Are you serious? When the province teams (former CBA teams) visit the States, they usually play against Division II teams. I still remember Bob Knight took his Indiana team to China in 1984(?), beat Jiangsu province team twice in Nanjing badly, evev with the refs against them, and then defeated Ba(1)-Yi(1) twice, which was the National Team then. Do you guys still remember what happened last month in Dallars? It's only a Summer league team.
1. I think you're chinese. 2. I think I don't think Liu Wei is a very good point guard. 3. I think I'd love to have Yi Jianlian but there is very little to no chance of that happening since right now he's expected to go as high as the number 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft and by then we should have a pick no higher than say 25ish.
Good one. But you forgot to give us the all important justification why each team does this. China does this because in the weaker "Eastern" Conference, Mo could be a legit player. In fact he would be perfect to slide over to center to play the back up minutes. We all know Yao can only play about 30 minutes a game because of his off season commitment tot ne NBA. Also, Taylor's goofy contract actually makes sense in China, since the local team keeps half of it for themselves. Houston does this trade bacause it will give them a chance to attract Chinese fans to their games, a market they are currently missing. Aditionally it allows the Rox to resign Colin Powell, who many feel will be the key to the 2006 free agent season.
One thing to note though, he really killed Milos Vujanic, who's supposedly the best non-NBA PG in Europe right now. I don't know if that speaks well of him or badly of Vujanic. I can't really judge a player based on watching him in one game.
i wonder if any teams would sign liu wei as a backup just to get an advantage when Yao becomes a free agent to try to lure him away?
no way is this gonna happen.. it wouldn't allow JVG to finish completing the team of the Houston Knickerbockers
All that may be so, but the difference is Yao. I think at the very least with Yao, the CNT would be able to beat these college teams. The question being, can the current CNT beat the pre-Yao post-Hakeem Rockets? I'd probably say no because Steve and Mobes would eat the CNT guards alive. But the CNT would still be competitive with Yao being guarded by Cato.
Are you kidding? The CNT is awful even with Yao. They'd get blown out by the post-Hakeem Rockets with everyone healthy. Even now, the CNT has a lot of trouble getting Yao the ball in good post position. Their guards were completely outclassed by Mavs summer league scrubs, imagine what a freewheeling Stevie and Cat would do to them (hell, '01-'02 Moochie would torch them). Yi Jianlian would be completely outclassed by Eddie and a healthy Mo, and even a healthy Glen Rice/Walt Williams combo would be better than their equivalents on the CNT. Yao would be the only edge they had, and Cato/Willis would at least be able to front him and push him out of the lane.
Yao is ready to roll, right now. I think he'll really establish himself this year. He'd be a big advantage if the current CNT played the 2001 Rockets. In terms of Yi vs. Eddie, I'd say it's a wash. What's Eddie ever done for the Rockets. He's athletic, can get some weakside blocks and tosses up flat jumpers with the best of them. He doesn't do anything that Yi couldn't do. And the rest of China's PF's would have been good enough. They're basically lugs, but I would say that the Rox don't have the lowpost guys to punish them. Well maybe Mo, but if we're really technical the 2001 Mo was out with a season ending injury. In terms of the guards, I'm not going to fight you on that. But I will say that Yao would be a good deterrant in the middle. And it also depends on what kind of match this would be. If this is an exhibition where Yao plays 25 minutes, then the CNT has no chance. But if they were really serious about winning, and Yao played 38 minutes like he did in some of those overtime games, then I definitely think it would be competitive. Like I said, I think the Rox would still win, but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion.
why you guys so pessimistic? sure the chinese nt sucked big time in the mavs summer league...BUT very recently the CNT got a lot better, they now trying to play american style basketball and trying to run fastbreaks. you say chinese guards suck? heh, how about that lob to yao ming? even francis and mobley couldn't throw a lob to yao ming properly how about liu wei's behind the back no look pass for his teammate for the dunk? you think francis and mobley could do that no behind the back pass how about his speed and quickness, NBATV announcers were raving about him. you guys remind me of some of the clutch bbs jerks who said yao sucks, we wasted our #1 pick and we should trade him for other players before you guys even see Yao play. if liu wei works hard he could be a decent pg. no, i don't think he is beter than mobley or francis, but he could be ok. it would be nice to see an asian point guard in the NBA
And there's the rub! I just don't see what race has to do with who we think will be good or who we'd want on our team. In sports, the key is the result not the path. I don't care if we sign a 5'2" eskimo woman to play our 4 as long as she consistently puts up 15 and 15! Sure, some people were down on Yao for the wrong reasons and now you are doing the exact same thing as them in the opposite way...
hey i also tried to justify why he could be decent right? liu wei made a great behind the back no look pass and played aggressively. i never said he will be the next Kobe Bryant or anything heck, there's prejudice(conscious, or subconscious) and biased attitudes toward asians in certain sports like basketball. so what is wrong with me trying to promote asian athletes to enter the NBA? i am evening it out.
I'm not going to argue with the fact there there is prejudice towards chinese athletes or at least there was prior to Yao's arrival. Very few people seemed to think he'd be good so that says a lot. However, you're going beyond promoting asian athletes entering the NBA. You're promoting that the Rockets become the Chinese National Team.
wow. wow. wow what? we're not talking the Olajuwon team... we're talking the lottery team. Sure the rockets guards would have a field day, but so would Yao Ming against Cato. I think it'd be a close game.
Now we see that one quarter does not make a great PG... especially in an international game. Liu 1/4 FG 4 AST 3 TO in 30 minutes today. Maybe he can try out for ball boy.
The CNT shot pretty bad today, that could contribute to his low assist number. BTW, he is pretty good on boards, both in the CBA and this particular game (3) -- only one of five Aussie starters got more than one board.
