While I initially planned on doing a full recap of my thoughts on the CBA games I have watched over the past week, but that is not necessary with NiuBball doing such a great job of providing English language coverage of the action. Seeing as one of my main goals for this site is to help people find information on basketball in Asia, I will just continue to link to Jon's great articles.
One impression I did feel I needed to share was the overwhelming talent gap between teams in the CBA. The difference in the abilities and quality of the players in the Dongguan v. Jiangsu match-up was unbelievable. The Chinese players on Jiangsu's team looked like amateurs, while Dongguan's team was led by their Chinese players. While this was the most notable time I saw this, the end of the first quarter in games is also usually pretty brutal. There is very little depth on most teams, and when the starters sit down for their first breather, the level of play usually drops noticeably.
What I reallythe bigger news in Chinese basketball at the moment though is the status of Yao Ming's lower left leg. As a former Shanghai resident and one time patron of the great restaurant Yeeha (Yao's joint that serves American-style Chinese on the 1st floor and Texas BBQ on the 2nd) I was saddened by this article. While it is of course too early to know if this marks the end of Yao's career, it seems like all signs are pointing to the "old" Yao never coming back. I dislike how every immediately points to Big Z as an example of a massive player who bounced back from multiple lower extremity injuries. People seem to ignore the fact that they are very different players. It would be sad to see Yao come back and play the role of the immobile high post statue that Big Z has mastered over the past eight seasons. Just last night I was watching a replay of a 1986 Celtics game, and I think watching Yao when he comes back may make me feel the same way watching '86 Bill Walton makes me feel. At least we got to watch Yao for most of seven seasons before all of these setbacks.
In the end I hope I am just being pessimistic. All the best to Yao in his recovery. "Yeeha!"
One impression I did feel I needed to share was the overwhelming talent gap between teams in the CBA. The difference in the abilities and quality of the players in the Dongguan v. Jiangsu match-up was unbelievable. The Chinese players on Jiangsu's team looked like amateurs, while Dongguan's team was led by their Chinese players. While this was the most notable time I saw this, the end of the first quarter in games is also usually pretty brutal. There is very little depth on most teams, and when the starters sit down for their first breather, the level of play usually drops noticeably.
What I reallythe bigger news in Chinese basketball at the moment though is the status of Yao Ming's lower left leg. As a former Shanghai resident and one time patron of the great restaurant Yeeha (Yao's joint that serves American-style Chinese on the 1st floor and Texas BBQ on the 2nd) I was saddened by this article. While it is of course too early to know if this marks the end of Yao's career, it seems like all signs are pointing to the "old" Yao never coming back. I dislike how every immediately points to Big Z as an example of a massive player who bounced back from multiple lower extremity injuries. People seem to ignore the fact that they are very different players. It would be sad to see Yao come back and play the role of the immobile high post statue that Big Z has mastered over the past eight seasons. Just last night I was watching a replay of a 1986 Celtics game, and I think watching Yao when he comes back may make me feel the same way watching '86 Bill Walton makes me feel. At least we got to watch Yao for most of seven seasons before all of these setbacks.
In the end I hope I am just being pessimistic. All the best to Yao in his recovery. "Yeeha!"
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