*Note that the highly complicated methods that comprise these rankings do not factor in the results of Round 8, which was played on Tuesday and Wednesday night. These are as of Round 7, December 4th.

1. Beijing Shougang Ducks (7-0)

Last week — 1: Last week, perhaps the argument could have been made we were hopping on the Ducks bandwagon a little too soon. And we really stress the word “could,” since they won on the road at four-time defending champion Guangdong. After following that up with home win against three-time runner-up, Xinjiang, their spot at the top is now indisputable. But it’s not by any means permanent — Beijing’s next four games are on the road, including a Friday match-up against J.R. Smith and the 4-1 Golden Bulls.

2. Guangdong Hongyuan Southern Tigers (5-2)

LW – 2: Guangdong, who like Xinjiang, hardly ever loses in the regular season, already has two more ticks in that column than most people thought they would this early in the year. And yet, we are still taking the champs’ word for it, despite issues surrounding Aaron Brooks so far unsuccessful integration into the lineup. Given the Southern Tigers’ winning ways over the years, we think he’ll come around eventually. Until he does though, and until the team stops losing games to Qingdao, Guangdong is riding shotgun to Beijing.

3. Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers (3-2)

LW – 3: The two losses don’t concern us as much as the lack of production Xinjiang has been getting from two of the three expensive Chinese players who transfered in this summer, Tang Zhengdong and Chao Yonggang. Tang, who’s knee is obviously not healthy, is now out with an ankle injury. Chao is averaging three points a game. K-Mart’s near 20-20s and Patty Mills’ offensive explosions are all fine and well, but if Xinjiang is to win a title this year, they need more from their local guys.

4. Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls (4-1)

LW – 9: Winners of four straight, the Golden Bulls find themselves back in the position we originally marked them down in before the season started. A lot of that has to do with J.R. Smith. 52 points (11-15 from three), 22 rebounds and 7 steals against Bayi and 32 the game before against Shanxi has his scoring average up to over 27 a game, good for fourth in the league. That number is bound to go up when J.R. figures out how to get some easier shots for himself (only 40% from two-point range).

5. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions  (4-2)

LW – 4: Peter John Ramos is back and up to his old tricks (20 points and 15.5 rebounds in two games), great news for Guangsha who were getting absolutely zilch from the guy he replaced, Dwyane Jones. A huge game on the road against Guangdong will tell us if Ramos’ return to his old home of Hangzhou makes the newly Wilson Chandler-lead Lions legitimate contenders this year.

6. Bayi Fubang Rockets (3-2)

LW – 10: In our eyes, there’s a big drop off after number five — not necessarily a bad thing when you consider that the CBA has enjoyed Grand Canyon-esque rifts between the have and have-nots since its inception in 1995. And speaking of have and have-nots, the Rockets have won every game at home (3-0). They have not won one game away (0-2). That trend won’t continue along that extreme line, but the Army’s home/away discrepancy, much like last year, will be something to keep an eye on.

7. Liaoning Hengye Jaguars (3-4)

LW – 11: Yeah, you’re in the playoffs, Liaoning, but it’s tough for us to excited about a team that can’t put together back-to-back wins. Since opening up his Sina Weibo account last week, Zhang Qingpeng is averaging 12 points a game. The lesson: opening up a Sina Weibo has only a minimal effect on struggling players. Bummer. The bigger bummer here though is Guo Ailun’s scanty 16 minutes per game average so far.

8. Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons (2-3)

LW – 6: Another team with loads of talent that hasn’t been able to win two games in a row. Despite having three studs, Marcus Williams, Charles Gaines and Duan Jiangpeng, the Brave Dragons are always going to be at somewhat of a loss because supporting players Zhang Xuewen, Shang Ping and Liu Shaoming are inconsistent. The roller coaster ride is going to continue, but we still think their Big Three is good enough to get into the post-season.

9. DongGuan New Century Leopards (3-4)

LW – 17: Shame on us for ever doubting Brian Goorjian. The Leopards’ three-game (and nearly four if they didn’t give one away to Beijing in Round 4) win streak is due in big part to Shavlik Randolph’s 25.5 points and 14.3 rebounds over that stretch, but who are we kidding. It’s obviously due to the fact that the entire team posted up last week’s power rankings, which had them last, on their locker-room bulletin board.

