It was a surprise when China lost all their games in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) tournament since they are known to be one of the best national teams in Asia. The team lost against Venezuela, Poland, and Cote d’Ivoire. By losing to these teams, the chance of the Chinese team joining the Olympics was taken away.
The losses were unexpected as China was playing against some of the worst teams in their respective regions: Venezuela rated worst in the South American region, Cote d’Ivoire rated worst in the African region and Poland rated worst in the European region.
Raymond W., a junior at AISG notes that China’s basketball seemed to be “stepping backward” instead of getting better. Dylan W. also states that he really missed the time when Yao Ming was playing for China in FIBA 2008. He notes that when Yao and others were around, the games were much more energetic and smooth, they were even able to “fight” the US dream team.
Although the Chinese team did not perform their best, I believe that with the losses, the team will advance further into a stronger team in the future. This can be seen in how much Chinese citizens support their basketball team and how much the association is trying to improve the current state in the whole country. Thus, I hope the team can work on their fundamentals just like Stephen Curry states, and China basketball can appear next time as a term that each and every one of us can be proud of saying.