Oh, I remember this guy.
The dude is China's insane long-distance sharpshooter from the days of Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, Liu Wei, Zhang Fangyu, and post-Great Wall trio Wang Zhizhi. I forgot if he's always animated all the time, but most Chinese from that period are hardcourt cyborgs in the sense that they know their roles and are the best at it.
So I get the reaction of Wang Shipeng when China lost to Gilas Pilipinas in both the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2023 Asian Games.
Tim Cone, Justin Brownlee, and the rest of the Gilas boys from both iterations gave China their version of the 2002 Busan Asian Games.
Forget that Wang Zhenlin missed the game-winning shot because his teammates went hot potato on the basketball. Zhao Jiwei missed two free throws a la Olsen Racela en route to a Gilas run while for more than two minutes, the Chinese team went ice cold.
And this is considering that they can always switch the hometown cooking treatment anytime they want to. In some ways, I think people saw Eumir Marcial's silver medal finish as their "get back moment" because the only way the Chinese boxer would lose was via knockout. To the credit of Tanglatian Tuohetaerbieke (I had to copy-paste the name,) he looked like the aggressive one for most of the fight.
If you think basketball means the world to us, what about China? They have the size and the discipline to become powerhouses of the game. When the world saw their brand of ball as emotionless and robotic, they created the Chinese Basketball Association. The reason why our young stars are moving to Japan and Korea is practically the same reason why most NBA has-beens are going to China. The country sent Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Mengke Bateer, Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian, and Zhou Qi to the NBA. Wang Zhelin is the 57th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. In return, the CBA was able to obtain the services of Stephon Marbury, Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson, Steve Francis, Carlos Boozer, Metta World Peace, Gilbert Arenas, and other bonafide NBA superstars.
In some ways, their love for basketball served as their gateway to let loose on their communist status. They went from clean-cut 90s assassin Hu Weidong to the tattoo-heavy, player-taunting Zhao Rui. They were high-fiving their coach, patting butts, and getting rowdy and you can partially blame all the NBA players and the influence they brought with them.
If you see your drunk tito shouting at the TV set and saying basketball is not the sport for Filipinos, well basketball IS the sport for the Chinese people.
Wang Shipeng said after the match that he could care less if the country wins 180 or 200 gold medals because basketball is the final battle.
Furthermore, this is what he said:
"With the ball in hand, we finally gave it to the opponent. Starting from the third quarter, we did have some problems with on-the-spot changes and the player's choices on the field. But at this time, are you the coach? It should be more clear. During this period, when the three-point shooting is not good, I have to focus on the inside. I have to hit the ball inside and draw the opponent back. We still shoot outside and do not hit the ball. Go inside. We can all see the problem, and the fans can also see it, but the head coach is slow to respond on the sidelines. The other thing I am more worried about is this group of players. This year's World Cup, Asian Games The psychological harm to them is greater than the harm to their performance. I am afraid that after the World Cup is over and the Asian Games are lost, I am afraid that these children will not be able to stand up again."
This reads weird. Let me just get the link:
Obviously, the statement is directed to Aleksander Dordevic.
He's probably going to get the boot.
I guess there's a bit of overacting on his part but for a two-time Asian Games gold medalist, he could care less about his critics. When you saw the shot of a sad Yao Ming as the team stood around in disbelief, you could feel that he would have unretired to seek retribution. Wang also touched on the fact that Gilas came to the game with less than two weeks of preparation and with the exception of Kyle Anderson and the injured Zhou Qi, had basically an intact lineup.
Hopefully, China's Gilas trauma would be a decade-long one like what we had with Korea. However, I am going to be realistic with this. It's China we're talking about - even in their rebuilding stage, they are still packed with giant-sized guards and big-man shooters. Also, for as long as they have the CBA, they will still have an abundant supply of talent.
With that said, it's nice to see another country piss about their basketball program for a change. I don't condone it, but what they have now, we had for more or less two years.