2002 world championship group C: China, USA, Germany, Algeria

China defeats USA: no chance at all
China defeats Germany: basically no chance
China defeats Algeria: Good chance and the only chance.


Some players who will play at 2002 world championship.

 

He will attend too.

 

Anyone else in the Rockets will attend this world championship?

 

China
Behind ''Great Wall,'' China Builds Basketball Power
By Conrad Brunner
www.pacers.com

Al Menendez couldn't resist the temptation.

One afternoon, while the veteran scout was reviewing tape of an intriguing prospect, a secretary ventured into his office. Hoping to prove a point, he asked for her opinion of one of the players in particular. ''I was pointing out things I like about (the player), like his athleticism, his good hands, his mobility, his running the floor,'' Menendez said. ''So I turned to her and said, 'That's pretty good for a 6-6 guy, isn't it?' And she said, 'Yeah, he looks very good.'

So I said, "My mistake: he's 7-6."

Therein lies the promise of Yao Ming.

The tallest player in every game he plays, Yao is not just that. There have been players similarly tall before, but not who carried with them as complete a package of physical skills. He would've been the No. 1 pick in NBA Draft last June, had his club team in China allowed. No matter. He will be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft whenever he does come, possibly in June 2002.

''Without a doubt, I would say so,'' said Menendez, one of the most respected scouts in the NBA. ''I don't see any Shaquille O'Neals on the American horizon. Unless somebody's hiding out there somewhere in the woods, whenever he decides to come over, he'll probably be the first pick.''

There is much more to Yao than Chinese hopes in the 2002 World Basketball Championship (Aug. 29 through Sept. 8) in Indianapolis. Indeed, he was not even the best player in China last season. That honor belongs to Wang Zhi Zhi, a 7-1 forward who became the first Chinese player ever to appear in a regular-season NBA game with Dallas last season. Not far behind is Menk Bateer, another 7-footer.

The three of them form what has come to be known as China's ''Great Wall,'' and they combined to score 43 points and pull 26 rebounds to claim the top spot in the Asian Continental Qualifier on July 28, 2001, with a 93-67 victory over Lebanon.

Though China has been dominant in the Asian Games, winning the title 12 times in 14 years, it has yet to win a medal in the World Championship. However, the country's prospects have never been better.

''They're just breaking through now,'' Menendez said. ''They're starting to pay much more attention to the sport. Without a doubt, this is just the beginning for the Chinese players.''

While Wang, 23, is clearly the most complete player and Menk, 25, is a 300-pound force inside, Yao is the player NBA scouts have their eyes on because at 20, he is still developing. Though he weighs 265 pounds, he has much more room to fill out and gain necessary strength. Offensively, because of the width of the trapezoidal lane used in international competition, he has not developed an American-style low-post game, but does have high-post and face-up skills. Defensively, he is a skilled shot-blocker.

The intrigue lies not so much in what he is now, however, as what he could become.

'What I like about Yao is he is such a great athlete for his size that you don't even know that he's 7-6,'' Menendez said. ''Now, he doesn't have a quote-unquote low-post game. Most foreign players learn the game differently because of the wider trapezoidal lane. Since they're moved away from the basket more than our guys, they learn how to face the basket more, more than just backing into somebody and hooking or something like that. So he doesn't have a typical center's game. He has more of a power-forward's game."

''I just like everything about him.''

Wang, a second-round pick of the Mavericks in 1999, averaged 4.8 points in five regular-season games. A seasoned international performer, he averaged 11.1 points in the '96 Olympics in Atlanta, and 13.5 points in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

He also led his Rockets past Yao's Shanghai Sharks for their sixth consecutive Chinese Basketball Association Championship in March before joining the Mavericks - and making history - in April.

''He's a good player, too,'' Menendez said. ''I don't think he has the future that Yao has but Wang is a bigger Toni Kukoc. He's a very good shooter, he handles well, he runs well. He's more of a power forward than anything but he is 7-1, so he's a good NBA player.

''In the game that I was watching on tape that day, Wang basically outplayed Yao and Wang's team beat them so right now, at this minute, he's a better player. But if you're looking down the road, Yao has more potential and you would have to say a better future.''

The same could be said for Chinese basketball in general, as the ''Great Wall'' could be just the first wave of talent from a country building a true global basketball power.

 

2001 Asian Championship Team Stats

Yao Ming:
162 minutes, 2PFG 72.4%, FT 67.6%, rebound 81, assist 5, block 22, avg 13.38;

Wang Zhizhi:
137 minutes, 2PFG 63.5%, 3PFG 43.8%, FT 64.3%, rebound 43, assist 0, block 2, avg 13.75.