China vowed to exert a lot of patience in its hunt for a Paris Olympic slot in the ongoing FIBA Basketball World Cup.
After suffering a humiliating 63-105 loss to Serbia on Saturday, Dragons head coach Sasa Djordjevic said they will be patient and focused on winning their next two matches in Group B.
China, which ranks No. 27 in the world, needs to sweep its games against South Sudan and Puerto Rico if it wants to emerge as the best-performing team in Asia that will earn an automatic spot in the Paris Olympics next year.
They will be playing South Sudan on Monday but the battle will not be easy as the Africans, who are making their World Cup debut, pushed the Puerto Ricans to the limit before surrendering a 96-101 setback in overtime.
“Well, that’s one of the things we should start thinking about. But it’s just there. We cannot calculate anything just yet. The only thing we can do is play the games the best we can and that’s what we will do,” Djordjevic said.
“We can enjoy the moment, enjoy the game, and show our best. Sometimes I felt that we were a little bit intimidated by the big teams that we played this summer, and we just have to show the best game.”
Djordjevic admitted that their game against Serbia had been an emotional battle for him as he guided the team to a silver medal finishes in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and the 2017 FIBA EuroBasket in Turkey.
While the likes of Zhou Qi, Zhang Zhenlin and Zhou Peng already give China some much-needed firepower, the Dragons made a surprising move and added Minnesota Timberwolves guard Kyle Anderson as a naturalized player last July.
But Anderson, known as Li Kaier in China, was hardly a factor as he failed to score a single point in 25 minutes of action against the Serbians.
Djordjevic also believes Anderson, who went scoreless against Serbia, will eventually find his shooting touch.
“That is one game. For him, it is his first time to play against a team like Serbia in the World Cup. So, everything needs time,” the Serbian coach said.
“We are just patient. We know what we have to do, and he knows what he has to do, and that’s it.”
