From the women's national team regaining the Asia Cup title to their men's counterparts once again missing out on the Olympic Games, 2023 has been a mixed bag for China's basketball, which is navigating through icebergs in urgent need of a breakthrough.

HITTING AN ALL-TIME LOW

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Li Kaier joined China's men's national team in July, ahead of the team's FIBA World Cup journey. The 30-year-old came off the bench in a warm-up match against Italy on August 5, making him the first naturalized player in Chinese basketball history.

Chinese player Li Kaier (R) competes during the match against New Zealand in the 34th Basketball Supercup held in Hamburg, Germany on August 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Despite high expectations, China failed to become the top-ranked team from Asia at the World Cup, thus missing the opportunity to directly qualify for the Paris Olympics following their absence from the Tokyo Olympics.

Led by Serbian coach Aleksandar Djordjevic, China struggled in the World Cup from the group stage, losing to Serbia, South Sudan and Puerto Rico, with an average point difference of 27.

After snatching a victory against Angola in the 17-32 classification round, China swallowed a 21-point loss to hosts the Philippines, and finished 29th among the 32 participating teams. China's starting center Zhou Qi left the court early due to a waist injury, and Jordan Clarkson's third-quarter performance became a nightmare for China.

A month later, China failed to defend their title at the Hangzhou Asian Games, finishing only third on home court.

The young China side, with an average age of 24.8, cruised past Mongolia, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong, China in the preliminary round. As players such as Hu Mingxuan, Cui Yongxi and Zhang Zhenlin gradually became more familiar with the international stage, China went on to beat South Korea in the quarterfinal.

However in the semifinal, China squandered an 18-point lead in the first half to once again lose to the Philippines.

The visitors, who had only four players with 2023 World Cup experience, rallied in the second half, and a three-pointer from veteran Justin Brownlee in the last seconds dashed China's title-defense hopes.

With consecutive poor performances in two major tournaments, China's men's team has been thrust into the forefront of criticism.

In an interview with Xinhua, Chinese Basketball Association president Yao Ming said he would take full responsibility and accept all possible outcomes, adding that "there has been a huge gap between Chinese basketball and world basketball since 2019."

Research was being conducted and "big surgery" is needed, Yao noted.

Yao also addressed that slackness and a lack of sharp finishers were two key factors attributing to China's World Cup and Asiad losses.

In China's World Cup roster, only Li Kaier (13) and Zhao Rui (12.6) averaged more than 10 points per game. Centers Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin didn't pose much threat in the paint. Moreover, after veteran Zhou Peng was injured, the forward line lacked reliable scoring options.

CLIMBING TO A PEAK

It was a completely different scenario for China's women's team. Led by head coach Zheng Wei, the team remained on the rise as they had a clean sweep in the Asia Cup and the Asian Games, following last year's runner-up finish at the FIBA Women's World Cup.

Gold medalist China celebrates during the awarding ceremony of the 2023 FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Sydney, Australia on July 2, 2023. (Photo by Hu Jingchen/Xinhua)

However, due to injuries and a hectic schedule, their path to the two championships was not easy.

Center Li Yueru and forward Huang Sijing withdrew from the Asia Cup due to injuries, while guards Yang Liwei and Li Meng, along with center Han Xu, were absent from most of the team's training sessions as they reported to their teams in the WNBA, leading to many challenges amid the team's Asia Cup preparation. Coach Zheng called up veteran center Gao Song and young stars Luo Xinyu and Tang Yu, and it turned out to be a smart move.

In the group phase, China cruised past Lebanon and New Zealand and nosed out South Korea in overtime. Then China effortlessly defeated hosts Australia in the semifinal to set up a title showdown with arch rivals Japan. Even though Yang missed the game due to injury, with Han Xu contributing 26 points and 10 rebounds, China narrowly won the final by two points to end Japan's streak of five successive championships.

With Li and Huang's return, China didn't meet many obstacles to stage an expected final with Japan. Just like a replay of the Asia Cup, the final remained in suspense until the last moments. With nine seconds left to play, Wang Siyu's layup sealed China's victory.

Despite being on the rise, China's women's team still faced challenges. In both tournaments, the team struggled to contain Japan's fast-paced drives and accurate three-pointers simultaneously. Japan also showcased their deep reservoir of young players, who would seemingly pose a threat to China in the upcoming two Olympic cycles.

CONTROVERSIES LOOM IN DOMESTIC LEAGUES

CBA chairman Yao has repeatedly stated that China's domestic leagues were the "foundation" of the national team, but unfortunately the leagues have witnessed several controversies over the past year.

In February, the CBA announced a one-year transfer freeze on the Xinjiang Flying Tigers for a breach of rules. This punishment happened to work well for Zhou Qi, who has been mired in contractual controversy with Xinjiang since 2021. In a statement, Xinjiang refused to accept the ban and then announced their withdrawal from the league after the 28th round of the 2022-23 season. After negotiation and permission from the CBA, Xinjiang eventually reentered the league on March 16.

Just one month later, the CBA disqualified the Shanghai Sharks and the Jiangsu Dragons from the 2022-23 season, citing their lack of competitive effort in the first round of the playoffs.

In a statement, the CBA's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission ruled that Shanghai displayed negative contention in the second game of the series, while Jiangsu demonstrated a lack of effort in the third game. In this game, Jiangsu made several unbelievable turnovers at critical moments in the fourth quarter, which Shanghai exploited with a 10-0 run, resulting in their 108-104 victory.

Each club received a fine of five million yuan (around 700,900 U.S. dollars), and Shanghai head coach Li Chunjiang and Jiangsu's Li Nan, both former China internationals, were suspended from coaching for five and three years respectively.

China's second-tier National Basketball League (NBL) also had players go on strike in the league's finals in September. With 3:37 left in the first game of the series between Shaanxi and Anhui, Shaanxi called a timeout and left the game to protest controversial calls, resulting in the club's disqualification from the season and a fine of one million yuan (around 140,200 U.S. dollars).

With disputes continuing to loom in domestic leagues, it seems like Djordjevic's wishes need time to come true. The Serbian gave suggestions for reform of the CBA in an exclusive interview with Xinhua after his side's painful defeat in the Asiad, suggesting that shortening games from 48 to 40 minutes, adapting to FIBA rules, internationalizing the CBA league, lowering the entrance age for professional players and improving the quality of refereeing should be the top priorities.

While we are waiting for Yao's promised research, at least some efforts have been seen by the CBA referee regulations. The CBA announced the referee promotion and demotion system on December 19. In the past two years, 29 referees were promoted to higher-level events, while 24 were demoted.