Fans had a bitter night for China, who led the team by 20 points, after losing to the Philippines 77-76 in the final.
Image provided by Xinhua News Agency
At this year’s Basketball World Cup, the Chinese men’s basketball team suffered a devastating 75-96 defeat to the Philippines and missed the Paris Olympics. Before the current Asian Games, the Philippine team changed their head coach, and only three of the players sent had participated in the World Cup. Several key players, including head coach Clarkson, were absent, resulting in a decline in overall strength.
The Chinese team had a good start, forcing their opponents to make 10 mistakes and all 7 three pointers were missed. On the offensive end, the Chinese team blossomed more and led 48-30 at the end of the half. In the second half of the game, there was a reversal, and the Philippine team narrowed the difference to 12 points in the third quarter. In the final quarter, the naturalized player Brownley of the Philippine team had a hot hand and made three consecutive long-range shots, helping the team continuously narrow the point difference. The Chinese team failed to limit his performance in a targeted manner. In the last 90 seconds, Brownley scored a total of 8 points and made a long-range shot 24 seconds before the end, surpassing the score. The Chinese team failed their final attack and could only bear the bitter fruit of their defeat. The Philippine team only took the lead once in the game and won.
Image provided by Xinhua News Agency
After the game, it was announced that the Chinese team’s press conference had been cancelled, which caused strong dissatisfaction among the reporters. About an hour after the game ended, the press conference finally began. “We were actually very well prepared, but in the second half we lost control of the game and didn’t do well in rebounding,” said Chinese men’s basketball coach Jorjevic. “If we had scored our last goal, this game would have been completely different, and we are very sorry for the loss. Congratulations to the Philippines, I will take all the responsibility.”
Who should be responsible for the failure? Qiao Shuai said, “The responsibility for losing naturally lies with the coach.” Captain Zhao Jiwei snatched the microphone and said, “I think the responsibility is with the players. We can’t just rely on the coach for losing. I apologize to everyone who pays attention to Chinese basketball. Our defensive focus decreased in the second half, and there were many problems on both ends of the attack and defense. Once again, I apologize to everyone. I will adjust well and play the last game well.”