Related:
Chinese men's
basketball journey at Beijing Olympics
By Sportswriter Shan Lei
BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- It is the hardest
eight-placed finishing the Chinese men's basketball team have ever won at the
Olympics, but it is also the one they cherish most.
China recorded 2-4 after losing 94-68 to Lithuania in
the quarter-finals on Wednesday, pocketing their third eighth-finishing, after
the ones in 1996 and 2004, in the Olympic history.
There was little to say about the results when they
lost to the United States, Spain, Greece and won over Germany and Angola, but
the process was more like a roster-and-coaster than it appeared to be.
China, underdogs who weren't expected to make the top
eight before the tournament, led by 14 points at the start of the fourth
quarter, but were dragged into the overtime before losing 85-75 to world
champions Spain.
One step away from pulling off the biggest surprise
of the Beijing Olympics, China gathered themselves together to win the following
two matches to enter the quarter-finals when they were down by 0-2.
The quarter-final matchup was a repeat of the 2004
Olympic clash in which China lost 95-75. China were accustomed to the situation
of facing the group leaders and were demolished to a dismal ending.
This time, however, China took the full-winged
Lithuania to a 40-minute battle when Lithuania doubled Chinese pivot Yao Ming
all the way down to the end to collect the precious victory.
China were denied the chance to make the history as
the 5th-8th placings playoffs were wiped off from the tournament.
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA)
decided to place the 5th-8th teams according to their win-and-loss records from
results in the preliminary round and quarter-finals. Australia, which had better
record in the other group, finished ahead of China on the 7th placings.
It didn't not dampen the excitement of the fans and
recognition of local media as the national team entertained the audiences with
close matchups and inspired them with hard-working spirit.
"It is a quite different 8th-placed finishing from
the one of four years ago in Athens," Yao said on Wednesday. "I felt sort of
bored four years ago because we were lucky to enter the quarter-finals. But this
time we enjoyed the games, entertained the fans and ourselves. We deserve to be
in the top eight."
Yao admitted this is the best Olympics he has ever
played in his 11-year cap, and he was not sure about his next Olympic trip as he
will turn 32 in 2012.
Yi Jianlian, who will play for the New Jersey Nets
next season, came back from a one-year spell with the Milwaukee Bucks to prove
as the best defensive help to Yao, and Sun Yue, who had signed a two-year
contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, is the first eye-catching Chinese guard in
the world.
Both are steady cannons on the offensive end and
center pieces of Chinese newly-adopted defensive system, which vaulted them into
the top teams in the world.
"We knew only there was a Yao in the Chinese squad,
but now we know they have Yi and Sun as well," Lithuania's Sarunas Jasikevicius
said.
China might wait another four years, or even longer,
to make a historic breakthrough at the Olympics, but they proved as a consistent
power in the world basketball.
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Chinese men's basketball journey at
Beijing Olympics |
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Lithuania see off China 94-68
BEIJING,
Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian sharp shooters buried 13
three-pointers to beat China 94-68 on Wednesday, setting up a
semifinal clash with Spain at the men's basketball competitions. Full story
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Best Wishes for Chinese
Men's Basketball Team |
