Core values still key for Team China

With a strong reinforcement in NBA star Kyle Anderson almost secured, the Chinese national team remains committed to bringing the best out of its homegrown core ahead of this year's huge World Cup challenge.

As the battle for Olympic qualification at the 2023 World Cup draws near, anticipation for the marquee FIBA tournament was building at Team China's training camp this week in Qingdao, Shandong province, with Anderson's likely recruitment as a naturalized player raising expectations from fans and media.

As the only event where direct qualification berths for Paris 2024 — one for each continent — are up for grabs, the World Cup provides a relatively easier pathway for Team China to return to the Olympics than battling international heavyweights at next year's super-competitive qualifying tournaments.

Team China head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic has handpicked an 18-strong roster built around veteran tandem Zhou Qi and Zhao Jiwei for the training camp, where players went all out in fitness and conditioning programs, tactical drills and scrimmages to try to make the final 12-man World Cup lineup.

"This is just the start so it's a little early to evaluate the preparations, but things are going very well," Djordjevic said during a media day on Monday.

Drawn in Group B with title favorite Serbia, fast-attacking Puerto Rico and unpredictable African force South Sudan at the World Cup, Team China is aiming to build momentum through those first three games. Presuming all goes to plan, the real battle will begin in the second phase of the pool stage, where China could meet Group A's bottom two — possibly the Philippines and Angola — to fight for Asia's Paris 2024 ticket.

To bolster Team China's chances, the Chinese Basketball Association has been working with relevant departments and FIBA to bring in Timberwolves forward Anderson, whose mother has Chinese roots.

Anderson visited Shanghai last week, reportedly to finalize his naturalization. The CBA and Anderson's representatives said the "process is going smoothly", suggesting that the versatile 6-foot-9 (2.06-meter) forward will don the Chinese jersey very soon.

Djordjevic revealed during the media day that Anderson, known as "Li Kaier" in China, will join the team in Europe should all the paperwork be completed on time.

"I hope that we will finish that," Djordjevic said. "He is a very valuable player and a very valuable person who has a lot of desire to be (with us). All of us appreciate that."

Asked what he had talked about with Anderson when they met in Shanghai on June 28, Djordjevic replied, "Art and music."

With Anderson's integration into the squad seemingly imminent, Team China's players are keen to keep their focus on building unity at the training camp.

"The association will take care of that (Anderson's inclusion), while we are just going to bring the best out of ourselves. Nothing else matters at the moment with our preparations," said star center Zhou, a former Houston Rockets player.

Zhao, the reigning CBA Finals MVP, welcomed the potential addition of Anderson but reiterated that it takes a team to win basketball games.

"I think it's still 50-50 whether he's eligible to play with us. We are not going to count on one player whatsoever," said Zhao.

"If he shows up, it will definitely be a great addition for us. But we should focus more on tapping deeper into our current roster and improving as much as we can."

According to the CBA, Team China will fly to Europe on Thursday to play at least 10 warm-up games against elite World Cup contenders, such as Djordjevic's native country Serbia, Luka Doncic-led Slovenia, and Germany.

It's hoped that the European trip will offer high-intensity tests and build chemistry in time for Team China's World Cup opener against Serbia on Aug 26 in Manila.

"We're trying to get used to that kind of basketball, winning teams like Slovenia or Germany or Italy that we are going to confront in preparation games," said Djordjevic, who took over Team China in November. "This is the best way for our team to maximize our preparations."

After a disappointing campaign at the last World Cup at home in 2019, Team China missed the Olympic tournament for the first time in history at Tokyo 2020, much to the ire of fans.

Zhou, whose loose, final-minute inbound pass was blamed for the critical defeat to Poland at the 2019 tournament, said that heartache from four years ago is fueling the team's desire for redemption.

"We are really looking forward to the beginning of the tournament. No words are needed for the significance of this event for us as a team and for myself," said Zhou.