U.S. NBA fans kinda miffed at Yi
Today ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As of the third round of balloting, Yi had 959,324 votes in All-Star game voting, which is open to fans anywhere in the world. He trailed Boston's Kevin Garnett by about 150,000 votes, giving him a chance to pull ahead and into Garnett's second-place spot before balloting ended. This is despite being 21st in rebounding and 31st in scoring among Eastern Conference forwards. The top two vote-getting forwards in each conference will be starters on the All-Star team (starters will be announced January 24).
Yi is not the only player who has been targeted by complaints that he's getting more votes than are warranted by his on-court performance. Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas and Greg Oden are just a few of the players who have been accused of getting votes based more on popularity than recent achievement. But Yi might be the player who has overachieved most in the balloting process.
Some have questioned whether Yi is simply getting a boost from the millions of NBA fans in China (and fans of Chinese origin living all over the world), or if there has been some tampering with the process. Either way, if Yi doesn't get voted in, he's very unlikely to appear in the All-Star game. Only the starting units are selected by fans.
Yi Jianilan image: Mingxingzhongguo.cn
Tags: basketball, NBA, Yi Jianlian
Wells drops 52, but what is wrong with the CBA?
Tuesday, 30th December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Yao Ming's former teammate Bonzi Wells is having a field day in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). After averaging 12.5 points and 4.6 rebounds over the course of his NBA career, Wells is a scoring machine in the CBA. Last night, he scored 52 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 119-115 overtime win for his Shanxi Zhongyu over Fujian.While Wells is blowing up the scoreboard and earning the dubious distinction of "best former NBA player in the CBA," China's professional basketball league seems to either be cleaning itself up or descending into chaos--we're reserving judgment on which one.
The news feed on the league's Web site right now features four stories about recent fines for players and teams. A recent league order required the Jilin and Jiangsu clubs to pay fines of 50,000 yuan ($7,300) each for unruly fan behavior at a game. Earlier this month, Liu Wei (a captain of the Chinese National Team and a once-upon-a-time NBA prospect) and Cai Liang, took on-court aggression off the court when they chased down opponent Gabe Muoneke after a game. Water bottles were thrown at Muoneke, who was reportedly leaving the arena with his family. Liu and Cai were fined 50,000 yuan apiece and suspended for 10 games; their club, the Shanghai Sharks, paid a 100,000 yuan fine. Also recently fined was the Tianjin club, again for fan behavior.
And while the fights and fines are getting headlines, the widespread practice of fudging players ages (making them younger so they can compete in youth tournaments) has also garnered some bad publicity. Li Zhigang, a reporter for Sports Illustrated's Chinese magazine, dug up some evidence that several players, including New Jersey Net Yi Jianlian, are a few years older than the age listed for them on official league documents.
It would be a good year for the CBA to get its act together, and a bad year for it to cement a reputation for lies and fisticuffs. The NBA is making big moves here—opening its NBA China office about a year ago, and announcing extensive arena construction plans this fall. Whether the CBA lets itself get bought out or digs in and tries to compete with a possible NBA-run Chinese league, the less shine it has on its brand image, the stronger the NBA's position gets.
Tags: basketball, Bonzi Wells, Cai Liang, CBA, Liu Wei, Shanghai Sharks, Shanxi Zhongyu, Yi Jianlian
Wells breaks 40 in first two CBA games
Friday, 26th December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Bonzi Wells image: Sports.sina.com
Tags: basketball, Beijing Ducks, Bonzi Wells, CBA, Shanxi Zhongyu
Yao vs. Yi: Game Three
Monday, 22nd December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The only two Chinese players currently in the starting lineup for NBA teams will face off in New Jersey Monday night, at 7:30 p.m. EST (8:30 a.m. Tuesday Beijing time). It is the third meeting, and the first this year, for Yao Ming (姚明) and Yi Jianlian (易建联). The game will air live on CCTV's sports channel.The Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen broke down in Sunday's paper why this year's Yao-Yi meeting won't match last year's for fanfare--Yao is focused on leading a surging Rockets team that is a serious playoff contender, and seems to see Yi and the Nets as just another opponent that needs to go down.
Yao has had a strong season so far, averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds a game. He has averaged 27 points over the last three games and was clutch in a weekend win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. His team has won five of its last six games.
Yi and the Nets are a different story. The team has dropped five of its last seven games, and Yi is averaging 10 points and 6 rebounds. He did notch a double-double against Dallas last Friday, but he's been held to one or fewer field goals six times this season.
Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian image: Tianjin Daily
Tags: basketball, Houston Rockets, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian
Yao quitting the Chinese national team?
Friday, 24th October 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Chinese media (beginning, reportedly, with Shanghai's Oriental Sports Daily) began reporting earlier this week that Yao Ming had announced plans to quit the Chinese national team.The center has since denied the reports to the Houston Chronicle. But his denial wasn't too forceful.
