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The frequently used, “My legs are dead,” is no longer a valid excuse to get out of playing a game of hoops.

Not after seeing this.

Qin Xulei, like many other 13 year-olds, loves basketball. He lives in Luoyang, Henan where he attends middle school. He plays ball with his classmates when he can during the schoolday, and gets in extra practice everyday when his class lets out.

None of that makes Qin special. That he has no legs, however — and chooses to play without the aid of a wheelchair — that is special.

More amazing: The kid is nice with it. Just take a look at the video below.

[...]

Darryl Dawkins, Shaquille O’Neal, Robert Traylor… Zhai Xiaochuan.

All have two things in common: They’ve all played professional basketball, and they’ve all gone boomshakalaka on a backboard.

Last night during pre-game lay-up lines at the 2013 National Games preliminaries in Chongqing, Sichuan province, Zhai, representing Beijing, went up for a dunk and did that. The game, which featured the capital city against Shandong, both of whom entered the night with a perfect 3-0 record, was postponed for about 20 minutes as stadium workers replaced the backboard.

Unfortunately for Beijing, the shattered glass was the high point of the evening. Shandong won 67-64 to go to the top of the group. Zhai finished with nine points, all on three-pointers.

We’re not hating on Zhai by any means — with the Ducks, he plays his butt off and guards usually guards the opposing team’s foreign perimeter player — but he’s not exactly known as a power dunker, which means we’re a little skeptical over the quality of both the rim and the glass itself. And if you don’t know boomshakalaka, we’re not hating on you either; it just means that you didn’t play NBA Jam, which is unacceptable to a certain degree.

Yet, even more surprising than Zhai’s destructiveness? How about the fact that they actually had a backup backboard?

Ill-fated ‘80s music duo? Fast-food lunch combo? Bachelor grocery list?

The answer is D) None of the above. Here are some notes about two bits of news that might be meaningful to you if you have both a mildly unhealthy appetite for basketball and a streak of Chi-curiosity. They are about two ballplayers whose careers will likely never come in direct contact, yet which are bizarre mirror images of each other.

T-Mac, of course, is Tracy McGrady, the former NBA scoring wizard who spent last season in what was, to some, a startingly unimpressive late-career stroll through a season with the Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association. Tang is T-Mac’s basketball opposite, a teenaged hoops prodigy from Jiangsu province who went to the United States for high school so that he could be a student and an athlete. Tang Zihao is called Chris Tang in the States, Chris for the point guard’s sporting hero, Chris Paul, and Tang as in the powdered sugary-orange drink, not as it’s pronounced back home in southeastern China.

[...]

I miss Linus, too.

As the great Marv Albert made the call, Yes! After nearly four years in Dalian, suddenly there it was: a club for my boy. Lucked out, I did – it turned out that it operates out of my own university, and I happened to poke my head into the gym one Saturday morning in the middle of a run. Kids?! Playing BASKETBALL?! I was so excited, as like most foreigners here I am blind (can’t read) and stupid (can’t talk to most people). However, between my limited Chinese and the coach’s non-English, I managed to walk away with a sheet of paper I couldn’t understand, a vague conception of how the club operated, and a phone number. A few friendly translations, a little coaxing, a couple of months and a friend’s phone call later, I spent some weekend hours watching Son the Fourth on imitation hardwood. An old coach’s pedestrian prayer has been answered. I love it too much! as my Chinese students say. They mean so much, but in my case, my fever for the game does run absurdly hot, sometimes, even after all these years.

[...]

McDonald’s is not a place I often go when I’m home in Canada, but in Dalian, it’s a bit of a treat. (All things are relative, my friends.) I began this post, which begins as an adventure in middle-aged basketball and ends with a journey through Chinese health care, under the golden arches. This is a place I sometimes come to avoid the distractions of home! I am the King of Distraction. Speaking of which, here’s the story I wanted to tell.

