Is China unbeatable?

Defending champion China is clearly the team to beat in the basketball competitions of the 14th Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, on Sept. 24-Oct. 14. Coach Wang Fei is expected to bring back 10 players from the squad that took the gold in Bangkok four years ago plus 7-6 Yao Ming and newcomer Zhang Cheng in a bid to stay undefeated in the quadrennial event since 1986.

Wang Fei isn’t taking any chances. The Asiad gold means a lot to preserving China’s pride – it symbolizes superiority in the sport. And no team has come close to dethroning China in the Asian Games in 15 years.

Since the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) assumed the responsibility of forming the national team for the Asian Games in 1990, the dream of bagging the gold has become an obsession. The Philippines won the basketball gold in the first four Asiads but hasn’t struck paydirt since 1962.

In Beijing in 1990, coach Robert Jaworski led a selection of local pros to the silver medal. China massacred the Philippines, 125-60, in the eliminations then repeated, 90-76, in the finals. Jaworski’s cast listed Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic, Alvin Patrimonio, Ronnie Magsanoc, Hector Calma, Ramon Fernandez, Benjie Paras, Zaldy Realubit, Chito Loyzaga, Rey Cuenco, Dante Gonzalgo, and Yves Dignadice. Two players on the Chinese team were Wang Fei, now the coach, and 6-10 Gong Xiao Bin who’s still in the national lineup.

In Hiroshima in 1994, coach Norman Black’s squad lost an 85-74 decision to China in the semis and wound up outside the medal circle after dropping a 79-76 heartbreaker to Japan in the battle for third. The Philippine team was made up of Patrimonio, Caidic, Calma, Franz Pumaren, Ato Agustin, Rey Evangelista, Kenneth Duremdes, Alvin Teng, Dong Polistico, Johnny Abarrientos, Marlou Aquino, and Jerry Codinera. Four Chinese stalwarts – Gong, Hu Weidong, Liu Yudong, and Zhang Jingsong – remain on the national squad.

In Bangkok in 1998, coach Tim Cone’s Centennial team salvaged the bronze after a 73-68 win over Kazakhstan. In the semis, China defeated the Philippines, 82-73. The Centennial squad was composed of Patrimonio, Andy Seigle, Jojo Lastimosa, Dennis Espino, Caidic, Jun Limpot, Vergel Meneses, E. J. Feihl, Olsen Racela, Aquino, Abarrientos, and Duremdes.

The 10 Chinese holdovers from 1998 are Fan Bin, Li Xiaoyong, Zhang Wenqi, Li Nan, Hu Weidong, Zhang Jinsong, Liu Yudong, Gong, Batere Menk, and Wang Zhizhi.

There is no mystery to playing China. Wang Fei was the Chinese coach in 1998. He was also the coach who piloted China to the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) title in Shanghai last July. His nucleus has remained intact the last four years – with Ming the only key addition. Ming, 21, is making his Asian Games debut. What Wang Fei did in Bangkok, he’ll likely repeat in Busan. The assumption is he’ll be well scouted.

For sure, it won’t be easy beating China. Wang Fei’s "Great Wall" of Ming, 7-1 Wang Zhizhi, and 6-11 Batere is formidable. Liu Yudong is a rugged offensive rebounder with a soft touch from medium range. Hu, Zhang Jinsong, Li Nan, Zhang Wenqi and Li Xiaoyong are three-point threats who are thoroughbreds.

But China isn’t unbeatable. For one, its backcourt isn’t deep. Li Xiaoyong is the chief quarterback – if he gets into foul trouble, his reliever Fan Bin will find it difficult to fill the hole. Neither Li Xiaoyong nor Fan Bin is particularly sharp. Li Nan is Wang Fei’s defensive specialist – he’ll match up against the opposing team’s top scorer. But Li Nan has a short fuse and is easily ruffled.

The keys are to get back quickly on defense to limit China’s transition points, to screen off to prevent the Chinese offensive rebounders from scoring on put-backs, to force China to shoot low percentage outside shots by clogging the middle, and to bottle up China’s ballcarriers.

Once the ball is safely in Ming’s hands, it’s almost impossible to stop him from scoring. The idea is to limit his touches by defending the entry pass. No doubt, Wang Zhizhi will try to prove he’s in a class of his own – after all, he’s a National Basketball Association (NBA) player. If Wang Zhizhi thinks he can beat the Philippines singlehandedly, that could be the beginning of China’s end. As for Batere, the trick is to deny his comfort zone at the low block – that means bodying up on the 280-pound mastadon.

At the 1997 ABC tournament in Riyadh, South Korea shocked China, 86-72, in the semis and went on to win the gold. China finished third behind South Korea and Japan. The Koreans won by outrunning China on the break, immobilizing China’s big men by putting them into foul trouble, hitting the three-pointer, and orchestrating a balanced attack.

So China isn’t invulnerable.

In Busan, the game won’t use the old "amateur" rules that were applied in previous Asian Games. There will be four periods of 10 minutes each, a 15-minute halftime interval, two-minute intervals between quarters, a timeout per team in each of the first three quarters and two timeouts in the fourth period, no illegal defensive violations, a 24-second shot clock and an 8-second limit to cross the midcourt line. Gone are the days of the 30-second shot clock and two halves of 20 minutes each.

The PBA stars should find the new rules easier to adapt to. They had difficulty adjusting to the old rules in Beijing, Hiroshima, and Bangkok.

To beat China, the Philippines must enlist players who are tireless, committed, and determined. They’ve got to believe in themselves – that they can win the gold.