Du handed the ball as Team China's new boss

In wake of World Cup fiasco, CBA decides it's time for a new coach

Looking for redemption after a disappointing effort at September's FIBA Basketball World Cup, China's national team has hired Du Feng to replace Li Nan as head coach.

The Chinese Basketball Association announced Du's appointment on Thursday night through a statement posted on the CBA's official Weibo account.

"The Chinese Basketball Association has decided to adjust the national coaching team by hiring Du Feng, coach of Guangdong Hongyuan Southern Tigers, as head coach of Team China," said the CBA statement.

"Du Feng will work on building a new national team. While the team is preparing for FIBA Olympic qualifying tournaments, it is also eyeing the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the 2024 Olympics and the future in the long-term.

"We want to thank Du Feng for daring to take this responsibility at a very difficult time for Team China. It will be a great challenge for Du to coach the national team and Guangdong Hongyuan at the same time, but we believe he can find a great balance.

"We also want to thank Guangdong Hongyuan for the club's support for Chinese basketball."

Du has been head coach of Guangdong Hongyuan since 2013, leading the CBA powerhouse to league titles in 2013 and 2019. He was named the CBA's coach of the year last season.

Guangdong Hongyuan also issued a statement, saying the club is honored by Du's hiring as national team coach.

"I wish to thank the Chinese Basketball Association that chose to trust me at such a difficult time in Chinese basketball," Du told China Central Television. "I am taking full responsibility as the head coach of the national team, and I will try my best at the new job.

"I also want to thank Guangdong Hongyuan for its support. Many national team coaches in the world also coach club teams. Coaching a club team can help the national team coach maintain the feel of competition ... and it will also help me to find the best players in the domestic league.

"There will be many difficulties, but we have to concentrate on the future in solving the problems that were exposed at the FIBA World Cup tournament. We must make changes and show the winning spirit we formerly had."

Team China squandered a relatively easy draw by winning just one game in the first group stage of the World Cup, which was held in China.

The host eventually finished 24th out of 32 teams and missed out on Asia's only direct qualification spot for next year's Tokyo Olympics.

The news of Du's national team appointment instantly went viral on Chinese social media, and related topics on Weibo had been viewed more than 140 million times as of Friday morning.

The most trending news, however, was a personal post by Team China's former coach Li Nan, which was viewed more than 300 million times.

"I really want to thank Yao Ming and the CBA for the trust and support they gave me for the past three years," said Li, who was the target of heavy criticism from fans and media after the World Cup fiasco.

"I learned many precious things over the past three years as coach of Team China and I now have a deeper understanding of the sport.

"I kept silent, and I really owe everyone an explanation. As I'm no longer the Team China coach, I sincerely apologize to everyone who was disappointed with us. As the head coach, I failed to achieve our goal and I take all the responsibility myself. But these setbacks have not decreased my love for basketball."

Compared to the fans' vehemence toward Li in the aftermath of the World Cup, reaction to his personal post was much softer. Many commented that it was not Li's fault, but rather a lack of overall team strength.

Li isn't the first to shoulder sole responsibility for Team China's lackluster international performance. After China's 86-73 loss to Nigeria at the World Cup, CBA president Yao Ming said he was responsible for the sub-par effort.

"It is me who disappoints the fans," Yao said at the time. "The fans had great expectations for China at the World Cup, but we could not make success happen.

"This tournament was a window for us to look out to the world, but the gap between China and the leading basketball countries has been enlarged.

"We are determined to keep our reforms going, including the professional league, youth academy and sports education."