Chinese center Zhou Qi was the best-performing player of the team at the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers in Australia and the FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia, though China were eliminated by Lebanon in the quarterfinals. His dominance of the paint on both ends of the games was much different from his performance in international tournaments a couple of years ago.

"I just wanted to do my best to play those games," Zhou said of the World Cup qualifiers. "I was with the national team playing against Japan during the last window. The National Basketball League (NBL) regular season hadn't started yet at that time and I only played several pre-season games for Southeastern Melbourne Phoenix before joining the national team."

"The World Cup qualifier was my first game on behalf the national team after finishing the NBL regular season," Zhou added. "We were playing it in Australia, so I felt some pressure, worrying about underperforming. But my biggest goal was to contribute good performance to the national team."

When asked about his improved performance on the court, Zhou didn't think it's because his skills got better, but he got used to the more physical and intense level of games. "When you played more in a more competitive league and got used to the competitions there, you would be in a different form when you faced Australian players on the floor. You could handle the physical contact better. That mattered a lot to me," Zhou said. "National team players have very limited space to improve their skills. Your form and your ability to adapt to physical games will decide your performance in international tournaments."

In China's second loss to Australia during the World Cup qualifiers, the team managed to keep the game close in the first three quarters, but only scored three points in the fourth quarter before suffering a painful loss in the end. Zhou believes the franchise were gradually used to playing against the Boomers, but committed too many turnovers at the beginning of the final quarter.

"We were totally overmatched in two to three minutes. We didn't see it coming. I think it's only because they are a stronger team than us," Zhou said.

Lack of ability to match the opponents in intensity has been a major problem for the Chinese national team for years. Zhou was able to improve himself on this front after playing for a season in the Phoenix on regular rotation in the NBL. If more Chinese players can do the same overseas in the future, it will be very helpful for the national team.