China bring new-look team to U19 World Cup
BEIJING (China) - China will have a new-look team for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 compared to the one from the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018 with just six players back.
BEIJING (China) - China will have a new-look team for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 compared to the one from the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018 with just six players back.
Guo Haowen and Wang Quanze were the two big leaders from the U18 team last summer, when China finished third to get back to the U19 World Cup after missing the Cairo 2017 tournament. Guo and Wang combined for 38.7 points, 19.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 2.6 steals, and they will be called upon for similar leadership in Heraklion, where the Chinese have been drawn into Group D with France, Puerto Rico and Serbia.
| China's roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 | |||
| Guo Haowen | Ji Zhou | Jiang Haoran | Jiang Weize |
| Jiao Boqiao | Xu Jie | Xu Ke | Li Jiaheng |
| Li Lutong | Lyu Anyu | Shi Yanbo | Wang Quanze |
Jiang Haoran, Jiang Weize, Xu Jie and Shi Yanbo are the other four players back from the U18 team with Xu averaging 10.9 points and 4.9 assists while Jiang Haoran collected 9.0 points and 5.1 rebounds.
Four of the other six players will be bottom level - with Jiao Boqiao and Li Jiaheng being born in 2001 and both Li Lutong and Lyu Anyu part of the 2002 generation, meaning they can play in this tournament in 2021. Li Lutong is the son of China's senior men's basketball team coach Li Nan.
China's senior national team coach Li Nan will have a special eye on what happens at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 as his son Li Lutong was selected for the side
China's best finish in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup came in 2013 when they placed seventh overall.
FIBA