A resounding victory by 22 points! The Asian Cup kicks off! The Chinese men's basketball team is about to make a significant debut.

It's here, it's here.

The Asian Cup officially begins.

In the opening match, New Zealand triumphed over Iraq with a score of 100-78, securing a strong start.

Despite New Zealand winning by 22 points, the first three quarters were fiercely contested. In the final quarter, New Zealand unleashed a 37-17 scoring surge, winning by 20 points, which led to the overwhelming final score.

According to the FIBA power rankings, New Zealand is ranked third, while Iraq is second to last, so it's quite surprising that Iraq managed to hold their ground for three quarters before losing, indicating that perhaps the outside world needs to reassess them.

The overall statistics for New Zealand are as follows:

The overall statistics for Iraq are as follows:

As for the Chinese men's basketball team, they are ranked fourth in the power rankings, below Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. In their first match of the Asian Cup, they will face the host nation, Saudi Arabia (ranked 11th). The last time the Chinese team faced Saudi Arabia was in the 2005 Asian Championship, where we dominated with a score of 98-10, but that has lost its relevance now.

The player that the Chinese team most needs to contain is Saudi Arabia's naturalized guard, Rahman, who stands 1.96 meters tall. Last season, he played for Bilbao in La Liga, averaging 10.2 points and 2.1 assists per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 32.5%. He can be unpredictable; when he gets hot, he can be quite troublesome, and we absolutely do not want another Clarkson situation.

The three referees officiating the match between the Chinese team and Saudi Arabia have been announced: Kato Yoshiki (Japan), Park Kyung-jin (South Korea), and Paul Skaeam (Lebanon).

The 12 players representing the Chinese men's basketball team in the Asian Cup are as follows:

Wang Junjie, Zhu Junlong, Li Xiangbo, Yu Jiahao, Zhao Rui, Zhao Jiayi, Hu Jinqiu, Hu Mingxuan, Gao Shiyan, Liao Sanning, Cheng Shuai Peng, and Raymond.

There has been considerable controversy regarding the roster for this Asian Cup, mainly due to the unexpected omission of Xu Jie and Zhang Ning, who performed well in the CBA. However, dwelling on this is pointless; head coach Guo Shiqiang has his own philosophy on player selection, and whether it is right or wrong will only be revealed during the games.

Chinese team captain Zhao Rui, when interviewed about the vision for this Asian Cup, stated: “To win a medal and stand on the podium.”