But team director Wilson Choi noted that none of the squad’s players are two metres tall, leaving the team at a disadvantage in a sport where height is crucial.
However, he insisted that this does not mean that Hong Kong has no chance of winning the tournament.
“I think our players are agile, smart – and we hope we can have an advantage in stamina and teamwork…I wouldn’t make the call on whether or not we can win, but we want to demonstrate one thing to all the basketball fans around the country – Hong Kong players might not be the biggest in terms of size, but our fight is second to nobody,” he said.
Hong Kong have lost to powerhouses Beijing and Shanghai placed in the same group, and Choi said the goal is to steal a win against the third team, Sichuan, for a chance to advance.
The team spent recent months training on the mainland, and guard Ivan Lo says given the size disadvantage, Hong Kong has to find open spots through screens and playing at a higher pace.
“In our top division, often the teams play up-tempo, or rely more on shooting. But on the mainland, their teams tend to rely more on physicality. So during our training up there, we gained experience in terms of using our quickness to fight against their size and length,” he said.
Another guard, Rex Ng, said it is a dream come true to be able to play in front of a home crowd at Hong Kong Coliseum.
“It’s not easy to have a group of friends and opponents who grew up and played together to play at the coliseum. It’s really hard to imagine – I haven’t played there for so many years. And now it’s even the National Games, a major tournament. We get to fight as a team, for Hong Kong, we’re very much honoured.”
Thirteen teams will be split into three groups.
The top two finishers from each group advance to the quarter-finals, with the two remaining slots filled by the best third-placed teams.