For the second straight day, after not playing since early December, I got a call to ball. Normally, that’s not great for the ol’ body, but I hadn’t played very hard Tuesday night. When Yinghua, a former student and a pretty good player, invited me to join him yesterday afternoon, there was no NO there. Projects I was fitfully working at were shelved; even when I was perched at the keyboard, I found myself Mentally Preparing to Play as if this game actually meant something. The King, indeed, but even codgers need something to look forward to. What I hadn’t prepared for was getting decked twice, and staggering away with a pair of more or less serious boo-boos.

[...]

Well, by now you’ve probably noticed — NiuBBall has gone through an upgrade. Keep an eye out for further changes as time goes by. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be looking to add a few new features to the site while we continue to stay strong with good, informative content.

Back with some new posts in a few.

Through the last three years, Yi Jianlian has saved his best for the international stage. It’s thus no wonder why, according to reports, Yi is receiving offers from high-profile teams in Europe.

According to a report out of PlanetACB.com in Spain, Real Madrid is seriously interested in signing the seven-foot center for the upcoming ACB season. The site also names Greek outfit Panathinaikos as another team who sees Yi as a fit. Wendell Maxey over at Crossover Chronicles has a report in English.

PlanetACB goes on to write that Yi’s decision to sign in Europe this season will depend on whether he can get a deal in the NBA, which is his preferred destination. However, coming off the heels of two lackluster seasons where he’s battled injures and inconsistent play, the common belief is that there is likely no market for the 2007 lottery pick’s services this season.

Yi played 30 games for Dallas last year, averaging 6.8 minutes and 2.6 points.

If the Guangdong native were to make it out to Spain, it would be another big coup for Real Madrid, who made a big splash earlier in the off-season by acquiring former player, Rudy Fernandez, who had spent the last four years in the NBA with Portland and Denver.

Last season, Real Madrid lost in the ACB finals to Barcelona. They did, however, manage to win the Copa del Rey.

Many ex-pats have a bit of a routine when they get back to China from an extended trip back to their home country. Some get on a detailed schedule to overcome jetlag. Others may choose to get back in the swing by heading out at night for a cold (or warm) Qingdao and some chuanr.

I on the other hand like to deny jetlag’s existence (it’s 80% mental, at least when you get past the first day or two), go about my normal routine… and check the US Embassy’s hourly index on Beijing’s air pollution (the top number is the American’s reading, the bottom is China’s). The higher the number, the worse off the air. And as of this morning, the air — well, it sucks. And it’s been sucking really ever since I got back on Wednesday night.

But hey, what’s the big deal right? Microscopic air particles and hazardous fumes are mental, too. Wait, no they’re not. That’s just what I tell myself to make me feel better about the possibility that Beijing could take five years off my life by the time I’m done with this city.

Luckily, I have the blinders of blogging basketball to keep my attention away from this troubling matter. And now that I’m not consumed with reuniting with my family’s big screen HDTV and beer runs for Sam Summers and Harpoons, NiuBBall should be back on a regular schedule just in time for the China NT’s quickly approaching trip to London and the CBA off-season rumor mill, the latter of which has officially heated up.

So make it easier on yourself and keep coming back to NiuBBall.com. Or put on a surgical mask. Whatever. We won’t judge, we promise.

So… long time no post. Long time no go back home to the U.S., either — 16 months, to be exact. Which makes me happy to write that after all that time, as of last Tuesday, I’ve been sitting on my couch in America indulging in things like 18-inch chicken cutlet subs, Sour Patch Kids, Harpoon IPA and Inside the NBA.

All of that, as well as the travel, the catching up with family and friends and the jetlag have all gotten in the way of the blog. But now settled in, we’re getting back to the old NiuBBall, the one where we’d actually write stuff. And good for you, the timing couldn’t be better – the Chinese National Team, the CBA coaching carousel, the off-season rumor mill and more are all in full swing, as is the summer circuit of touring teams, players and clinics that truly make China a basketball hotspot. Best of all, we’ll be on top of it all, even if we’re on the other side of the world.

And to celebrate that return, here’s the worst sequence in basketball history, as played in the 2012 CBA All-Star Game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr7K7DOAZns

In a little over a year, Zhou Qi has become arguably China’s top long-term prospect.

