Aussies and China ready for showdown
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China Daily, June 24, 2011
The head coaches of the Chinese and Australian men's basketball teams are looking forward to their two friendly matches as the sides gear up to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.
"They will be high-level games and it's a good opportunity to see who can play at that level and who can't," said China's head coach, Bob Donewald.
For Australian head coach Brett Brown the aim is to "test the structure of the offense and defense against a strong team".
The sides will play two friendly matches, which have been dubbed the "2011 China-Australia Youyi Games".
The first one will be played today in Perth, Western Australia, and the other will be on Sunday in Singapore.
The games are part of the "China-Australia Culture Year" series of activities; carrying the mission of spreading basketball and friendship between the countries.
Both sides are preparing for qualification games for the 2012 London Olympic Games in September.
China will compete in the Asian Championships in Wuhan from Sept 15-25, while the Aussies will take part in a FIBA Oceania Olympic qualification series with New Zealand.
China has to win the Asian Championships to get a direct Olympic berth, while the Australian team and New Zealand will face off for a solitary place in a three-game series in Australia from Sept 7-11.
The Australian men's team, nicknamed the "Boomers", is ranked ninth in the world while the Chinese team is 10th.
For the home team, China is a good opponent to take on before facing archrival New Zealand for an Olympic ticket.
"China historically has some strong shooters. The good thing is that New Zealand also shoot very well," Brown said.
For the friendlies, China will be missing NBA all-star center Yao Ming, who is still recovering from an ankle injury, and fellow NBA player Yi Jianlian, who is still in the US. The Australian side will also be without its NBA star Andrew Bogut, but a number of Europe-based players have joined the squad.
"They've got a pretty good team. They have some high-level European players on the roster. Australia will be a very tough opponent. They are very physical and they are talented," said Donewald.
"Obviously you want to win the game, but I will get everybody in so we can evaluate them."
The Australian coach is happy with his team, although some core members are missing.
"This group is mainly NBL based with a few European guys and a few NCAA guys. It's a great young group," said Brown,
"Winning is important. That's why we play. We want to win. It's a friendly game, but everything I'm doing as a coach is to win."
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