Crunch time for Team China

Rebuilding national squad faces monumental challenge as battle for Olympic berth begins at FIBA World Cup

Li Kaier is seen in the photo. Zhou Qi (center), Zhao Jiwei (guard), Li Kaier (small forward), Cui Yongxi (guard), Zhang Zhenlin (power forward) are expected to form Team China's starting lineup at the upcoming FIBA World Cup. Despite the addition of NBA player Li, China's chances of securing qualification for the Paris Olympics are considered slim, due in part to Zhou's slump in form. XINHUA

Ready or not, it's time for Team China to bring its A-game for a high-stakes campaign at the FIBA World Cup, which tip offs on Friday.

Still looking like a work-in-progress after nine warm-up games, the Chinese men's squad has arrived in Manila for the marquee tournament.

With its final, and perhaps most important, piece in naturalized player Kyle Anderson joining the squad just three weeks ago, Team China could have done with more practice to gel the New York-born NBA star with his new teammates, as well as more drills to better execute Serbian head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic's playbook.

Yet, here they are — fighting for the solitary Asian ticket to Paris 2024 up for grabs in Manila, beginning with a group-phase opener against a formidable Serbia side on Saturday.

Despite racking up six defeats, all against European opponents, from the nine warm-up games, Djordjevic is not panicking and has backed his players to find a way to win when it matters.

"We have to give our players courage and positivity. That's our job — to transfer confidence to them to play better," Djordjevic said after Team China lost to his native Serbia, 87-64, in the final warm-up game on Sunday.

"We started bad because we were intimidated by the strength of this Serbian team. We showed them, at the beginning, too much respect, which we shouldn't on the battlefield. We need to build our fighting spirit.

"I think our guys showed a lot of heart on the court. Some things didn't work out for us but I believe they played with good heart against a tough opponent.

"We are gonna continue to work hard as we did with one week to go. Analyze the game and get ready for the first game against Serbia again," said the former Serbian national team guard and coach, who took over Team China in November.

Given the huge gap between the 27th-ranked China and 2014 World Cup runner-up Serbia, Saturday's game at Araneta Coliseum could just serve as another high-quality scrimmage for Djordjevic's men before they square off against South Sudan and Puerto Rico in two critical games that will decide Team China's path in the second phase.

If China finishes in the top two in Group B, a top seed from Group A will await in a battle for a quarterfinal berth.

A third or fourth-place finish looks more realistic, though. Team China would then go on to battle against the bottom two from Group A, potentially the host Philippines and Angola, in two classification games to decide the final ranking.

With the rest of Asia — co-host Japan, Lebanon, Jordan and Iran — all lined up against world heavyweights in their respective groups, Team China's possible clash against Gilas Pilipinas, which also boasts an NBA reinforcement in naturalized scorer Jordan Clarkson (Utah Jazz), is being billed as a must-win clash to secure the coveted Olympic qualification berth.

Anderson, who acquired Chinese citizenship last month through his mother's family heritage in Guangdong province, has added more finesse to a Chinese roster anchored by towering centers Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin, with the NBA veteran's all-around game on both ends of the floor expected to be an advantage.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' forward, however, has not yet found the right balance between serving as a facilitator, as he does so well in the NBA, and taking over as the go-to scorer with Team China.

Chinese hoops fans will hope he can figure it out on the court in Manila.

"We just started to play a lot better together. Our defense got a lot better in the last two games and we've done a good job sharing the ball lately," he said after the warm-up loss to Serbia in Shenzhen, the Guangdong metropolis where his mother's grandfather came from.

"It's a great group of guys, honestly. Especially off the court we are very close, we eat dinner and we hang out together, just do a bunch of fun things. I love these guys off the court, I think it will help us bond on the court."

Primarily a playmaker in the NBA, Anderson proved he can score under FIBA rules by contributing a game-high 18 points in Team China's 69-68 tuneup win against New Zealand on Aug 13 — his third game since joining Djordjevic's squad.

Yet his firepower was neutralized by the aggressive Serbian defense on Sunday as he managed only six points to go with four rebounds and four assists.

Team China head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic has backed his players to raise their game at the FIBA World Cup. XINHUA

With Team China's once-prolific guard Guo Ailun not selected this time, Djordjevic will count on the current backcourt trio — Zhao Jiwei, Zhao Rui and Hu Mingxuan — to not just share the ball-handling load with Anderson but to also add firepower when play runs stagnant in the paint.

China's starting center Zhou, a second-round pick by the Houston Rockets in the 2016 NBA draft, is still struggling to shake off the rust after missing league games for eight months since his stint with the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Australia ended in December.

Zhou's one-point game against Serbia, during which he was overpowered and outgunned by the Europeans, has raised concerns over Team China's prospects against the tall and explosive South Sudan, led by Los Angeles Lakers reserve forward Wenyen Gabriel, on Aug 28.

With no time left for any substantial changes to be made, guard Zhao Rui has urged his teammates to focus on the details.

"Maybe we cannot close the gap between ourselves and the world's best anymore but there are certain things we can do better, such as improving our free throws and limiting our turnovers," said Zhao, who hit three 3-pointers off the bench to score 13 points against Serbia on Sunday.

"Hopefully we can go all out when the opening buzzer sounds. It's now or never."