China Women’s Basketball Team Suffers Heavy Loss to USA, Three Major Problems Emerge as Group Qualification Becomes Uncertain

China’s women’s basketball team faced top seed USA in their World Cup opener and eventually lost 61-94, a 33-point defeat. Many fans had expected a difficult result because the gap in overall strength between the two teams was clear. However, the most important thing from this game was not the result itself, but the key problems that were exposed. China will next face the Czech Republic and Italy, and their group qualification hopes could become uncertain if these issues are not fixed quickly.

The biggest surprise from the game was 19-year-old Zhang Ziyu, who made her first appearance on the World Cup stage. In her first top-level international tournament, she recorded 13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, while making 9 of 10 free throws. Her performance exceeded many expectations and showed strong interior dominance.

Coincidentally, 28 years ago Zhang Ziyu’s mother Yu Ying represented China at the World Cup in Berlin and also faced the USA. With this World Cup returning to Berlin, both mother and daughter have played as centers, creating an emotional connection across 28 years of interior tradition.

While Zhang Ziyu’s performance was impressive, it could not hide the problems exposed by the entire Chinese team. These issues must be adjusted quickly before facing strong European opponents. The following are the problems that could have the biggest impact on qualification.

The first major issue is that the team’s tactics built around Zhang Ziyu have not been developed enough to maximize her strengths and avoid her weaknesses. Her interior impact is undeniable, but her limited lateral movement was also obvious and was repeatedly targeted by the USA. The Americans used perimeter movement and mid-range pull-up shots to create easy scoring opportunities. Zhang could not step out quickly enough for defensive coverage, leaving the area around the free-throw line as a defensive weakness for China.

Later, China switched to a zone defense to cover the weakness, but new problems appeared. Under the zone system, the team lacked coordination when boxing out for rebounds, leading to frequent defensive rebound losses. Once rebounds were lost, the defensive structure collapsed, rotations and recoveries failed to connect, and the opponent received many second-chance opportunities and open shots.

It was also unfortunate that Zhang Ziyu attempted only four field goals throughout the game. She spent much of the time moving without the ball but did not receive enough passes. Such elite interior talent was not converted into a consistent advantage on the court. How to adjust in upcoming games will be a major challenge for the coaching staff.

Too many turnovers from the guard line disrupted the team’s overall rhythm. China committed 14 turnovers, eight more than the USA. With the team already struggling due to the difference in strength, those mistakes made the situation even harder. When the opponent applied high-pressure defense, China’s guards hesitated with their decisions and used predictable passing routes, leading to steals and fast breaks.

China recorded only two steals in the entire game, while the USA had nine, showing an obvious difference in defensive pressure and aggressiveness. The issue was not simply tactical positioning; the guards could not consistently deliver the ball to the interior duo. Zhang Ziyu and Han Xu had already established good positions near the basket, but the passes did not arrive, wasting the interior advantage they had created.

As the team’s tactical organizers, the guards also struggled with connecting the offense, and the success rate of passing combinations was low. The offense often relied only on simple entries into the post, without enough perimeter movement or passing options to create space. Defensively, they also failed to limit opposing shooters, making the guard line a major weakness for the opponent to attack.

Poor three-point shooting was another major problem, as China could not create effective outside pressure. The team shot just 5-for-19 from three-point range, below 27 percent. China’s current twin-tower strategy depends on using outside shooting to prevent opponents from focusing only on the interior.

With Zhang Ziyu and Han Xu as two elite interior players, opponents can easily collapse inside if China’s outside shots are not a threat. Once the twin towers are double-teamed, the interior offense becomes difficult to execute and the team can enter scoring droughts.

China’s outside shooting problems are not a new issue. In several summer warm-up games, the team’s three-point percentage remained low, especially on open shots under physical pressure. If the perimeter shooters continue to struggle, the advantage of the twin towers will be greatly reduced and winning games will become much harder.

To win the remaining games and secure a group qualification spot, China must make targeted adjustments quickly. Inside, the team needs to optimize the timing of the twin-tower system, protect Zhang Ziyu from defensive matchups that expose her weaknesses, and use interior size to draw double teams and create open shots outside.

The guards need to improve their ability to handle pressure, reduce unnecessary turnovers, speed up ball movement, connect better with the interior players, and improve passing combinations. Outside shooters also need to stay confident, take open shots decisively, and trust their opportunities.

Reference: Xinhua News Agency, China Women’s Basketball Team Loses to USA in World Cup Opener