What is it with young Chinese centers tearing it up right now? After 18 year-old Wang Zhelin turned heads at the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon, last month, 16 year-old Zhou Qi made some serious noise of his own in Spain at the 2012 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.

The high profile youth tournament, running for the 26th time this year in Mannheim, Germany, has Hall of Fame alumni list who have played over the years including Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Drazen Petrovic and typically attracts the world’s best U-18 talent.

Put in a group with Spain, Australia and Russia China was special for two reasons: One, it was the only nation representing Asia and two, they sent their U-17 team in preparation for the FIBA U-17 World Championship this summer in Lithuania. Matched up against strong teams that were a year older, China went 0-3 to find themselves in the consolation bracket. But once there, China rebounded to beat Greece, Denmark and Sweeden to finish with a very respectable 3-3 record and an 11th place finish.

Spain ended up beating Serbia to take home the championship, but one of the stories of the tournament was the 7-1 Zhou, who finished with averages of 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks in 28.8 minutes per game, wowing spectators with his height, footwork and timing on the weakside.

From David Hein at FIBA.com:

By far the biggest talent at the tournament was 16-year-old Chinese center Zhou Qi.

The Chinese team was made up exclusively of players born in 1995 and 1996 as they prepare for the FIBA U17 World Championship in Lithuania this summer. And Qi, who turned 16 in January, showed that he can already dominate older competition.

While he still needs to build body mass, he already has a strong feeling around the basket offensively, defends adequately for his weight, knows how to block shots and even boasts a bit of a mean streak. He has plenty of tools to work with and if he continues to work hard and with dedication, it’s easy to see him as a future star.

Hein isn’t the only Westerner to write about Zhou; EuropeanProspects.com has a very detailed report from Mannheim:

His shooting mechanics are very fluid and guard-like and he is able to score the jumper from mid-range in both catch-and-shoot and dribble situations. He even was able to adjust his jump shot to a perfect form out of the dribble after being severely hit on his arm. Qi is not very fast (he is fast for a 2m15 tall player but not guard-fast) or explosive though which makes him finish a lot more with technique than force around the basket…. He is definitely one of the players to follow in the future and he will certainly have a huge impact during the upcoming U17 World Championships this summer.

Though his play in Mannenheim has helped boost his stock, Zhou has actually been on the international map for over a year. Barely known in China, Zhou blew up in February 2011 at the Turk Telecom Tourney in Ankara, Turkey after he helped lead China a surprise championship while putting up two stat lines that belong on an NBA Jam arcade screen: 41 points, 28 rebounds and 15 blocks in a semi-finals game against Germany (which went into triple overtime), and a 30-17-8 in the Finals against Turkey. Zhou finished the tournament with averages of 20.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and a tournament-high 5.4 blocks, the star of a Team China who became the first Chinese basketball team to ever win an international competition.

The then 15 year-old came back to China a hero — and the next young seven-foot prospect to be compared to Yao Ming. He followed up his surprising and impressive performance in Turkey with a good (but not very surprising) showing at the 2nd FIBA Asia U-16 Championship it Vietnam. In the Finals he went for a stupid 43-19-12 in a 92-52 blowout win against Korea, which gave China back-to-back U-16 championships.

Zhou is a stick and will need to bulk up in the years ahead, though not as quickly as some would think. With nice guard-like fluidity to his game, Zhou is a  unique prospect who’s advantages would likely be taken away if he were to put on too much bulk. (Although Anthony Tao at Beijing Cream thinks he could at least use second portions at lunch and dinner.)

Yest despite that fact, Zhou continues to be compared to… Yao Ming. I know, what a shock. If we’re only limiting ourselves to Chinese comparisons, a better one would be Wang Zhizhi, who like Zhou is more graceful and perimeter-oriented than the 7-6 Yao.

What’s next for Zhou will depend on his development, how he fills into his frame and how he reacts to the building hype both in China and abroad. What is known right now, however, is that he projects as a better long-term NBA prospect than Wang Zhelin. And that’s not really a knock on Wang, who definitely will have a shot at The League if improves in the coming years, but more of a nod to Zhou, who has proven himself on the international stage to make himself far and away China’s best young player right now.

