The finals of China's domestic basketball league kicks off this
weekend, with red-hot NBA prospect Yi Jianlian and his Guangdong
Tigers battling the Bayi Rockets, led by veteran centre Wang
Zhizhi.
The seven-foot (2.12-metre) Yi is expected to be a top pick in
June's NBA draft and has long been touted as the best player to
come out of China since Yao Ming, the All-Star centre for the
Houston Rockets.
"This could be my last CBA finals, so I am planning to play my
best ever," the 20-year-old power forward ahead of Sunday's opener
in Dongguan city, the first game in the best-of-seven series.
Guangdong, the China Basketball Association (CBA) champions for
the past three seasons, are the favourites after finishing the
season atop the standings with a 26-4 record and steaming through
the play-offs.
However, Bayi are the sentimental favourites thanks to Wang,
China's first-ever player in the NBA who returned home last year
after four seasons in the world's top league.
The 29-year-old has been dominant this season, averaging 27.3
points and 10.2 rebounds a game while leading seven-time CBA
champions Bayi to a second place finish behind Guangdong with a
25-5 record.
The seven-foot veteran centre, once banned for refusing to play
for the national side, was also pivotal in helping China advance to
the second round of last year's world championships and win the
Asian Games title in December.
Wang, along with Yao and Yi, are expected to anchor China's
Olympic team at next year's Summer Games in Beijing.
"I have played against Big Wang many times so I know what kind
of player he is," Yao told the biweekly Basketball Pioneers paper
in an interview this week.
"He is the kind of player that if he starts feeling comfortable
on the floor, then it will be real hard for any one player to stop
him."
During the finals, that one player is likely to be Yi, but he
will also have help from American import Jason Dixon.
The 34-year-old centre is the longest serving foreign player in
the Chinese league and has been key to Guangdong's three
consecutive CBA titles.
Bayi, which is run by the Chinese military, does not employ
foreign players.
However, the side boasts four national team players including
veteran sharp-shooters Li Nan, Mo Ke and Zhang Jingsong. Guangdong
has five players on the national team.
The two teams are meeting for the fourth time in the CBA finals,
with Guangdong posting a 4-1 win in last year's series.
Meanwhile much of the focus remains on Yi, who has impressed
several NBA general managers, including Mitch Kupchak of the Los
Angeles Lakers and Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics, who both
visited China recently to watch him play.
During the CBA regular season, Yi showed quickness, strength and
a good outside shot in averaging 25.5 points and 11.8 rebounds a
game.
"Americans like to look at the numbers, so if Yi can have a
finals game like I had in 2002 when I hit all of my 21 shots, then
he could move up to be the number one overall pick in the NBA
draft," Yao said.
(CRIENGLISH.com via AFP March 17, 2007)