After China's 24th ranking at the 2019 FIBA World Cup and a failure to nail a spot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Li Nan, Chinese men's basketball head coach, has reportedly sent his resignation to the General Administration of Sport of China on Wednesday and is waiting for approval.       

A week ago, Li confessed to a CCTV reporter that he“hasn't slept well since [he] came back" as he did not achieve the goal of making it to the Olympics and apologized to disappointed fans and the Chinese Basketball Association. 

Given China's unsatisfying performance and enraged basketball fans, the 44-year-old head coach took the responsibility for the team's three losses to Poland, Venezuela and Nigeria on the World Cup court. Also, his controversial coaching issues triggered public concern including onsite coaching ability, line-up selection on the court and adjustment of players' psyche. 

During the decisive last minute in the fourth quarter against Poland, Li Nan called a questionable timeout with a 3-point advantage and then China made a series of turnovers which led to a regretful loss in the end.  

The 12-player squad selected by Li Nan comprised three centers, four forwards and five guards, despite the absence of several home elites due to injury such as the two forwards Zhou Peng and Ding Yanyuhang.  

However, Li tended to use a three-guard strategy on the FIBA court, with only forward Zai Xiaochuan getting a consistent amount of time to play. The forwards Abdusalam Abdurishit and Ren Junfei mostly sat on the bench. Fewer player rotations led to players tiring much more quickly, hurting both their attack and defense.

With China hosting the tournament and a strong desire to make it to the upcoming Olympics, Li Nan as well as the Chinese basketball team had a tough task ahead, which could be seen at the start of China's first game against rival Cote d'Ivoire. In the following games, Chinese players weathered different obstacles including the referees' whistles. How the head coach inspire the players and help them play smart and efficiently would have rested partly on Li. 

After the World Cup debacle, Li and his players realized that China still has a gap when competing with international power teams on the court despite their dominating performance on the Asian courts.