Bateer's 19 lead China in defeat By Marc J. Spears Denver Post Sports Writer Sunday, September 01, 2002 - INDIANAPOLIS - The United States had a tough time stopping the big center from China on Saturday night during a 84-65 victory at the World Championship. No, that China star wasn't 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming, the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. Rather, the Denver Nuggets' Mengke Bateer. Bateer scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbed five rebounds against Team USA in front of 22,619 fans at the RCA Dome. The 6-foot-11, 290-pounder was a rookie with Denver last season and is now a restricted free agent. "I can play the game well," said Bateer, through an interpreter. "Having played with the Nuggets last year helped me a lot. Playing in the NBA gave me a lot of confidence." While Yao has owned the spotlight for China's team, Bateer also is making a name for himself in front of numerous NBA scouts. The undrafted Bateer was signed as a free agent by the Nuggets on Feb. 26. In 27 games (including 10 starts), the 26-year-old averaged 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15.1 minutes for Denver. In three games during the World Championship, Bateer has averaged 17 points and 6.3 rebounds in 23.3 minutes. "I hope I can go back to the Nuggets," Bateer said. Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe recently said a decision on Bateer's future with the franchise will be made after the World Championship. Denver, however, has 15 guaranteed contracts on its roster and can't keep no more than 15 players. Bateer's competition for a roster spot comes from Juwan Howard, Marcus Camby, Nene Hilario, Mark Blount, Chris Andersen, Donnell Harvey, Don Reid and possibly Francisco Elson. Moreover, Bateer has committed to play for China at the Asian Games in Korea that ends Oct. 14. The Nuggets begin training camp Oct. 1. "(Bateer) is a great guy and he did a great job for us last year," said Nuggets assistant general manager Jeff Weltman, who is attending the World Championship. "We will see what happens with how our roster shakes out. This is good exposure for him ... If we can't work things out, we wish him the best." U.S. center Ben Wallace, who plays for the Detroit Pistons, was quite impressed with Bateer. "He has a big body, he catches the ball on the low block, he makes quick moves and he is a strong, physical guy," said Wallace, the 2002 NBA defensive player of the year. "As long as he continues to beat guys up the way he's being doing, I think (the NBA) will find a place for him." The U.S. (3-0) has won 56 consecutive games since using NBA players, but this one didn't come easy. China held a lead for most of the first half but the Americans went into the intermission leading 33-32. In the third quarter, the U.S. outscored China 20-13 and cruised to victory. U.S. forward Paul Pierce scored a team-high 19 points while Yao had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, seven rebounds and two blocks for China. In the second round, the U.S. faces face Russia (1-2) on Monday night, New Zealand (2-1) on Tuesday and Argentina (3-0) on Wednesday. "I thought China gave us a test," coach George Karl said. "We were down 12 points early in the game. ... Defensively, from the two-minute mark in the third quarter on, we had great effort, great intensity. Slowly, we wore the Chinese players out a little bit."
Wow. Have they removed "working knowledge of English grammar" as a necessary prerequisite for employment as a journalist?
I didn't even see that! Pretty funny. After a few years of strict English teachers, I don't even think I can write double negatives. Let me try: I won't ne...ne...ne...ever do it. Darn it!
English is the only language where a double negative is not a no no. (My first smilie - Oh God I hate myself) Also on Bateer, I think we have all been impressed with his grit and play. But he looks pretty slow. And if he is slow in this tournament, he will be real slow in the NBA.
Big guy suppose to be slow....I think yao ming can beat any nba center in running with his strong and long legs
This is the traditional Mongolian alphabet: It is a derivation of Aramaic, whereas English uses the classical Latin alphabet. Given that there are not 27 'letters' in the Mongolian alphabet, and there is no one-to-one translation of vocal sounds back and forth there is a necessary aspect of name translation not unlike fitting a square peg into a round hole. The same thing exists in translating Chineese names, where, for instance you will see the religion/philosophy refered to both as Daoism and Taoism when written in Latin script. The truth of the matter is that the correct sound is somewhere inbetween a 'D' and a 'T", and there are therefore two accepted practices for translation.
this could be good news for the rockets ,heres a idea -sign Bateer-trade Cato for Dream,Dream can tutor Yao and Bateer year or for the last year or two of his contract and also subtract cato contract in the process ,and also puts player that Yao can more easy relate to on the roster.
