BEIJING (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Li Nan was pronounced the new head coach of China's "merged" national team last week, and he is filled with gratitude for the appointment.

"It will not be easy to take over the team, but I want to thank the leaders of the Chinese Basketball Association for their trust," he said.

The 44-year-old former national team player was the chief bench tactician for China's Red national team, which carried a 2-win, 2-loss slate in the Asian Qualifiers, though they did win the gold medal at the Asian Games 2018. He will now steer the squad in the last two Asian Qualifiers windows, at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 and possibly for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as well.

This officially closes the CBA's experimental 'two national teams period,' where China's talent pool was divided into a pair of squads - Red and Blue - coached by Li and Du Feng another former national team player, respectively. Li believes this experiment was challenging but also successful in training the country's budding stars.

"One of the original intentions of the Red and Blue teams was to provide a platform for young players to grow," he explained. "Because of our 'two national teams system,' our pool has become younger, and a number of newcomers who were not so known before have emerged as leaders. This will be our basis for the player selection in the World Cup next year."

The CBA selected Li after an extensive evaluation process that involved, among others, former national team head coach Gong Luming, Foreign Affairs Minister Xu Wei and CBA President Yao Ming. Even this early, Li is already planning for extensive preparations for the national team, including holding a training camp in Europe.

"Most of the world's best teams are in Europe, so we will train there and learn more from them," he shared. "The great teams play 'small ball' now, and the national team will also develop in this direction."

As hosts for next year's World Cup, China are expected to impress both on and off the court. Li is aware of the pressure that comes with being head coach, but he is ready to face the task ahead.

"It is not enough to just do a good job for us," he said. "It is necessary to complete the task. This process will be very difficult, and although my ability is limited, I will do my best as coach of the national team."

For the next Asian Qualifiers window, China will host two matches against West Asia teams. They face Syria first on 29 November before colliding with Lebanon on 2 December.

Team Dragon are currently at fifth place in Group E, a game behind fourth placers Jordan and two games ahead of Syria.

FIBA