So far this season, Shandong High-Speed has lost 8 games. For a strong team, losing 8 games is not catastrophic—after all, league leaders Guangsha have lost 6 games, and second-place Liaoning has lost 7. Shandong High-Speed’s performance this season has been decent, largely thanks to their impressive home record.

At home, Shandong has achieved 13 wins and just 1 loss, while their away record stands at 6 wins and 7 losses. The disparity between their home and away performances is stark. What’s the problem? Well, it’s one of those things that’s hard to explain, but the reality remains: Shandong High-Speed has one of the best rosters in the league. Both their foreign players and domestic players are top-tier CBA talent. Despite having such a strong hand, they often falter at home, and the excuses seem never-ending.

At this point, all we can do is shrug. Losing is fine, but it matters how you lose. Out of the 8 games lost, in 6 of them, Shandong collapsed early and suffered heavy defeats, leaving a lot to be desired. With such a team, can they be considered championship contenders? Some still don’t quite understand where the issue lies, with even some speculating about potential manipulations behind the scenes.

The players have not been slacking, but after digging into the issue, the problem seems to lie with the head coach! In one game, they trailed by more than 30 points in the first quarter and were thoroughly outplayed, losing by a significant margin—something the Shenzhen team had never experienced before. After the game, Wu Qinglong, in addition to thanking the heavens, should have also been thanking his opponent, Caesar. If a different coach had been in charge, could Shenzhen have enjoyed the game the same way?

In another match, Shandong was trailing by a huge margin in the first quarter and spent the rest of the game struggling, unable to catch up, ultimately losing by a wide margin. This has been a familiar scenario for Shandong High-Speed. The issue is simple—there’s no “conspiracy theory” involved. In fact, this has happened 6 times this season, all on the road, against teams that aren’t even considered top-tier. Some of these teams aren’t even middle-of-the-pack.

Yet, Shandong, with their deep roster, continues to trip over the same issues. Falling once could be chalked up to bad luck, and twice might be an accident, but to stumble 6 times in just two months over the same issue—doesn’t that point to human error?