China”s Cheng Shuaipeng cuts a dejected figure as the South Korean players celebrate following an 80-76 loss on Friday in the first round of Asian qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Beijing. XINHUA AND YOU FANG/FOR CHINA DAILY
In the wake of arguably its biggest loss in history, the Chinese men’s national basketball team has instead won something ironically — the tag of the “most reviled” collective big-ball sports team in the country, relieving its struggling soccer counterparts of the burdensome moniker.
Once the only pride among all of the country’s male ball-sports teams, the basketball squad has fallen into disgrace among its fans after opening its 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign with an unexpected double blow — losing to South Korea at home on Friday and away on Monday, conceding consecutive defeats to its East Asian neighbor for the first time in history.
The brace of disappointments, both in humiliating blowout fashion, has severely jeopardized Team China’s chances of making it to the 2027 FIBA showpiece, while loudly ringing alarm bells about its future, built upon an out-dated game plan that seems to rely solely on size in the paint.
If fatigue could be made as an excuse for Team China’s 76-80 home defeat in Beijing on Friday, right after its players’ National Games duties, the 90-76 follow-up rout by the sharp-shooting, fast-paced host in Wonju, South Korea, three days later has provided the harsh wake-up call that the Chinese program, perhaps, needs to reassess its current rebuild strategy and deliver an international turnaround.