Big hitters banner China for the fifth Asian Qualifiers window
BEIJING (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - China won't be short of big names when they return to action in the fifth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers this mont
BEIJING (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - China won't be short of big names when they return to action in the fifth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers this month.
Newly minted head coach of the merged Chinese national team Li Nan didn't pull any punches when he announced his 16-man pool for their next two Asian Qualifiers assignments.
| China 16-man Pool for the Asian Qualifiers' Fifth Window | |||
| Abudushalamu Abudurexiti | Dong Hanlin | Guo Ailun | Hu Jinqiu |
| Hu Mingxuan | Ren Junfei | Shen Zijie | Sun Minghui |
| Wang Zhelin | Wu Qian | Yi Jianlian | Yu Dehao |
| Zhai Xiaochuan | Zhao Rui | Zhao Yanhao | Zhou Peng |
With the merger of the Red and Blue national teams, all the superstars of Chinese basketball are finally under one banner again, and it's no surprise that the big guns have been called up to the squad.
Former NBA player Yi Jianlian headlines the pool along with point guard extraordinaire Guo Ailun. Yi currently is China's leading scorer in the Asian Qualifiers with 24.0 points per game, while Guo has been among their best playmakers with 4.3 assists per contest.
Also in the mix are dynamic forwards Abudushalamu Abudurexiti, Zhou Peng and Hu Jinqiu. Abudushalamu has the second-best efficiency rating so far for China, while Zhou is among the team's top three scorers and Hu is among their best rebounders.
Spitfire guards Wu Qian, Sun Minghui and Yu Dehao also made it to the pool, underscoring the team's need for steady backcourt play and explosive outside shooting.
China are currently sitting at 5th place in their Asian Qualifiers second round group with 4 wins and as many defeats. They next have two home games in the fifth window and are hoping that their young talents will use this opportunity to improve as they prepare for hosting next year's FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The Chinese will first face Syria at the Shanghai Baoshan Indoor Stadium on 29 November, and then they square off against Lebanon at the Foshan International Sports Arena on 2 December.
FIBA