WNBA picks up two Chinese players
Wednesday, 29th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Miao Lijie (left) and Chen Nan at a press conference in China
Chen, the 2009 MVP of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association, has a two-season deal with the Sky. She will play behind Sylvia Fowles, a dominant center in the league and like Chen, a 2008 Olympian. Chen, 26, averaged 14.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game during the Olympics. Terms of the contract were not released.
(Check out game tape of Chen here. She's No. 15)
"Her addition will add to the overall height and size of our front court, which we need to challenge the best in the WNBA," said Chicago Sky coach and GM Steven Key. "Her ability to shoot from the outside as well as drive to the basket is exceptional for a player of her size." Chen will arrive in Chicago in early May, and the Sky open the season at Minnesota June 6.
Miao, 28, is getting her second shot at the league. She and Sui Feifei (forward) both signed with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005. The team went on to win the WNBA championship, but Miao and Sui barely got off the bench. Playing in the United States seemed to serve Miao's game well. She was the X factor in China's upset of the U.S. women in a pre-Olympic tournament, She averaged 18 points per game during the Olympics, including a 28-point performance against Belarus that put her team into the semifinals.
When Miao and Sui were first signed back in 2005, Chinese national team head coach Gong Luming said the chance to play in the WNBA should help their game, but expressed skepticism about their ability to adapt to life in America, saying: "Our players are much like the birds raised in the cage as they get everything they need from China. But they won't have anyone to rely on in the United States, and they will be forced to deal with all matters in their daily life and the high-intensity matches alone." (Sohu.com)
When it looked like she would get another shot at the WNBA in 2007, Miao cited the language barrier as a major impediment to success in the league. "My English has improved a lot since last time (in 2005), but it is still a little bit tough for me to understand what the coach says," she said, according to China Daily. "Besides the games, I will try to learn more English." I don't know where exactly she was playing on the floor with the Monarchs, but Miao is at her best when running the point for Team China--and there's no position where it's more important for a player to understand her coach.
Zheng Haixia, a 6-foot-9 center, was the first Chinese player in the WNBA. She averaged 9 points and 4.4 rebounds over two seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks (1997 and 1998), and won the league's Sportsmanship Award in her rookie season.
Related links:
Zheng Haixia on WNBA.com
Miao Lijie on WNBA.com
Sui Feifei on WNBA.com
Sina.com coverage of Miao/Chen news (in Chinese)
Image of Miao and Chen: Sina.com
Tags: basketball, Chicago Sky, Miao Lijie, Sacramento Monarchs, Sui Feifei, WCBA, WNBA, Zheng Haixia
Olympic marketing: How did sportswear brands do?
Friday, 29th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
For sports apparel brands, the Olympics are arguably the most important stage for marketing. So how did the sports marketers fare with the Chinese market in these Olympics? Here's a look at how things played out for Adidas, Li-Ning, Nike, Puma and Speedo.Adidas
Adidas reportedly shelled out 70 million euros to be an official Olympic sponsor. Adidas gear was also all over Olympians, great for television. But aside from shoes and uniforms, Adidas wasn't particularly visible in Olympic venues. It had no special presence on the Olympic Green, but its beautiful flagship store in Sanlitun near the Workers' Stadium and Workers' Gymnasium saw lots of foot traffic.
Adidas' Olympic sponsorship allowed it to use the Bird's Nest and Olympic logo.
Its Olympic ad campaign, though beautifully designed and fitting in concept (Together in 2008, Impossible is Nothing), came up short in the personnel categories. That campaign had four primary faces, in sports that are very popular in China--diver Hu Jia, footballer Zheng Zhi, basketball player Sui Feifei and a few women's volleyball players. Hu pulled out due to injury, Zheng and the men's football team had an embarrassing performance and Sui Feifei was only sixth in scoring on Team China. The women's volleyball team played strong in a very tough field, but in the end only came through with the minimum result acceptable to the hometown fans, a bronze medal.
Li-Ning
China's biggest sports apparel brand had the biggest marketing coup of the games—its founder, Li Ning, carrying the Olympic flame on a three-minute slow-motion run to the top of the Bird's Nest, where he lit the Olympic cauldron. The company's stock went up the next day, and Li Ning will always have his stamp on what seems to be an especially important part of the Olympics to Chinese fans.
