from all over the world basically have height advantages over Japanese players, so if I just catch the ball and shoot on the spot, it is easy to be blocked. In order to avoid being restricted by defense, it is very critical to stagger the blocking time of tall players and then take action."

But a good pitcher has never been limited to the skill of shooting. A pitcher who can only shoot is not an excellent pitcher.

Tian Center once had such confusion.

For a long time, her way of playing against defensive shooting did not work at all. "I went to high school and my playing style was completely ineffective. I lost confidence in the Japanese youth team's game, and my subsequent practice matches were also very bad. That period was very difficult for me."

This is the "Dak effect" discovered by psychologists Dunning and Kruger - a person's self-cognition will reach the peak of ignorance, and then continue to deepen in a certain field, gradually discovering his own shortcomings, as if he has fallen into the valley of despair.

Then, you will begin to reflect and learn, find your own shortcomings, explore ways to improve and improve, and move onto the slope of enlightenment.

Ta Center's then captain Tomomi Yokoyama said to her, "When the ball comes, as long as you have the mentality of 'must score' and keep working hard, then there will be no problem."

She also remembered the offensive training she had conducted at KAGO Club (Basketball Youth Training Camp in Osaka/Fukuoka). There, coach Malu let her learn one thing - while observing her opponent and thinking about what moves to deal with defense.

"I am still using the offensive moves taught to me by Coach Malu, and I have to use different offensive skills to confuse my opponent. If the opponent pounces on me, I will break through; if the person who is guarding me is a taller foreigner than me, I will use throwing, and I am also good at three-pointers, which allows me to use many fake moves."

After joining the Japanese women's basketball youth team in the second year of high school, Tian Zhong began to change his style of play. She began to use her speed to break through defense more and studied Kawamura Yuki's ball-handling skills, trying to combine it with her ability to "shoot in any area".

More importantly, she changed her mindset, "The coach told me to continue the attack. Even if I missed the ball, he would not criticize me. They said, it was just an ordinary attack."

"Mr. Inoue Shinichi also told me that I can fight whatever I want. So now I will quickly think about changing my strategy, then stay confident and continue to attack."

"If the ball comes to my hands, you must complete the score."

After this, Tian Zhong clearly "feels his own progress" and embarked on the so-called slope of enlightenment. In July 2023, Tatsuo, who is about to graduate, became the captain of Sakura Academy, a strong Japanese traditional basketball school. But captains often have two meanings: one is the leader on the field, and the other is the eldest sister in life. Tian Zhong knew that she was not the kind of personality that could help everyone in daily training and dormitory life.

Therefore, Kurokawa Yinxin, who believes that Takaka should not distract too much from the competition, became one of the double captains of Sakura Academy. She helped Tian Zhong, who was "often dazed and a little confused", manage everything about the team's daily life, organizes teammates to hold a 20-minute meeting after dinner every day, watch the video, and find out the problems that arise during daily training. As the captain of the arena, Tian Zhong, "just lead the team to play the game well", this is what Kurokawa Yinxin said.

On Christmas in 2022, Sakura Academy ended in the third round of the Winter Cup, which was eye-catching in Japan. Tian Zhong, who scored the highest 27 points in the team, was quite disappointed. After the game, she choked up and accepted the media interview. After the interview, she collapsed and cried after returning to the hotel where she stayed. Tears couldn't stop flowing..

"It is my responsibility to lose the game." Tian Zhong attributed the result of Sakura Academy's failure to achieve the championship goal to her mistake. She felt that being equalized by her opponent with 3.3 seconds left before the game was completely the responsibility of her own relaxed defense.

It was also at this moment that Kurokawa Yinxin walked to Tianzhong and told her, "Leave the rest to me, just lead the team to play the game well." The Sakura Academy Women's Basketball Team, which was established in 1968, had two captains at the same time.

Ta-Central, which has lifted its burden, still failed to win the national competition before graduation. They lost to Kyoto Essence Academy, which achieved two consecutive championships in 2022 and 23 (they also won the 2024 championship). But Tian Zhong is no longer as confused as she was two years ago. She has a bigger goal in her heart - to join the national team of the Japanese women's basketball team.

For this reason, she chose to become a professional player and join the Japanese Women's Basketball League giant Yannishi Sunflower Team. Because there, she can learn from Japanese women's basketball players such as Saori Miyazaki and Rai Meng Tokashiki.

It took less than a year for the Tianzhong Center to achieve this new goal.

In January 2025, Corey Gaines, a former NBA player who once led Phoenix Mercury to the top of the WNBA as the head coach, was hired as the new head coach of the Japanese women's basketball team.

The reason why the Japanese women's basketball team came to Gaines was very simple. They needed Gaines' advanced coaching philosophy and transformed the Japanese women's basketball team, which was completely at a disadvantage in height, into a way that could compete with the top international teams.

Gaines' strategic goal is also very clear. The first goal he set for the Japanese women's basketball team is to "scort 40 three-pointers per game." In this way, Tian Zhong, who "can take action from any position", naturally became his secret weapon. Although Tian Zhong only averaged less than 13 minutes of playing time in the national league season in the rookie season, he outputted 3.2 points per game. But Gaines saw the 19-year-old Tian Zhong's silly traits. Just like the protagonists depicted in many youthful comics, the shy Tian Zhong's off-field time he arrived at the stadium, he became a strong-willed superstar.

In 2022, Japanese basketball reporter Kenichiro Suzuki used a special description to describe this seemingly silly little girl:

"Ghost of Attack", which was the title she won when she was 16 years old.

When speaking in front of everyone, they would use their toes to cut out the three-bedroom and one-living field center on the ground, but they became a fearless basketball pioneer in the game.

"The first time I watched her play, I found that she was not afraid of any difficulties. Even if the situation on the court was not good, even if I yelled at her on the sidelines, she was still calm and kept calm." Gaines's evaluation of Tian Zhong was far beyond her peers, and even let her take charge of the Japanese women's basketball offense at the age of 19.

"She will only get stronger and stronger" - this is Gaines's original words.

On July 2, 2023, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the Japanese women's basketball team 73-71 in Sydney, and once again stood at the top of Asia after 12 years.

At that time, the 17-year-old Tian Zhong was still very upset about losing the Winter Cup.

And two years later, the 19-year-old Tian Zhong scored 21 points in the first quarter of the Asian Cup semi-finals, blocking us from the stage of the Asian Cup finals.

She scored more points by herself than our entire back line combined...Dan Zhong, who played in the Asian Cup for the first time, averaged 14.8 points and 5.5 assists per game, and shot 48.4% from three-pointers. She is the scoring champion of the Japanese women's basketball team.

Since junior high school, I have been polishing out three-pointers, and my mind is always thinking about how to score better. Tian Zhong is becoming a female Curry of the Japanese team.

And this opponent who defeated us may also be the best reference for us to reflect after failure - whether it is the men's basketball or the women's basketball team, we seem to be lagging behind the times...