Data map: Red team of the Chinese men’s basketball national team. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Yao
China News Service Client, August 21 (Wang Yu) After 4 years, the Chinese men’s basketball team once again embarked on the journey of Asian Games . On the evening of the 21st, Beijing time, the men’s basketball team led by Li Nan will face the Philippines, the first opponent in the group stage. The Chinese men's basketball team's trip to Jakarta this time is probably not only to wash away the "humiliation" suffered in Incheon four years ago, but also to reassert its status as Asia's hegemon will be a more important goal.
Looking back on the glorious years of the Chinese men's basketball team competing in the Asian Games for 44 years, the record is quite brilliant. In the past 11 competitions, the Chinese team has won the championship 7 times, the runner-up twice, and the third place once. From Zhang Weiping , Kuang Lubin to Sun Fengwu , Li Qiuping , Wang Libin , and then from Wang Fei , Gong Luming and Liu Yudong , Hu Weidong , Gong Xiaobin and other golden generations, The Chinese men's basketball team can be said to have new players replacing old ones from generation to generation.
In 1974, the Chinese men's basketball team participated in the 7th Asian Games held in Tehran for the first time. Although they had conducted targeted training two years in advance, they still unfortunately lost to the Korean team in the semi-finals, and finally ranked third. This game also paved the way for the tit-for-tat confrontation between the Chinese and Korean teams in the Asian Games in the following decades.
data map: Gong Luming. Photo by China News Service reporter Liu Ranyang
After a small test at the Asian Games in Tehran, the Chinese men's basketball team has become the first-class basketball team in Asia within four years. Four years later, in the Bangkok Asian Games final, the Chinese team successfully revenged itself on South Korea and won the Asian Games gold medal for the first time. Since the Asian Games this year, the Chinese men's basketball team has reached the finals of the Asian Games nine times in a row and won the championship six times.
Especially from the 1986 Seoul Asian Games to the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games , the Chinese men's basketball team won an unprecedented four consecutive championships, completely establishing its dominance in Asia. But the Chinese men's basketball team was able to reach the top in Seoul as expected, and the process was not without thrills. They made it through all the way and met the host South Korea in the finals. The Chinese men's basketball team, headed by Gong Luming, Sun Fengwu and Wang Fei, is also determined to regain the Asian championship through this campaign.
After the game started, the Korean team always took the lead. With 4 minutes left before the end of the game, the Chinese team was still 11 points behind its opponents. Head coach Qian Chenghai called a timeout at this time and replaced Zhang Yongjun on the field. . After coming on the court, he used interspersed running to pass the defenders and hit four consecutive three-pointers. In the end, the Chinese team successfully reversed and won the Asian championship at the opponent's doorstep.
Yao Ming appeared in the Jakarta Asian Games. Photo by China News Service reporter Wang Dongming
But the Chinese men’s basketball team’s memories of the Asian Games are not all about victory and ease. The 30-second loss to South Korea in the final of the Busan Asian Games in 2002 has become the moment that the Chinese men's basketball team least wants to recall. At that time, the Chinese team gathered a large number of talented players such as Yao Ming, Liu Yudong, and Hu Weidong. They were invincible and unopposed before the finals.
In the last 30 seconds of the final against South Korea, the Chinese team still held a 7-point lead. But Hu Weidong's two free throws gave the South Korean team a chance to come back to life, and finally scored 7 points in a row, dragging the game into overtime. In overtime, the South Korean team playing at home became more and more courageous, and finally defeated the Chinese team by 2 points to win the championship. This defeat also became a major regret in Yao Ming's career.
Although the Chinese men's basketball team achieved two consecutive championships in the subsequent Doha Asian Games and Guangzhou Asian Games, the Chinese team that ushered in the replacement of old and new finally encountered Waterloo in Incheon in 2014. The then head coach Gong Luming boldly used Zhou Qi, Ding Yanyuhang and other newcomers to play. However, in the rematch, the weakness of the Chinese team's lack of competition experience was completely exposed. Not only did it lose to the Japanese men's basketball team for the first time in history . It was not defeated by the Iranian men's basketball team, and finally only finished fifth. This is also the worst record of the Chinese men's basketball team in the Asian Games so far.
data map: Zhou Qi.
's defeat in Incheon gave the Chinese men's basketball team a painful lesson.In 2017, the team underwent reforms and the original national team was split into two teams: red and blue. This move gave more domestic young players the opportunity to compete in high-level competitions and also relieved the pressure on some main players. At the same time, the healthy competition among the players will also help the team develop reserve forces.
Recently, the Chinese men’s basketball team led by Li Nan went directly to Jakarta after finishing the Stankovic Cup. This team, which has gathered together Zhou Qi, Ding Yanyuhang, Wang Zhelin and other talented players, has been in hot form recently and has the strength to compete with Asian masters. Their only goal is to return to the top of Asia. (End)
