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dreamwalker2
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China's Invincibility is a Myth
China's Invincibility is a Myth
It appears China couldn’t care less about winning in Tokushima with an Olympic ticket to Beijing a sure thing as host nation.
At the recent Manila Invitationals, the Tokushima-bound Chinese squad finished fourth and last. There were rumors that coach Adijan Chang Bin would recruit at least three players from China’s A team to reinforce the squad but in the end, only 6-5 Chen Lei was brought in to replace Zhang Qingpeng.
Curiously, Adijan took out one of his four original picks from China’s 22-man national pool. Zhang’s dismissal left only Wang Yong, Han Shuo and Yang Ming from the pool in China’s selection for Tokushima.
China’s A team is playing in the Stankovic Cup while Adijan’s squad is trying to keep head above water in the Olympic qualifiers.
China’s vulnerability was evident in its opening day 78-65 loss to Jordan in Tokushima yesterday. The Philippines plays China today in a crucial match that could determine the second team from Group A to advance to the quarterfinals.
Without Yao Ming, China is just an ordinary team.
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The only naturalized players in Tokushima rosters are Lebanon’s Joe Vogel of Colorado State and Jordan’s Rasheim Wright of District of Columbia.
Vogel, 33, was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA draft. He played as an import in Turkey, Japan and Saudi Arabia before taking out Lebanese citizenship in time to lead Lebanon to second place in the FIBA-Asia Championships in 2001. The 6-11 center has represented Lebanon in the last two World Championships.
Wright, 26, has guaranteed an Olympic ticket for Jordan.
A player whom Jordan tried to smuggle into Tokushima has been disqualified. Seven-foot center Dshmal Schoetz (renamed Maitah) averaged 6.2 points and 4.1 rebounds for Jordan’s title squad in the recent Jones Cup where the MVP was Wright.
But it was discovered that Schoetz played for Germany’s under-18 national squad in 1998. Under FIBA rules, a player may see action for only one national team in his lifetime. So if Schoetz ever hopes to play in a FIBA tournament again, it’ll be only for Germany.
IN OTHER NEWS......
Iran shocked South Korea, 89-75, and edged Japan, 69-64, to end a 55-year absence from the semifinals of the Asian Games in Doha last year. Iran lost to Qatar in the semifinals and settled for the bronze by crushing Jordan, 84-78.
Iran’s 6-6 forward Samad Bahrami was the Asian Games’ leading scorer and heads the squad in Tokushima with brother Aydin who is 6-7.
Iran’s coach is Serbian Rejko Toroman who was an assistant coach of the Yugoslavian national team with head coaching experience in the Hungarian and Dutch leagues.
* * *
China's Invincibility is a Myth
It appears China couldn’t care less about winning in Tokushima with an Olympic ticket to Beijing a sure thing as host nation.
At the recent Manila Invitationals, the Tokushima-bound Chinese squad finished fourth and last. There were rumors that coach Adijan Chang Bin would recruit at least three players from China’s A team to reinforce the squad but in the end, only 6-5 Chen Lei was brought in to replace Zhang Qingpeng.
Curiously, Adijan took out one of his four original picks from China’s 22-man national pool. Zhang’s dismissal left only Wang Yong, Han Shuo and Yang Ming from the pool in China’s selection for Tokushima.
China’s A team is playing in the Stankovic Cup while Adijan’s squad is trying to keep head above water in the Olympic qualifiers.
China’s vulnerability was evident in its opening day 78-65 loss to Jordan in Tokushima yesterday. The Philippines plays China today in a crucial match that could determine the second team from Group A to advance to the quarterfinals.
Without Yao Ming, China is just an ordinary team.
* * *
The only naturalized players in Tokushima rosters are Lebanon’s Joe Vogel of Colorado State and Jordan’s Rasheim Wright of District of Columbia.
Vogel, 33, was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA draft. He played as an import in Turkey, Japan and Saudi Arabia before taking out Lebanese citizenship in time to lead Lebanon to second place in the FIBA-Asia Championships in 2001. The 6-11 center has represented Lebanon in the last two World Championships.
Wright, 26, has guaranteed an Olympic ticket for Jordan.
A player whom Jordan tried to smuggle into Tokushima has been disqualified. Seven-foot center Dshmal Schoetz (renamed Maitah) averaged 6.2 points and 4.1 rebounds for Jordan’s title squad in the recent Jones Cup where the MVP was Wright.
But it was discovered that Schoetz played for Germany’s under-18 national squad in 1998. Under FIBA rules, a player may see action for only one national team in his lifetime. So if Schoetz ever hopes to play in a FIBA tournament again, it’ll be only for Germany.
IN OTHER NEWS......
Iran shocked South Korea, 89-75, and edged Japan, 69-64, to end a 55-year absence from the semifinals of the Asian Games in Doha last year. Iran lost to Qatar in the semifinals and settled for the bronze by crushing Jordan, 84-78.
Iran’s 6-6 forward Samad Bahrami was the Asian Games’ leading scorer and heads the squad in Tokushima with brother Aydin who is 6-7.
Iran’s coach is Serbian Rejko Toroman who was an assistant coach of the Yugoslavian national team with head coaching experience in the Hungarian and Dutch leagues.
* * *
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?? hes maybe even worse than draggan racca.....we were outscored 25-7 in the last quarter against japan cuz the players were tired from playing 40 min against kuwait yest , whereas the japanese were well rested even though both teams won by 40+ margins , you can see how japan scored all their pts on the break where the lebanese were too tired to catch up so the coach really sux .....i dont know how far we can go with this coach...maybe to the semis MAX............hopefully 2morrow if we,re winning by 40 against UAE he will rest vogel and khatib and not play them 40 min but i doubt he would rest them....i dont know why , this is a first for me i,ve never seen a coach like this b4........