Before we can all start laughing - I have mentioned in the past that I'm willing to call the Chinese Basketball team as a dark horse for the Athens games.
To this end, I actually looked up their lineup and did a comparison between the Italian team that beat the American Dream Team and the German Nationals - I deceided to go head to head stats by position....surprise - the Chinese look better than both.
Looking at the lineup the Chinese team released today -
Ok..... Yao Ming is an obvious choice - 7'6" C who was 15th in rebounding in the NBA and 7th in field goal %....ahead of Duncan, Garnett, KMart and Bosh.
Menk Banteer - 6'11" C 318, 27 years old and played for the 2003 Spurs and currently with the Magic
Liu Wei - 6'3" G being seriously considered by the Kings as a point guard prospect for this upcoming year
In the 4 nations cup- Canada, China, Croatia and Brazil there were 2 players that killed us (we lost 84-70)
Li Nan is a 6'6" F 29 yrs old - a pure shooter...shot 9-12 including 4-5 3 pointers...sweet stroke perimeter shooter and his playmate - Chen Ke F 6'6" only shot the ball 4 times...all threes...all in for 12 points...and had 4 steals in that game.
Zhang Jing Song is a 6'6" F at 30 he's the grand daddy of the team - solid defender and a wicked backdoor cutter and Guo Shiqiang at 28 is the floor captain the starting point guard for the team - great defender off picks and a decent shooter.
Mo Ke 6'11" C at 21 he's considered an off the bench powerforward / defensive center.
Zhu Fangyu 6'7" 220lb SmallF is 21 and known in the Asian game as "Mr Hustle"- great perimeter shooter, will slash in the paint and hungry on the offensive boards- He is currently the best bet for a non Asian center to go in the draft in the next year or so....he also shoots 40% off the 3 arc.
YI Jianlian - PF 230lb 7'1" 20 yr old - good stamina, excellent ball *******, has played all 5 positions in the last 5 years....good on the low post and good one on one player - has been known to throw down 360 dunks - might be fun to watch.
There are two unknows on the team Zhang Yungsong and Du Feng C/F at 6'8" 22 yr old player - have to see if theres any info on them.
As well Del Harris is the head coach for this team.....yes, THAT Del Harris. There is no doubt Harrris will revive "The Great Wall" defense with Yao, Menk and Yi....could be fun to watch.
To this end, I actually looked up their lineup and did a comparison between the Italian team that beat the American Dream Team and the German Nationals - I deceided to go head to head stats by position....surprise - the Chinese look better than both.
Looking at the lineup the Chinese team released today -
Ok..... Yao Ming is an obvious choice - 7'6" C who was 15th in rebounding in the NBA and 7th in field goal %....ahead of Duncan, Garnett, KMart and Bosh.
Menk Banteer - 6'11" C 318, 27 years old and played for the 2003 Spurs and currently with the Magic
Liu Wei - 6'3" G being seriously considered by the Kings as a point guard prospect for this upcoming year
In the 4 nations cup- Canada, China, Croatia and Brazil there were 2 players that killed us (we lost 84-70)
Li Nan is a 6'6" F 29 yrs old - a pure shooter...shot 9-12 including 4-5 3 pointers...sweet stroke perimeter shooter and his playmate - Chen Ke F 6'6" only shot the ball 4 times...all threes...all in for 12 points...and had 4 steals in that game.
Zhang Jing Song is a 6'6" F at 30 he's the grand daddy of the team - solid defender and a wicked backdoor cutter and Guo Shiqiang at 28 is the floor captain the starting point guard for the team - great defender off picks and a decent shooter.
Mo Ke 6'11" C at 21 he's considered an off the bench powerforward / defensive center.
Zhu Fangyu 6'7" 220lb SmallF is 21 and known in the Asian game as "Mr Hustle"- great perimeter shooter, will slash in the paint and hungry on the offensive boards- He is currently the best bet for a non Asian center to go in the draft in the next year or so....he also shoots 40% off the 3 arc.
YI Jianlian - PF 230lb 7'1" 20 yr old - good stamina, excellent ball *******, has played all 5 positions in the last 5 years....good on the low post and good one on one player - has been known to throw down 360 dunks - might be fun to watch.
There are two unknows on the team Zhang Yungsong and Du Feng C/F at 6'8" 22 yr old player - have to see if theres any info on them.
As well Del Harris is the head coach for this team.....yes, THAT Del Harris. There is no doubt Harrris will revive "The Great Wall" defense with Yao, Menk and Yi....could be fun to watch.
