Summer slog worth the effort for rebuilding Team China

With its waning power in Asia exposed during a turbulent summer trip, the Chinese men's basketball team is desperate to level up its intensity and rebuild continental supremacy.

After three months of global travel for games and training programs, Team China has returned home exhausted but also fully aware of the tough new reality of the sport's fast-evolving international landscape.

The lack of intensity and physicality in the country's domestic league has slowed down the progress of China's best players, resulting in a decline in collective competitiveness, according to head coach Du Feng.

"Throughout the trip, we were shocked by how fast our international rivals have improved and how much we've been left behind," Du said in an online interview on Monday while serving out a mandatory quarantine with the team upon their return to China last week.

"With the game being played faster, sharper and stronger on the international stage, we have a lot of catching up to do in the development of individual skills, strength conditioning and transition play, beginning with the drills in the domestic league," added Du.

Assembled at the end of May after the CBA league completed its 2021-22 season, the national squad played four Asian qualifying games for next year's FIBA World Cup in Melbourne in July, then flew to Jakarta to compete in the 2022 Asia Cup, followed by a four-week stay in Europe, where Du's team scrimmaged with local clubs and touring NCAA teams in Spain and France.

After winning two more games in Astana against host Kazakhstan and Bahrain last month, Team China finished the summer ranked second behind powerhouse Australia to stand on the brink of securing a World Cup ticket with four qualifiers to go.

As a perennial power in Asia, Team China's second straight quarterfinal exit at the Asia Cup in Indonesia sparked a backlash back home, with the team's lackluster performances criticized by fans.

China's 69-72 quarterfinal loss to Lebanon, an opponent it had previously beaten 11 times, was considered a disgraceful result for a national program that has won the continental tournament 16 times. The team's sloppy play－underlined by China's 22 turnovers to Lebanon's eight－bore the brunt of the online rage.