For more on Zhou, you can check out his profile at NBADraft.net, as well as this nice little post-Turk Telecom write-up from China Sports Today.

After taking the basketball court together in the NBA All-Star Game in 2003, Yao Ming and Michael Jordan are now taking to the court of law in China.

Yao Ming and Michael Jordan both played in the NBA, both made multiple All-Star Games, and both came together for this great picture that is currently used by NiuBBall’s Twitter account. But perhaps the two’s largest commonality comes not on the basketball court, but rather in the court of law.

Intellectual property rights, copyright infringement, shanzhai… All are problems in China, where fake knock-offs of almost anything can be found practically anywhere, including Air Jordans and Air Yaos. A superstar who’s name alone is enough to turn profits for a company, Yao has already been to court several times over the years to reclaim his name and his money. Now, Jordan is attempting to reclaim his as well.

In February, Jordan sued Qiaodan Sports, a basketball apparel brand based in Fujian province, claiming that the company used his name without permission. The lawsuit also alleges that the company tried to register trademarks using the Chinese names that match those of Jordan’s two children.

In China, Jordan is known by his Chinese name, “Qiaodan,” and remains as one of the country’s most recognizable celebrities nine years after his retirement from professional basketball.

In an online video posted onto his lawsuit’s official site, Jordan said: ”I feel the need to protect my name, my identity, and the Chinese consumers. It’s about principle — protecting my identity and my name.”

Qiaodan has 5,715 retail stores throughout China and is preparing to raise 1.1 billion yuan ($175 million) in a public listing in Shanghai, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company posted profit of 341.5 million yuan on 1.7 billion yuan in revenue for last year’s first half.

A spokesperson for Qiaodan denied the claim shortly after the lawsuit was filed, saying “Not everyone will think this is misleading. There are so many Jordans besides the basketball player – there are many other celebrities both in the U.S. and worldwide called Jordan.”

Answering in response to the company’s rampant use of the No. 23 that Jordan wore while he played, he added, “There is no connection, 23 is just a number like $23 or $230 dollars… I don’t think there is a problem at all here.”

Issues surrounding copyright infringement and property rights have been the norm in China. General Motors, Apple, Cisco, the IFPI have all sued various companies in recent years for unauthorized distribution, use of name and other IPR violations. That list also includes Yao himself, who sued Coca-Cola in 2003, accusing the company of violating his rights to his image by printing his picture on bottles. Yao won the case after symbolically asking for RMB 1 in compensation.

More relevant to Jordan, however, was Yao’s lawsuit filed last year when he sued Wuhan Yunhe Sharks Sportswear Co. for illegally displaying his signature and a “Yao Ming Generation” slogan on its products.

In a recent interview with Xinhua published on April 12th, Yao talked about his decision to sue Wuhan Yunhe, Jordan’s case against Qiaodan and the future of Chinese sportswear brands which “happen” to be identical with names of sports celebrities.

“Behind my name is my experience, and my blood, sweat and pain. I take this very seriously, and that’s why I’ve decided to defend my rights,” said Yao. “I am confident that Michael Jordan and many others like us feel the same way. And it’s important to help everyone understand this in order to protect consumers and stop companies that are purposefully misleading them.”

Though Yao officially sued Wuhuan Yunhe in May 2011, the case actually started in 2003 while he was playing for the Houston Rockets after the sportswear company attempted to use a “Yao Ming Generation” trademark on its shoes and clothes. Unsure whether or not to take the issue to court for fear of further encouraging copyright infringement, Yao ultimately decided to file a lawsuit once Wuhan Yunhe expanded its sales nationwide. Yao won and the company was ordered to pay a RMB 300,000 fine. But Yao and his legal team elected to appeal because the settlement figure was deemed not high enough.

“After winning the ‘Yao Ming Era’ case in the first ruling, we chose to appeal, because we thought a RMB 300,000 fine was not sufficient to punish or deter. The manufacturer would still think the price paid for law violation is low”, said Yao.

