Zhou Qi missing again but China’s basketball stand-ins get job done against Hong Kong Eastern
- China win to avenge loss in previous match, despite Eastern’s Chris McLaughlin leading the game on points and rebounds
- Lack of match fitness ruled out Zhou, China head coach Aleksandar Dordevic says, but he stresses importance of looking at younger players
China’s basketball head coach Aleksandar Dordevic dismissed concerns over the fitness of Zhou Qi after his star player again watched from the bench as his teammates won their second practice match against Hong Kong Eastern.
A youthful China side walked away with a comfortable 77-56 win in Qingdao on Tuesday night, with the likes of Zeng Fanbo, Cui Yongxi and Fan Ziming helping to avenge Monday’s loss to the Hong Kong club.
Zhou’s continued non-involvement provided a sideshow at the Guoxin Basketball Training Centre, but Dordevic said the 27-year-old’s lack of match fitness had given him an opportunity to look at younger players.
“He is a very important player for China, but we want to give opportunities to younger players to see what they can do,” the Serb said. “We already knew what Zhou can do for us.
“Hopefully, he will get into the game shape he is missing. I hope he will use this summer in the right way to get himself into shape for our preparation games [for the FIBA World Cup].”