On letting go of Guo

June 1, 2010 | Posted by Benjie

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Photo Courtesy: cctv.com

China made a bold move to bolster its national team by letting go of Guo Shiqiang as head coach. Guo, a former national player, was China’s chief tactician in last year’s FIBA-Asia Championship where the Chinese was upset by defending champion Iran. He has been relegated as an assistant starting April 30, 2010.

Replacing Guo with American Bob Donewald, Jr. was a hard pill to swallow for the Chinese. For one, the Mainlanders prefer their countryman to handle the coaching chores. This is the third time Chinese national team is handled by a foreigner though. First was Del Harris in the 2004 Athens Olympics and Jonas Kazlauskas in the 2006 FIBA-Worlds and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Secondly, Guo’s experience as a national player should have been an advantage because he could easily relate with the players being a former player himself. However, China is all out to redeem its dominance in Asia. That is why it is banking on Donewald, whose coaching brilliance led the Shanghai Sharks to a semi final appearance in the recent CBA season. The Sharks bowed to the eventual champion Guangdong Southern Tigers though.

China seeks to regain its basketball supremacy in this coming Asian Games in Guangzhou. It is for this reason that it had to let go of Guo.