China's 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup trip ended with one win and four losses on Saturday night as well as the failures to secure automatic qualification for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 and to appear in the Olympic qualifying tournament next year.
The 105-63 loss to Serbia showed how desperate the gap is between China and the world's top team. The 89-69 loss to South Sudan exposed the stamina problem of the team. The 107-89 loss to Puerto Rico reflected China's inexperience in making game plans. While the 83-76 win displayed the spirit certain Chinese players still had, the 96-75 loss to the Philippines put a bitter period on the team's trip in the tournament.
It doesn't take deep digging to name the shortcomings in China's performances in the World Cup, including poor rebounding, lack of stamina, insufficient knowledge of coach of players … the list goes on.
The question is, does the team see the more significant problems behind the symptoms? The first step to solve any problem is to acknowledge that there is a problem.
Host: Li Xiang
Cover designer: Feng Yuan