Over the next three days, China Team played two more group-stage games, beating Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
That meant Saudi Arabia had a guaranteed spot in the next round in Group A, regardless of its group-stage record.
China Team, meanwhile, advanced as the group leader with a record of three wins and no losses, earning three points.
Under the rules, China Team's first opponent in the knockout stage would be the runner-up in Group B: Australia Team.
After advancing from the group, China Team went out for another meal of hand-grabbed rice and had a small celebration.
But Wang Jianhua, Coach Shi, and Coach Ma didn't join the players. Instead, they got straight to work studying Australia Team.
The next day was game-free. Before morning practice began, Wang Jianhua addressed the players:
"As everyone knows, eleven of Australia's twelve players are in the NBA."
"Kyrie Irving, Josh Giddey, Ben Simmons. Their abilities speak for themselves."
"The other players may not be as well-known in the NBA, but the fact that they made it into the league shows what they can do."
"Australia Team plays a very physical game. Pay attention: their physicality is different from the kind you'll face later from the Philippines. The Philippines often make plays with the intent to injure. Australia's physicality comes from how aggressively they fight for the ball. They're highly aggressive on both offense and defense."
"Everyone thinks that with me, Pang Bo, and Zhang Jiacheng on the roster, China Team should still be a little stronger than Australia. So they probably won't go all out against us. They'll play by the book."
"Every NBA player and every national team has studied the question of how to limit Wang Yi countless times."
"So, just as Wang Yi said, we need to go all