Chinese NBA Rockets center Yao Ming said Friday that he was confident of advancing to the second round from Group D at the Men's World Basketball Championships here.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points as Germany struggled but survived a dog-fight with Japan to open the FIBA World Championship with a 81-70 victory over the tournament hosts.
France have suffered a major blow to their world basketball championship hopes after NBA All Star Tony Parker was ruled out of the tournament on Friday with a freak injury.
Nearly 50 players from the National Basketball Association, about one of every six participants, will take the court for their homelands when the FIBA World Championships begin Saturday.
Two years ago, with an upset win over world champion Serbia and Montenegro, the Chinese men's basketball team matched its franchise best by making it to the top eight at the Athens Olympics.
FIBA announced today that sales of numbers of official merchandise products of the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan have already topped $5m.
A trio from the Class of 2003 will serve as the leaders of Team USA in the World Championships.
After mowing down five exhibition opponents by an average of 34 points, the U.S. is ready to re-establish ownership of international basketball.
China's Yao Ming has admitted that he is struggling to find his best form, despite helping his country avoid an eighth successive defeat in their narrow victory over Australia on Tuesday.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James believes a change in attitude not talent will hold the key to a gold medal for the U.S. men's basketball team when the world championship tips off on Saturday.
Yao Ming scored 21 points to give China a much-needed 63-61 win over Australia on Tuesday in their final exhibition game before the world championships in Japan.
On Tuesday China announced its team for the upcoming men's basketball World Championships.