For Yang Xuezeng, one season in Shanxi was enough. (Photo: Osports)

After leading the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons to their most successful season ever, Yang Xuezeng is calling it quits.

Yang, who steered the Brave Dragons to a third-place regular season before getting the team through to the semi-finals, has officially resigned as head coach and will not be back with the team next season. Team president and owner, Wang Xingjiang, confirmed the news yesterday to the Shanxi Evening Post.

The subject of Yang’s future with the team was brought up by reporters last night during an exhibition game in Taiyuan between the Brave Dragons and the traveling NBA Legends Team, who have been touring the country since April 27. Yang was not on the bench and when a reporter asked Wang, he said Yang had decided to part ways with the team despite several attempts from Wang to convince him to stay.

Yang has not yet publicly commented as to the reasons behind his decision.

Although Yang is unemployed at present, it doesn’t look like he will remain so for long. An anonymous source speaking to Sina is saying that Yang will likely be heading to the Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls, who is in the market for a new head coach after releasing Ding Wei in April. A Zhejiang spokesperson confirmed today that there is interest in bringing Yang to Yiwu, but stressed that there has been no official contact made between the two sides as of yet.

Zhejiang, who had J.R. Smith, went at 15-17 last season to finish in 11th place.

Before taking over at Shanxi last season, Yang had coached for six seasons with DongGuan New Century Leopards from 2004-10, the last four of which were spent as head coach. In those for years, DongGuan finished 14th, 12th, 4th and 5th.

Back for more: Marcus Williams and Charles Gaines will be teammates again in Shanxi next season. (Photo: Osports)

Great news if you liked watching the Chinese Basketball Association this year: Three of the league’s best import players are coming back next year.

Fujian SBS center, Will McDonald and Shanxi Zhongyu’s Marcus Williams and Charles Gaines have all signed new deals with their respective teams. Williams and Gaines have each signed two-year contracts, while McDonald has signed a contract for one.

Fresh off of a the most successful season in franchise history, the decision to bring back Williams and Gaines was a relatively simple one: Relying on arguably the best import combo in the league, Shanxi finished with a third place 20-12 regular season record, the best in franchise history, and their first ever playoff appearance. Once in the playoffs, they eliminated sixth-seeded Shanghai in four games in the first round before losing in five games to eventual CBA champions, Beijing, in the semi-finals.

Both playing in their first year with Shanxi, Gaines and Williams had extremely impressive numbers. Williams averaged 32 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals, while Gaines averaged 29.1 points and 14.3 rebounds en route to selections on the 2011-12 NiuBBall.com All-CBA First Team. It’s Williams’ second time achieving the honor and Gaines’ first.

Williams confirmed the news on his Sina Weibo account: “ITS OFFICIAL!!!!!! Im coming back the CBA and playing for Shanxi for 2 more seasons. It’s a honor to play for Shanxi and the city of Taiyuan once again. Thank you to the ownership and sponsors and for giving me the opportunity to play for the Club. #He’sBack”

Last year was Williams and Gaines’ third year in China. In 2009-10, Gaines debuted with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers before switching over to the Qingdao Double Star Eagles to play another full season n 2010-11. Williams’ first stint also came in 2009-10 with the Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls. He then came back to Zhejiang mid-season in 2010-11 after the team cut ties with Mike James.

Meanwhile, Fujian will bring back its own NiuBBall.com All-CBA First Team performer of its own.

McDonald, who made his China debut this past season, showed little trouble of adapting to his new surrounds, averaging 27.6 points and 9.9 rebounds. The 6-11 center teamed up with Anthony Roberson and Asia import, Zaid Abbas, to bring Fujian back into the playoffs after they finished towards the bottom of the league the year before.

Before coming to China, McDonald spent several years playing in Spain with Gran Canaria, Student Asefa, Tau Ceramica and DKV Joventut.

What happens with that will be settled another day, however. For now, the main focus is finishing up these last two games in the tour’s last city and making it safely back to the comforts of the United States.

That last leg, however, happens to be Taiyuan, Shanxi province. The city is well-known within Chinese basketball for a few reasons: It’s where Marbury got his start in the CBA. It’s where Jim Yardley wrote his book about the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons and their eccentric owner, Boss Wang. It’s where fans throw water bottles and lighters onto the court at the sound of a blown whistle. It’s also where they block opposing teams’ buses, hurl bricks at it and accuse former players (Marbury) of beating down its fans.

Luckily, Iverson and company likely won’t have to deal with the latter two during their stay. After Michael Jordan and possibly Kobe Bryant, A.I. is easily the most popular all-time NBAer in China. During the trip, he has been met by flocks of fans who wait at airports, hotels, restaurants, promotional events and stadiums with the hope that they can catch a glimpse of their beloved Answer.

At the Taiyuan airport today though, Iverson was greeted by some fans who wanted a little more than a glimpse…

Here’s the rest of the scene at the airport (and some more of this woman in the Yankees cap):

In Taiyuan’s defense, I’m sure there’s been other fans in other cities who are just like this. Well, except maybe the “I wanna have kids with you” sign. That’s just weird.

In a surprise move, Donewald announced three cuts from the National Team team today: Guards Xirelijiang and Duan Jiangpeng, and forward Li Xiaoxu.

