Liu Weiwei steps down as the head coach of the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, April 12, 2022. /CFP
The Zhejiang Golden Bulls announced on Tuesday that they agreed to the resignation request by the team's head coach Liu Weiwei. The 39-year-old officially left the position he has worked in for five years.
As the second head coach stepped down this season, Liu did a better job than Yannis Christopoulos who was fired by the Beijing Ducks. The Ducks had a better squad than the Jilin Northeast Tigers, but were still swept by the opponents 2-0 in the first round. By contrast, the Golden Bulls lost to the reigning champions Guangdong Southern Tigers and lost by only one point in Game 1.
Liu took over the Golden Bulls in 2017 summer. He was the youngest coach in the history of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) began with one of the worst teams in the league. The Bulls finished the 2016-17 season with only 10 wins, ranking 16th of 20 teams.
Wu Qian (#33) of the Zhejiang Golden Bulls drives toward the rim in Game 1 of the CBA playoffs against the Guangdong Southern Tigers in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, April 7, 2022. /CFP
The franchise was relying heavily on foreign players back then. Wu Qian was their only hopeful domestic choice. Liu decided to place more duties on his shoulders. In the following 2017-18 season, Wu reached career highs in average minutes (41.7), field goal (FG) attempts (16.6), points (19.8), rebounds (4.3), assists (4.1), steals (2.2) and 3-pointers made (3.4).
Though the Golden Bulls failed to make the playoffs that season, they reached 20 wins, the same with the last playoff team Shanghai Sharks, which had the tiebreaker. In fact, the Golden Bulls could have achieved more than 20 wins if they hadn't waived Jarnell Stokes for often skipping practice and games with no reason.
Liu led the Golden Bulls to the playoffs in all of the following four seasons and set the best record of making the semifinals in 2020. They were top four in the regular season in both 2021 and 2022. More importantly, Liu built a young squad made of home-grown talents including Wu, Lu Wenbo, Yu Jiahao and Cheng Shuaipeng. With an average age of 22.11 years old, the Golden Bulls are the youngest CBA team this season.
Cheng Shuaipeng (#6) of the Zhejiang Golden Bulls shoots in Game 2 of the CBA playoffs against the Guangdong Southern Tigers in Nanchang in east China's Jiangxi Province, April 9, 2022. /CFP
"We believe the new coaching group will bring changes to the team, lead our young, promising franchise to better performance in the new season and bring more exciting games to the Golden Bulls fans," the team said when they appointed Liu as the head coach five years ago.
He gave the Golden Bulls what needed in the following five years. His 142-78 coaching record is the fifth-best among all teams during the same period, behind only the Southern Tigers, Liaoning Flying Leopards, Xinjiang Flying Tigers and Zhejiang Lions.
Liu's coaching performance is good enough to earn him another job when he is ready. One of the comments by fans on his decision to resign was "See you on top." That day may not be too far away.