China Defeats Chinese Taipei to Gain Third Place in East Asia Tourney

Li Yi

China rebounded from yesterday's loss to Japan with an 87-53 victory over Chinese Taipei to gain third place in the East Asia Championship. China led 23-15 after one quarter and 34-26 at the half. It then outscored Taipei 30-11 in the third quarter and 23-16 in the fourth. But the main purpose of this tourney was to determine the last four places on the National Team for the Asian Championships.

My guess is that Yi Li (203-F/G-85) has won a position on the team because of his all-round versatility. Today he had 10 points and 1 rebound in 38 minutes, whereas yesterday he only played 10 minutes, perhaps because of an eye injury or perhaps because the Chinese wished to look at other players. Su Wei had 7 points and 8 rebounds in 23 minutes and likely has won a backup center slot. He showed yesterday that he is not the go-to guy at this level of competition but as backup center he will not be asked to do this. He is a rebounding specialist. Zhang Zhaoxu had 12 points and 13 rebounds in 17 minutes and likely secured his place on the team and could even surpass Su Wei as primary backup to Wang Zhizhi by the time of the Asian tournament.

Zhang Bo has probably earned the last slot on the team. He scored 13 points today in 18 minures. Meng Duo had 22 points in 38 minutes and could be instant offense off the bench. But I believe his failure in the clutch yesterday has shown that he is not yet ready to fill that role. Dong Hanlin had 12 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes, but failed in the clutch yesterday, and also has proved to be not quite ready. Mo Ke played 2 minutes today and with his lack of offense in this tournament has likely played himself off the team.