HANGZHOU, China – Chinese legend Yao Ming was man enough to admit there is now a “huge gap” between Team China and the so-called “heavyweights” in the world of basketball.

“We have already observed the gap between Team China and the top teams in the other parts of the world,” the NBA Hall of Famer told Asiad Daily.

“The pain comes from the huge gap between China’s basketball and world basketball.”

Though the once mighty Chinese team salvaged a bronze with 101-73 drubbing of Chinese-Taipei in the 19th Asian Games, the pain inflicted by Gilas via a stunning 77-76 win will linger on until the 20th Asian Games in 2026.

It was the second defeat suffered by the Chinese team to Gilas in a month, counting the FIBA World Cup held in Manila.

It was a disappointing loss for the Chinese squad as it led throughout the match until the waning seconds – thanks to the coaching brilliance of Tim Cone and the clutch baskets of Justin Brownlee.

He also cited the rapid progress of the Japanese teams which managed to clinch a berth in next year’s Paris Olympics. Even its women's team is doing great.

“This might be bad news for us, but on the other hand, it might be a good thing because if they can do that, we can also do that,” the former Houston Rockets star said.

But compared against the heavyweights, Yao expressed fear that Asian teams might be left behind, noting that world basketball is progressing very fast.

“It’s like the change of era from the cold weapons to the hot weapons. But how can we make the change within our team? We still need to study. We still need to sum up with our own experience.”