Zhou Qi (L) of China drives toward the rim in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifier game against Kazakhstan in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, August 25, 2022. /CFP
Du Feng, head coach of the Chinese men's national basketball team, praised Zhou Qi's key contributions to the team's 68-56 win over Kazakhstan in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifier game on Thursday.
"Zhou Qi has been growing all these years in the national team," Du said. "He adapted to physical contact much better after playing for a year in Australia. His improvements provided the national franchise a lot of support on both offense and defense."
Zhou scored a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds in a low score game on Thursday. When the whole team delivered as few as six assists, he exploited his size advantage to earn 18 free throws and made 11 of them. The three blocks Zhou had was also significant for defensive sake.
Zhou Qi (#15) of China shoots in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifier game against Kazakhstan in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, August 25, 2022. /CFP
China managed to establish a 17-point lead (41-24) after the first half, but suffered a 14-0 blow in the third quarter. The team committed a total of 21 turnovers in Thursday's game, allowing too many easy points via fast breaks by Kazakhstan.
"We had a good first half in which we led by 17 points," Du said. "We did well in containing the opponents' key player and launching offense in general. But we failed to maintain our defensive intensity in the second half. The opponents grew more physical on this end, which caused us a lot of turnovers."
As China's starting back-court pair, Sun Minghui and Guo Ailun combined to shoot 6-for-19 in field goals. Neither the two do a qualified orchestrating job with only two assists but nine turnovers.
Guo Ailun (#6) of China penetrates in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifier game against Kazakhstan in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, August 25, 2022. /CFP
Du defended his players after the game. "The team spent two and a half months on summer training camp, playing warm-up games and being quarantined," he said. "Our players have travel a lot away from home. I know how difficult it is. Hopefully, this victory will bring them more energy."
China are currently third in Group F, behind Australia and Kazakhstan, ahead of Iran, Japan and Bahrain. Both Australia and Iran beat their opponents on Thursday. With the best record and likely the best squad on paper, the Boomers are likely to qualify for the World as leader of this group. Japan are already qualified as one of the hosts for the tournament.
That leaves two berths for China, Kazakhstan, Iran and Bahrain to compete for. The victory over Kazakhstan makes a good start for the Chinese national team.