At present, 19 players remain on the roster.

Originally, Donewald planned to make his first cuts after Team China’s set of three exhibition games against a United States All-Star team in mid-May. But talking to media today, Donewald said that it had become clear in recent practices which players were having trouble keeping up with the increased intensity and that a change in plan was needed.

The one player who’s dismissal comes as somewhat unexpected is Xirelijiang. The 6’0 guard from Xinjiang played under Donewald in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship and was expected to battle for a spot backing up long-time National Team stalwart, Liu Wei. Though far from a lock to make the final 12-man roster, many thought he’d last into the summer.

Instead, he won’t even last until China plays its first warm-up game. According to quotes from Donewald (translated by Chinese media into Chinese), Xirelijiang lacks the requisite point guard skills to be effective at the one, and is too short to play at the two. In the eyes of Donewald, those deficiencies were enough to overshadow his on-ball defense, which ranks among the best in China.

In three years with Team China, Donewald has overseen a 9th 16th place finish in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, a gold medal in the 2010 Asia Games and a gold medal at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, which automatically qualified China for the 2012 London Olympics.

In 38 games for Xinjiang this year, Xirelijiang averaged 33.7 minutes, 11.5 points, 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game on 39% shooting.

The remaining 19 players are as follows:

Centers:

Wang Zhizhi (Bayi), Yi Jianlian (Dallas Mavericks), Zhang Zhaoxu (Shanghai), Su Wei (Guangdong), Han Dejun (Liaoning), Wang Zhelin (Fujian)

Forwards:

Zhou Peng (Guangdong), Yi Li (Jiangsu), Zhang Bo (Bayi), Zhu Fangyu (Guangdong), Ding Jinhui (Zhejiang), Zhu Yanxi (Beijing), Zhai Xiaochuan (Beijing)

Guards:

Liu Wei (Shanghai), Wang Shipeng (Guangdong), Chen Jianghua (Guangdong), Sun Yue (Beijing Aoshen), Guo Ailun (Liaoning), Yang Ming (Liaoning)

Confident, versatile and aggressive, Yi Jianlian is the unquestioned centerpiece of the post-Yao Ming Team China. (Photo: Xinhua)

Two.

That’s the amount of years its been since Team China improbably got out of the group stages in Turkey at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, thanks to, of all things, a last second three-point fling from Puerto Rico’s David Huertas against Cote d’Voire.

As China fans know, Huertas’ three caused Group C’s last game to end in a 88-79 win for Cote d’Voire, a score that proved to be significant for two reasons: First, it kept Puerto Rico from getting their second win of the group stage, which would have surpassed one-win China and qualified themselves for the knockout round. But second — and most memorable of all — the scoreline gave China the tie-break on point differential they needed to get past Cote d’Voire. Before the game, China needed the West Africans to win by less than 12 points, and up 88-76 with only seconds remaining, it looked as if the Chinese weren’t going to get their wish. Until, of course, the Huertas swish with just seconds left on the clock.

Unfortunately for China this summer in the 2012 Olympics in London, Cote d’Voire will not be in attendance and Puerto Rico, though still eligible as part of the 12-team Olympic Qualifiers Tournament, may not be there either. And with only two groups and 12 teams, compared to the four groups and 24 teams in the World Championship, the number two has a much greater — and more challenging — meaning.

It’s the number of wins China will require to get out of their group.

Since the Olympics expanded their basketball tournament to 12 teams in 1984, no team has ever made it out with less wins. And no team ever will; mathematically, its impossible. Which means, even if Puerto Rico does qualify for London at the FIBA World Qualifying Tournament, they’ll need more than just one win for a random buzzer-beating three to help push them through.

The good thing is, they’re very capable of that. China played Greece, Puerto Rico and Russia extremely tough in the group stages two years ago in Turkey. Much of that had to do with American head coach, Bob Donewald Jr., and his emphasis on defense. Now in 2012, China is even better on that end, arguably the best they’ve ever been. Whereas China once relied almost solely on Yao Ming to do everything, China now prides itself on helping the helper and quick rotations from all five guys. The belief is that though China doesn’t have the talent it did before, they can stay in games if they’re able to consistently limit opponents’ points. It’s worked both in Turkey and in Wuhan, and it’s something that Donewald has gotten the entire National Team roster to completely believe in heading into London.

Who that roster will be comprised of, however, isn’t exactly clear at this point. As it stands, 22 players are training with the National Team in Beijing, a number that is much smaller than the 37 players that were put on the roster in April 2011 in preparation for the FIBA Asia Championship. Zero play in Europe and only one, Yi Jianlian, plays in the NBA. Everyone else plays for teams in China.

Sounds like a good excuse to go on a 2,800 word tear. We go over every player’s chance at playing in London.

The Locks:

Sun Yue

Yi Jianlian (PF/C, Dallas Mavericks): Now two years past the Yao Ming era, Yi is the unquestioned centerpiece of Team China and will be depended on as their primary option on offense for London and beyond. He played extremely well in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, where he helped China secure an automatic bid in this summer’s Olympics. He’ll probably have to play even better if China is to achieve their goal of making the quarter-finals.

