suffered a disastrous away defeat against the Guangsha team. The Guangdong team’s foreign aid Marshon Brooks only played 2 minutes and 17 seconds. In the end, he made 0 of 1 shots and all data were 0. On his 35th birthday, Ma Shang completely fell from the altar.
In Ma Shang's CBA career, he only played less than 3 minutes in a single game twice. The first time appeared on December 28, 2020, when the Guangdong team defeated the Shanghai team 92-117.
In that game, the Guangdong team did not initially want to let Ma Shang play. They originally thought that the Shanghai team was mediocre at the time and could win easily. The Guangdong team once led by 10 points in the second quarter, but they never thought that the Guangdong team would be caught up by the Shanghai team. However, at the end of the third quarter, the Guangdong team was only 3 points behind. The Guangdong team wanted to counterattack in the fourth quarter, but the point difference became wider and wider. In the last 3 minutes or so, Ma Shang was sent out to put out the fire, but Ma Shang, who had rested for the entire game, was not in good shape.
But unlike the Guangsha game, Du Feng understood that with the strength of the Guangdong team, it would not be easy for him to defeat the Guangsha team, and he was very passive in the away game. For this reason, Du Feng used Wilms to start the game in an attempt to achieve Tian Ji's horse racing, and also allowed Zhou Qi to rarely play 40+ minutes.
In such an important game, Ma Shang only played for more than 2 minutes, and only appeared in the last 2 minutes of the second quarter. In other words, this is the first time in Ma Shang's CBA career that when the Guangdong team was fully prepared, he was only allowed to play for 2 minutes.
However, Ma Shang was in no condition after coming on the field, and his enthusiasm for active singles on the offensive end was limited. In both attacks with the ball, he was double-teamed by his opponents and had to distribute the ball. In the past, Ma Shang was never afraid of any double-teams. Whether it was a weird breakthrough, a pull-up three-pointer, or a pass, he could easily resolve it. But now, his athletic ability and speed have obviously declined significantly, leaving him helpless when facing double teams.
In the end, Ma Shang tried a throw in more than 2 minutes, but failed. At other times, he has no presence on the court and is picked out of bounds by opponents while dribbling.
On Ma Shang's birthday today, Du Feng posted a photo of the team celebrating Ma Shang's birthday on social media and wrote: "2024 is the Year of the Dragon, and Ma Shang will definitely have the 'Dragon and Horse Spirit'." But the fact is that Du Feng obviously doesn't believe that Ma Shang can break out, otherwise, he would not be able to let him play for only 2 minutes.
As the former great player of the Guangdong team, Ma Shang has solved too many key ball difficulties for the Guangdong team. But now, he has to accept the fact that things are not as good as before.
