Having three NBA players in his squad, national coach Jiang Xingquan still feels hard for China to qualify from a "tough" group in next year's Athens Olympic Games.

"The draw is just no good," said the 62-year-old coach. "Every team is strong."

China was drawn in Madrid on Saturday in Pool A with Argentina, Italy, Spain, New Zealand and Serbia and Montenegro.

Serbia and Montenegro is the reigning world champion, Argentina the world silver medalist, New Zealand the fourth place winner in last year's world championships and Italy and Spain are the European second and third place finishers respectively.

Italy is the only team China has beaten in recent years. Under the charge of Jiang, China defeated the European side 85-76 in the Sydney Olympics.

"We know Italy better than any other group rivals. I think we are more likely to beat them again in Athens," Jiang said.

But China needs at least two wins to qualify from the group for the quarter-finals.

"We took an early lead over New Zealand in last year's world championships, but we lost the game eventually because we failed to cope with their concentration defense," Jiang said.

Spain, whom China will meet in its first game next year, also holds a psychological edge over the Asian champion because it outscored China by over 20 points in a game for the ninth place in the Sydney Olympic Games.

"Our group opener will be extremely hard," Jiang said. "We must play exceptionally well to achieve a win."

Jiang, in his third spell as the Chinese national coach, guided China to the final eight in the 1994 world champions, its best feat in history. He took the helm again in 1999, only to be sacked one year later after his team finished a humiliating 10th place in the Sydney Olympics.

He was surprisingly named as the national coach again last April and regained the Asian title and an Olympic berth in the Asian championships in October.

"I will not talk about the Sydney Olympics again," Jiang said. "But I believe that the tragedy will not repeat."

Jiang said China has a lot to improve in its guards. "Our three guards - Liu Wei, Guo Shiqiang and Fan Bin, are not the best in Asia. They should work harder in the new season of the Chinese first division league, which kicks off next month."

By contrast, Jiang said NBA star Yao Ming is the player China can rely on in Athens.

"After one season with Houston Rockets, Yao has made a lot of progress both in attacks and defense.

"But we should know how to make better use of him rather than completely depend on himself."

Close

Today's Top News		Top Sports News
+More action needed on AIDS ( 2003-11-10) +Nation urged to help restart trade talks ( 2003-11-10) +China sows seeds for diplomatic `harvest' ( 2003-11-10) +Asian states form space exploration partnership ( 2003-11-10) +New national plan gives priority to patent protection ( 2003-11-10)		+Coach complains about tough Olympic draw ( 2003-11-11) +China extend winning streak at women's World Cup ( 2003-11-10) +Yao prefers playing Dream Team Six in Athens Olympics ( 2003-11-10) +Woods wins PGA of America Honors ( 2003-11-10) +NBA-Hamilton keeps Pistons hot with 24 points ( 2003-11-10)