China men's basketball team beats Kazakhstan on Djordjevic's debut

HONG KONG -- China's newly-appointed coach Aleksandar Djordjevic registered a debut win as his side beat Kazakhstan 71-59 in the sixth window of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers here on Thursday.

Center Zhou Qi proved decisive again as he provided a game-high 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while point guard Zhao Jiwei also pocketed 11 points. Rustam Murzagaliyev led Kazakhstan with 13 points.

"We felt a little bit of pressure as you can see from some of our body language, I think we opened the game well and generally our first half was really good. That was the positive side of the game," said Djordjevic.

"But our free-throw percentage and three-point shots were not at the required level. We should have closed the game even earlier without nervousness and some unsmart fouls," he added.

Having picked up eight wins and two defeats after five windows and having already booked a place at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup co-hosted by Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, China announced Du Feng's departure last November, making way for Djordjevic.

China, who beat Kazakhstan 68-56 away in the fourth window, entered the Tsuen Wan Sports Center with Zhou, Zhao, Zhang Zhenlin, Zhou Peng and starlet Cui Yongxi on court.

China was aggressive from the start, and established a 10-point advantage thanks to a layup from Zhang with three minutes and 40 seconds left in the opening quarter.

The home side continued bumping up the lead in the second quarter and led at halftime by 43-22.

However, China was error-prone at both ends after the interval, while Kazakhstan gradually narrowed the gap with a series of 3-pointers. After the away side came within eight points with 1:15 left, Hu Mingxuan made his 3-pointer from beyond the arc, shattering Kazakhstan's hopes.

China will cap off its World Cup qualifiers by hosting Iran on Sunday.