After watching the Chinese men's basketball team lose 73-92 to Japan, three shocking revelations and two undeniable truths emerged!

On July 3rd Beijing time, the first stage of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers continued. The match between the Chinese men's basketball team and the Japanese men's basketball team has just ended. Following four quarters of action, the Chinese team fell behind all the way and lost 73-92 to their opponents, a crushing 19-point defeat that truly stings. This result has also put our advancement into a tough spot. Moreover, it produced three unbelievable aspects and two hard truths!

China's men's basketball team is ranked 26th in the world. In this tournament, our goal is to secure qualification for the second stage as quickly as possible. After the first four games, we have two wins and two losses, sitting in third place. Today we face Japan's men's basketball team in a rematch. Japan's team has improved rapidly and is currently ranked 22nd in the world, with strong offensive and defensive capabilities. So even though we are playing at home, there is no certainty of victory. This Japanese squad plays at a fast pace, has high three-point shooting accuracy, and also boasts an interior powerhouse in Hawkins. Therefore, we had to focus on containing Hawkins in the paint. With home-court advantage, a win here would have secured our advance to the second stage. However, apart from Rui Hachimura's absence, Japan fielded essentially their strongest lineup, so a fierce battle was expected!

At the start of the first quarter, the Chinese and Japanese teams traded blows, with China trailing by just one point. But in the second quarter, Hawkins dominated the paint, and we had no answer. Japan outscored us by eight points in that period, taking a nine-point lead into halftime. After the break, China continued to be suppressed, and the gap kept widening, reaching 15 points by the end of the third quarter. In the final quarter, China's interior showed little momentum and couldn't close the gap. Ultimately, Japan powered through and defeated the Chinese team by 19 points!

Looking at this game, the Chinese men's basketball team was completely outplayed by Japan. It's hard to imagine how much worse the score would have been if Rui Hachimura had joined them. This painful defeat gave rise to three incredible revelations. First, China's offensive capability was far too poor. Second, without Zhao Rui organizing the offense, it was difficult for us to create good scoring opportunities—the team lacks a true core. Third, China's defense was woefully inadequate, completely failing to contain Japan's attack!

The two undeniable truths: First, the Chinese men's basketball team genuinely cannot beat Japan anymore—if Japan fields their full-strength squad, we would certainly suffer a heavy loss. Second, Yang Hansen is indeed not ready for the NBA; his fundamentals and basketball IQ are just average!

Watch the game on Migu Video!

Text by Tiyu Tanwen