PARIS (France) – The upcoming Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024 will see China trying to move past their poor preparation results and re-discover the form that saw them finish second at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 and win the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2023.
After a joyous couple of years showing they can be a major power at the global level once again, the months leading up to Paris 2024 have probably thrown up more question than answers.
Which China are we going to see and have they got it in them to hunt for a first Olympic medal since 1992?
The Roster
There will be three big-hitters for China and that will continue to provide them with a world class platform to fuel their challenge.
Leading the way will be FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2023 MVP Xu Han who continues to be an exceptional performer in a national team vest.
Alongside her in the paint, Yueru Li has completed a season playing in EuroCup Women with Besiktas where she made the 2024 Final. Her power down low makes her a real handful for any opponents.
Leadership will flow from Meng Li, the all-action winger who is just a tremendous elite basketball player and a real heartbeat for her country.
Outside of this, a lot will depend on players stepping up and supporting - as they did in Sydney en-route to silver just under two years ago. In the past, forward Sijing Huang has caught fire, including as MVP of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament two years ago, with guards Siyu Wang, Liwei Yang and Yuan Li also influential.
The Question
How much do you read into the poor results of this current calendar year?
From the highs of being the second best team in the world less than two years ago and being crowned Asian champions just 12 months later, to being humbled by France on their home floor in the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 in Xi'An and then losing a stack of preparation games.
It's a difficult once to even try and gauge. Have China reached a peak, or would that be reading too much into a bunch of games when they had ballers missing and were not at full tilt?
It's maybe more alarm bells than a panic alarm, but it is a concern that they have not won that many games against the 'bigger nations' for some time.
The Hope
Linked to the main question, the hope for China is that they can feel relieved they dodged the 'Group of Death' so they can possibly rebuild momentum early at this tournament.
If they can impose themselves again, you will see their incredible work ethic and teamwork rising up. Combined with their physical strength, they will surely begin to look like contenders once again and have an opportunity to forget all about those prep losses.
The Fear
China's backcourt is talented, but their 1-2 spots are simply not near the level of their amazing wing and frontcourt options.
That could be problematic and while you can make the argument that it didn't stop them riding their way to the Final of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup or the FIBA Women's Asia Cup title, opponents are going to become more adept at diluting the threat of their power players.
That could mean the guards need to sometimes show more composure, quality and clutch play for China to thrive at this level.
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