CBA apologizes, coach Guo may step down

• Source: Global Times
• [18:40 September 02 2009]
• Comments

The Players of the Chinese national basketball team, who finished third in the 2009 Stankovic Continental Champions Cup, use flowers to block their faces on the podium during the victory ceremony in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province Monday. Photo: Courtesy of sohu.com

By Wang Wei

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) issued a public apology on its official website yesterday after a series of poor performances by the national team in regional and continental tournaments in August.

Head coach Guo Shiqiang, who is at the center of the darkest moment of Chinese basketball, is likely to quit his job in the near future.

In the statement, the CBA, on behalf of the national team, apologized for not meeting the public's expectations in both the 2009 Asian Championships and the Stankovic Continental Cup.

The CBA advisory and coaching committee will soon hold a meeting to further discuss the issue so as to make better preparations for the 2012 London Olympic Games. It also highlighted that public support and patience toward the team is important at this difficult moment.

Guo and his team, who came under fire after being outclassed 18 points by Iran in the Asian Championships final, continued their poor form in the four-team Stankovic Cup that ended Monday. China, which sealed a consolation third-place after beating Angola 58-50, suffered two consecutive bitter defeats to the second-string Australian and Turkish teams in the preliminary round.

Guo Shiqiang, 34, who became China's youngest-ever head coach when he took the helm in May, was widely criticized for his inability to deal with the situation without injured superstar center Yao Ming and poor tactics throughout the competitions. More than 77 percent of people polled by sohu.com believed Guo was the major factor behind recent underachievement and should step down as soon as possible.

"China is much stronger than any of its Asian opponents, even without Yao," wrote an angry fan on sina.com. "Guo was himself a good guard when he played for Liaoning Club, but as the national team coach, he clearly didn't know how to take full advantage of our players' size and power. Nobody defeated us but Guo."