First, with a double-digit deficit, Japan felt an early exit after the first quarter.
Point guard Mai Yamamoto is out with a concussion, and Japan's outside defense was in disarray against Germany, a situation that looks set to become the norm.
Looking back at the Paris Olympics, Belgium's loss was rooted in the injury of point guard Almande, whose absence severely hampered the team's offensive organization.
Facing the challenge of Sabaly, which on the surface appears to be a battle between the inside strength of the two teams, exposes the weakness of the outside, leading to the team's offensive ineptitude.
At the beginning of the game, Japan was keen on three-point shooting but missed back-to-back shots, and the lack of outside dimensions made their offense as dumb as a dud. Belgium, on the other hand, shot 5-3 from three-point range, widening the gap to double digits early on.
We must recognize that basketball is a comprehensive sport, and although Isao Kawamura is in the minority, the lack of three-point shooting by Japan and Belgium's less than 20 percent three-point shooting in its first two games underscores this point.
At the end of the first quarter, Belgium was leading 19:7 and Japan had no way back.
Secondly, the fact that Belgium won 27 games pretty much condemned the Chinese women's basketball team to an early exit.
In the second quarter, Belgium combined inside and outside, and after half-time, the score difference had reached 16 points. As the point difference continues to widen, Chinese fans began to feel confused, because if Belgium can net 26 points over Japan, China is basically out of the game.
Today's game was quite similar to Singapore's game against Thailand in the World Qualifiers. Chinese fans never shouted for Singapore, just like today for the first time expecting Japan women's basketball team to lose less.
Belgium extended the difference to 22 points in the third quarter, putting the Chinese women's basketball team in a precarious position.
By the fourth quarter, Belgium's lead was up to 27 points and Japan was out of the game.
Obviously, the Japanese team chose the "defensive position", unwilling to be the opponent's "lamb".
In the end, Belgium beat Japan by a huge margin of 28 points to advance to the last eight.
Belgium's success means that the Chinese women's basketball team has effectively said goodbye to this year's tournament, as the battle for the third place in Group B will follow a fixed pattern, which will undoubtedly leave the Chinese women's basketball team in a state of unending sadness.
The mention of Brother Sunny of Singapore Coconut Milk Rice is even more poignant.
Those basketball commentators who had favored that China's women's basketball team could experience a miracle were indeed both cute and innocent.
Today's Aug. 4 will be an unforgettable day in China's basketball history, as was the case 33 years ago on Nov. 30, when Saudi Arabia suffered a 0:5 defeat to New Zealand, which has since reduced the Chinese men's soccer team to a laughingstock.
More importantly, today's defeat stems from the Japanese basketball that pains Chinese fans.
Today, Chinese fans are concerned about the strife between Belgium and Japan, which really stems from the ripple effect of the Chinese women's basketball team's missed opportunity in the first game, an overtime defeat against Spain.
But any decorated defender of a World Cup runner-up should have the dignity to not bow down before others.
Since then, Zheng Wei and the Chinese women's basketball team under her leadership have been labeled a disgrace to Chinese basketball.
Let's hope that all of this doesn't become the beginning of Chinese basketball's move towards footballization.
