Australia will take on China at Melbourne on July 3.
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Zhou Qi, known to NBL fans as the 216cm tower who pioneered with the South East Melbourne Phoenix last season, ignited the Chinese rally on Thursday night from a 16-point deficit to nearly steal the game from the Boomers. A formidable frontline awaits the Boomers when 214cm Wang Zhelin and 212cm Shen Zijie are added. Goorjian said of Qi, who had 16 points, 17 rebounds, and three blocks in the 76-69 victory.
It’s weird, he’s enormous in the NBL, he appeared larger the other night, and then had Wang and then Shen coming in there, they’re just gigantic. We did go into the game with a concentration there, and that will continue to be the emphasis, but I just believe there are a few areas they caught us on and you can make some tiny modifications. Given that we’ve already played them, we believe we can do a little bit better.
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Qi was given more latitude by the referees on the international stage since he had foul issues during his rookie NBL season and had to share the offensive burden with Phoenix’s star players Mitch Creek, Xavier Munford, and Ryan Broekhoff. He received several foul calls in the NBL since our competition is… labeled absolutely different. Jack White of the Boomers engages Zhou Qi in close combat.
Qi presents a significant challenge, China faces difficulties at the opposite end of the floor due to the Boomers’ faster, shorter, and more athletic frontline. They have the inside, but they’ve got players 7′ and taller racing after our players 6’7″ and 6’8″, and I felt we did a nice job of taking advantage of that in the last game, he added. The question is, “Do they have more benefit on the block than we do of spacing them and driving them? It’s not our 7’3″ man slamming their 7’3” guy, who’s better. The winner of this game will have an edge in the game.
Australia Vs China FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup Qualifier will be held at Melbourne, John Cain Arena, and can be seen live on Kayo with ESPN on July 3 starting at 6:30 PM EST and 14:10 IST.
Australia: Wani Lodu Swaka Lo Buluk, Thon Maker, Matthew Dellavedova, Mitchell Mccarron, Todd Blanchfield
China: Jiwei Zhoa, Ailin Guo, Rui Zhao, Quan Gu, Zhelin Wang.
