Maher, Chen happy to play 'strong' opponents at start of 'process'

ISTANBUL (FIBA World Championship for Women) - China may have lost their opening game to the reigning women's world champions USA, but for both coach  Tom Maher and playmaker Chen Xiaojia the game itself was a "blessing in disguise."

"It's not easy to play above our level when we play teams who are equal to us," said Maher.

"So it's good we got to play against a team like the USA first up. We had to raise our levels and play in this game. Now if we maintain that level, things should begin to fall in place for us," said the Australian who in his previous international stint as China coach led them to the Semi-Finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"It was very satisfying."

As for Chen Xiaojia, the final score isn't what mattered most.

"We were not worried so much about the result," said the guard, who had a team-high 10 points.

"For us this is a process. We are not yet at a level where we want to play. So we take every game as a step in that direction.

"The physical contact against a team like the USA is something we have to get used to if we want to achieve success at the international level. In that sense, it was a great experience for the (China) team."

The Jiangsu Phoenix guard is one of the only two players in the current roster who also played at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, with center Huang Hongpin being the other.

"(The game against) USA is history. We have to take the lessons from the game, learn from that and move forward. I hope we can do that," she said.

FIBA