According to Xinhua, Wuhan Yunhe tried to negotiate with Yao, even going so far as offering offering financial rewards if a favorable settlement could be reached. In the end, however, he refused.

“The reason is simple. It’s just like when someone uses your belongings without telling you in advance and later comes back and says: let’s use it together and split the profit made. It doesn’t make any sense. The purpose of defending our rights is to stop the infringement by making them realize that the price for infringement is too high.”

Jordan’s case is still pending in Shanghai Second Intermediate Court.

Yao also had words for these types of infringement-based business models. While companies who infringe may provide short-term profits, he thinks brands will never be able to break through and create a long-term prosperity by stealing other peoples’ names.

“Although a settlement is yet to be made, it tells us a piece of truth – that is, to obtain vitality, an enterprise must be innovative. I remember an advertisement slogan which goes ‘it has always been imitated but never outshone’. If businesses continue to refuse innovation, they will fall into the awkward situation of “always imitating others and never being able to outshine,” Yao said while laughing.

“Rules are everywhere. Sports have rules and so does business. Only when everyone plays by the rules can we have positive competition and realize sound development. Therefore, relevant laws and regulations need improvements as well.”

Yao believes that recent cases of high profile athletes defending their name rights have increased awareness of the issue, which in turn will spur China to provide intellectual property rights protection through setting up better rules.

“I believe intellectual property rights will be very well protected within China’s legal framework.”

Hey, we’re as pained as you to be writing our first post of the New Year a full 11 days after the official start of 2012. But just as the majority of bloggers, we have stuff outside of our WordPress admin that gets in the way of logging in and typing. The past month, there’s been a lot of stuff and thus, very little posting.

So little in fact, that our New Year wishes are coming midway into the second week of the new year. And no, that’s not basketball with Chinese characteristics; that’s just unacceptable.

This is our third calendar year covering the ups, downs and all-arounds of Chinese basketball and though 2012 got off to a slower than anticipated start, we just want to send out some NiuBBall love to the people who have made this blog what it is today: You, our beloved reader and basketball xiongdi. It’s your support that makes this all happen. All of the comments, emails and contributions people have made over the years have all been highly welcomed and appreciated, and we hope — despite our recent hiatus — those will continue.

To thank everyone, we’re coming out with a (very) overdue tab at the top of the home page that will point out all of the nationally televised games for the rest of the year. Now you have no excuse not to be watching. Just another way of showing our appreciation and our love for basketball. We hope you’ll show yours buy continuing to support the site.

Happy 2012.

–Jon Pastuszek

Two women’s players grapple for a loose ball during the wheelchair basketball tournament at China’s 8th National Games for Disabled Persons in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. (Photo by BCheng)

At NiuBBall.com, we don’t see ourselves as one man or one website. We see ourselves as members of a community — one that not only loves basketball; one that is dedicated to better understanding the place where NiuBBall dwells, China. And since basketball is arguably the most popular sport amongst this country’s 1.3 billion person population, we think using the lens of a round orange ball is a good way to go about doing that. Oh yeah, and it’s pretty cool, too.

So when we got an email from a guy who felt the same way asking if he could write something up for the site, we replied with an emphatic “yes.” Introducing the newest member of the NiuBBall family, Edward Bothfeld. Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Edward graduated from the University of Miami in spring 2008 with a bachelor’s in Mass Communications, moved to Hangzhou in the fall, and has been there ever since. A basketball enthusiast who says his on-court game resembles a dangerous mix of Matt Bonner and Mehmet Okur in their primes, Edward currently is part of the editing team at that’s Zhejiang magazine and also contributes material on Chinese basketball for Asia-Basket.com. A big CBA fan, Edward has been following Zhejiang Guangsha since the days of Rodney White and Nigel Dixon. He’ll be contributing to the blog frequently this year on a variety of subjects, including some much anticipated first-hand reports on Wilson Chandler and the Lions.

Edward’s first piece for NiuBBall is on wheelchair basketball in China. Special thanks to BCheng from Wild East Football for meeting up with us at the event, getting our wheelchair hoops knowledge up, and hooking us up with pictures.

