Du Feng, head coach of the Chinese Basketball Association's defending champions, the Guangdong Southern Tigers, praises his squad's brilliant performance since the league resumed, as well as his plan for the development of the team, during an exclusive interview with Sports Scene's Wang Dong on Sunday.

The 39-year-old native from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, saying the closed-door training session they held before, has worked as his team clinched their eighth straight win since the CBA's resumption last month.

"I think the result shows the attitudes of our players. And I don't want to push them too hard now," said Du.

When asked about which teams are the challenges ahead of their way to defend the champion title, Du said the most important thing is to do their own job and try the best, yet he admitted that they had held simulated training based on the teams they might play against in the play-offs, including Beijing Ducks and Beikong Royal Fighters.

"Both of the teams have two foreign players, and there are also teams with all-Chinese squad performed well, such as the two teams from Zhejiang."

The coach also said he would like to give opportunities to younger players.

"When I first played in the league, I just got two opportunities to play on the court, and I played for no more than three minutes," said Du, "I know how eager a young player is to prove himself in the competition, so I set a standard for all the players in my team, if you reach it, then you get the chance."

He also praised veterans such as Yi Jianlian and Zhou Peng, and hopes they can be a model for the youngsters, "I would like to see a healthy development of our teams, and hope the new generation can take up the baton from them and be stronger."