CHN - Curry fan Zhao not thinking about future

DUBAI (FIBA U17 World Championship) - USA national team star Stephen Curry has plenty of fans in the world, one of them being Zhao Yanhao, China's leading scorer at the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship.

"Stephen Curry is my biggest role model. He's a good shooter and has a very big heart," Zhao said through an interpreter.

The same can be said about Zhao, who is hitting 35 percent of his three-pointers at the U17 Worlds in averaging 19 points per game to go along with 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals through the first three contests.

Zhao regularly goes all out on the court, leading his team by example. And the Hebei native is considered a high level talent in China.

He was a leader for China at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST) in Mannheim, Germany last April, where the Asian powers sent their U17 team to play at the U18 biennial event.

"We saw that all of the teams were offensively and defensively better than us," said Zhao of the experience in the tournament, where they played Italy, Spain, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Argentina and Chile.

"We learned how to play the pick and roll and that helped me learn to get more shots."

Zhao, who plays for the Zhejiang Guangsha club, started playing basketball when he was eight years old. He considers his shooting and his physical condition his biggest strengths. And he most needs to work on his ball handling.

When asked what his favourite thing to do on the court is, he said: "Dunk and one. Because it helps the team morale."

Off the court, Zhao said he likes to go to the movies, mentioning "Transformers" as one of his favourite films, and also listen to music.

His teammate at Zhejiang Guangsha is also his teammate on the U17 team, Hu Jinquin.

"He has played really well and has a good attitude. He rebounds well. He's a good player," Zhao said of Hu, who doesn't turn 17 years until September, a month earlier than Zhao.

Being still so young, Zhao isn't too worried about what the future brings him.

"I am not thinking about future. I just want to play each game."

Play each game like Stephen Curry.

FIBA