Sun Yue (G/F, Beijing Aoshen Olympians): If Yi is the most important piece of the current National Team setup, then Sun comes in as the squad’s second most indispensable cog. The 6’8 lefty isn’t really a point guard, but he’s good enough with the ball in his hands to alleviate some of the pressure from Liu Wei and he’s skilled enough to create some offense for himself and others. He’s also becoming more reliable from the three-point line with every passing summer, making him arguably China’s second most dangerous offensive player. The problem with Sun, however, remains the same as it always has: Getting him some good reps against good competition so that he can hit his top gear by August. Wasting away with Beijing Aoshen for yet another season, Sun has been playing against fourth and fifth-rate competition in various invitational tournaments that result in nothing more than easy, meaningless wins. The good news is that Donewald has experience in getting Sun’s game where it needs to be, but we — like many others — only can shake our head as to why one of China’s best players is unable to play in China’s best league.

Wang Zhizhi (C, Bayi Fubang Rockets): Although old and creaky, Wang is China’s most experienced player. And he can still ball, too. The lefty may be past his prime, but at 7’1 with killer footwork and cash-money stroke from three, he’s still somebody that has to be accounted for on the offensive end. His minutes won’t be crazy, but like always, he’ll figure out a way to make his mark on at least one game, which may also double as his last.

Liu Wei (PG, Shanghai Dongfang Sharks): Like Da Zhi, Liu Wei is up there in age, but with nobody else even remotely capable of  taking the reigns at point guard, the longtime Team China vet will be playing a significant role for the third straight Olympics. Like Wang, this could very well be Liu’s last go around for the National Team.

Zhou Peng (SF, Guangdong Hongyuan Southern Tigers): Long, versatile and young, Zhou has developed into China’s best perimeter defender and will be a key guy in August for Donewald. His offense is slowly improving and if he can ever consistently knock down an open jumper, watch out.

Not Locks, But Almost:

Ding Jinhui

Yi Li (F, Jiangsu Nangang Dragons): Even if he was a bit disappointing during the domestic season (then again, who on Jiangsu wasn’t?), he was fantastic for China off the bench during the FIBA Asia Championship, a fact that will be very fresh on Donewald’s mind. Like Zhou Peng, he’s young, long, athletic and can defend multiple positions. He won’t start, but I think he’ll get some very meaningful minutes in London.

Ding Jinhui (PF, Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls): There’s a reason why nobody in the CBA looks forward to playing this guy. “The Bulldog,” as he’s known around National Team parts, is a favorite of Donewald for his unmatched energy, physicality, toughness and intensity. He doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional Chinese four because he’s undersized, but he more than makes up for it with his non-stop motor and a decent spot up jumper. He should and will be on the final roster.

Wang Shipeng (SG, Guangdong): At one time considered a lock in the not so distant past, Wang has slipped due to his notable post-season struggles this year, especially in the Finals. In five games against Beijing, Wang averaged 4.4 points per game and looked like a completely different player than the cold-blooded assassin that tormented Xinjiang in the 2011 en route to a CBA Finals MVP. Is his spot in London at risk? We don’t think so. Though an unapologetic chucker on offense, he’s one of the only guys on the team who can get his own shot off the dribble. He has also shown on a number of occasions that he is unafraid to take and make big shots (just ask Slovenia and Iran). Unless he has a complete meltdown, 2012 will mark his third straight Olympics.

In The Hunt:

Zhang Bo (G/F, Bayi): He doesn’t do anything noticeably really well, but he also doesn’t do anything noticeably really bad either. Donewald likes him because of his versatility and his high IQ off the ball. He can also be a spot ball handler if the need ever arises. Most helpful to his cause is that he’s played on both the 2010 and 2011 editions of the National Team.

Su Wei (C, Guangdong): Beijing fans will be calling on Donewald to huan Su Wei, but in all likeliness he’ll be included in the final 12-man roster. Increasingly inept offensively, Su is part in the Team Setup for one reason: The man is freaking huge and he plays with a mean streak. With Spain and their huge front line placed with China in Group B, Su could be called on to repeatedly smash his chest into one of the Gasol brothers. Unless Donewald goes with the even more massive Han Dejun (and we doubt he will, more on that later), Su is the guy to fill the defensive enforcer role China needs on the interior — assuming Donewald wants a defensive enforcer, that is.

Zhang Zhaoxu (C, Shanghai): Since signing professionally with Shanghai in 2010, “Max” has gotten noticeably better over the last 18 months and its in no small part to Donewald and the patient work he’s put in with the 7’3 center during his time with the Sharks and the National Team. A walking foul machine in the early stages of his professional career, Zhang has improved his defensive footwork and timing, the latter of which has helped him become an effective rebounder and shot blocker. He’s gaining more confidence with his offense as well, flashing a nice turnaround jumper and jump hook, moves that are both on their way to becoming at least somewhat dependable. Zhang will be with the National Team for a long time this summer, but whether he makes the final cut will depend on how Donewald wants to the shape the roster (i.e. small or big) in response to his group’s opponents.

