Yao urges calm over World Cup success

CBA president Yao Ming has urged fans not to get carried away with China's better-than-expected results at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.

Team China made an impressive run to the final in Australia, losing just two of its eight matches — both against eventual champion and red-hot favorite the United States.

It was the Chinese women's team's first appearance in a major final in 28 years.

Hoops great Yao, who was in Sydney to watch the action live, told Xinhua that the team's performances were the result of 10 years' hard work.

"It was better than expected, but the growth of a team cannot happen within just a short period," he said, noting that leading scorer Li Meng was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2010 FIBA Under-17 World Championship.

"So we really have to thank all the people who helped us along the way, including the older generation who paved the way for us."

Team China's reemergence as a major force has coincided with the start of Han Xu and Li Yueru's WNBA careers. Han played with the New York Liberty in the recently completed season, while Li Yueru was with the Chicago Sky.

Yao, who himself spent years playing in the NBA, said that the Chinese Basketball Association has always encouraged China's young players to seize any opportunities to play abroad.

He noted that the WNBA and WCBA seasons do not run concurrently, and it is common for players from other countries to play in the US in summer and in their native countries in winter. He added that it was possible to balance national duty with these club commitments.

China's brilliant run at the World Cup cheered fans both at home and abroad, and with the final coinciding with the country's National Day there was an extra sense of pride in the team's achievements.

According to Yao, the positive exposure can help develop basketball at home and that the CBA "needs to take advantage of all this attention".

He added that Team China should review and analyze its performances to identify its strengths and weaknesses in matches.

"We should see that we are at a similar level to Australia, and France is also close to us. There are also some strong teams in Europe who were not at the tournament, so we really need to calm down," Yao said.

Xinhua