China unperturbed by Kyle Anderson’s scoreless outing in blowout loss to Serbia

MANILA, Philippines – The Chinese national basketball team seem unfazed by naturalized player Kyle Anderson's horrendous performance in their embarrassing 105-63 FIBA World Cup loss to Serbia Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Anderson, who has a Chinese name of Kaier Li, finished the game scoreless.

The small forward, who is playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA, was unable to buy a basket — even short stabs and floaters — en route to a 0-for-9 shooting night.

He, however, had four rebounds and four assists, but also tallied the worst +- in the game with -35.

For his part, China head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic preached patience.

"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 coach told reporters after the game.

"We are just patient. We know what we have to do, and he knows what he has to do, and that's it," he added.

Djordjevic also lauded Serbia's defense against Anderson.

"They found everything. Good traps on him, good situations defensively," he said.

"He tried to find some open shots and it did not go in. Some easy layups that would have kept him going," he added.

When he started to miss his shots, Anderson removed his protective goggles.

Needless to say, it did not help as he missed all four of his field goal attempts in the second half.

The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 9.4 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game and 4.9 assists per game on 50.9% field goal shooting in 69 games for the Timberwolves last season.