The issues with Chinese basketball are the same! What a painful realization this is!

In the semifinals of the Asian Cup, the women's basketball team lost to Japan.

The Japanese women's team was on fire, hitting 16 out of 34 three-point attempts, with an impressive shooting percentage of 47.1%.

The typhoon and heavy rain in Shenzhen made this night particularly cold, and I, watching live, got drenched like a drowned rat.

Losing the game and having rain made it impossible to find a place to feel happy. Back home, after a hot shower, I thought I might as well write something while still in that mood.

I remember that the walk from the Shenzhen Sports Center basketball arena to the pickup point felt especially long.

Because of the home team’s loss, most people around me were silent, heads down.

When I reached the exit, a little girl, about six years old, broke the silence and asked her mother, "Mom, are you sad?"

Her mother replied, "Of course! That's our national team."

The little girl is still young, but I believe that years later, she will understand the significance of the China women's basketball team versus the Japan women's basketball team.

What a simple conversation that was.

Losing is certainly painful.

But if Emperor Brother just vents his frustrations, it is meaningless. Blaming a player or the head coach is also pointless.

So what should we talk about tonight?

Let’s address a "high-level" question I wrote at the end of a few days ago:"What kind of basketball should we Chinese play?"

After experiencing such a loss, you will surely have basketball friends asking, "When can we learn from Japan, and when will we have guards as impressive as Tanaka?"

Friends, you need to understand one thing:Winning against Japan is easier than learning from Japan.

Did we win the last Asian Cup? Did we win the Asian Games final?

Losing is not the most frustrating part; the frustrating part is that Chinese basketball seems unsure of what kind of basketball it should play...

From the current basketball trends, that version must be fast, high, and precise. Is the NBA fast, high, and precise? Is European basketball fast, high, and precise?

You might be thinking of countering me: "How can Japan be small, fast, and agile?"

Friends, do you think Tanaka doesn’t want to grow to 1.8 meters? Do you think Kawamura doesn’t wish he had Zhao Rui's size?

Friends, do you think Japanese basketball doesn’t envy our tall players like Han Xu and Zhang Ziyu?

They are limited by domestic selection, with no other options.

We have the advantage; we definitely have more good prospects than they do.

But what about us? Both the men's and women's teams, the senior and youth national teams, have the same exposed issues:

When fast ball movement, precise three-point shooting, and unlimited switching defense become the global language of modern basketball, we only rely on height to play.

Shooting is absolutely the most important aspect of traditional and modern basketball; being able to shoot and make shots is essential.

Whether it's the men's or women's team, whether it's the senior team or U19, if you still focus on developing guards who can't shoot, it won't work.

Therefore, I particularly don’t understand Coach Gong Luming’s statement:

"Li Yuan is a young veteran; although she is not old, she has participated in two Olympic Games. I believe she is the one to carry the flag for the Chinese team in the future and lead the team forward."

This is not about Li Yuan herself, but rather about players of her style; they just can’t perform in world competitions.

I won’t elaborate on examples from the men’s team.

At 19, Tanaka can handle defense and shoot; what about ours?

Always believe that on the same land, issues with training systems and philosophies are the same for both men's and women's basketball.

Is it that our players don’t practice seriously? Never think that way.

What is fundamental skill? It’s what can be performed in such competitions.

So where is our problem? We cannot resolve the relationship between training and real competition.

Let’s return to an old topic: Is what we practice closely tied to actual competition? How many valuable practice games do our national team players play in a year?

Tanaka from Japan, at a super high level, seems unbelievable to us, right? They train to shoot like this...

Returning to the theory mentioned above,Winning against Japan is easier than learning from Japan.

This doesn’t mean that just because we have excellent centers like Zhang Ziyu, Han Xu, and Li Yuanyuan, we can stop trying!

Do we have to use small players like Japan? Anyone who holds this view definitely has issues.

If we have big centers, we must utilize them well.

But how should we use them? How should we leverage our physical advantages? Our forward sizes can rival Japan's center positions.

So how do we win against Japan? Finally, I’ll write down a couple of random thoughts:

1. We have world-class inside players. (If only tonight's Han Xu was in the condition he just returned from the U.S., and if Li Yuanyuan was on the team, we would still have hope...)

2. I am quite pessimistic about the level and ability of our guard training.

Whether it’s the men’s or women’s team, guards are too slow with the ball, too much dribbling in place making choices; just look at U19, isn’t it the same? They are all “products” produced from the same assembly line.

Therefore, from the perspective of pursuing results, the women’s team might consider naturalizing a guard before the World Cup arrives. I know many people can’t accept this, but in today’s world basketball, naturalization is not something to be ashamed of.

3. The above two points are all short-term perspectives.

In the long run, it’s still a matter of changing our philosophy.

While we have height advantages, how do we embrace this era to become faster and more accurate?

I can see all these issues, and even a basketball novice like me can spot them. When Yao Ming was the president of the Basketball Association, didn’t he know? The problem lies in the fact that we are currently in a helpless and unresolved situation.

What did that saying go?

I've heard many truths and understood many principles, yet I still can’t live my life well.