China - China's youngest-ever b-ball coach

From www.straitstimes.com
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Former Chinese international Guo Shiqiang was named head coach of China's national team on Tuesday, becoming the youngest person to lead the national side and winning praise from NBA All-Star Yao Ming.

Guo, 34, was appointed by the China Basketball Association, which also announced a national team roster that includes players from the American NBA like Yao, New Jersey Nets forward Yi Jianlian and LA Laker guard Sun Yue.

'Our overall goal is to maintain our leading position in Asia and to improve on our international ranking,' the association said in a statement posted on its website.

Former Australia national team head coach Brian Goorjian was named team consultant and will work with Guo to prepare the national side for the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics in London, it said.

Yao, whose Houston Rockets are in the NBA play-offs, told the popular Basketball Storm magazine that Guo 'is a very progressive coach, as far as I'm concerned he is a genuine kind of person'. 'He can bring a lot of things that will boost everyone's convictions and he will prove himself by winning everyone's confidence,' said the star centre.

For nearly a decade, Guo was the national team's point guard while starring on the Liaoning Hunters, a provincial club from northeast China.

He replaces Lithuanian coach Jonas Kazlauskas, who brought China to the final eight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Kazlauskas served as an assistant to his predecessor, American Del Harris, who coached China during the 2004 Olympics.

China's previous youngest national team coach was Wang Fei, who took over the team in the late 1990s when he was 35, state media reported