Gong rings the changes
Amid major team transition, veteran coach targets Asia Cup success
Fully involved
As China enters the Women's Asia Cup — being held on home soil — as the defending champion, Gong stressed a step-by-step approach toward the biennial tournament.
"The first step is to do well in the group stage, and then we will focus on the semifinals and final. Hopefully we can stay on until the end," said Gong, who was appointed head coach in February, after having previously held the role between 1999 and 2005.
"We will take every game seriously, and also learn to summarize meticulously. We hope to really play every game well, carry forward the team's glorious tradition, as well as the spirit of daring to fight, not fearing strong opponents and never giving up," he added.
Prior to training in Beijing, the team had conducted a four-week training camp in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, aiming to help players restore their physical fitness after their league duties and formalize initial techniques and tactics.
During this period, Gong proposed a plan in which each player is required to make around 10,000 shots. He explained that the proposal is mainly in line with the current development trend of basketball.
"Whether it is in the men's domestic league or the women's one, overseas players dominate shooting attempts, while domestic players have fewer shots and record lower shooting percentages. It will affect the overall development of our players," said Gong. He added that in future training, apart from a certain number of shots, the quality will be gradually strengthened, and higher requirements will be put forward in combination with factors such as athletes' skills and positions.
The team has plans to participate in six warm-up matches ahead of the Asia Cup, aiming to test its recent training performances, trial different lineups and test the condition of the players.
"We will bring 15 or 16 players to these warm-up matches, and then select our Asia Cup squad consisting of players in the best form, with the strongest team spirit and the best execution ability," Gong noted.
