China’s size is Gilas’ headache

There are four Chinese towers expected to give Gilas a headache in their Group C men’s 5x5 basketball Asian Games match at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya tomorrow. They’re a handful and two of them were on the Chinese squad that Gilas beat by a point in the semifinals of the last Asiad in Hangzhou three years ago so revenge will surely be on their mind.

The giant holdovers are 7-3 Yu Jiahao, 23 and 6-11 Hu Jinqiu, 28. The other towers are 6-10 Jiao Boqiao and 6-9 Zhao Jiayi. Jiahao averaged 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds for Grupo Alega Cantabria in the Spanish league this season. It’s rare that a Chinese or Asian breaks through in Europe so Jiahao is an exception. Standing 7-3 is an advantage. In China’s 99-61 blowout of Kazakhstan to open its Asian Games campaign last Friday, Jiahao had 17 points, shooting 71 percent from the floor. Jinqui, CBA champion and MVP last season, collected five points. Boqiao, 25, has played in the FIBA U17 and U19 World Cups. Jiayi, 27, is a seven-year CBA veteran who joined the national squad last year.

Only nine of China’s 12 players saw action against Kazakhstan. It didn’t make sense to expose the entire cast for scrutiny by opposing scouts. Captain Hu Mingxuan, a three-time CBA MVP, played sparingly, contributing three points in 9:40 minutes. Mingxuan, 28, played two years at Tulane University in New Orleans and suited up for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Summer League. Two-time World Cupper and 2016 Olympian Wang Junjie, 31, sat out as did Jiayi and 2023 World Cupper Zhu Junlong. Expect China to unleash hidden gunners tomorrow.

The Asiad returnees are Mingxuan, Jiahao, Jinqiu, Junlong and 6-5 former Brooklyn Net Jacky Cui Yongxi. For Gilas, only Calvin Oftana is back from the previous Asiad. Yongxi, 23, was CBA’s 2023 Rookie of the Year. He played for Brooklyn in five NBA games. Among his Nets teammates were Dennis Schroder, Ben Simmons, Cam Thomas and Cameron Johnson. Yongxi shot 12 points, including two of three triples, in 18:08 minutes against Kazakhstan. Liao Sanning, 25, collected 10 points and nine assists while Li Hongquan, 24, hit 78 percent from the floor in firing 16, including two of four triples.

What’s frightening about China is its efficiency on offense. Against Kazakhstan, seven players shot at least 50 percent from the field. The Kazakh defense was in tatters from start to finish. For Gilas to beat China, coach Tim Cone’s troops must play the same kind of defense that brought down Jordan and Iran in the fourth FIBA World Cup Asia qualifying window. That means congesting the paint to stifle China’s towers, closing out hard on three-point shooters, dictating the tempo and disturbing the flow of execution. Never mind that Kai Sotto and AJ Edu aren’t in harness. Gilas has to make do with the tools at hand. No excuses, no bickering.

Losing to Bahrain by four was painful last Friday. Naturalized imports JaKarr Sampson and Elijah Thomas combined for 44 points in Bahrain’s 89-85 win but Gilas would’ve survived if not for 5-10 Mustafa Rashed who shot 20. If Gilas put the clamps on Rashed, it would’ve won despite Sampson and Thomas. It’s a lesson learned. In the previous Asian Games, Gilas lost to Jordan by 25 in the group stage but went on to win the championship. Losing to Bahrain isn’t the end of the world but recovery must be quick to avoid an early meltdown.