Zhu Fangyu (SF, Guangdong): The CBA’s all-time leading scorer is a beast during the domestic season, but in international competition Zhu’s game doesn’t translate so well. He’s heavy and slow, which makes him a defensive liability and on the other side of the ball he can’t create his own shot. He can, however, shoot the heck out of the ball, which is always a useful skill. And depending on the match-up, he can occasionally go on the block to outmuscle smaller players. With Sun Yue, Zhou Peng, Yi Li and very possibly Wang Shipeng as well, China is pretty set on the wing so it’s tough to say whether Zhu will be there in London.

Guo Ailun

Guo Ailun (PG, Liaoning Hengye Jaguars): Included on the World Championship roster in 2010, Guo was universally considered China’s most promising prospect at the point guardposition and the virtual heir apparent to Liu Wei. Then, he organized a blood letter against his U-23 head coach, Fan Bin and set his development back a year after he was banned from the senior team for a year. Originally left off the initial 19-man roster in March, Guo got on in April. He didn’t go down with the team on their recent trip to Sanya, instead staying in Beijing to work individually with assistant coach, Li Nan. What all of that means is anyone’s guess, but obviously there is definitely more than just basketball in Guo’s summer equation. He still struggles with his decision making and his shot is a mess, but he’s good at getting into the paint off the bounce and is a solid finisher around the basket. Adding to his cause is his enthusiasm for on-ball defense and occasional ability to pressure guards full court depending on the matchup. He’s got the talent, but with his well-known disciplinary issues, his fate for London might be out of his hands.

Yang Ming (PG, Liaoning): Donewald has gone on the record saying that he’ll take two from the Guo Ailun-Xirelijiang-Yang Ming-Chen Jianghua quartet of guards to backup Liu Wei, but which ones? If we had to predict, we’d say Guo should be one of them. Nobody among the four is the sure-handed, sure-headed point guard that China needs, but Guo is probably the closest guy available.Finishing with averages of 6.4 assists and just 1.5 turnovers this year in Liaoning, the 26 year-old Yang is one of the best playmakers in National Team camp and because of that, is also likely the front runner to spell Liu.

Xirelijiang (G, Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers): The Xinjiang born-and-bred guard made his debut on Team China last summer in Wuhan because he is the best defender at the guard position in all of China and one of few domestic players who can effectively guard imports. But will that be enough this time around in London? Though he lead the league this season in awkward-footed three-point makes, he’s still not a knockdown shooter from the outside (37.5% from three) and as one of the few players in the world who prefers to use his right hand when driving left, he is going to struggle mightily against pressure from longer and more athletic defenders. Of the four previously mentioned guards, Xire has the best singular skill of anyone, but at the same time he also probably has the weakest all-around game. A definite guy to follow this summer and someone who is definitely on the selection fence.

The Longshots:

Han Dejun (C, Liaoning): Han is surprisingly light on his feet, surprisingly athletic and surprisingly pretty consistent with his face-up jumper. Not surprisingly, he’s still fat and poorly conditioned, none of which will sit too well with the defensive-minded Donewald. If the selection process was based on skill alone, Han would be the pick. But given his weight problems and his absence from the National Team last year and in 2010, Han is not going to surpass Su Wei or Zhang Zhaoxu, both of whom are guys Donewald knows and trusts.

Zhu Yanxi (PF/C Beijing Shougang Ducks): The 2012 NiuBBall CBA Rookie of the Year, Zhu endeared himself in these parts due to his out-of-nowhere Chongqing-to-Beijing-to-NBL-to-CBA champion story and his Euro-styled game at the center position — even if he did lose serious points for being stretchered into an ambulance for what amounted to be nothing more than bruised ribs, an injury that didn’t even prevent him from missing practice the next day. Although he’s one of our favorite CBA players, we’ll have to wait labeling him as one of our favorite Chinese National Team players until another year as he’s too young and too inexperienced to be called upon for Olympic service.

Li Xiaoxu (PF, Liaoning): Li rebounds and has a decent spot-up jumper, but he’s not going to London unless there are injuries. He didn’t play in the World Championship or Asia Championship, which hurts his cause.

The No Shots:

Wang Zhelin (C, Fujian SBS Sturgeons): He’s going to be dominant in the CBA and he’s going to be a big part of the National Team, but just not this year. For all the hype surrounding the kid, he’s just 18 years-old and has yet to play a single minute professionally. With China gunning for the best result possible in August, there’s no room for developing young guys, so Wang will have no choice but get up super early and watch Big Red on television like everyone else in China.

Zhai Xiaochuan (F, Beijing): Can’t shoot, can’t play in the half court, can’t play in London. If Stephon Marbury was running point for China, he could reprise his role this season for the Ducks running the wings and finishing in transition. By FIBA rule, Steph can’t, so he won’t. He shouldn’t fret too much, though. He’ll get a major look in 2016 when his skills are more refined.

Duan Jiangpeng (SG, Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons): Duan is a specialist who’s speciality — shooting — shouldn’t really be considered that special. Adding to things, he can’t get by anybody off the bounce and he can’t defend. He got cooking a few times this year for Shanxi, but more often than not he disappeared from games. Likely to be among the first cuts in May.

Chen Jianghua (PG, Guangdong): Before we go on further, allow us to say this: Chen should have played more in the Finals against Beijing. He was consistently Guangdong’s best player at the point, and caused problems for Beijing with his ability to set his team’s offense and get good looks for everyone. Instead, Li Chunjiang made it a zero-sum game between Chen and Aaron Brooks, and refused to put the two of them on the floor together for any meaningful period of time. So when Chen gets cut (which he will, he’s been ravaged by injuries over the years and is just not a very good international player with his super slight frame), that’s what we’ll be thinking about.

