Lacking instincts

However it is Chen who offers the most clues to China's point guard conundrum.

He burst into the international spotlight after being tipped by the New York Times in 2003 as "the guy to pass the ball to Yao in 2008". But his quickness and athleticism offer clues to his roots his break came when he impressed during the Guangzhou 3-on-3 championships.

Last month he attended the Hoop Summit in Memphis, a training camp for talented teenagers from across the world, but his performance failed to impress observers.

"He lacks the point guard instincts that would compliment his quickness so well. During practice, he did make a few nice dump-off passes on the way to the basket, but those were few and far between over the course of the week," Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of Team USA and Duke University, told US media.

"He's still very weak physically, he will need to improve his diet and workout regime to enhance his potential in the NBA. His weak strength limits his ability to finish inside."

Kazlauskas reached a similar conclusion after Chen's uninspiring show at the World Championships, where his minutes shrunk as he failed to adjust to his teammates and the team's style of play.

System shortcomings

With millions of kids inspired to play basketball by Yao's NBA exploits, the law of averages suggests that China should be brimming with point guard potential.

However, shortcomings in the professional system make cultivating talented guards difficult.

The majority of China's professional players rise up to the CBA through local sports schools. The sports schools are required to produce talent capable of playing professionally, but when they are scouting children as young as six or seven, it is inevitable that the safest attribute to invest in is size.

Generally only children that are likely to grow to be over 1.95m will be selected by schools, which means that down the line the CBA receives lots of big men and very few point guard-sized players.

As a result, it has become a neglected position in a slow-paced league leaving most of the quality point guards playing amateur ball in 3-on-3 competitions, and just like Chen, not receiving sufficient coaching in their formative years.

Without any major tournaments this year, Kazlauskas will have a series of games against European national teams to solve the puzzle.

"I think we should be more like the European teams not the NBA teams. We have speed and we have very good shooters, what we lack is defense. I will test my team as much as possible this summer."