FOR the second time this year, Gilas Pilipinas will be going up against China after winning in the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum with a comprehensive 96-75 win in their final game of the tournament.
Gilas Pilipinas vs China preview
Their next clash will be on Wednesday, 8 p.m. will have a lot at stake as a seat in the finals of the 19th Asian Games will be contested by Gilas Pilipinas and China, but this time to be played at their opponent’s floor at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.
The Chinese team that Gilas will be facing in the Asiad will have nine players that saw action in the recent World Cup. Two of the three players, however, were key pieces to China’s campaign in Manila.
That includes China’s naturalized player Li Kaier or Kyle Anderson, who is already in the United States for his NBA stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Li was the top scorer of China during the World Cup with an average of 13.0 points while also contributing 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
Also out is their top big man and former NBA player Zhou Qi, who is reportedly down with an injury alongside Zhou Peng for the Asian Games. Zhou averaged 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.2 blocks during the World Cup.
But China remains in the able hands of a couple of players from the World Cup core and their top players in the Chinese Basketball Association led by Zhang Zhenlin, who is putting in averages of a team-high 13.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.5 blocks during the Asian Games.
Also called Kevin Zhang after playing college in NCAA Division I Tulane, the 24-year-old Liaoning Flying Leopards player tallied a second-best 13 points in the World Cup game against Gilas.
Hu Jinqiu has been picking up the slack in the absence of Zhou in their frontcourt. The 6-foot-11 Hu is the 2021-22 Season MVP of the CBA, and is averaging 13 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists through four games in the Asiad.
Gilas will also have to contain Zhao Jiwei, who has been knocking down the three pointers for China in the Asiad with a total of 12. The 2022 CBA Finals MVP for Liaoning is averaging 11.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists for China in the tournament.
So far, Zhao Rui has yet to display his scoring ways in the Asiad but don’t be surprised if he comes up firing for China. He averaged 12.6 points in the World Cup that may be very far from his 5.5 clip in the Asian Games, but will definitely be threat for Gilas in its bid to advance.
Zhao will also be looking to go back to the Asian Games final, being one of the two remaining holdovers along with big man and reigning 2022-23 CBA Season MVP Wang Zhelin from the 2018 team that beat Iran for the gold.
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