Prediction: Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, Wang Zhizhi, Liu Wei, Zhou Peng, Ding Jinhui, Yi Li, Wang Shipeng, Zhang Bo, Su Wei, Yang Ming, Guo Ailun

The Bruins, members of the powerhouse Pac-12 conference, are the first team to travel to China under the conference’s initiative to expand its brand into the Asian market.

“UCLA will represent the Pac-12 and plant a flag for the conference,” said Pac-12 commissioner, Larry Scott. “We expect this to be an annual basketball trip by our schools, playing future collegiate teams and the Chinese national team.”

Although it’s unclear where and against whom UCLA will play, Scott indicated that they will play the “equivalent of NCAA competition.” Duke played the Chinese U-23 Olympic National Team in Shanghai and Beijing last year.

UCLA is the most successful collegiate basketball program in America, having won a record 11 national championships in addition to 25 Final Four appearances. However, their team hasn’t had as much success in recent seasons and went 19-14 in 2011 en route to missing the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in eight seasons.

But that looks to be changing. UCLA secured the number one recruiting class in the country this spring and Chinese fans will have the opportunity to gawk at incoming freshman Shabbazz Muhammad, who is widely considered as next year’s top overall pick in the NBA Draft.

Last summer, Georgetown’s summer tour of China made international headlines after the team got into a violent, bench-clearing brawl with the Bayi Rockets, who play professionally in the Chinese Basketball Association.

Follow Edward Bothfeld on Twitter @bothfeef

According to Sina, DongGuan is in heavy pursuit of Jilin GBT Northeast Tigers point guard, Yu Shulong.

“We have real interest in acquring Yu Shulong,” said DongGuan general manager, Wang Jue to reporters yesterday. “But whether we can succeed in that, we still need to continue to consult with Jiiln.”

Wang added that the team would be open to trading players in exchange for Yu.

A point guard on the National Team for both the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Yu was expected to continue his development in Jilin and build towards a run at London this summer. But to the dismay of many, Yu saw his minutes decrease dramatically this season after management elected to sign Jordanian National Team starting point guard, Osama Daghlas, as their specially designated FIBA Asia Import. Averaging 35.5 minutes per game with 29 starts in 32 games in 2010-11, Yu only played 15.5 minutes per game this year and started four games. He also accumulated eight DNP-CDs.

As a result, Yu was not selected for Bob Donewald’s National Team training camp roster and thus will not be playing in the Olympics in August. Instead, he was selected for the Olympic U-23 Team, which essentially acts as the development team for the senior squad.

Jilin finished the season in 12 place with a 14-18 record.

DongGuan’s desire to add Yu is consistent with their emphasis on acquiring and developing young Chinese players over signing high-priced foreign players. Though ownership is not short of cash, DongGuan has been the league’s lowest spenders on imports over the last two seasons. Two seasons ago, they signed Josh Akognon and Jackson Vroman. This past season, they brought back Akognon while replacing Vroman with Shavlik Randolph. But despite not throwing big money at foreign players, DongGuan has enjoyed tremendous success recently: Third place in 2010-11 and fifth in 2011-12.

Yu would be a good fit in DongGuan. The 22 year-old has National Team experience and is one of the better young guards in the CBA. Capable of playing both guard spots, he’d also add some versatility to a DongGuan backcourt that struggled at times with depth issues last year.

In two seasons, Brian Goorjian has lead DongGuan to consecutive top-five finishes. (Photo: Osports)

Leopards fans, relax. Brian Goorjian is staying in DongGuan for a while.

Goorjian has signed a three-year extension with the DongGuan New Century Leopards. Both Goorjian and New Century management confirmed the news to Chinese media on Friday.

NiuBBall.com Coach of the Year in 2011, Goorjian’s new contract comes on the heels of three very successful seasons in DongGuan. In his first year in 2009, he coached the Leopards’ youth team to the Chinese National Youth League championship. Impressed with his focus on developing young players and his long-term vision for the future, management hired him as head coach of the senior team for the 2010-11 season. His first season in the CBA, he lead the team to a third place 27-5 record. This past season the team achieved  a fifth place finish, going 19-13.

Before working in China, Goorjian coached for over 20 years in Australia’s National Basketball League. He is considered arguably the best coach in Australian professional basketball history, winning six championships and boasting a winning percentage over .700. From 2001-2008, he was the head coach of the Australian National Team, which included two appearances in the Olympics.

(Photo: Xinhua)

Since their down-to-the-wire one-point win against Jordan last summer in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, China has known that they’ll be playing in the 2012 London Olympics.

Now they’ll know who they’ll be playing.

China will be placed in Group B after being drawn with Spain, Brazil, Great Britain, Australia and the third-placed team from the FIBA World Qualifying Tournament.

Group A is defending Olympic gold medalist, the United States, as well as France, Argentina, Tunisia and the first and second placed team from the qualifying tournament.

