Group C: China 96, Algeria 82 Indianapolis, Aug. 30 - Yao Ming¡¯s 7-5, 254 pound presence dominated China¡¯s World Basketball Championship Group C preliminary round contest with Algeria Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse. In the end, Yao played long enough for China to win 96-82. ¡°Tonight was a good education for our younger players,¡± China¡¯s head coach Wang Fei said. Yao was on the floor for 29 of the game¡¯s 40 minutes. NBA¡¯s soon-to-be tallest active player, drafted no. 1 by the Houston Rockets, led all scorers with 38 points. He also had 13 rebounds and 8 blocked shots. Had he gotten two more blocks, he would have become the first person in World Basketball Championship history to record a triple-double. Algeria tried to use multiple defenders on Yao, but to no avail. Algeria¡¯s ¡°big man¡± 6-foot-8 Nadjim Ouali fowled out at the 3:22 mark of the second quarter. His replacement, 6-8 Nasser Ramadane Haif fowled out with 1:24 to play. ¡°We tried to avoid Yao getting the ball,¡± Algerian coach Billal Faid said. ¡°We fouled a lot, but we couldn¡¯t avoid him getting the ball.¡± When Yao was on the floor, Algeria was content with 20 foot or longer jump shots. When Yao¡¯s replacement Menke Batere manned the center spot, Algeria immediately attacked the basket. Batere is no slouch size-wise, mind you. Batere stands 6-11 and is 290 pounds. Algeria drew closest in the third quarter when Yao played only 4 minutes. When the fourth quarter started, Algeria trailed by only 6. ¡°We lacked patience in the second and third quarters,¡± Fei said. But with Yao playing the entire fourth quarter, the Chinese outscored Algeria 27-19 on the way to the 14-point victory. Yao tallied 9 of China¡¯s last 11 points. Miloud Doubal led Algeria with 24 points. Spunky guard Sofiane Boulaya tallied 19 and Moured Boughedir added 14. Li Nan supported Yao with 14 points. ¡°Our speed was not good. Our speed was our enemy,¡± Algeria forward Tarik Oukid said. ¡°When you want to speed up the game, you may lose the ball and that¡¯s what happened today.¡± Algeria, 0-2 will take on Germany, 1-1, at Conseco Fieldhouse in the first evening game Saturday. China, 1-1, takes on United States, 2-0, at the RCA Dome. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT. Friday evening, U.S. defeated Germany, 104-87.
Notes Algeria (0-2 in Group ¡°C¡±) Leading Scorer: Milcud Doubal, 24 points Leading Rebounder: Moured Boughedir, 8 rebounds After trailing by as many as 20 points, 30-10, Algeria mounted a second-half comeback to take its first lead of the game, 70-69, with 8:24 to play on Farid Belhimeur¡¯s seven-foot jump shot. Algeria outscored China on the break, 14-6. The team¡¯s effort was aided by Milcud Doubal¡¯s 24 points (4-8 3FGS). The Algerian bench outscored China¡¯s reserves 35-24. Sofiane Boulaya led the cause with 19 points (7-13 FGS) in 25 minutes of play. In its two games, Algeria¡¯s opponents are shooting 65.8% (75-114 FGS) from the floor and averaging 103 ppg. China (1-1 in Group ¡°C¡±) Leading Scorer: Yao Ming, Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming, China outnumbered Algeria in the assist column, 23-13. Three Chinese players each had four assists (Nan, Yudong and Xiaobin). In addition to his 38 points (12-15 FGS) and 13 rebounds (five offensive), Yao Ming recorded a tournament-high eight blocked shots. Yao Ming was also 14-17 FTS (82.4%). In two games, he is averaging 27.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 4.5 bpg. Trailing for the first time, 70-69, at the 8:24 mark in the fourth period, China outscored Algeria 27-12 to seal the win, 96-82. China shot 50.0% (8-16 FGS) in the fourth period and 48.4% (31-64 FGS) for the game. China outscored Algeria 44-32 in the paint. China¡¯s starting frontcourt ¨C Ming, Nan and Xiaobin ¨C outscored Algeria¡¯s starting big men 58-19. China made more free throws, 26, than its opponent attempted, 24. China was 26-34 FTS (76.5%), while Algeria made 18-24 (75.0%).
Quotes China China-Wang Fei-Coach (on China¡¯s performance)¡°We started well in the beginning, on both offense and defense. In the second and third period we were loose¡ We become impatient when things get difficult, especially in transition from offense to defense. Turnovers have been a problem in intense international games. We need to work on this more.¡± (on Shioiang¡¯s progress since 2000 Olympics) ¡°Guo Shioiang has not handled the ball quickly enough. I hope younger players will come up and take control of the ball. Guo Shioiang played well, stood up and scored, and fed the ball well to Yao Ming.¡± (on progress of his China¡¯s defense)¡°Different teams have different styles and it depends on the team. Our problem is trying to coordinate our defense. We have a good inside defense.¡± (on progress s of young players) ¡°One month after this tournament is over the team will be disbanded. I hope our young players can play with stronger clubs. We will get young players into the game (vs. USA) to give them experience.¡± Guard Guo Shioiang (on how he seems to hesitate vs. play in ¡¯00 Olympics) ¡°When the defense is intense, I tend to protect the ball. There is little time to look for offense. The speed then is not as fast as required of the game. I have to control the pace for the whole game.¡± Algeria Coach Billal Faid (on his team¡¯s performance)¡°We started the game quite late after they were up 20 points. We improved defensively all across the court. We were trying to stop the ball from going to Yao Ming; this was our weakest point. Yao Ming had a great game. The difference was he scored 38 points. This was a problem for us, our players are not that tall. It was very painful and tiring for our players.¡± (on the third-quarter defense on Yao Ming) ¡°We tried to avoid Yao Ming getting the ball. We fouled a lot, but we couldn¡¯t avoid him getting the ball.¡± (on Algeria¡¯s comeback performance) ¡°When you¡¯re 20 points behind you have to change a lot of plays to find the right plays for each player. You have to do whatever you can to change the flow. We didn¡¯t have our five starters playing the best so we had to find others to do the job.¡± Forward Tarik Oukid (on his team¡¯s performance)¡°We started quite late entering the game. Actually, it was just like how we started in the U.S. game when we were down 13-0. We did the same thing today.¡± ¡°Our speed was not good. Our speed was our enemy, but when you want to speed up the game, you may lose the ball and that¡¯s what happened today.¡±