10. Fujian SBS Sturgeons (3-4)

LW – 13: Fujian’s on a two game win streak. They have five guys averaging double figures. Will McDonald is having the most underrated season of any foreigner out here (roughly 26 and 10 a night). They have Zaid Abbas. They have, what we think, is a playoff contending team. Trust us, they’ll be right there.


11. Jilin SBT Northeast Tigers (3-4)

LW – 7: Do Chinese coaches have it in for promising Chinese point-guards? Like his young 2010 FIBA World Championship teammate, Guo Ailun, Yu Shulong is collecting splinters. Since the DongBei Tigers have turned the ball over more than 20 times in their last two games, maybe more Yu would be a good thing.

12. Shanghai Dongfang Sharks (2-4)

LW – 15: Just when it looked like our man Andrew Crawford had an article about a three-game win streak in the books, the Sharks went out and got blown out by Liaoning on Sunday. Anyways, we think the Sharks are onto something. Either that our we’re just super biased. But it’s all starting on the defensive end. Mike Harris is leading the league in rebounds, and the team is holding opponents to a stingy 91 points per game so far.

13. Shandong Kingston Gold Lions (3-4)

LW – 5: In his last 79 minutes, Sun Jie has five points. Yeah, five. Definitely not the norm for a guy who is usually on fire from deep. Sun’s alarming recent lack of offense is directly related to the Gold Lions’ even more alarming 89.7 ppg, last in the league. In seven games, they have yet to crack the 100 point mark once, an unsettling statistic in a league that plays with a high pace.

14. Qingdao Double Star Eagles (2-5)

LW – 14: Congrats on beating Guangdong, but it still doesn’t mean Qingdao is a playoff team. It does mean, however, that Lester Hudson can go the heck off from at any given game. And for that reason alone, Qingdao will win some games. But their Chinese talent remains as one of the league’s worst and until they get their import big-man situation settled (Ivan Johnson was the second American sent home this year for the Eagles), they’re going to remain in tough shape.

15. Jiangsu Nangang Dragons (2-5)

LW – 11: By far the most disappointing team of the season, Jiangsu started at four pre-season, dropped to 11 at the first week and is now at lowly 15. As is always the case, the foreigner was blamed first after Dragons management finally got Mardy Collins on a plane back to the States. Jiangsu started slow last year with Ricky Davis before they brought in Antoine Wright as his replacement; is Marcus Williams (the UCONN one) this year’s savior?

16. Tianjin Ronggang Golden Lions (2-5)

LW – 8: Yeah, remember when we had them at number eight last week? Yeah, well we were really, really off on that.


17. Guangdong Foshan Dralions (2-5)

LW – 15: Gerald Green is out and Marcus Haislip is in. It’s not a bad idea at all — Haislip can definitely play — but we wonder if it’s going to be their last. Marcus Douthit has been putting up decent numbers, yet is he the right fit alongside Haislip? This team needs a guard and fast.

*Last night’s game featuring Liaoning and Shandong was not counted. These rankings are as of yesterday afternoon.

1. Beijing Shougang Ducks (4-0)

Last week – 8: An undefeated start to the year that includes a win over four-time defending champs Guangdong? That’s more than enough in our book for our vaunted number one spot. Whether the Ducks can stay here will depend on what happens when they host Xinjiang on Friday.

2. Guangdong Hongyuan Southern Tigers (3-1)

LW – 1: The loss to Beijing (at home nonetheless) stings, but it’s the loss of Yi Jianlian, who is heading back to the re-opened NBA in about a week, is the loss that will linger the longest. Or maybe not — after all, Guangdong has been winning titles for the last four years without Ah Lian.

3. Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers (1-1)
LW – 2: Lost in the J.R. drama — the Flying Tigers have already equaled their loss total from last year. As evidenced by their shocking season opening defeat against Shanxi, no team relies on its imports more than Xinjiang. But the good news is that Quincy Douby’s replacement, Patty Mills, who came in and blitzed Bayi for 28 points and 8 dimes on Friday, looks like the real deal.

4. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions (3-1)
LW – 5: Hangzhou’s favorite Puerto Rican 7’3 center, Peter John Ramos, is back for another go after having officially replaced the struggling Dwyane Jones. Assuming that he’ll be his usual enormous self under the basket, Guangsha just got better — a scary thought when you put that in context with Wilson Chandler’s dominant 33 point and 13 rebound start to the year.

