Olympic Team Profile: China
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China is hoping for its best Olympic results ever when it hosts the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and the men's basketball tournament is no different. Led by superstar center Yao Ming, China will be backed by a supportive home crowd, which gives the hosts a distinct advantage. Ming is coming off a serious foot injury, which has sidelined him for several months. His size, power, knowledge of the game and passing skills make him the man to stop, but Team China needs help from each and every member of its roster to keep its chances of entering the medal rounds. Ming has a perfect complement in Yi Jianlian, a versatile, strong forward, who can help his team in many ways. Jianlian is an all-around player that can put the ball on the floor, attack the basket and shoot from outside. Three-point specialist Wang Zhizhi, a 2.16-meter forward with unlimited range, and athletic power forward Sun Yue round out a solid frontcourt.
Head coach Jonas Kazlauskas, a former Euroleague winner, has the difficult mission of making China into different squad than the one-man show it was at previous international competitions such as the 2004 Olympic # | Name | Pos. | H. | 4 | Qingpeng Zhang | G | 190 | 5 | Wei Lui | G | 190 | 8 | Fangyu Zhu | F | 200 | 10 | Nan Li | F | 198 | 11 | Jianlian Yi | C | 212 | 13 | Ming Yao | C | 226 | 15 | Feng Du | F | 203 | - | Zhizhi Wang | C | 214 | - | Jianghua Chen | G | 185 | - | Yue Sun | G | 206 | - | Lei Wang | F | 199 | - | Shipeng Wang | F | 197 | | Head Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas |
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Games in Athens or the 2006 World Championships in Japan. Combo guard Wei Liu is set to play a major role. At the prime of his career, Liu is a great clutch shooter with outstanding court vision, who will try to keep everyone involved. Playmaker Jianghua Chen and combo guard Qingpeng Zhang will be ready to pull the trigger when Ming and Jianlian are double-teamed. Youngster Lei Wang has been a pleasant surprise in the Chinese League in recent years and should be one of the players to watch at the small forward spot.
Versatile forward Fangyu Zhu will be asked to step up at the Olympics with his aggressiveness, talent and driving skills. Veteran swingman Nan Li should come off the bench to provide experience and shooting range, just like scoring ace Shipeng Wang. With a deep team full of outside shooters and three solid frontcourt players in Yue, Jianlian and most importantly, Ming, China has an excellent chance to at least improve on its best results at international competitions, eighth at the 1994 World Championship and the 1996 and 2004 Olympic Games. The task, however, will not be easy and depends greatly on Ming's physical condition.
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Euroleague.net
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