China finish as runners-up in Women’s Basketball World Cup
China finish as runners-up in Women's Basketball World Cup.
Sydney, The Gulf Observer: China came in second place overall after losing to the USA 83-61 in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup final on Saturday in Sydney, Australia. Australia beat Canada 95-65 in the third-place game.
It was like history repeated itself because 28 years ago, China finished the World Championship with silver medals in Australia as well. After eight games in 10 days, Chinese players matched the best record in national team history.
A’Ja Wilson of USA was named the Most Valuable Player of the World Cup. She and her teammate Breanna Stuart were both selected into the All-First Team, together with Han Xu of China, Steph Talbot of Australia and Bridget Carleton of Canada.
China continued to lack their top scorer Li Meng, who suffered from a fever, in the final on Saturday night. When they were playing the USA for the first time in Group A, she scored 21 points, more than anyone else on the court, during that 77-63 loss.
Though they had one fewer threat to watch out for, USA was not even a little negligent in Saturday’s game. They didn’t double-team China’s ball-handlers at the two wings as they did in the last meet. Instead, American defenders switched everything in most possessions when China launched screen plays.
Such aggressiveness produced 13 steals for USA and forced 19 turnovers out of China. Both served USA well in launching their favorite fast break over and over. Even after China scored during the half-court offense, some American players were still able to drive quickly to the front court, pull up and shoot to score.
China responded to the opponent’s defense by having Li Yueru get in position much deeper than before. The benefits of doing so were that she didn’t have to dribble much after receiving the ball and could shoot more comfortably over defenders who were much smaller than she is.
Li Yueru shot 4-for-4 from the field to score eight points in the first quarter. The other five points came from Wang Siyu. Han replaced Li Yueru from the last possession of this quarter. Han performed better than Li on both offense and defense during most games of the World Cup before Saturday. Usually, China could outplay the opponent when she was on the floor.
Unfortunately, that was not the case in the final. Han’s most effective weapon was to pop out after setting screen for the ball-handler and then shoot to score in the middle range. However, there was always a defender following her closely to stand in the passing rout between Han and her teammate. Moreover, the defender who switched to cover China’s orchestrator was often much larger, but as quick as her target. It was very difficult for the Chinese guard to pass the ball out against such defense, not to mention to feed Han for an open shot.
That’s why China’s offense grew much less mobile from the second quarter. The team was not the biggest fan of shooting 3-pointers, but when they couldn’t move the ball as they used to in the game, shooting a triple became the only desperate choice they had.
Having extended their lead to 10 points (43-33) after the first half, USA were even more ferocious in ball-pressuring. It became more and more difficult for Chinese players to even approach the paint. Han and Li Yueru rarely received the ball and when they did, they had to watch out first for the hand that came immediately to steal the ball.
It was in this quarter when USA truly left China behind with a 25-14 run. Chinese players could only score in bits and pieces. On the defensive end, though the perimeter players worked hard, they couldn’t even slow their stronger and more athletic American counterparts down. Han, who guarded like Rudy Gobert in China’s last win over Australia, was outnumbered in the paint.
Saturday’s loss was not the best result for China, but it could be a good lesson for their players, head coach Zheng Wei and every other involved with Chinese basketball development to learn so they can do better in the future.
For example, Li Meng’s absence cost China their best scoring weapon but also highlighted the importance of having another player who could beat the opponent’s defense like Li Meng did. Li Yueru shot 8-for-10 in field goals to get 19 points in Saturday’s game, which showed how efficient she could be offensively when she attacked from closer to the rim. Even China’s struggling performance to launch offense in the second half showed the team how important it is for them to have a solid orchestrator who can feed the team’s biggest advantage, Han and Li Yueru the ball in their sweet spots.
Chinese players have every reason to be proud of themselves despite the loss in the final. On the way to the top stage, they defeated traditional women’s basketball powerhouses including France and Australia. The incredible performance of Li Meng drew the attention of the WNBA. If she can join a team there, she is likely to further improve her skills as Han did after playing one season for the New York Liberty.