Headlining China’s group is 2008 Olympic runners-up,  Spain. Considered as the main challenger to the United States’ gold medal defense, Spain fields arguably its strongest team ever, boasting five current NBA players, brothers Pau and Marc Gasol, Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez and Serge Ibaka. Group B is also highlighted by host nation Great Britain, who will feature numerous NBA players as well in Luol Deng, Byron Mullens and Ben Gordon.

The tournament will open with group stage play on July 29th, ending with the Gold Medal game on August 12th.

The last three teams to be placed in London will come as the result of the FIBA World Qualifying Tournament. 12 teams will play in the competition, with the top three teams advancing to the Olympics. The field is comprised of Russia, Greece, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Macedonia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Jordan, Angola and South Korea. The tournament will be held from July 2-8 in Caracas, Venezuela.

China reached the quarter-finals in 2008 in Beijing, where they were the host nation, before losing to Lithuania.

Group A:

• Argentina
• France
• Tunisia
• USA
• First and second place qualifiers

Group B:

• Australia
• Brazil
• China
• Great Britain
• Spain
• Third place qualifier

We were there once, and we feel you. So to help you celebrate your May 1st holiday, NiuBBall is hooking it up with a NBA Playoffs TV Guide to help out.

When can I watch the Playoffs?

Games are broadcast live in the morning.

No, watching sports in the day’s early hours is not totally ideal, nor is it very practical for those who work or go to school. But, unless you can convince China to change their timezone to Pacific Standard Time (trust me, I went to school on the West Coast and it’s way better than Eastern), the only thing we can do is live with it. Luckily, knowing what time the games are on is as easy as looking at the schedule and changing the PM to AM. For example, if a game starts at 7:30 PM on the East Coast, it starts at 7:30am on the Far East Coast. See, we told you it was easy.

Where can I watch the Playoffs?

China’s national sports television station, CCTV-5, carries a decent amount of early round games and works itself to eventually carry every game of the Conference Finals and Finals.

If you’re looking for a schedule, you can go to either the CCTV.com TV schedule or tvmao.com. and press the “translate” button on your internet browser. Just know that these sites sometimes aren’t accurate — for example, both  says CCTV-5 is showing a live feed of the Knicks and Heat tomorrow at 10:30, despite the fact that they’re playing at 7.

If you’re in Beijing, BTV-6 also shows games in the mornings. You can check their programming schedule here (again, have that “translate” button ready).

But the best outlet to watch a game is is Sina.com’s amazing “NBA Room” that allows users to watch live games online. They have at least one game per day, so if you don’t like any of the games being played on TV, there are no games on TV or you don’t have a TV, you can rest easy knowing you have options. And the best part? It’s free. Plus I don’t even think you have to register (don’t quote me on that, though.)

You can go check out the NBA Room here and you can look at the schedule here.

QQ.com also has a page where you can watch live streaming games.

Is there anywhere to watch the games in English?

No, not if you’re watching Chinese channels. The only way to watch English commentary is to get a satellite dish, or go somewhere where somebody else has a satellite dish. Our suggestion: Like the NBA-in-the-morning stuff, just embrace it. If you’re into stats and are afraid that you won’t be able to understand anything flashed on screen, just open your computer, put on a live box score and glance down during breaks in the action. It’s not that bad, really and you should be doing it regardless of language.

Plus, watching games in Chinese is all part of the China basketball experience. and pick up some new words. We’ll even give you first one to get you started: Hao qiu. it literally means “good ball” and it’s used by announcers to describe literally every nice play: A dunk, a three-pointer, a pull-up from the elbow, a beasty rebound in traffic, a behind-the-back pass, a sick crossover, an alley-oop, an acrobatic lay-up, a block and any other good thing a player can do in basketball.

Are there any good spots I can go to watch the game?

Your options are limited because games are on in the mornings and most bars aren’t open in the morning. Luckily in Beijing, The Den is open 24 hours and is a good place to watch games if you’re into having a beer at nine in the morning. They have pretty decent breakfasts, too.

So enjoy the Playoffs and as always, if you want to serve the English-speaking basketball loving China community, don’t hesitate to send me an email or leave something in the comments detailing how and/or where you watch the Playoffs in China, and I’ll post it up with your name, your Twitter account, your website… whatever.

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.

If you think so, you’re in luck because the good people at CCTV-5 have made a one minute long television spot that does just that. The huge armies, the big flags and the massive fortresses that we’ve come to expect from the ancient Chinese battlefield are all there, but the best part is saved for the last thirty seconds when computer animated versions of Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose all dress up in traditional Chinese armor while wielding some serious weaponry.

Wow, wow and wow. If the Playoffs are even a quarter as good as that, it’ll be the greatest post-season in the history of the NBA, maybe in the history of sport. If they’re half as good, they’ll be the greatest anything ever.

(H/T to the guys at The Basketball Jones and to Michael Ardaiolo)

Allen Iverson is in China right now, but the question is: Will he be back here next season? (Photo: Osports)

Allen Iverson captured headlines in China yesterday after arriving in Shanghai has part of an exhibition tour that will travel around China for the next two weeks, but he has captured the imagination of media and fans after indicating he’s open to the idea of playing in the Chinese Basketball Association next season.

