China News Service, Beijing, February 22 (Reporter Liu Xingchen) On the 22nd, the first window period of the 2025 Men’s Basketball Asian Cup Qualifiers began.
The Chinese men's basketball team, playing at home, defeated the Mongolian men's basketball team 80:49, making a good start in the Year of the Dragon.
Two days later, the Chinese team will face the Japanese team away from home.
The 2025 Men's Basketball Asian Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia, with 16 teams participating.
24 teams, including Australia and New Zealand, are divided into 6 groups. They will compete in the Asian Cup qualifiers in three windows through home and away round-robin matches. The top two teams in each group will advance to the main draw, and the third place in each group will advance to the play-offs. , to determine the last four promotion places.
In the Asian Cup qualifiers, the Chinese men's basketball team is in Group C with Japan, Mongolia and Guam.
In the strength list announced by FIBA during the first window of the Asian preliminaries, the Japanese team ranked second, the Chinese team ranked seventh, the Guam team ranked tenth, and the Mongolian team was not on the list.
Team strength list.
Image source: FIBA Weibo
As a relatively weak team in the group, the Mongolian national team has many college players in its lineup.
At last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, the Chinese men's basketball team defeated its opponent 89:50.
When they met again, the Chinese men's basketball team didn't feel good at the beginning. They missed consecutive shots and fell behind 1:8.
Yang Hansen, who came off the bench, performed well. The Chinese team scored consecutive counterattacks and ended the first quarter with a 20:12 lead.
In the second quarter of the game, Zhu Junlong succeeded in consecutive outside attacks, and the Mongolian team used more support to get to the basket and score points.
After halftime, the Chinese men's basketball team led by 10 points.
After changing sides and fighting again, the Chinese team continued to polish multiple lineups.
As the defensive intensity increased, the Chinese men's basketball team did not give their opponents too many chances and achieved the victory as they wished.
The starting lineup of the Chinese men's basketball team.
Image source: FIBA Weibo
This game is the first time the Chinese men's basketball team has made its international appearance after the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Since the Chinese team has been determined to miss the Paris Olympics, the team needs to seize all international competition opportunities to fine-tune the lineup and focus on the future.
In order to prepare for the Asian Cup qualifiers, the Chinese men's basketball team has organized training camps to select players since the third day of the Lunar New Year. The list does not include Zhou Qi, Wang Zhelin, Zhang Zhenlin and others.
Chinese men's basketball head coach Djordjevic responded to the matter and said that injuries and other reasons led to some players not being selected. "Once conditions permit, we will welcome them with open arms as usual."
On the 20th, the 14-man roster of the Chinese men’s basketball team for the Asian Cup qualifiers was confirmed.
The average age of the team is 24.1 years old, and 19-year-old Yang Hansen becomes the youngest player in the team.
This season is Yang Hansen's first CBA season. So far, he has averaged 15.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, and his performance is outstanding.
The Chinese men's basketball team is training.
Image source: China Basketball Team Weibo
In the match against the Mongolian national team, it was Yang Hansen's appearance that helped the Chinese men's basketball team reverse the unfavorable situation.
Djordjevic spoke highly of this young player.
"Yang Hansen is a very good young player. He has a high starting point, but he still has a long way to go and needs to work harder. The coaching staff will recruit him to join the national team, and I will not put too much pressure on him."
Compared with last year's competition lineup, the age structure of this Chinese men's basketball team is further younger.
In the eyes of the coach, the Chinese men's basketball team needs to win while also focusing on the future.
He said that the purpose of introducing more candidates to the team in this training camp is to allow the players to establish a tacit understanding in advance. If the old players are unable to play due to injuries and other reasons, young players can fill their positions in time.
"Winning and qualifying for the Asian Cup is our goal. At the same time, giving young players opportunities and accumulating experience in international competitions as soon as possible is also an important goal for us."
Djordjevic talks about opponents.
Image source: FIBA Weibo
Compared with the Mongolian men's basketball team, the Japanese men's basketball team will undoubtedly bring a greater challenge to the Chinese team.
In last year's World Cup, the Japanese team won the only ticket in Asia to go directly to the Paris Olympics with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses.
After leading the Japanese women's basketball team to win the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Tom Horvath became the head coach of the Japanese men's basketball team.
Under his training, the Japanese men's basketball team has significantly improved its strength. Its focus on quick counterattacks and accurate three-point shooting have become the team's distinctive features.
According to FIBA statistics, the Japanese team and the Chinese team have participated in 52 Asian Cup competitions, and the two teams have been on the podium in this event a total of 33 times.
Talking about meeting the Chinese men's basketball team, Horvath said that winning the game is an important start for the Japanese team's journey to the Paris Olympics.
In this Asian Cup qualifier, the Japanese men's basketball team continued the main lineup from last year's World Cup, with players such as Yuki Kawamura, Yudai Baba, Shin Hiejima, and Yuki Togashi all included.
The last time the Chinese and Japanese teams met was in the 2023 World Cup Asian Qualifiers. The Chinese men's basketball team defeated the Japanese men's basketball team twice.
According to Horvath, it was those two losses that woke up everyone involved with Japanese basketball.
Schedule map.
Image source: China Basketball Team Weibo
At 13:00 Beijing time on the 25th, the Chinese men’s basketball team will challenge the Japanese men’s basketball team away in Tokyo.
From the analysis of today's game, if the Chinese team wants to defeat its opponents, it needs to further adjust its state.
As Djordjevic said, Chinese men's basketball players need to accumulate experience in international competitions to grow themselves.
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