From October 12-19, all of Hangzhou’s focus was on the participants of China’s 8^th National Games for Disabled Persons.  Not so much by free choice, but rather by design – with ticket sales likely lagging, the Zhejiang provincial government ensured attendance and local interest by upending school schedules on only ten days notice. For two weeks, regularly scheduled classes on Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled. (Unfortunately for students, they had to be made up on that weekend.)  By doing this, Zhejiang ensured that the closing and opening ceremonies would have high attendance figures. For a country that is not known for it’s sensitivities towards the disabled, it seemed like it for a week.

While most of the Games’ 18 events were held in the heart of Hangzhou around Huanglong Stadium, the one that mattered most to NiuBBall, wheelchair basketball, was being played an hour outside the college town of Xia Sha (下沙).  For a game that was first played by disabled American World War II veterans in the 1940’s, wheelchair basketball has come a long way.  The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) oversees 82 countries and approximately 100,000 people who play wheelchair basketball.  The sport is relatively new in China, as it was introduced in the early 2000’s and piggybacked the basketball obsession to become one of China’s most popular disabled sports.

As I approached the small stadium in Xia Sha, I saw the Hong Kong men’s team warming up by doing arm stretches and wheeling around in a small circle.  The competitors use a special type of wheelchair – the two large wheels are tilted slightly towards the person to provide more balance and decrease the probability of falling over (not to mention protecting the hands from getting squashed in between wheels).  There is also one small wheel in the back and two small wheels in the front of the wheelchair.  These wheels have the ability to rotate in a full 360 degrees to allow the players to turn quickly and remain balanced.

Inside, the Hong Kong team warmed up with lay-up lines.  Unlike traditional basketball players, wheelchair players are always grounded, obviously.  Since they are further from the hoop, finding the right angle to deflect the ball off the backboard is more challenging.  To make matters worse, they have to worry about using both hands to give themselves one final push towards the basket at the right angle.  More often than not they wait until they are nearly under the hoop to softly toss the ball up towards the backboard.

Since wheelchair basketball is played on the ground, having long arms like Hebei’s #3 pictured above is a huge advantage down low. (Photo by BCheng) 

This is just one of the many subtle but important differences between basketball and wheelchair basketball.  The wheelchairs end up giving the players a natural area of personal space because other players, who are secured in their own chairs by a seatbelt, can only reach so far.  Thus, being tall provides the same advantages as it does in normal basketball. A team that has someone tall with long arms holds a significant advantage because he or she can get the ball near the basket and take as much time as he or she wants to aim the shot while the defenders can only try their best to lean and reach as far as they can into the shooter’s space to alter the shot.  With the inability to play defense in a physical matter, there are not as many fouls in wheelchair basketball and it almost flows more than normal basketball. That’s not to say there aren’t any collisions. Plays are run and screens are set.  This isn’t bumper cars, so most fouls are called when a players slams into their opposition a little too hard.

Hong Kong ended up easily defeating Hebei by more than thirty points.  This lopsided score was not unusual as there is a large discrepancy in the quality of play between the Chinese provinces.  Wealthier provinces can afford better coaching, facilities, and opportunities for their disabled citizens.  Take a team’s depth into consideration. The Beijing women’s team had over a dozen players ready to play, while less wealthy provinces only had seven or eight players suited up.

The Beijing women’s team was by far the best team in the tournament, which isn’t surprising considering the majority of the team plays internationally for China.  BCheng, friend of NiuBBall and editor-in-chief of the fantastic Wild East Football, closely follows women’s wheelchair basketball. In attendance with me during the day, he was excited because he thought Beijing’s game against Shandong would be within twenty points (they won by forty).  While the games were blowouts, the competitors were obviously very proud of their sport and to have the opportunity to compete in front of a large audience.  At the end of the third quarter of a thirty-point game, a player for Beijing made a shot at the buzzer.  As the horn sounded, she remained under the hoop with both fists clenched shouting with Kevin Garnett-like enthusiasm.  She then caught the eye of a teammate on the bench and they approached each other to make what I dubbed, “the wheelchair chest bump”.  They wheeled toward each other at a decent speed and collided head on.  The collision of the front bumpers on each wheelchair provided a gentle boost into the air for each player; enough so that they could meet in mid-air, hug, and give each other kisses on the cheek.

