Yao vows to expand reforms

His call for a more concerted effort underlines the lack of patience from the country's higher sports body that frequently implements radical changes following underachievement at major competitions, such as the FIFA World Cup for China's soccer team.

"So much should be changed - -but not the strong leadership of Yao and the blueprint he's drawn for the game's long-term development," said Su Qun, a commentator and chief editor of Basketball Pioneer newspaper.

"The probable loss of Olympic qualification has provided a clean slate for us to start over again in the right way."

Aimed at overhauling basketball's outdated State-run governance, Yao's reform measures include building a talent pipeline connecting schools to the elite system, making the domestic league more open and competitive, and enhancing the national program with tougher tests such as participation in the NBA Summer League.

As an example of the effort to expand the talent search, the fifth edition of the CBA Draft, which took place in Shanghai in July, saw a record number of six student players selected from the country's collegiate sports system.

The 20-club CBA, which will tip off its 24th season next month, has extended its season with more regular-season games and more playoff entries, while limiting the use of foreign players to offer more playing time to homegrown talent.

The league's heavy reliance on ex-NBA players was reflected at the World Cup, where no young teammates of veteran forward Yi Jianlian were able to match his contributions. As the only member of the 2008 class on Team China, the 32-year-old Yi remains its go-to guy, averaging 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds in a team-high 27.6 minutes at the tournament.

With no major international events to play in the next four-year cycle, Yi will likely end his international career - leaving an immature squad even less competitive within Asia, facing tough rivals Iran and South Korea.

"Chinese basketball still has to move forward, but only by learning from the lessons and improving on our long-term effort can we move upward," said Yi, who spent five turbulent years with five NBA teams after being drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2007.