Stephon Marbury doing the training. Not sure if I like the sound of that.....this the same steph that got run out of this league? I think if the Asian countries got their ***** together they could field a competitive team that could rival Argentina. They just need to get it done. I definetely am extremely disappointed with Yi and Sun Yue to a degree. I just don't see Yao's work ethic in those guys. Despite their obvious talent. that being said, for every star there is an Adam Morrison (who hasn't done so bad after all) You bring a really interesting point, Asians seem to identify with anyone asian (be it Korean/Japanese/Chinese). I noticed this in the world cup generally speaking the Asians (girls especially) will tag onto the South Korean or Japanese teams simply because they are Asia. I know all the Taiwanese do relate to him surprisingly to me the Australian Born Taiwanese are the ones that DON'T relate to him at all. I can relate to Jeremy Lin because he is very similar to me in terms of up bringing (Christian Parents, Chinese as a second language, Decent Education and love of basketball). I can see how alot of 2nd or 3rd generation Asians identifying with Lin. its good for the sport in all countries to be honest but the race card is being overplayed in both America and in Taiwan/China
Trust me, the minute I heard Stephon Marbury was going to play in China, I thought he was going to be like the majority of Americans who go there and dominate and just leave. However, he's changed his image in China and helped lead his Chinese basketball team, the Beijing Ducks to a championship in the CBA. He's also heavily involved in making sure he interacts with the fans. It's probably partly due to marketing his brand, but he's also said that China has given him a new purpose in life. It seems like he's gotten a second chance, especially considering that the Chinese fans probably care more about what he actually does there since he plays there. Here are some interviews with him in China. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V3sbzyUYvV4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GDls5xWsTr8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wPxegzjaRwo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OFtBv5ugt7U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/08NbHMY3cn8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> He also released a book:
There were some glaring signs about Yi before he joined the NBA as well. His management didn't help either. Not only were they playing hard ball by not intially reporting to the Milwaukee Bucks after being drafted was one thing, but even pre-draft they only let a number of people watch him workout. The reports was that he worked out against a chair, which clearly was a good way of hiding any of his defensive struggles. Sun Yue's development was different from Yi's. Being developed into a 6'9" PG is hard enough, but his jumper was also shaky which doesn't help him against FIBA competition. His Chinese team was also banned from the CBA, so even after the NBA, he could only play the games against even more inferior competition that the team were set to play against. He should have tried to play in Europe or the NBA D-League, but then again the Chinese owner would have to give him a release. In terms of the rest of the FIBA Asia teams, Iran is the next top team from that zone due to Hamed Haddadi. The rest is questionable even if the Philippines get Javalee Mcgee. Here were the previous rankings in 2011. Chinese Taipei aka Taiwan were ranked 41. http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/even/rank/p/rankMen.html Their tallest player is 6'9", Tseng Win-Ting who actually played in the CBA as well.
If I remember correctly during USA vs Nigeria, the commentator mentioned the starting 5 of Nigeria all played college ball in the states. Most of them live in the States, but of course rep their country. I can see a lot more kids like Tang coming over.
Not only did they play college and high school in the U.S., but majority of the players are actually American (USA) born too. Nigera allows dual citizenship. I'll rundown some of the roster for you: http://www.nbcolympics.com/basketball/teams/team=912/index.html Ike Diogu - Born in NY, played at ASU, played around 7 seasons in the NBA Al-Farouq Aminu - Born in George played at Wake Forest, currently a Hornet Alade Aminu - Born in Georgia, played at Georgia Tech, played a few in the D-League Chamberlin Oguchi - Born in Texas, played at OSU for 3 years, then transferred to Illionois State Tony Skinn - Born in Maryland, played at George Mason University Koko Archibong - Born in NY, played at University of Pennsylvania Derrick Obasohan - Born in Texas, played at Texas-Arlington Ade Dagunduro - Born in CA, played in CC, then University of Nebraska Ekene Ibekwe - Born in CA, played at University of Maryland Richard Oruche - Born in Illinois, played at Northern Illonois, then University Illionois at Springfield FIBA has been trying to crack down on players that have foreign roots, but that rule can still be exploited. If you obtain citizenship after the age of 16, you're considered a naturalized player (Serge Ibaka). But a lot of countries allow dual-citizenship at a younger age as long as one of your parents has citizenship of that country. Both the Philippines and Taiwan allow this. The Philippines actually has some American-born Filipino players on their team as well.
Kyrie Irving is a dual citizen too, but I think his revoked his right to play for Australia which is quite sad. Could have exploded the game here with his presence. Although I couldn't say his Australian either
Kyrie Irving decided to stay with Team USA in hopes to play in 2016 Olympics, but he'll probably be able to play in 2014 at the World Cup. He also had already played for Team USA at the junior levels, so he would have to request a release in order to play for Australia. Ben Gordon is another dual-citizen who was eligible to play for Great Britain but decided not to play. One interesting player who has multiple nationalities is Joakim Noah. He was born in NY, but has citizenship with USA, France, and Sweden.
You did not put it 100 percent correctly. Jeremy's story has no ugly side. The political aspect will always be there. Both sides will continue to talk about it. The best you can do is separating sports from politics or celebrity status. I mean he does not appeal to Asians only. Other Americans and Christians also look up to him.
My response was towards his comments regarding the Chinese/Taiwanese fans, thus his heritage not his actual life story. I didn't bring up his other fan base because he wasn't talking about that.
I think you're misunderstanding my points and it seems you think I'm taking shots at Lin. Again, his heritage includes Chinese and Taiwanese, thus some media/fans who feel strongly about that choose to use that to bring out the political conflict which is the ugly side. You said it yourself, it's always going to be there. Just like being in NY had good and bad. I don't think I need to explain that to you.
It's all good. I don't think everything has to be ugly and as you said every fan and every media member should know what he or she is doing. That is just a boy who wants to ball.
Yup. He played in China last season due to the lockout. His Chinese team lost in the Finals to Marbury's. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZQ859jgPJcw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2t6ZVhf9WNQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
