Former Houston Rockets Player Zhou Qi Missing Again but China’s Basketball Stand-ins Get Job Done

China’s basketball head coach Aleksandar Dordevic dismissed concerns over the fitness of Zhou Qi after his star player again watched from the bench as his teammates won their second practice match against Hong Kong Eastern.

A youthful China side walked away with a comfortable 77-56 win in Qingdao on Tuesday night, with the likes of Zeng Fanbo, Cui Yongxi and Fan Ziming helping to avenge Monday’s loss to the Hong Kong club.

Zhou’s continued non-involvement provided a sideshow at the Guoxin Basketball Training Centre, but Dordevic said the 27-year-old’s lack of match fitness had given him an opportunity to look at younger players.

“He is a very important player for China, but we want to give opportunities to younger players to see what they can do,” the Serb said. “We already knew what Zhou can do for us.

“Hopefully, he will get into the game shape he is missing. I hope he will use this summer in the right way to get himself into shape for our preparation games [for the FIBA World Cup].”

Zhou, who has been without a club since returning to China last December, last played competitive games in February, when he featured in the World Cup qualifying wins over Kazakhstan and Iran in Hong Kong.

The former Houston Rockets centre admitted he was short on game time.

“It is a reality that I do not have any competitive games,” Zhou said. “I can only train as per normal to maintain my condition, and try to find some match fitness in the upcoming training.”

After stunning the hosts with a 73-67 win a day earlier, Eastern head coach Zeljko Pavlicevic made three changes to his line-up, including naming young centre Simba Pok Yuet-yeung as a starter.