Iverson is currently in China for the next two weeks as part of an NBA Legends Tour that will play seven exhibition games in six cities across central and southern China. Shorty after getting on the ground from the U.S. yesterday morning, he fielded questions from Chinese reporters and when when asked if he’d consider playing in the CBA next season, he replied: “Why not?”

Iverson has been out of professional basketball since January 2011, when he left Turkish outfit Besiktas after he injured his right calf muscle.

This is not the first time Iverson has been linked with a move to the CBA: He flirted with the idea of playing in China in the summer/fall of 2010 and had several serious offers, including a reported $4 million contract from Foshan. Iverson ended up declining Foshan and all other teams, and signed a two-year deal with Bestikas shortly after in October.

At this point, there is no indication as to which teams Iverson would be open towards joining.

Though the 11-time NBA All-Star rejected Chinese overtures in 2010, things could be different this time around if he is indeed serious about playing basketball. After an inconsistent stint in Turkey, big money European offers are likely off the table which means the best spot for a large contract would be China, where he is beloved by fans and widely recognized as one of the most popular NBA players of all-time.

But maybe more importantly, Iverson has a valuable ally in his Chinese corner this time, Stephon Marbury.

Fresh off of leading the Beijing Shougang Ducks to their first ever CBA championship, Marbury has grown into a bonefied superstar in China and has been called a hero of Beijing by the city’s millions of inhabitants. Due to a CBA rule that limits both the regular season and Finals MVP award to Chinese players, popular Chinese basketball website, hoopCHINA, has lead a campaign to build Marbury a bronze statue that will commemorate his season in Beijing, a project that has garnered the support of more than 1 million people in China.

How that relates to Iverson’s potential career in China isn’t hard to guess. Marbury continues to sell his Starbury line of apparel to the Chinese market. With Iverson likely keen on the idea branding himself to China’s estimated 300+ million basketball fans, Marbury would be the ideal example for the 36 year-old to follow if he indeed ended up playing here next season.

Marbury, who will play against Iverson for the Legends Tour’s first thee games, returned to Beijing yesterday after a short trip to the United States and was immediately supportive of Iverson joining up with a Chinese team next season.

“I think [Iverson] will be rejuvenated if he played in China,” Marbury said on his Sina Weibo account (Chinese Twitter). “He would love the fans here if he played basketball here. I hope he can feel the love when he plays here in the coming games.”

Besides Iverson and Marbury, the tour includes Dennis Rodman, who also landed with Iverson in Shanghai yesterday, as well as Clyde Drexler and Shawn Kemp. The Legends team will play the first three games against Marbury and the Beijing Ducks, the first of which is tomorrow night in Cixi, Zhejiang province. They’ll then play their next three against the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons, who lost to Beijing in the semi-finals this season, before playing the Chinese U-23 Olympic National Team in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, for the finale.

The Ducks will be short of their other import player, Randolph Morris, who elected to remain in the U.S., Lee Hsueh-lin, who is back in his native Taiwan, as well as Zhai Xiaochuan and Zhu Yanxi, who are in Sanya training with the China Senior National Team.

In 14 seasons, Iverson averaged 26.7 points, 6.2 assists and 2.2 steals. His accolades include an NBA Rookie of the Year award, an NBA MVP, an NBA Finals appearance, four scoring titles and  seven All-NBA Team selections. He is currently the 17th all-time leading scorer in NBA history with 24,368 points.

The Legends Tour schedule is as follows:

April 28th: Cixi (vs. Beijing Shougang)

April 30th: Wuxi (vs. Beijing Shougang)

May 3rd: Shenhen (vs. Beijing Shougang)

May 5th: Linyi (vs. Shanxi Zhongyu)

May 7th: Dongying (vs. Shanxi Zhongyu)

May 9th: Taiyuan (vs. Shanxi Zhongyu)

May 11th: Taiyuan (vs. China Olympic National Team)

And the bad news: They’re about to lose the this season’s leading Chinese scorer.

Shang Ping, who played the last two seasons for Shanxi Zhongyu, has become the first player to officially change laundry this off-season. One of the few players to be a free-agent, the 6-8 power forward has signed a three-year deal with the Eagles.

Big 12 fans may know Shang from his days at Nebraska — after transferring from Illinois Central College in 2006, he played one season for the Cornhuskers in 2007-08 and averaged 9.9 minutes, 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in 21 appearances. At the conclusion of the season, Shang then transferred to Division II Emporia State where he averaged 14.9 minutes, 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 25 games.

When his four years of college eligibility were up, Shang opted to play professionally in China and signed a one-year deal with Beijing Shougang. In his rookie season, he piled up 21 starts out of 30 games, averaging 15.6 minutes 4.1 points and 3.5 rebounds. Apparently content with his basketball nomad lifestyle, Shang packed his bags once again in the summer of 2010 to sign with Shanxi. He showed improvement over in 2010-11, boosting his averages to 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds, but with Ren Junhui in on loan from Guangdong this year, Shang’s playing playing time declined considerably this year, especially towards the end of the season.

Qingdao lacks size on the interior and at a burly 6-8, Shang will at least give them some toughness down on the block. Their only other true four, Xue Yuyang,  prefers to hang out on the three-point line and possesses arms only slightly longer than spatulas, making things like rebounding a tough proposition. Shang may not be super skilled, but he is physical and he will give something Qingdao didn’t have last year.