Being disabled in China is not easy, and there more than sixty million people to tell you that.  The infrastructure does not cater to them.  Few buildings have ramps and the majority of residential buildings and schools under six stories don’t have elevators.  However, handicapped life has improved in recent decades.  Prior to 1980, disabled people were referred to as can fei (残废), which means “handicapped and useless”.  The disabled now have the more politically correct title of can ji ren (残疾人), which means “disabled persons”.  In 1987, only 50% of disabled people were employed, compared with 84% as of 2003.  This drastic increase in employment can be attributed to the government’s assistance in helping the disabled find work; which is how many of the wheelchair basketball players have come to love the sport.  When they were teenagers, the China Disabled Persons Federation politely encouraged (or assigned) them to play a handicapped sport, whether it is volleyball, tennis, or basketball. And so their wheelchair basketball careers began, with them practicing every morning and afternoon in preparation for international tournaments, and China’s National Games for Disabled Persons on a barely livable monthly salary.

While their participation in wheelchair basketball may be partially forced, the competitors at the Disabled Games played with the passion and excitement of someone who loved what they were doing.

In China, you gotta just roll with it sometimes. That’s what we’ve been doing with the Intercontinental Basketball Cup, an international competition in China that featured eight club teams from Korea, Germany, Australia the United States and China. Because everyone we’ve asked doesn’t know much about it other than:

1. We think Tyson Chandler, who was in Shanghai at the Nike Festival of Sport two weekends ago, was originally supposed to play. He ended up not.

2. Paul Pierce and Michael Beasley played on an American Basketball Association team called the Kentucky Bisons. It should be noted that the Bisons have been to China before to play in exhibition games, so its not that random. At least to us.

3. Pierce was immortalized into an edible chocolate figurine. He also made an appearance at a mall in Wangjing, Beijing.

4. Beasley, while playing in the tour’s last stop in Beijing, apparently fractured his wrist.

5. Alba Berlin from Germany beat the Cairns Taipans from Australia 84-67 in the championship game.

And really, that’s it. Obviously we were intrigued by choco-Truth, but we remain realistic about our chances of ever getting hold of one of those. So instead of searching China’s online sports desert memorabilia forums, we decided to look into Beasley’s reported wrist fracture.

According to what little reporting there is here on the ground in China, Pierce and Beasley suited up for the Bisons in two games, one in Shuangyashan, located in China’s northeastern province of Heilongjiang, and the other in the MasterCard Center (formely Wukeong Arena) in Beijing.

What exactly happened in Shuangyashan is anybody’s guess. 90 minutes away from any big city, Shuangyashan is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and there was probably very little media there. The game wasn’t broadcasted here in Beijing and so far we have yet to unearth any highlights. This report from Sina Sports says that Pierce and Beasley didn’t play because they weren’t feeling good. This blog from the Bisons’ opponent that night, the Cairns Taipans, says they did. Like we said, just roll with it.

In Beijing though, there’s a clearer picture of what went down. The Bisons played Stephon Marbury’s future squad, the Beijing Shougang Ducks. Randolph Morris, who signed on for another year after playing last season with the team, played for the Ducks. The Bisons won 94-83 behind 32 points from Beasley, a tall made all the more impressive once we discovered that he indeed broke his wrist.

Here’s what we found out, courtesy of NetEase.

During the [Intercontinental Basketball Championship's] last game on Monday, Beasley injured his left wrist in what was likely a fracture…

…At first, it seemed as if Beasley wasn’t injured at all. However, NetEase has learned that Beasley has very likely fractured his left wrist. According to on-site reports, Beasley participated in a dunk contest after the game was over. Because the wrist was causing him no pain, he thought he had only a very minor injury and went ahead with the contest, throwing down two dunks. But later that night and in the morning when he woke up, the pain increased and the wrist became increasingly difficult to move. So he went to the hospital to see a doctor. Upon his initial assessment, the doctor judged it a likely fracture.

