Team China basketball team beaten by Japan

A humiliating 73-92 home loss to Japan in a critical World Cup qualifier has exposed Team China's struggle to keep up with the fast pace of modern basketball, and left the nation's hopes of qualifying for the FIBA showpiece hanging by a thread.

With its defense torn apart by Team Japan's speed and accuracy, the Chinese men's national team suffered the blowout defeat to its East Asian neighbor in its fifth, and penultimate, round-robin game during Phase One of the Asian qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA World Cup on Friday, falling to bottom of the four-team Group B with a 2-3 win-loss record.

Team China is tied with Chinese Taipei and South Korea, which also have 2-3 win-loss records, but sits bottom of the group because of its inferior points difference after five games. Japan leads the group with a 4-1 record.

Team China now has no choice but to secure a win in its final game against Chinese Taipei in neutral host city Goyang, South Korea, on Monday if it is to finish within the group's top three and advance into Phase Two.

Despite its strength in size under the rim, Team China struggled to keep up with the pace and intensity of Japan's sharp-shooting throughout four quarters, allowing Japan to hit 12 three-pointers on 40 percent shooting beyond the arc in front of 8,000 cheering Chinese fans at the Liaoning Indoor Stadium in Shenyang.

Too rushed to run its own offense effectively due to sluggish ball movement and a lack of experience on court, Team China knocked down only six 3-pointers on 23.1 percent shooting and missed six out of a total of 17 free throws.

Team China's presence in the paint – led by NBA center Yang Hansen, who plays for Portland Trail Blazers, and CBA All-Star Hu Jinqiu – ended up being neutralized by Japan's run-and-gun style of basketball. China lost back-to-back games to South Korea in a similar fashion in its first two group fixtures.

"As coach of the team who picked the players for the training camp and guided them in the process, I take full responsibility for the loss tonight," China's head coach Guo Shiqiang said at the post-game news conference. "Our team was made up by young players, who didn't have much international experience compared to their opponents. They still have a long way to go to get used to the technical level and mental pressure of international competitions at the elite level.

"A tough loss like today was something we could expect once the pressure kicked in and affected their performances. This is the tough lesson that they should learn on their process of development."

Should Team China fall to a defeat in the last Phase-One qualifier against Chinese Taipei, it will miss the FIBA World Cup, formerly known as the world championships, for the second time since 1978 and miss out on qualification for the Olympic tournament for the third time in a row.