China hungry for Asiad redemption

Reclaiming the glory – not revenge on the Philippines – will be China’s main motivation when it competes in the men’s basketball event of the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

In a recent report by China Daily, Chinese head coach Guo Shiqiang stressed that they can’t dwell too much on their painful semifinal loss to Gilas Pilipinas in the previous edition of the prestigious continental meet in Hangzhou in 2023.

Instead, they must move forward and focus on the task at hand, which is winning the Asian Games gold medal and reclaiming the glory of Chinese basketball that will extend up to the 2027 World Cup in Qatar and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“Carry forward the spirit of China's basketball teams at the Olympics, prepare solidly for the 2027 World Cup and strive toward qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Games,” Guo wrote on the board inside their training facility in Beijing.

The memories of their setback to the Philippines in the previous Asian Games remain fresh to Chinese.

They were up by 20 points in the first half but the Filipinos kept pounding, employing tough defense that completely changed the complexion of the game. Then, naturalized player Justin Brownlee caught fire in the crucial stretch, highlighted by a heart-stopping four-point play, that gave the Filipinos a 77-76 victory.

Gilas Pilipinas went on to beat Jordan in the finals to secure their first Asian Games gold medal in 61 years.

The loss was so painful that it sparked a revamp in Chinese basketball with its Serbian coach Sasa Djordjevic being replaced by Guo – the 51-year-old mentor who guided China to a silver medal in the FIBA Asia Championship in 2009.

Now, China is being haunted by its biggest nightmare anew as it landed on the same group with the Philippines together with Bahrain and Kazakhstan. More than that, Brownlee will be back together with a veteran team composed of Philippine Basketball Association players.

But Guo said he is leaving no stone unturned in their preparation, especially since the Asian Games will be held right after the fourth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.

“After the previous games, our ranking is relatively low. Every match in the upcoming window is extremely important, and our margin for error is very small," said Guo, whose side is carrying a 3-3 win-loss record.