Li-Ning's storefronts were generic during the games, but there was nothing generic about its opening ceremony product placement.
Li Ning also had its name on the uniforms of China's diving and table tennis teams, who delivered dominant performances, as well as the Spanish national basketball team, which gave Team USA a tough match before losing in the gold medal game.
Nike
Nike's two biggest bets on Chinese athletes were Yi Jianlian and Liu Xiang. Yi was solid but not explosive, averaging 9 points a game. The Chinese national team, wearing Nike jerseys, didn't really exceed expectations, but certainly didn't come up short, making it to the quarterfinals before losing to Lithuania. But Chinese fans were more excited about catching a glimpse of Team USA, who were also sporting Nike's hot new jersey, available in stores all over Beijing.
Nike had to deal with the toughest spin job of any Olympic marketer this year—how to salvage its investment in China's biggest sports star, Liu Xiang, when he didn't even compete in the games. Nike's immediate answer--a full page ad celebrating the love of sport even in defeat--succeeded in becoming part of the stream of catharsis after Liu bowed out. Nike got some negative publicity for its efforts to hunt down netizens who alleged that the shoe company had coerced Liu to drop out rather than lose to Robles.
Nike hedged its big-name bets by backing lesser-known athletes as well.
But Liu and Yi weren't the only athletes that Nike put is name behind. It was all over team China, and ready with full-page ads in China Daily and front-page ads in Titan sports news when any of its athletes won a medal or had a strong performance. Swimmer Zhang Lin (silver medalist), boxer Zou Shiming (gold medalist) and beach volleyball duo Tian Jia and Wang Fei (silver medalists) were just a few of the lower-profile high-achieving athletes that Nike celebrated in its Olympic campaign.
Puma
Dollar for dollar, Puma might have gotten the most of its Olympic investment. Its hopes ran on two spiked shoes-- those of sprinter Usain Bolt, who loped across the finish line to set the 100-meter dash world record. China loves a winner, and Bolt and the dominant Jamaican team were very well-received in Beijing. Jacques Rogge can complain all he wants, but most Chinese don't mind a guy who's willing to revel in his moment.
Speedo
If you weren't wearing a Speedo LZR Racer in this Olympics, you might as well never leave the Water Cube's warm-up pool. Nine out of every 10 swimming gold medals went to LZR wearers. The only complaint that people had about the LZR was that it made swimmers too fast, world records too common. The suit was considered such an integral part of success that Nike agreed to let its swimmers wear LZRs instead of Nike suits. Speedo doesn't have a big presence at Chinese sports retailers—swimwear here tends to be generic instead of branded—but China, along with the rest of the world, has no choice but to see Speedo as the leader in swimwear technology.
Tags: Adidas, athletics, Beijing Olympics, Hu Jia, Li-Ning, Liu Xiang, marketing, Nike, Olympics, Puma, Speedo, Sui Feifei, swimming, Tian Jia, Titan, Usain Bolt, volleyball, Wang Fei, Zhang Lin, Zheng Zhi, Zou Shiming
Women's basketball reach semis
Wednesday, 20th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Miao Lijie
China won despite being outrebounded 41-22; the 27 turnovers by Belarus (to China's 11) made the difference, and then some.
Though Sui Feifei (隋菲菲) is the team's most famous player, she scored just 6 points last night, on par with her performance throughout the Olympics. Against Belarus, it was captain Miao Lijie (苗立杰), yet again, who took the game over for China. She led all scorers with 28 points on 71 percent shooting. Miao was key to China's upset of the United States in an Olympic test event in April, pacing China with 26 points. The 27-year-old point guard from Harbin is quick on the drive and a pesky defender. She's averaging 19.5 points in the Olympics.
China's route to the semifinals also included wins over Spain (67-64), New Zealand (80-63) Mali (69-48) and the Czech Republic (79-63). Its only loss came at the hands of the undefeated US team, a 108-63 trouncing.
China will play its semifinal game against Australia Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Beijing time. The teams played each other about two weeks ago in the FIBA Diamond Ball for Women tournament in Haining, with Australia winning by 14.
Miao Lijie image: 2008.qq.com
Tags: basketball, Beijing Olympics, Miao Lijie, Olympics, Sui Feifei