The Boomers found out first-hand on Monday the quality of Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming in a narrow pre-Olympic defeat in Belgrade.

The 229cm (7ft 6") starting centre for the NBA's Houston Rockets proved more than a handful as he led China to a hard-fought 84-82 victory.

Down by as many as 15 points, Australia had a chance to win in the last seconds but Tony Ronaldson's three-point attempt at the buzzer failed to connect.

Yao scored a game-high 28 points, including eight of 11 field goals and also pulled in nine rebounds in a dominant performance.

He dwarfed Australia's tallest players - David Andersen (212cm), Paul Rogers (209cm) and Andrew Bogut (207cm) - leading to frustration under the basket for the Boomers.

Australia are likely to come up against Yao again at the Olympics should they qualify for the finals stage of the competition.

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian was unhappy with his side's foul count, with Australia sending the Chinese to the charity stripe 42 times - 30 of which were landed.

Australia's foul woes were compounded when big men Bogut and Andersen were fouled out in the fourth quarter.

"I was disappointed by the way the team fouled in this game, sending China to the foul line early in each quarter," Goorjian said.

"To the players' credit, they fought hard in the second half and showed some real spirit.

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