Peninsula All Media Chief Reporter Du Jincheng
On July 3rd, Beijing time, during the third window period of Group B of the 2023 Men's Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the Chinese men's basketball team faced Australia again. After the two teams were tied in the first three quarters, the Chinese men's basketball team suddenly misfired in the fourth quarter, scoring only 3 points in a single quarter, and ultimately lost to the Australian team again 48:71. The record of 3 points in a single quarter also set a new record for the Chinese men's basketball team's lowest score in a single quarter in an official game. This game gave fans hope that the Chinese men's basketball team could defeat and the Australian men's basketball team . The gap between the two teams was also clearly evident in the final quarter.
held on for most of the half but collapsed in the final quarter.
The Chinese men's basketball team and the Australian men's basketball team played against each other a few days ago. At that time, the Chinese team trailed for most of the game and launched a counterattack at the last moment of the game, but in the end due to "digging a hole" "It was too big and failed to achieve a comeback.
played again this time. Chinese team defender Zhao Jiwei was absent from the game due to illness. The Chinese team changed its slow start and started a fierce battle with the Australian team at the beginning. Zhou Qi had a huge double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds in the first game against Australia, and the venue for the match between the two teams happened to be the home court of Zhou Qi's team when they played in the Australian League last season. Therefore, facing the "second battle" of the Australian men's basketball team, Zhou Qi still performed strongly. He first stole the opponent's center Florin, and then completed a big block. Even though Thorne, who has played in NBA, Meike didn't take advantage of Zhou Qi either. Australia's offense failed many times in front of the inside line guarded by Zhou Qi.
may have invested too much energy on the defensive end. In the entire first half, the Chinese men's basketball team made only 2 of 12 three-pointers, while the Australian team's three-point shooting rate was also horribly low, with only 1 of 11 shots and the only hit. The three-pointer was Thorne Maker's shot at the end of the second quarter. At the end of the first half, the Chinese men's basketball team trailed Australia by one point at 29:30.
The two teams continued to engage in hand-to-hand combat in the third quarter, and it was very difficult to score a point. Young players such as Zhao Rui and Zhu Junlong performed well and performed brilliantly on the court. After three quarters, the two teams tied at 45:45. But just when the fans thought that the outcome would not be decided until the last minute, the Chinese team collapsed in the fourth quarter. The Australian team scored an exaggerated 26:3 in the final quarter. Throughout the fourth quarter, Australia scored 5 three-pointers, while the Chinese team made 0 of 6 three-pointers. The Chinese team only scored 3 points in a single quarter and also created an embarrassing record: this is the lowest score in a single quarter in an official Chinese men's basketball game. The previous record was 4 points in a single quarter in the 2018 China-Australia Men's Basketball Tournament , and 2006 4 points in a single quarter against Senegal in a friendly match last year.
has shortcomings but also sees hope. Although
's two World Cup preliminaries against Australia ended in defeat, and this "second match" also had a slightly shameful performance of 3 points in the last quarter. But I have to admit that in the two battles between strong opponents, the Chinese men's basketball team still showed a very worthy side. Such as the hard work of young people and the growth of the Mesozoic generation.
At the post-match press conference, the Chinese team coach Du Feng said: "After everyone's physical fitness declined, there were some problems in the selection and judgment of the offensive end, and some unnecessary mistakes occurred. The mistakes in the baseline ball and 's sideline ball and 's mistakes gave the opponent a direct chance to counterattack. They were not clear enough when retreating, allowing the opponent to shoot a few open three-pointers. In fact, they did a good job on the defensive end in the first half. I think the result was a bit pity. , For a young team, if everyone can persist and stand up, it may be completely different for the team's growth."
Although Du Feng has been coaching the Chinese men's basketball team for almost three years, due to the epidemic and other reasons, he has only played 11 games in total. Being able to lead the Chinese men's basketball team to show a good spirit in the few international competitions, the changes Du Feng has brought to the Chinese men's basketball team are obvious. When old players such as Yi Jianlian and Zhou Peng were "in decline", Mesozoic players such as Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin gradually took the lead, and new generations such as Zhao Rui, Zhu Junlong, Xu Jie and others also showed their due performance. of hard work and vigor.
Of course, even if they were able to play back and forth with the non-main force Australian men's basketball team in two games, the Chinese team still exposed many problems. For example, there is a very obvious "weakness at the front". The six defenders under coach Du Feng were not able to show the backcourt control brought by personnel rotation on the court. Instead, they made too many mistakes in high-intensity confrontations. Some of these problems are caused by factors such as injuries to the players, while others are caused by impatience and inexperience brought about by youth. Obviously, the Chinese men's basketball team led by Du Feng still has a long way to go in the future.
