Cheng Shuaipeng of Zhejiang Golden Bulls competes during a match between Zhejiang Golden Bulls and Nanjing Monkey Kings at the 2019-2020 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, July 2, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - With around 40 seconds remaining and leading 111-96, Liu Weiwei made a point to high-five every team member in celebration of the Zhejiang Golden Bulls' historic moment.

After overcoming the Qingdao Eagles 111-98 on Monday, Zhejiang reached the CBA semifinals for the first time in franchise history.

Rather than importing foreign stars or luring top domestic players, Zhejiang has adopted a pragmatic way of tapping the potential of its own youth talent.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Zhejiang's general manager Fang Jun revealed the club had attempted to recruit several domestic stars when he took over the position in 2015, but all attempts ended in failure.

The first target was Yi Jianlian of the Guangdong Southern Tigers, offering the Chinese basketball icon a five-year deal worth 120 million RMB (US$18.43 million).

But Yi shrugged off any possibility of playing for another club. "If I left Guangdong, that would be my retirement," he said at the time.

The Zhejiang Golden Bulls began its regeneration in the 2016/17 season, with an average age of the players below 23. Liu Weiwei was promoted to first-team and Zhejiang brought five players born in 1999 into the first team, including Cheng Shuaipeng, Wang Yibo, and Liu Zeyi, and these players have developed into important pieces of Zhejiang's current roster

Zhejiang turned to the Liaoning Flying Leopards and tried to attract Han Dejun to join the team.

"I've been playing with these brothers since I was young, and I want to win a championship with them," Han replied.

Zhejiang's third target was another Guangdong player Zhou Peng, but Guangdong's owner threw cold water on their idea. "You want to buy Zhou? You'd better buy the whole Guangdong club."

That led Fang and the Zhejiang club to learn of the importance of the trio towards their clubs, and gave them the determination to attach importance to youth training and the development of their own players.

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Zhejiang's history is not completely without high-caliber imported players. They recruited J.R. Smith for the 2011/12 season but failed to reach the playoff despite Smith's league-leading 34.2 points per game.

The team began its regeneration in the 2016/17 season, with an average age of the players below 23. Liu Weiwei was promoted to first-team and Zhejiang brought five players born in 1999 into the first team, including Cheng Shuaipeng, Wang Yibo, and Liu Zeyi, and these players have developed into important pieces of Zhejiang's current roster.

Zhejiang surprised many people last season by finishing sixth in the regular season before losing to the eventual runners-up Liaoning in the quarterfinals.

The young core's time is now. Kicking off this season with a 25-point rout of the defending champions Guangdong, Zhejiang moved towards their target step-by-step.

Playing in his ninth season, Wu Qian was awarded the regular season MVP. Other domestic players also made contributions on both ends. On the foreign side, Zhejiang's recruits of Sylven Landesberg, Nicholas Rakocevic, and Maurice Ndour might not be the biggest names in the league, but fit their tactical approach well. Through team basketball, Zhejiang improved their regular-season ranking to third this season.

There is no easy route to success. Zhejiang's shining performance this season can be attributed to hard work in training.

"My players have been training very hard, and I have been tough with them all the time. Here I want to thank them," Liu noted after Monday's history-making win.

Zhejiang will again face Liaoning in the quest of moving one step further.

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"They are title favorites this season, and their squad is much better than ours," commented Liu. "But as we have gone this far, we will make full preparation and do our best.