Yao vows to expand reforms

National team's disappointing World Cup effort reflects stagnating development

In the wake of China's dismal performance at the home World Cup, national hoops boss Yao Ming is vowing to deepen reforms to overhaul the nation's flawed basketball development.

After leading China to an eighth-place finish at the 2008 Olympics, Yao, an eight-time NBA All-Star and now chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, is coming to grips with the real possibility that China will almost certainly snap its long streak of Olympic qualification by not competing at next year's Tokyo Games.