The 2003-2004 CBA -- Tall and Young

by Arthur Volbert


The 2003-2004 CBA is very tall and very young.



Of the 155 Chinese players in the 12-team league, 71 are 200 cm or taller. This is almost half the league. There are 12 players who are 208 cm or taller, plus the 3 who play in the NBA. And the four 7-footers on the Olympic Hope Team, comprised of 15-17 year-olds, have not yet made the league.



102 of the 155 players were born in 1980 or thereafter. This is slightly under two-thirds of the Chinese players in the league. By contrast, only 110 of 424 NBA players were born in the 1980's, about one-quarter of the league.

49 of the Chinese players were born in 1984 or thereafter, almost one-third of the league. In the United States, most of these players would still be in high school, including the 23 players born in 1985, 10 born in 1986 and 4 born in 1987.



To emphasize how really young these players are, four of the five high school players that the NBA drafted this spring were born in 1984 and the fifth was born in 1983.



Only four Chinese players were born in the 1960's -- 2.5 percent. 36 NBA players were born in the 60's -- 8.5 percent.



I made some minor corrections to the CBA rosters. Most importantly, I had Yi Jianlian's height at 210 cm instead of 212 cm. I know how angry I get when I receive incorrect information on a truly prominent player. I hope that the CBA gives the proper height for Du Feng -- likely 203 cm -- and will emphasize the correct birth years for Du Feng and Gong Songlin.



The international scouting community needs to know whether these National Team players can be signed as free agents, perhaps in a deal with their CBA club teams, or whether they can be drafted by the NBA in the spring of 2004. The Chinese will need to send more players abroad, especially perimeter players, if they wish to maximize their chances of winning medal in Beijing in 2008.