Yao’s ‘Red and Blue’ plan flexible
China’s national men’s team topped Iran 84-74 in a second friendly on the weekend after winning their first encounter 77-67.
The positive results were seen as a surprise in some quarters — but not to NBA legend Yao Ming, head of the Chinese Basketball Association, who was courtside to watch the squad’s victory over the Asian giant in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province.
As a part of Yao’s basketball reform initiative, the national team has been split into two parts, Team Blue and Team Red, coached by Du Feng and Li Nan respectively.
Team Blue includes former NBA player Yi Jianlian and local stars Guo Ailun, Han Dejun, Zhao Jiwei and Hu Jinqiu — though none of them played in the two wins over Iran.
Instead, the squad was led by shooting guard Wu Qian, whose Zhejiang team didn’t make last season’s CBA playoffs, and Ren Junfei, who ranks sixth on his Guangdong team’s scoring list.
“Many of them were playing their first international games,” said coach Du. “Iran is a strong team, and they are higher than us in the FIBA world rankings, so our main task was to learn from them.”
The absence of the stars has left more than enough room for growth.
Wu Qian, 24, was named captain of Team Blue, while young guards Yu Dehao and Gao Shiyan shouldered important roles in the two victories.
“China is always among the top three teams in Asia, and many talented young players have emerged in recent years,” said Iran veteran Oshin Sahakian.
After Yao stepped up as president of the CBA in February 2017, the “Blue and Red” plan formed a central role in his reform initiative. As host of next year’s FIBA World Cup, China doesn’t have to go through the qualification stage, so Yao decided to make full use of two years’ preparation time.
The two national teams will play in different international competitions before merging into a single entity to prepare for next year’s World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Time is precious for Chinese basketball, and we just want to make a change,” said Yao, an eight-time NBA AllStar and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
He’s also concerned with the time frame for forming a single cohesive national team from two squads charting different courses to the same destination.
“It’s a bit of a worry, so the future of the plan is still a bit unpredictable,” he said.