Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming is warning the Tall Blacks to be on alert as China seek revenge in their World Cup qualifying clash tomorrow afternoon.
The Tall Blacks defeated China on their home court in February, but in a quirk of international basketball, China have two different squads, andthey are sending a completely different team to New Zealand to try and reverse that result.
Unfortunately for the visitors, that side – the "Red Team" – are missing two of its usual stars, with Houston Rockets centre Zhou Qi and two-time Chinese domestic MVP Ding Yanyuhang both preparing for NBA Summer League.
As a result, they were upset 82-74 by South Korea on Thursday night in Shenzhen, and are now significant underdogs to beat a Tall Blacks side who have won four straight qualifying clashes and are cruising towards a spot at the 2019 World Cup.
However, Yao, the 7'6" giant who made eight NBA All-Star teams and is now a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, says the young Chinese team will be up for the fight.
"We have so much experience playing against the New Zealand team, whether it's the World Cup or Olympics. We admire the style of New Zealand – toughness and passion – and we're looking forward to a good matchup."
From a New Zealand perspective, their most famous meeting was in 2002, when the Tall Blacks came from 22 points down to stun China 94-88, on their way to making the semifinals.
Yao remarkably scored 27 points on 8/8 shooting in that game (Going 11/11 from the free-throw line), but doesn't hold fond memories of the comeback, which was led by Phill Jones' 33 point outburst.
"I prefer to talk about 2004 maybe," Yao laughed, referring to when China gained revenge with a victory at the Olympics.
At Spark Arena tomorrow, revenge will be on the cards for China once again.
