China cut down to size by Japan's pacey run-and-gun game

With its sizeable assets neutralized by Japan's run-and-gun game, the Chinese women's team has crashed out of its home Asia Cup earlier than expected, with alarm bells ringing for the future.

A perennial continental power, proud of its talented supply of towering post players, the Chinese women's basketball program has learned the hard way how the modern game has evolved into a competition of sheer speed, sharpness and an intensity delivered at a much faster pace.

The lesson was a harsh one after Team China, as defending champion and a higher-ranked favorite, suffered a 90-81 semifinal loss to Japan on Saturday in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, missing out on the final of the FIBA continental showpiece for the first time in eight years.