Lee Ki convinced Asian Qualifiers will help earn more support for Hong Kong basketball

HONG KONG (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Hong Kong's top national team shooter Lee Ki is pumped for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, knowing that the games will help spur support back home.

Lee and the rest of Hong Kong are not known as an Asian basketball powerhouse but that won't stop them from dreaming big and believing they can hold their own at this level of competition.

"I think the most important is that we play as a team and never give up no matter what the score is," he said.

世界盃外圍賽即將在11月尾展開，而FIBA剛剛在網站列出了香港隊20人的名單，讓我們看看當中有什麼球員吧！ C: 惠龍兒（CBA浙江稠洲）蔡龍德（飛鷹）司徒偉傑（標準福建）劉凱濤（標準福建） PF: 方誠義（東方）黃鎮煒（永倫） SF: 徐遠成（東方）連浩駿（南華）歐陽維江、鄭錦興（遊協）梁兆華（南華） SG: 李琪(東方）劉子禮（東方）高榮生（飛鷹）李劍煌（南華）林羽（標準福建）蔡再懃（南華） PG: 陳耀祖（飛鷹）梁民熊（永倫）余耀明（標準福建）在這20人名單當中，包括了8名曾參加亞洲盃的成員，但相信最令人意外是不見了正選控衛羅意庭，而亞洲盃有份入選的王祐天、周家駒及早前受傷的陳兆榮也不在名單當中。而有份出戰東亞錦標賽的阿濤及因世大運缺席的兆華及阿懃也重新入選。此外，上季受傷的阿興及一眾有代表港隊經驗的Bear、司徒、李劍煌、陳耀祖、余耀明、林羽也都列入名單之中，他們部份過往曾出戰亞錦賽、亞運、港澳埠際賽及粵港盃的賽事。畢竟這次世界盃外圍賽橫跨2017- 2018年，是個很難得的大賽，讓更多球員加入集訓名單，透過一同練習及競爭，相信對港隊也有益處。看看最後會選出哪12人應付作客中國及主場對新西蘭的賽事。註：據報南華的林凱光也在初選名單內。 Source: FIBA

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Most of the players called up for the national team have actually begun training, knowing full well that the task they face is going to be no less than an uphill climb. Despite that, Lee is feeling confident, especially with their current training period much longer than the usual.

"We started training two week ago, and we will have around 10 sessions before the games," he explained. "It's better than before when we normally only had two or three sessions prior to tournaments."

"OUR MAIN GOAL IS TO GAIN MORE EXPERIENCE AND ENJOY THE GAMES. THIS SYSTEM IS GOOD FOR HONG KONG BASKETBALL AND IT WILL HELP US GAIN MORE SUPPORT FOR THE GAME IN OUR COUNTRY." Lee kiLee ki

The 1.80m three-point bomber was Hong Kong's top weapon at this past summer's FIBA Asia Cup, averaging 12.7 points and 2.3 triples per game. He is well aware that he will be a marked man at the Asian Qualifiers but also knows his teammates have the potential to step up.

"We can count on Fong Shing Yee, Duncan Reid, Wong Chun Wai, Leung Shiu Wah and Adam Xu to do well this time around," he said.

He will need all the help he can get, especially with former Asian champions China along with Oceania side New Zealand raring to face them in a few weeks. Against much bigger and more skilled foes, Lee Ki has no delusions. He knows Hong Kong are the underdogs, but they have embraced that challenge to go against the odds.

"China and New Zealand are both very good teams in our group," he shared. "I think honestly we don't have good chances to win but we will still try our best to compete against them."

我當堂嚇一跳然後得啖笑

A post shared by LEE KI (@leeki) on Aug 11, 2017 at 11:11pm PDT

Lee believes that even if the national team may end up falling short, just being able to play top level games at home in front of their own passionate fans will be enough to help grow the game in Hong Kong. The victories on the hardwood may be hard to come by for them, but winning can be measured in various metrics anyway, especially in terms of experience and fan support.

"Our main goal is to gain more experience and enjoy the games," he discussed. "This system is good for Hong Kong basketball and it will help us gain more support for the game in our country."

FIBA