Coach happy with Chinese players’ performance at Asiad

Chinese national basketball team head coach Li Nan said he is happy to see his players regain confidence after winning the gold medal at the Asian Games.

“I am happy to see the progress of my players,” Li told reporters after arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport from Jakarta on Monday. “We don’t have a key player like years before, but we played like a team.”

China won the Asian Games men’s basketball final, 84-72, over Iran on Saturday, with substitute Abudushalamu Abudurexiti coming off the bench for a team-high 20 points.

The 22-year-old ethnic Uyghur player, who has already been linked to an NBA move, said the win is a “confidence boost” for him. He also received praise for his looks, but said he wants the fans to focus on his game rather than his appearance.

The Houston Rockets’ Zhou Qi said the win is payback for the efforts of the team after failing to reach the semifinals at the Asian Games four years ago. The 22-year-old center is trying to step into the shoes left by Yao Ming.

The Chinese men’s basketball team now hold a record eight Asian Games golds, with the previous win coming on home soil in Guangzhou in 2010.

Team captain Fang Shuo, who was struggling to score during the groupstage games but made up for it in the final with 19 points, said the win in Jakarta confirms that the team are on a right track.

China’s Asian Games basketball team squad does not include star center Yi Jianlian as well as reigning CBA champion point guard Guo Ailun.

“I hope that through the Games, they learned how to play when they are leading, but what’s more important is how to play when they are falling behind,” Li said.

The Chinese internationals were separated into two teams, a policy introduced in 2017 to have more players gain match experience. The Asian Games squad was the red team, while the blue team were playing in the Stankovic Cup in Shenzhen.

The two teams are expected to merge later this year as China prepare for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, which will be held in eight Chinese cities.