At the end of the previous Olympic Games, FIBA released the strength rating of the men's basketball team of today's countries, among which the gold medalist of the Paris Olympics, the United States men's basketball team, undoubtedly continues to dominate the number one position in the world, and behind them Serbia, Germany, France and Canada occupy the 2-4 places. Our Chinese men's basketball team is ranked 30th in this list, and if you only count the teams in the Asian region, the Chinese men's basketball team is in sixth place.
With the continuous regression of the Chinese men's basketball team in recent years, we have lost our competitiveness in the Asian region, and the scene of being continuously "educated" by the Philippines last year is still vivid. In a qualifying game last year, the Chinese men's basketball team lost to the Philippines with a score of 75-96, and in that game, Philippine player Clarkson scored 24 points in a single quarter and directly collapsed the game.
And then the Asian Games, China and the Philippines met in the semifinals, originally everyone thought that this was the revenge battle of the Chinese men's basketball team, after all, they were at home, and Clarkson was not there, but the result was that the Chinese team was once led to 18 points, and was reversed in the second half and finally missed the final, and this loss to the Philippines was also completely torn off the last fig leaf.
Through these two games, it can be seen that the current Chinese men's basketball team has no players who can provoke the beams, although Li Kaier is naturalized, but with his style of play, it is obviously not the most suitable player for the current Chinese team. In fact, the probability of the Chinese team competing for the 2028 Olympic Games ticket is already very low, and now because the NBA Wizards' star Kyle Kuzma took the initiative to say that he intends to join the Philippine men's basketball team, the chances of the Chinese men's basketball team are even more slim.
Some fans may not know what level of player Kyle Kuzma is, so let's take a look at this potential opponent who may go head-to-head with the Chinese men's basketball team on the international stage in the future. As an NBA first-round pick in 2017, Kuzma was selected with the 27th pick in the first round, and he was very favored by the Lakers, and he got a lot of playing time and ball possession in his rookie season, so he averaged 16.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game that year.
In the 2018-2019 season, Kuzma's performance continued to improve, and he averaged 18.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in the regular season. In the turmoil of the 2019 offseason, Kuzma was lucky to stay with the Lakers, and due to the arrival of thick eyebrows, he had to transform into a bench, so his subsequent statistics have also shrunk significantly compared to before.
However, the upside is that Kuzma managed to get his first championship ring with the team in 2020, and he averaged 10 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in the playoffs that year, in addition to the obvious improvement in his defense under Vogel's guidance. In 2021, the Lakers failed to defend their title, and the management, under the pressure of the record, made significant adjustments to the roster, among which Kuzma was sent to the Wizards as a bargaining chip to trade Wei Shao.
Since arriving in Washington, Kuzma's ball and tactical status has skyrocketed, starting all 66 games he played in the 2021-2022 season, and he also averaged 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in the regular season that year. Compared to the Lakers period, Kuzma is no longer dominated by the ball, and he has begun to constantly polish his skills on the ball.
In the 2022-2023 season, in order to develop Kuzma, the Wizards also sent away the younger Hachimura, and his progress can be regarded as living up to the team's trust in him. In the regular season, Kuzma averaged 21.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.5 three-pointers per game, shooting 44.8% from the field.
Because Kuzma's improvement is so obvious, even though they didn't make the playoffs last year, the team still signed him to a four-year, $102 million contract in the offseason. However, the Wizards' failure was that they traded Jordan Poole in the offseason, and the player was basically hopeless, not only did he play disappointing last season, but he also greatly affected the Wizards' record and the performance of other players.
Kuzma was one of the "victims" of the trade for Poole, and when a team's core point guard has no ability to tandem offense, the team can easily become a mess on the court. Fortunately, after the first two years of training, Kuzma is no longer the blue-collar who can only rely on his teammates to pass the ball, and he took on the role of the team's leader very well last season, and he played very well.
In the regular season, Kuzma averaged 22.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.2 three-pointers per game, shooting 46.3% from the field, including career highs in points, assists and shooting percentages per game. In many games during the regular season, Kuzma showed his scoring ability and all-round skills, and the statistics of 32+12+8, 31+12+3 and other statistics were all played by him himself. Kuzma's current improvement compared to the past in the field of three-point shooting with the ball is simply too surprising, you must know that in the current basketball world, whether or not you have the ability to shoot three-pointers with the ball completely determines the ceiling of a player.
Like the Japan player Kawamura Akiki, who is famous on the international stage, although he is not even 1.8 meters tall on the court, with his excellent ball-holding and shooting skills, he can play amazing scoring explosiveness on the court. At the Paris Olympics, Kawamura averaged 20.3 points per game, and it is precisely because he is a scoring threat that he can create opportunities for his teammates on the court, so he is also averaging 7.7 assists per game.
If Kuzma can join the Philippine men's basketball team now, then at least his strength in the entire Asian region is still very impressive, and compared to Clarkson, Kuzma is younger, 4 years later, Clarkson is already 36 years old, and at that time, the 33-year-old Kuzma can at least be at the end of his peak.
For the Philippines, if they can really naturalize Kuzma, their strength will definitely be upgraded to another level at that time. Looking at the current situation, the probability of the Chinese men's basketball team getting the first place in Asia in the next World Cup is getting closer and closer to 0, and if it comes to the qualifiers, the Chinese men's basketball team will directly face the national teams of other continents, it will be even more finished, so now it is basically a sure thing that the Chinese men's basketball team will miss the Olympics for three consecutive years.