5. Shandong Kingston Gold Lions (3-1)
LW – 13: Thanks to Othello Hunter, Shandong has been destroying opponents on the offensive glass, grabbing 20 or more in all three of their wins. Alan Anderson has opened up a masonry (35% from the field), but Sun Jie and Sui Ran have picked up the slack to put the Lions — at least for now — in second place in the official CBA standings.

6. Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons (1-1)

LW -6: If Shanxi’s up-and-down two-game swing against a sub-par Fujian team (loss) and a championship contender Xinjiang outfit (win) is any indication of what’s in store for the Brave Dragons this season, it’s going to be another unpredictable year in Taiyuan.

7. Jilin GBT Northeast Tigers (2-2)
LW – 9: As expected, Cartier Martin has turned into a scoring machine, averaging 29.2 points in his first four games. But if Jilin is going to stay in the playoff discussion, they’re going to need more production and in some cases, more minutes (that’s you, Yu Shulong) from their Chinese guys, none of whom at the moment are hitting double figure scoring.

8. Tianjin Ronggang Golden Lions (2-2)
LW – 17: Want more proof that this season’s opening week has been arguably the most surprising in league history? Tianjin, who we picked as the CBA’s hands down worst team heading into the season, is sitting in a playoff spot four games into the year.

9. Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls (2-1)
LW – 3: J.R. Smith’s very well documented near break-up-to-make-up stole all the storylines last week, which is a shame because Josh Boone’s out-of-nowhere 40 point, 8 rebound explosion against Fujian deserved more press than it got.

10. Bayi Fubang Rockets (2-1)
LW – 10: Adijiang has taken the reigns off of the previously plodding Rockets offense, allowing them to play faster and freer. Games against Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Beijing will tell us whether or not that change is going to allow them to move into playoff contention.

11. Jiangsu Nangang Dragons (2-2)
LW – 4: Once again, the Dragons are off to a slow start and once again, there’s a lot of talk about switching imports, mainly Mardy Collins. After dropping their first two games to Guangdong and Liaoning, the Dragons rebounded with two straight wins against DongGuan and Fujian. Jiangsu’s got the local talent (Yi Li, Meng Da and Hu Xuefeng) to stay relevant and once they get their import situation in order, they’ll be an upper-echelon team. 

12. Liaoning Hengye Jaguars (2-2)
LW – 7: Liaoning is off to a mediocre up-and-down 2-2 start, but the real news here is that we’ve finally cracked the case of their English mascot. Goodbye “Innovators” and hello “Jaguars!” We’re happy with our top-notch investigative work, but we’re even happier that we successfully anticipated the forward-thinking Liaoning provincial powers that be that came up with Jaguars. With the addition of the Jags, the league now has one jaguar, two dragons, three tigers, three lions and one half-dragon/half-lion.

13. Fujian SBS Sturgeons (1-3)
LW- 12: The Sturgeons followed up a highly promising home win against Shanxi with three straight losses on the road to Bayi, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. Anthony Roberson has shown an ability to both win and lose games for his team single-handedly with his volume shooting. If Fujian has playoff ambitions, he’ll have to become more consistent and/or a bit choosier with his shot selection.

14. Qingdao Double Star Eagles (1-3)
LW – 14: Just like we thought, Lester Hudson is going to put up an outrageous number of shots and points, but the Eagles’ domestic talent isn’t going to be enough to lift them to anything beyond a middling team. Ivan Johnson has looked good in all three of his games with the Eagles so far.

15. Guangdong Foshan Dralions (1-2)
LW – 16: A favorable early season match-up against Shanghai is the only thing keeping the Dralions from bringing up the rear right now. Gerald Green is arguably the league’s best first-half player, but when he’s matched up against better import guards in the second half, Green has come up empty almost every time.

16. Shanghai Dongfang Sharks (0-3)
LW – 15: Late game giveaways to Foshan, Shandong and Qingdao have left people scratching their heads for the second straight year in a row as to why the Sharks can’t get it done in the fourth quarter.

17. DongGuan New Century Leopards (0-4)
LW - 11: As longtime commentator Su Quan generously put it during the Leopards heartbreaking loss to the Ducks on Sunday, Shavlik Randolph is a level below Jackson Vroman. Josh Akognon’s shot selection isn’t helping either. Unless a change is made, it promises to be a long season in DongGuan.