Before 1995, basketball careers were fostered mainly with State
support. But, although competitive leagues had been developing
rapidly, State funding could not be sustained, hindering further
growth. Consequently, the game was professionalized, and now
professional teams are built at both state and provincial levels,
producing a great number of players.
In 1995, The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) introduced the
'Home and Away' system into its league, which was greeted with
enthusiasm by fans and media alike. After 8 years' cultivation, the
league has significantly improved with a considerable number of
high-level players trained and its marketing greatly enhanced.
Wang Du, Vice President of China Basketball Management Center,
said, "The purpose of our reform is to discard traditional ways of
management that contradict the rules of the market. The goal is
really to get a larger market share. We'd like to attract a larger
audience to basketball, and were doing so through effective
marketing."
In terms of flexibility, the Shanghai Team benefits greatly from
trading players (domestic and international), and team management.
Coached by Li Qiuping, it took Shanghai Dongfang six years to go
from DivisionＢto Division A. Moreover, they won the CBA Finals in
the 2001-2002 season. It was then that Yao Ming finished his
domestic career and joined the NBA.
Today, the CBA's marketing promises a brighter future for Chinese
basketball. The NBA has already recruited Yao Ming and two other
Chinese basketball players. Yao Ming joined the NBA through an
internationally recognized procedure that, in turn, initiated a new
stage of China-US sports exchange.
The CBA is dedicated to producing the best basketball league in
Asia. As a result of three well-known CBA centers, Wang Zhizhi,
Mengke Bateer and Yao Ming, joining the NBA, the CBA began to shift
its focus, adopting some of the rules of the NBA. For example, in a
four-quarter game, 'full-court press,' a defensive strategy, must
be applied in at least one quarter.
Sports clubs in China are currently coordinated by local sports
committees and businesses. With these clubs, the CBA has laid down
an entire system of rules and regulations. In this new system,
clubs are able to work with foreign investors, bring in foreign
players and coaches, and freely trade players with other clubs. The
object is to further professionalize the league, and to convert
state-owned teams into self-managed basketball enterprises.
Fang Youqing, Team Leader of Guangdong Hongyuan, said, "The
Guangdong Hongyuan Club is owned by a private corporation, so
everything is pretty flexible. Through years of development, we've
been trying to work on our weaknesses. We're also paying more
attention to our second team, because we want our teams to rank at
higher levels for a longer period of time."
Guangdong Winnerway successfully rejuvenated its team. Its
players are now an average age of 22 and an average height of
1.98m. Scoring 115 points per game, achieving 55 percent of its
field goals and using the full court press defense, Guangdong
Hongyuan swept their competitors away and won first place in the
2002-2003 season.
Coaches have also needed to change, to move away from
ineffective training and a lack of discipline. In order to get
better results and improve team management and coaching levels, CBA
clubs have invested time and energy in finding the best solutions
for their teams. Beijing Olympian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang hired
coaches from Yugoslavia, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and
the US respectively.
2002 was a year of hiring foreign coaches. Beijing Aoshen hired
Mila, a coach from Yugoslavia. He was once the coach of
Yugoslavia's national team, coaching more than 100 games for them.
Mila comes with rich experience and is very dedicated. He is
diligent, enthusiastic, and conscientious. He is also very strict
with the team.
Mila said, "It is very difficult to indoctrinate all my ideas to
players in just several months. I can only teach as much as they
can learn. "
As the league becomes more professionalized, foreign coaches and
players have gradually become accustomed to the Chinese basketball
league. Quite a few well-known international players have joined
the CBA, one after another, which has brought a new perspective to
the league.
Li Qun, player for Guangdong Winnerway, said, "I believe foreign
players have been performing consistently well in the past eight
years. They are especially prominent this year. So among this
year's foreign players, I think Johnson is the best because his
values are very close to ours. It is very easy for us to work
together."
This season, distributed among the 14 teams are some 40
international players. Most are from the US and the rest come from
Nigeria, Croatia, Lithuania and Mali.
Over the last decade, over 200 international players have
participated in the CBA. There are also 300-400 players that have
had a close relationship with Chinese basketball league.
Some foreign players are a crucial part of their teams.
According to the CBA, the names of foreign players appeared in all
seven categories with the exception of three-pointers and assists,
and foreigners took almost all top threes in game standings for
dunking and rebounding. The importance of foreign players is even
more obvious this round.
Wang Du said, "Chinese basketball has been improved by foreign
players, we can learn a lot of things from them. So from a
development perspective, our future is promising but it will not be
easy. We want the CBA to be a league known worldwide."
China has a very broad market for basketball and it is one of
the most popular sports here. It has the biggest number of people
involved with the game, and over 100 million fans. Today the number
of spectators who attend CBA games is over 800,000 and over 600
million watch them on TV.
In China, every team has its own faithful fans. They come to
cheer and support almost every game.
Zhang Weiqiang, basketball fan, said, "Our cheering squad was
founded four years ago. At that time we had about 50 people. We now
have over 300. We have been following the Beijing Ducks for four
years. We want to cheer for our team in order to help their
performance. That's the least we can do."
Fans have been there throughout the development of the CBA. Some
say that, "Chinese players' physical and psychological conditions
are not as good as American players. Referees should improve their
judging abilities."
The NBA has 83 regular season games over several months. But
there were only 2 or 3 games per week for the CBA. This season, the
league launched its 10-year development plan, the 'North Star
Project,' with an aim to become the best league in Asia and among
the world's best in the years to come.?
Following the NBA's example, dividing the 14 teams into north
and south conferences is one of the most prominent reforms. Each
team will play 38 games in the regular season with 266 matches
overall, 84 more than before. Also, from this year, two foreign
players will not be allowed to play at the same time and in the
same quarter.
According to Li Yuanwei, director of the China Basketball
Administration Center, the ongoing reforms also include introducing
a Super League to replace the current one in 2005. And the center
is looking forward to a better player reserve system, based on the
middle school league, with the Chinese University Basketball
Association (CUBA), Chinese Basketball League (CBL), CBA and
national team all aiming for new heights.
(China.org.cn and CCTV)
