China adjusts to life without Yao

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming (11) sits on the court after colliding with Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom during the second half of Game 2 of their NBA Western Conference semi-final basketball playoff game in Los Angeles, May 6, 2009.

TIANJIN, China (Reuters) - The Chinese were adjusting to the realities of the post-Yao Ming era on Monday after their long dominance of continental basketball was broken by Iran in the final of the Asian championship.

Iran were defending champions but their title triumph in 2007 came as China rested their top players with an eye on the Beijing Olympics.

Before that, China had clinched the title in 14 of the previous 16 tournaments going back to their debut in 1975.

Yao, who could miss the whole of the next NBA season after suffering yet another foot injury, was Most Valuable Player in the last three of those triumphs.

"Yao Ming is injured and unable to play the Asia championships. We have to face the reality," China's downcast coach Guo Shiqiang, who won the title with Yao as a player in 2003, told reporters after Sunday's 70-52 defeat.

Sadly for Guo, the reality is that even if the Houston Rockets center had not been injured, there is significant doubt whether he would continue to throw his battered body around the court for his country at regional events.

New Jersey Nets center Yi Jianlian was supposed to be the man to step up and replace him as China's driving force but on Sunday he was comprehensively outplayed by Hamed Ehadadi of the Memphis Grizzlies, who retained the tournament MVP award.

POWER SHIFT

Wang Zhizhi, who preceded both Yao and Yi in the NBA, showed more drive but at 32 he is three years older than Yao and in the twilight of his career.

"Yi is a great talent ... but it's a lot on him and ... he is not a player who will make a difference in a team," Iran's experienced Serbian coach Veselin Matic said after the game.

"He's not a leader in the team, Zhizhi was more of a leader but he is a little bit old now."

With Lebanon and Jordan also making it to the last four, the 25th Asian championship witnessed a shift in the balance of power to the west of the continent.

"West Asian teams have indeed made great progress in recent years," Guo added. "They play flexibly. They have different characteristics from the east Asia teams."

Iran coach Matic also noticed the difference in approach.

"They are like in the army," he said of the Chinese team. "Basketball is a game where you have to give players freedom to play.

"It's a big pressure on the players, everyone speaking about Yao, everybody speaks about the big stars and nobody speaks about the hard work in the team to give freedom. They are scared of making mistakes."

Guo tried to take the pressure off his players on Sunday by blaming himself for the defeat, and the media were happy to go along that, Titan Sports newspaper splashing: "Guo Shiqiang beat China" on its front page. (Additional reporting by Liu Zhen; Editing by Peter Rutherford)