A new generation of young basketball players have taken another step forward to become the stars of the 2008 Olympics. 

Fifty players aged 15-18 from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taipei, Australia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Singapore were especially recruited for the Adidas Superstar Camp, which tipped off in Shanghai on May 20 and wrapped up with an all-star competition on May 24.

The event was part of the world's biggest scouting mission to discover the best young players in Asian and send them to the US for further training.

Luo Zhi from Zhejiang was named MVP of the All-Star Game and won the chance to attend the Adidas Basketball Camp in Atlanta from July 7-11.

Wang Zhanyu from China's Henan team, Yang Ming and Gu Liye from Liaoning, Chen Jianghua from Guangzhou and Yi Li from Jiangsu will join Luo in Atlanta thanks to their impressive performances at the four-day camp.

"I am excited and honored to be selected to go to the US. I will take this opportunity to learn from the best players from around the world and improve myself," said the 17-year-old Luo.

Washington Wizards' guard Gilbert Arenas singled out Luo's superlative effort.

"He definitely has some basketball talent," said the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2002-03.

Luo had a one-to-one competition against Arenas and won the 12 point showdown.

"Yes, he beat me as he first scored 12 points. I had to cheat and I told him to fight for another 8 points, so I had a narrow win at 20 points," Arenas smiled.

Chen Jianghua was another standout as the 1.86-meter (6-foot-5) guard displayed his superb jump ability and skills and won the slam dunk competition.

"It felt cool. I benefited a lot from the training camp. I also learned a lot about how to defend," said Chen.

The six players are also members of China's U-18 national team, which is expected to be the core of the 2008 Olympic squad.

"Those players from China at the Adidas Superstar Camp are among the best we have at this age group in China. The opportunity for them to play against the top players in the region is going to help them develop even more," said Zheng Wu, former Chinese Olympic and national team member and coach of the U-18 national team.

Before this camp, several youngsters established themselves at a similar training camp and later entered the national program.

Yi Jianlian won media headlines last year after attending the camp in the US and then being selected by new national coach Del Harris.

Before Yi, Tang Zhengdong, a 2.13-meter (7-foot-1), 270-pound centre, impressed many college coaches and is now being touted as the successor of Mengke Bateer, a 2.10-meter (6-foot-11) starter with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs.

"There are a lot of great athletes at the camp and a lot of very tall boys. These are the two attributes that make the perfect basketball player," said Detlef Schrempf, the NBA's two-time Sixth Man Award winner.

Encouragement

Schrempf also told them to learn from Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets' two-time All-Star player who has won world-wide attention for China's basketball.

These players are following in Yao's footsteps, though they still have a long way to go.

"Since the first day of the camp, the players were willing to learn and willing to work hard. If they continue to work hard, they could be even bigger superstars in the future," said Scott Layden, former NBA assistant coach and now the general manager of the New York Knicks.

"It was the first time I had a chance to coach Asian players. They are full of energy," he added.

Shrempf echoed those sentiments.

"I was really surprised to see such good and potential stars. I just encourage them to keep working hard on the skills and even on basketball smarts. I am sure they will have a bright future," said the German player.

More benefit

Besides Arenas, Shrempf and Layden, the camp featured other big names in the sport.

NCAA coach Ken Potosnak and two European coaches, Rob Meurs and Maaten Van Gent, gave the teens the benefit of their basketball knowledge.

"It is really helpful to work with the best coaches and players from the world. They brought in updated knowledge about teamwork and defence," said Zheng.

"From the beginning to the last day these kids improved ten-fold. But the competition in USA is more physical. I suggest they prepare to play even harder and play smarter," said Arenas.

"They are lucky to learn lots of basketball knowledge and skills from this training."

The camp put a priority on the lessons of "Basketball English" in a bid to make Chinese players more international and professional.

"The Adidas Basketball English program is a first. This has never happened for any sport around the world and it is going to start here in Shanghai," said Lawren Norman, head of global sports marketing for Adidas.

Players will better understand and be understood by combining basic English with basketball terms.

"The lessons are very successful. We heard from some of the coaches that the players were telling them how important the class was for them. Some of the kids were even taking notes," said Norman.

"I think the kids will continue to improve both their basketball and communication skills over the next few years."

Zhao Hang, at 15 and one of the youngest players in camp, was impressed with the lessons.

"I have never experienced such a kind of lesson before. We were all at loss as what to say when we met foreign players before. I think I will continue to learn to better communicate with them," said Zhao.

Dr. Alan Juffs, the course creator of "Basketball English", was satisfied with the students' efforts.

"I think it went very well. Now they have to move and talk at the same time. They are really motivated by the fact that there are so many players and coaches from different countries at the Adidas Superstar Camp.

"I am very happy with how it went. The kids are very young and very shy, but they really began to take an active part in the class and made progress," said Juffs, head of linguistics at the University of Pittsburgh.

"The program has been beneficial to students from every country, not just Chinese mainland, Taipei and Hong Kong. One of the Australian players came up to us and said that even they did not understand some of the terms like a pick.

"Now, they can take that terminology back to their teams, which will help improve their basketball," Norman said.

(China Daily June 5, 2004)