But that bit of good news will soon be cast over by the ominous dark cloud that is Li Gen’s imminent departure. According to Sohu, Li, who like Shang is a free-agent, is close to signing with Zhejiang Guangsha; so much so that Sohu’s sources are declaring it “90% done.” Li’s old team, Shanghai, who he left in 2010, is also in the mix but according to the report, Guangsha’s offer is apparently too good to pass up.

Listed at 23 years-old, Li averaged a career high 17.5 points per game last year en route to becoming the leading Chinese scorer in the league. He also won CBA All-Star MVP.

If Li indeed joins Guangsha, it’ll be quite a coup for the Lions who will have made a big local addition only weeks after bringing back head coach, Wang Fei. They will, however, need to figure out who’s going to set up the offense — with the content-to-shoot-it-from-anywhere Li potentially joining forces with notorious chucker, Lin Chih-chieh, team management would be wise to ensure that their point guard going forward knows how to pass the ball. How they’ll go about doing that remains to be seen because Jin Lipeng definitely isn’t that guy and Wang Zirui likely isn’t seasoned enough to step into huge minutes at the point quite yet.

Being as tough as it is to add talent in the off-season, if Guangsha ends up with Li, the point guard situation will be one of those good problems and Hangzhou might become the host city of a top-five team.

To the chagrin of a vacationing tourist, Zhou Peng and Yang Ming run on the beach in Sanya. (Photo: Osports)

Sanya: For most, the most southern city in China, located on China’s tropical Hainan island, serves as a holiday getaway for beach-minded tourists looking to get away from the monotony of the Monday-to-Friday workweek.

For the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team, however, Sanya’s relaxing innocence is completely lost on the set of grueling four-a-days — as in, four practices a day – they’re being forced to go through during the one week they’ll be there as they prepare for the 2012 London Olympics and the long set of exhibition games that will precede them.

The China NT in Hainan is nothing new and actually, neither is the intense practice schedule, which went down last year as well under the direction of head coach, Bob Donewald Jr. According to Chinese media, the days are comparable to a 24 Hour Fitness Center: Running, swimming, weights, individual skills work, full-team practices and recovery are all on the docket until the 29th, when they’ll get on a plane and come back to Beijing.

Liu Wei’s said he’s never felt this tired in four years, Wang Zhizhi says the hard work is only made harder by the four showers and four changes of clothes he’s taking each day. We say: We’ve never felt more dissapointed to see professional athletes running on the beach in shoes. Honestly, we don’t know what’s worse — knowing that those nice Nike’s are going be scuffed up and dirty after about 30 seconds, or that little specs of sand are going to permanently lodged inside the shoe no matter how hard or how long they shake them out once their run is over. Please, somebody make these guys run barefoot. (Which someone apparently did. That’s more like it!)

We’ll ignore the poor choice in beachwear and instead focus on the sweat being poured in Southern China. So in honor of Team Big Red and all of their hard work though these unenviable four-a-days, here’s four National Team bullets that should keep everyone up to date on what’s been going on during the last month of closed-door practices.

• The best player not playing in the CBA, Sun Yue, is now officially with the National Team after he reported from Beijing Aoshen on the 24th. That means the team is short only one player, Yi Jianlian, who is with the Dallas Mavericks getting ready for their NBA title defense. Before getting into Hainan, Sun was with the Olympians as they toured Hunan province playing nine games against fifth-rate competition against teams like the San Diego Surf. Wang Shipeng is also now with the team; according to hoopCHINA (or are we supposed to call it HuPu now?) Wang was in Hong Kong undergoing treatment for an undisclosed injury.

• Guo Ailun, who was originally put on the China Olympic National Team (which is just a fancy way of saying the Junior National Team), is now with the Senior squad after he was called up by the CBA powers-that-be on April 14th. Guo had a troubled year with the National Team set-up last year; first, he was cut early from Donewald’s FIBA Asia Championship roster and then followed that up by organizing a blood letter in an effort to removes Olympic National Team head coach, Fan Bin. Guo’s inclusion in the National Team set-up means there are now four young point-guards vying for spots on the final 12-man roster, Guo, Yang Ming, Xirelijiang and Chen Jianghua. Donewald has gone on the record saying that he’ll take two of the four to London; which ones will depend on who can defend and take care of the ball, the two attributes Donewald has historically looked for in his Team China point guards. Guo did not make the trip to Sanya.

• Another addition: Du Feng, who is now working as an assistant after former assistant, Selcuk Ernak, left the team to pursue coaching opportunities in his native Turkey. Du recently retired from the CBA after spending 14 years with the Guangdong Hongyuan Southern Tigers and acted as an assistant on the team’s bench this past season. He joins Li Nan to form what is for now, an all Chinese assistant staff.

• Before the team went to Sanya, they were surprised by the visit of one Yao Ming, who took in practice from the sidelines in a black pants-white button up shirt combo. He declined interviews. But media, inspired by Big Yao’s appearance, went right to work on Donewald, asking him if he thought young Wang Zhelin could be China’s next Yao Ming. His answer: No. The question marked the 782nd time in the last month that a member of the media has made the Yao-Wang comparison, which puts everything on course for the golden 1,000-mark sometime by the end of May.