The Chinese Basketball Association doesn’t take the FIBA Asia Cup very seriously, as a glance at this year’s roster will show: every player under 22 years of age, playing against several countries’ senior-level teams. But what happens when your team gets paired against Japan in the knockout round amid nationalistic protests back home against this very country?
As Jon Pastuszek of NiuBBall pointed out last week upon learning that China would be facing Japan in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Cup, held in Japan: “Do we really need this right now?”
The game, played last Thursday, was itself uneventful, but China’s 60-50 loss has — shall we say — miffed some basketball fans over here. Some netizen comments, as translated by Pastuszek:
新浪江西南昌3kfeng: At this time, you can lose to whoever, but you can’t lose to Japan. If I was a player on the court from that game, I would retire from the game of basketball. It’s really too… I really don’t know how to express this. My goodness. If you lose, hit a random Japanese person, I’ll support you. *Sigh…*
新浪广东中山霸龙: Dammit! TMD ["fuck"] who is the coach? Die in Japan and don’t come back!
新浪江苏无锡借锋御剑: Die in Japan, don’t come back, a bunch of disgraces!
新浪上海嘉定尐輝輝Shine: An unexpected loss to little Japan, you group of retards. Don’t you understand that this is a critical moment? You’re soft on the basketball court, then you’ll be a pussy in deciding the Diaoyu Islands.
Oh, sports fans. Never stop being you.
