Before Pau Gazol was drafted into the NBA, how many NBA players did that little Spanish league produce? None. Before Yao Ming was drafted into the NBA, how many NBA players did the CBA produce? Two. The CBA is becoming a regular supplier of players to the NBA, the NBA scouts are seriously working on finding talent there. More CBA players are keeping coming, the next NBA prospect is a guard called Hu Wei Dong, he couldn't make the NBA trip due to injury. Just because Pau Gazol playes better than Wang and Bateer does not mean Yao will do worse than Gazol. Gazol is supposed to play better as he was the No.2 pick, Wang was a late first round pick, and Bateer was signed in the middle of the season as a free agent.
I think we may be on the verge of tapping another basketball source for NBA players. The 1st 3 or 4 Euro players were subjected to simular scrutiny that Ming & Wang are. This is only natural until several oriental players make it in the NBA. Panda, I can't testify to the Chinese playing bball since it was invented. However I spent 13 months on an isolated/remote USAF site on Taiwan in the late 60's. We worked on a Taiwanese army base. On every Taiwanese holiday, they would challenge us to a basketball game. They came at us with 15(several were 5'9" to 5'11"). They were quick & they could jump. As far as Ming being worth a #1 pick, the draft is now a draft of potential instead of ability. The influx of underclassmen & highschoolers has lead to that.
