Houston Rockets center Yao Ming notched 22 points to help China
rout Croatia 92 - 55 last night at the final game of the
Four-Nation Basketball Challenge in Beijing.
With the victory, China won the title with three wins. The team
defeated Canada and Brazil in two previous games.
Coming back from a toe injury, Yao played for 20 minutes,
shooting 5-7 from the field and 12-15 in free throws. Apart from
his dazzling individual shows, including a dunk in the third
quarter that drew deafening cheers from fans, Yao displayed smooth
work with his teammates with some entertaining passes to Yi
Jianlian, a promising center who is expected to follow in Yao's
extra-large footsteps.
China also maintained a successful defense, leaving the
Croatians a poor 34 shooting percentage from the field.
"This is probably the best game that we have played," said an
elated head coach Del Harris. "I like the way that we competed and
it's good for us to play against physical teams like Croatia and
Brazil. It's a good experience to get to know those kinds of boxing
matches in the basketball world."
Against the towering Chinese, the inexperienced Croatians played
a tough physical game, sparking several quarrels.
But China held its own and jumped to a quick 26 -16 lead in the
first quarter, widening the gap to 42 - 29 at the half.
China totally dominated the third with its tight zone defense,
which allowed the Croatians to score a mere eight points.
"I thought the zone defense tonight was outstanding," said
Harris. "I did not expect the zone defense to grab the scene
because it was not as active as it needed in the first two
games."
Yao fueled China to finish the third with a 30-point lead.
Harris said the team, which just finished a training camp in
Dallas before the tournament, has more room for improvement before
the Athens Olympics next month. He said that Yao's physical
condition is improving, which will give his teammates better play
with him. Harris says those will be points in China's favor as the
Games draw near.
The four teams will soon travel to Urumqi in Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region to play the second leg of the
tournament.
(China Daily July 12, 2004)