Unbelievably, that was just the end of Beasley’s China misfortunes. According to the same report, he and Pierce both suffered an asthma attack in Shuangyashan.

While playing in Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang province… Pierce and Beasley both suffered asthma attacks due to large amounts of fans smoking cigarettes inside the stadium. After the game, things got even more shocking when Beasley fell to the floor in his hotel and started to roll around in obvious pain, scaring everyone around half-to-death. At that point, there was no choice but to dial 120 (the number for an ambulance in China) and take him to the hospital.

We’re not really sure what to make of the asthma and Beasley’s hospital visit, although it could very much be true as the Taipan’s blog mentions the smoke-clouded stadium they played in. But as hoopCHINA is generally very reliable about things, we trust their word about Beasley’s injured wrist.

We would give you our own thoughts on it, problem is we’re in no position to do that. Although the game against the Ducks was televised on Sunday night on Beijing Sports TV, we weren’t able to catch it. And since DVR hasn’t made into the NiuBBall crib yet (we’re told by our landlord its coming soon), we haven’t been able to watch in the days after. Unfortunately, the game hasn’t been put up online yet, so right now there’s no way to catch the whole thing. But you can check out the highlights below, which in our opinion are worth watching to see Pierce go head first into a courtside advertisement, Beasley’s angry reaction to a foul committed by Beijing’s Chinese forward, Ji Zhe, and Sun Mingming.

UPDATE:

Paul Pierce tweeted that he does not have asthma and that the NetEase report is untrue. And ESPN’s Ric Bucher tweeted that Michael Beasley’s wrist isn’t fractured.

Nighttime links served up proper with a hearty helping of lamb on a stick with lots of free beer. Cold beer, too, not that warm stuff.

• Steve Francis, who played a grand total of 14 minutes over two weeks in Beijing before getting on back on a plane the United States, speaks to the Washington Post on why he couldn’t deal with China: “Just watching them play and then not playing like 40 minutes a game. No disrespect to the players in Beijing, but I was just looking at the game like, ‘If y’all want to win, why not put me in?’”

• A bunch of Duke NBA alumni (Grant Hill, Jay Williams, Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving) and one non-Duke NBA alumni (Doc Rivers, his son Austin is a freshman on the team this year), are going to travel with Coach K and the Blue Devils on their three-city China exhibition tour later this week. With Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith having graduated last year, the Dukies will be young this year and the coaching staff is hoping that the trip will help bring the team closer and develop leadership. Duke will play against the Chinese U-23 team in Kunshan on August 17th, Shanghai on August 18th and Beijing on August 22nd.

• Shameless, shameless plug (giving myself my own bullet point, tsk tsk), but if you can’t get enough Duke in China, check out our interview with Coach Krzyzewski on City Weekend Shanghai.

• And don’t forget about the Hoyas, too. They’re already in China for their two-city, ten-day exhibition tour aimed at promoting Georgetown and the game of basketball abroad. Right now they’re in Beijing and you can check out what they’re up to here.

• Big kudos to you if you had Earl Clark as the first NBA-to-CBA signing of the summer. The 14th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft decided it would be better to play a ton of minutes with the Zhejiang Guangsha next season than to risk either an extended lockout or the unknown of free-agency if the lockout were to end. The team who drafted originally drafted him, the Phoenix Suns, didn’t pick up his third-year rookie option last year. We think Guangsha’s hiring of longtime Bulls and Lakers assistant, Jim Cleamons, as head coach also had something to do with the decision as well.

• LeBron James and Kevin Garnett are both doing the summer travelling around China thing promoting basketball and shoes.

• Stephon Marbury went on a tweeting spree about the NBA lockout, which ultimately turned into an all out assault on David Stern.

• Not really a shock to us: Yao Ming could be in the Basketball Hall of Fame by the year 2012 as a contributor to the sport. Definitely not a shock to us: He was put up for nomination by a member of the Chinese media.