"I haven't announced that," he told the Chronicle. "I think now there is no national team and all I want to worry about is playing 82 games and the playoffs."
Yao had made comments to the Houston Chronicle before playing in his third Olympics earlier this year, indicating that this would be his last Olympic appearance. He will be almost 32 years old when the next games take place in 2012 in London. And with injuries dragging down his NBA career, including a broken foot that nearly kept him out of the Olympics, it's not much of a stretch to think the big guy might need a break.
In other Yao news, his doctor in Houston is reportedly seeing Liu Xiang next week, to see if he can help the injured hurdler.
Tags: basketball, Houston Chronicle, Liu Xiang, Olympics, Yao Ming
NBA to build arenas across China
Wednesday, 15th October 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Among the challenges the NBA faces in holding games in China, or otherwise taking advantage of the league's huge popularity here, is a lack of venues equipped to host NBA events. As has been expected, the league is making big moves to remedy that situation, with a joint venture with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to develop a dozen arenas in China.Early reports and conventional wisdom suggest that the first site developed will be in Shanghai, with an 18,000-seat arena completed in time for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The second site, Guangzhou, is expected to be announced at Wednesday's NBA preseason game at Guangzhou Gymnasium.
"Our largest market outside the United States is going to be here in China," said Heidi Ueberroth, president of NBA global marketing partnerships and international business operations. Tim Chen, CEO of NBA China, said that the NBA and AEG will have a $28 million stake in the Shanghai project and that the total project cost will be $277 million. By contrast, the Ford Center, a similarly sized arena that will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly the Seattle Supersonics), cost $89 million to build.
NBA commissioner David Stern indicated that construction wouldn't start right away and that the league hadn't chose all of the locations for arenas, which could also be in "Greater China" cities like Taipei, Macao and Hong Kong.. "We weren't going to start construction in the next couple of weeks," he said at a news conference with AEG in London. "We anticipate that in a relatively short order we will have laid out a road map of a dozen buildings or so throughout China." He added that decisions would be made over the next several months about where to put arenas.
AEG president and CEO Timothy J. Leiweke said he considered it a 20-year project, and that most of the new venues will be "built and designed from the ground up."
The arenas will be part of multiuse entertainment complexes, according to a statement from the NBA: "Where feasible, the arenas will be developed in conjunction with surrounding cultural and entertainment districts potentially comprised of restaurants, retail outlets, cinemas, hotels, residential areas, sports training facilities and smaller live entertainment venues."
The announcement comes just days before the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors play a pair of pre-season games in China. They will play at Guangzhou Gymnasium October 15 and on October 18 at Wukesong Arena in Beijing, the Olympic basketball venue developed by the NBA.
Related: Bucks and Warriors to play in China in 2008
Basketball's China Game Plan
Tags: basketball, Beijing, Guangzhou, NBA, Shanghai, Wukesong
Sun Yue sidelined with mono
Friday, 26th September 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Chinese national basketball team member and Lakers rookie guard Sun Yue was introduced to the media in Los Angeles Wednesday. With the help of a translator, he addressed a crowd that was outsized considering he was only the 40th overall pick in the 2007 draft, the LA Times reports.
Sun spoke about his longtime dream of playing in the NBA, and his particular interest in the Lakers. He also sought to manage expectations for his on-court performance, characterizing himself as a well-rounded player without exceptional skills in any particular area.
"I'm average," Sun said. "Not one skill that's very, very good, but no one skill that's very, very bad."
Any hope the 22-year-old guard had of making small improvements in the pre-season were soon dashed, though, by news that he will have to miss an indefinite period due to illness. Sun reportedly tested positive for mononucleosis shortly after the press conference.
Watch the full video of the press conference on NBA.com.
Sun Yue image: LA Times
Tags: basketball, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Sun Yue
Bucks and Warriors to play China in 2008
Thursday, 28th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The NBA keeps doing its best to dominate the post-Olympic China sports news cycle. The latest: the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors will play a pair of preseason games in China in October. The first will be played in Guangzhou Gymnasium October 15; the second will take place at Beijing's Wukesong Arena October 18.The Milwaukee Bucks are featured in this game, despite trading Chinese forward Yi Jianlian (易建联) to the New Jersey Nets on the eve of the NBA draft. The Bucks do have a player with a China connection, rookie Joe Alexander, who spent his middle school and early high school years in Beijing.
As sports marketing consultant Xia Song told CST in June, "Milwaukee has become a popular team in China. Even without Yi, it's still going to be a popular team in China. And if they have a player with a connection to China, that player is going to get attention here."
Related:
How the NBA draft looks from China
Basketball's China game plan
Tags: basketball, Beijing, Golden State Warriors, Guangzhou, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Wukesong, Xia Song, Yi Jianlian
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