Sasha Djordjevic concluded the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in unfamiliar territory with China.
Djordjevic, a perennial winner with his homeland Serbia, managed to secure only one victory with Team Dragon—a resounding 86-73 win over Angola. However, they ended their campaign with a disappointing 96-75 loss to the Philippines.
Losing always stings, and when a foreign journalist questioned the Serbian mentor about his naturalized player Kyle Anderson, who carries the Chinese name Li Kaier, allegedly criticizing his teammates’ mentality in an interview, the former FC Barcelona and Real Madrid player responded sharply.
“I never comment on the opinions of others. You write down what he says. We are working on developing our mentality every day. Players carry that with them in their backpacks,” said Djordjevic.
“We’re trying to build it together, working on it fanatically, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.”
Li was viewed as one of the disappointments in China’s performance, averaging only 13.0 points in five matches, with just nine points against Puerto Rico and a scoreless game against Serbia. He struggled to make his presence felt on the court, especially when compared to players like Jordan Clarkson from the Philippines, Carlik Jones from South Sudan, and Karl-Anthony Towns from the Dominican Republic.
This raises the question of whether he will have the opportunity to redeem himself in the Team Dragon shirt down the line.
“He’s been with us for only five weeks, not even five weeks,” Djordjevic explained.
Next up for Team Dragon is the Asian Games on home soil this month, a competition they have won eight times in their history. Djordjevic confirmed that the team competing in this tournament will essentially be the same one that participated in the World Cup. He is counting on his players to use this experience to improve, just in time for their next challenge.
“We have a lot of new kids, young players who have never competed at this level. This is their first competition, and I believe it will be a valuable learning experience for them,” he said. “They will understand the intensity, physicality, and mental demands of the game, and they must learn to keep their composure. This is something we need to work on for sure.
“A lot of young Chinese players are showing themselves for the first time, and that’s what I see in the future,” Djordjevic concluded.
