SHENZHEN (China) – Guo Shiqiang is long well known as the go-to crisis manager for the Chinese men’s basketball team.
The 16-time FIBA Asia Cup champions got off to a stuttered start in their campaign in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025, losing to arch nemesis Japan in the very second game of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 in the opening Window last year, and the 49-year-old was immediately ushered into the hot seat – replacing the much decorated Serb Sasa Djordjevic.
The team regained their winning ways – routing Guam and Mongolia in that order – and now face Japan once again, this time in front of a home crowd at Shenzhen to take a shot at clinching the qualification to FIBA Asia’s flagship event.
Guo shied away from talks of a “revenge game” against Japan.
“There are two messages I always convey to the players,” he was crystal clear in his objective.
“First, both games (in Window 3) are very important. Team Japan and Team Guam are both very respectable opponents. We must maintain the same attention to them and strive to win,” he said.
“Second, we must look to the long term. The (FIBA) Asia Cup Qualifiers is our short-term goal. There are also the Asia Cup, Asian Games, World Cup and even the Olympics waiting for us,” he explained.
He shied away once again from any conversation about bringing success immediately on taking over.
“The position of head coach of the National Team means more responsibility. I don't think I have had ‘success’,” he said insisting the need to look beyond just FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
Conversation veered towards how Guo intended to implement this long term plan and was opened up on his tactics.
“I often talk about the five criteria for selecting players: 1. Strong desire to play for the country; 2. the best players; 3. the players most suitable for the national team; 4. Real fighters; 5. Players with best physical and competitive condition. From this standard, you can get a glimpse of some of my ideas,” he said.
“Of course, I have more detailed requirements during the training camp. These players have done a good job in attitude and technical part,” he added.
But how much of that long term goal was ready to be executed in Window 3?
“We have considered the two opponents we are going to play with in this window, but that was not all,” he said.
“We had to consider the situation that some players had suffered injuries in the league and some overseas players were temporarily unable to come back to train with the team before finally determining the roster for Window 3,” he said.
“But I think we have prepared a good talent reserve for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” he added.
FIBA