Yao Ming
As excitement builds for the clash of giants in this summer's Olympic basketball tournament, China's men's team laments its absence from the high-profile tournament as the domestic game's organizers vow to step up efforts to revive ailing athletic programs. There is.
There will be a lot of uproar at the 2024 Paris Games, but with the team failing to qualify for the second year in a row, Chinese fans will once again be without a men's team to root for.
China Basketball Association President Yao Ming said there is no quick fix for the team's decline in the world rankings, but that long-term measures are needed to improve player development and league management.
“Are we going to keep doing our old ways and stay in our comfort zones? Or are we going to dare to peel back the layers of skin and revamp our entire system from the inside out? To make real change. We need to forget the pain,'' Yao said in a recent interview with China Central Television.
A former NBA All-Star who led the Chinese team to a record quarterfinal appearance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Yao's ambitions to revive the men's national program have suffered consecutive setbacks, leaving him unable to qualify for the Olympics twice. Due to the failure to acquire him, domestic fans are questioning his actions. Aptitude as a manager.
The Basketball Hall of Famer, who took over CBA leadership in 2017, blames the men's team's disappointing performance on a lack of high-intensity training abroad and at home.
“Our biggest chance[to qualify for the Olympics]was our home World Cup in 2019. Since then, with the outbreak of the pandemic, we have lost the opportunity to participate in international training and have been left behind from the rest of the world. “I was disappointed,” Yao said.
In 2015, FIBA's qualifying rules were changed so that only the Asian team with the best performance at the World Cup could directly qualify for the Olympics. Previously, the winner of the Asian Championship was guaranteed a spot.
At the FIBA World Cup held in Manila last year, the Chinese team finished in 29th place out of 32 teams, the worst result in history, handing over supremacy on the continent to Japan.
“Before the trip, I had a certain expectation that I would miss out on qualifying for the Olympics,” Yao said. “Their performance at the World Cup reflects the level of play in our league and is not good enough to compete on the international stage.”
The Chinese team's failure to compete in all four of its losses in the Philippines has infuriated fans and experts alike, calling for bolder measures to boost talent development.
Several key players, including starting guard Zhao Rui and forward Hu Jinqiu, admitted that the CBA league lacks the quality and intensity needed to prepare for international tests.
“In the domestic league, sometimes we don't have to play at our best. We're not pushed hard enough,” Zhao said.
“When you switch to international play, the speed, physicality and aggressiveness of the overseas teams on both ends of the floor is next level. We are completely dominated.”
Eager to return to the Olympics, the Chinese team hired Serbian great Aleksandar Djordjevic as head coach and added Minnesota Timberwolves playmaker Kyle Anderson as the first naturalized player in Manila. He did everything in his power to fulfill his mission.
Anderson averaged 13 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, but struggled to get along with his teammates due to limited preparation time.
Unless there are major changes in domestic institutions, the gap between China and the world's best nations will certainly continue to widen.
Djordjevic, who led his native Serbia to silver medals at the 2014 World Cup, 2016 Rio Olympics and 2017 EuroBasket, believes changes to the CBA league's competitive structure could help.
“One of my suggestions is to hold a 'China Cup' during the CBA season with a single-elimination knockout format,” Djordjevic said in a recent interview with CCTV host Yu Jia.
“CBA players don't play must-win games that often. By creating that urgency and difficulty, players have to make decisions in a certain way. .That's something we don't have (in the domestic league) right now.”
Djordjevic also suggested that Chinese players should be more active in seeking opportunities to play overseas.
“Iron sharpens iron and the only way to be great at World Cup level is to play against them as often and as often as possible,” the 56-year-old said. One player won the EuroBasket Championship three times, was runner-up at the 1996 Olympics, and won the 1998 World Championship.
“You have to adapt your game and understand the level you need to play against those teams. Just keep hitting the rocks.”
However, fans and commentators have urged the CBA to consider a more pragmatic successor who is familiar with the Chinese system, with Djordjevic unlikely to remain when his contract expires this summer.
Former NBA and CBA star Stephon Marbury has cited his former mentor Ming Lulei, who currently coaches the CBA's Beijing Royal Fighters, as an ideal candidate.
“Culturally, I think it should be a Chinese coach,” Marbury said Monday in Beijing at a charity basketball clinic attended by 30 teenagers from Hong Kong.
“Honestly, I think Coach Ming is a perfect fit because he has an element of discipline. … He understands the way Chinese players work and from a cultural perspective, he is very I think he's a good fit,” the New York native said.
“I think he can not only motivate them but also put their hearts in the right place as far as playing with that strength and that fight.
“I think bringing in foreigners who have never coached in the CBA, who have never lived here, there are a lot of things that go against that. It's very important to what we require on the court. You can't come in for two or three months and coach them. It's going to be pretty difficult.”
sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn
