evil jose
03-29-2005, 02:13 PM
Thought this article was interesting and thought I'd share.
American is truly a standout in China
By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY
MENGZI, China — He stands apart from the moment the team bus pulls up to the stadium entrance. Face shrouded by a gray sweatshirt hood, DeAngelo Collins explodes from the vehicle and strides at a half trot.
http://images.usatoday.com/sports/nba/_photos/2005-03-28-ins-collins.jpg
DeAngelo Collins is one of 21 Americans among the Chinese Basketball Association's 22 foreigners.
Yunnan Honghe Running Bulls photo
At 6-10 Collins would stand out in any crowd. But on the Yunnan Honghe Running Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association, he cuts a singular figure.
While everyone stands in a circle windmilling their arms to limber up, he's the one on the ground stretching a hamstring. Taking practice shots, he's the only one wearing earphones. He's also the lone player speaking English and the only one who trails a diminutive translator to render the coach's instructions intelligible.
Most important, he's the only American, which means in the eyes of ambitious Chinese basketball officials, he's the only one on the court with the world-class skills China covets to elevate its game. Like the Chinese factories in neighboring Guangdong that churn out DVD copies of Hollywood blockbusters, China's sports leagues aren't too proud to mimic what they can't produce.
"Having foreign players is necessary for the teams because China's current basketball level is still far away from the skill level of American and European teams," says Hai Zhenwen, senior researcher with the CBA future development office.
China may be the home of NBA superstar Yao Ming. But Yao and one or two countrymen are the rare basketball diamonds in a talent field full of coal lumps. Apart from these players, Chinese basketball is a work in progress.
To accelerate its development — and attract more fans — the CBA this year began allowing teams to put up to two foreign players on their rosters. The foreigners — 21 of 22 are Americans — are limited to a combined 48 minutes a game.
Yunnan Coach Wu Qinglong, a rumpled figure who prowls the sideline like a manic bear, says China's major need for foreign help is in the pivot. Backup center Li Ding has improved just playing behind Collins, the coach says. And the American, who usually plays forward back home, serves as an example for Wu's players in other ways.
"Having a foreign player on the team definitely improves the skills," Wu says. "(Collins) is more aggressive than the Chinese players, especially when he's one-on-one."
Those skills were on display last week during the opening game of Yunnan's best-of-three series against the No. 1-ranked team in the CBA's Northern Division, the Liaoning Panpan Hunters.
At game time the atmosphere seemed imitation NBA. Hip-hop music pounded from the public address system, with some of the more colorful language incomprehensible to most in attendance.
The cheerleaders' canary yellow and turquoise outfits, and drowsy dance routines, were chaste by Laker Girls standards. Plates of sunflower seeds and silver teapots greeted patrons of the VIP seats.
The arena's 5,500 seats — nosebleeds cost 20 yuan or $2.50 — were roughly half full as Collins, the last Bull to be introduced, ran on court to the announcer's "Deeeeeee-Angelo!" Fans in Mengzi, a city of 320,000 in China's southern Yunnan province, see in Collins just a little of the NBA sizzle they know from television broadcasts. He's besieged for autographs, even while sitting on the bench during pregame warm-ups.
"If the CBA didn't have foreign players, then there'd be nothing to see. All the foreign players have better skills, and they're in better shape than the Chinese players," says fan Wang Honghui, 40, a teacher.
Collins understands his dual role of instructor and entertainer. After misfiring a pass, he turned in disgust and pulled his jersey over his face, drawing laughs from the crowd. "Basically, what you're out here to do is perform," he says.
The Stockton, Calif., native is the fourth American to cycle through the Yunnan team this year. In September, when the CBA held its first U.S. tryout camp at Blue River, Ore., Yunnan drafted two Americans: Cory Williams, a guard who played at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, and Terrence Bell, a center who was a sixth-round pick by the Houston Rockets in 1996. Both were injured and left early in the season.
Yunnan then signed Lee Benson, a center from Brown Mackie Junior College in Salina, Kan., who walked out in January after being suspended for arguing with a fan. Benson, who had been making a comeback from an 8 1/2-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, averaged a league-leading 37 points a game when he quit.
For Collins, Mengzi (Mung-zeh) is the latest stop on an itinerant career that once seemed headed for the NBA. A standout at Inglewood High School in Los Angeles, Collins was a McDonald's All-American and earned MVP honors in the 2001 Adidas summer all-star game, a crown previously worn by Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Collins declared for the 2002 NBA draft and was touted as a first-round pick.
But the phone never rang on draft day. One reason may have been a troubled past. In 1999 Collins was convicted of felony assault after beating up a Tustin (Calif.) High School teammate during practice. The high school freshman served six months in juvenile hall, then appeared to settle down under a new coach when he transferred to L.A.'s Inglewood.
"I was a kid. Now I'm a grown man," he says. "I've matured over the years. I made a mistake when I was a young kid."
After the draft disappointment, Collins took his skills to professional leagues in the Philippines, Turkey and Argentina. In 2004 he went to the Philadelphia 76ers' summer league. Last month Collins, who'd just been cut from the Florida Flame of the NBA's development league, signed to play in China for a monthly salary of $15,000.
That's well below the NBA annual minimum of $385,277 but a small fortune in China. Collins' teammates make around $1,000 a month, an amount equal to China's annual per capita income.
Mengzi lies in the heart of an agricultural belt, closer to Vietnam than Beijing. It's a 3 1/2-hour drive past mist-shrouded hills and verdant terraced fields just to reach the provincial capital Kunming. "When I first got here, I thought they had me playing in the middle of nowhere. I thought I'd be living in a hut," Collins says with a laugh.
Instead, he's ensconced in the four-star Tian Yuan Hotel, where he passes the time playing PlayStation, watching DVDs and patronizing the bowling alley and swimming pool. He misses the Olive Garden's pasta and garlic bread, but packages from home filled with Cream of Wheat, strawberry Pop Tarts and tropical grape Kool-Aid keep him going.
Off-court socializing is limited by his lack of Chinese and his teammates' lack of English. So he concentrates on his game. "I'm simple. I just want to play basketball," he says.
Collins says he's seen "three or four" NBA-caliber players in the Chinese league. He's particularly high on two of his teammates, Yu Junkai, a point guard who leads the league in three-point shots, and Zhang Nan, a wiry rebounder.
But he's not here to scout. In fact, he's quietly holding onto his own dreams. "Of course I have aspirations and dreams of getting to the NBA," he says. "If they want me, it's not hard to find me. All I can do is put up the stats."
That he has done. Since arriving last month, Collins has averaged almost 28 points and 17.5 rebounds while playing almost 45 minutes a game. And despite the culture shock, he says he's thriving both professionally and personally.
"Sometimes you need isolation, do that training like Rocky did. It's good to be by yourself (and) get a chance to grow," he says. "Sometimes, solitude is good."
American is truly a standout in China
By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY
MENGZI, China — He stands apart from the moment the team bus pulls up to the stadium entrance. Face shrouded by a gray sweatshirt hood, DeAngelo Collins explodes from the vehicle and strides at a half trot.
http://images.usatoday.com/sports/nba/_photos/2005-03-28-ins-collins.jpg
DeAngelo Collins is one of 21 Americans among the Chinese Basketball Association's 22 foreigners.
Yunnan Honghe Running Bulls photo
At 6-10 Collins would stand out in any crowd. But on the Yunnan Honghe Running Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association, he cuts a singular figure.
While everyone stands in a circle windmilling their arms to limber up, he's the one on the ground stretching a hamstring. Taking practice shots, he's the only one wearing earphones. He's also the lone player speaking English and the only one who trails a diminutive translator to render the coach's instructions intelligible.
Most important, he's the only American, which means in the eyes of ambitious Chinese basketball officials, he's the only one on the court with the world-class skills China covets to elevate its game. Like the Chinese factories in neighboring Guangdong that churn out DVD copies of Hollywood blockbusters, China's sports leagues aren't too proud to mimic what they can't produce.
"Having foreign players is necessary for the teams because China's current basketball level is still far away from the skill level of American and European teams," says Hai Zhenwen, senior researcher with the CBA future development office.
China may be the home of NBA superstar Yao Ming. But Yao and one or two countrymen are the rare basketball diamonds in a talent field full of coal lumps. Apart from these players, Chinese basketball is a work in progress.
To accelerate its development — and attract more fans — the CBA this year began allowing teams to put up to two foreign players on their rosters. The foreigners — 21 of 22 are Americans — are limited to a combined 48 minutes a game.
Yunnan Coach Wu Qinglong, a rumpled figure who prowls the sideline like a manic bear, says China's major need for foreign help is in the pivot. Backup center Li Ding has improved just playing behind Collins, the coach says. And the American, who usually plays forward back home, serves as an example for Wu's players in other ways.
"Having a foreign player on the team definitely improves the skills," Wu says. "(Collins) is more aggressive than the Chinese players, especially when he's one-on-one."
Those skills were on display last week during the opening game of Yunnan's best-of-three series against the No. 1-ranked team in the CBA's Northern Division, the Liaoning Panpan Hunters.
At game time the atmosphere seemed imitation NBA. Hip-hop music pounded from the public address system, with some of the more colorful language incomprehensible to most in attendance.
The cheerleaders' canary yellow and turquoise outfits, and drowsy dance routines, were chaste by Laker Girls standards. Plates of sunflower seeds and silver teapots greeted patrons of the VIP seats.
The arena's 5,500 seats — nosebleeds cost 20 yuan or $2.50 — were roughly half full as Collins, the last Bull to be introduced, ran on court to the announcer's "Deeeeeee-Angelo!" Fans in Mengzi, a city of 320,000 in China's southern Yunnan province, see in Collins just a little of the NBA sizzle they know from television broadcasts. He's besieged for autographs, even while sitting on the bench during pregame warm-ups.
"If the CBA didn't have foreign players, then there'd be nothing to see. All the foreign players have better skills, and they're in better shape than the Chinese players," says fan Wang Honghui, 40, a teacher.
Collins understands his dual role of instructor and entertainer. After misfiring a pass, he turned in disgust and pulled his jersey over his face, drawing laughs from the crowd. "Basically, what you're out here to do is perform," he says.
The Stockton, Calif., native is the fourth American to cycle through the Yunnan team this year. In September, when the CBA held its first U.S. tryout camp at Blue River, Ore., Yunnan drafted two Americans: Cory Williams, a guard who played at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, and Terrence Bell, a center who was a sixth-round pick by the Houston Rockets in 1996. Both were injured and left early in the season.
Yunnan then signed Lee Benson, a center from Brown Mackie Junior College in Salina, Kan., who walked out in January after being suspended for arguing with a fan. Benson, who had been making a comeback from an 8 1/2-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, averaged a league-leading 37 points a game when he quit.
For Collins, Mengzi (Mung-zeh) is the latest stop on an itinerant career that once seemed headed for the NBA. A standout at Inglewood High School in Los Angeles, Collins was a McDonald's All-American and earned MVP honors in the 2001 Adidas summer all-star game, a crown previously worn by Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Collins declared for the 2002 NBA draft and was touted as a first-round pick.
But the phone never rang on draft day. One reason may have been a troubled past. In 1999 Collins was convicted of felony assault after beating up a Tustin (Calif.) High School teammate during practice. The high school freshman served six months in juvenile hall, then appeared to settle down under a new coach when he transferred to L.A.'s Inglewood.
"I was a kid. Now I'm a grown man," he says. "I've matured over the years. I made a mistake when I was a young kid."
After the draft disappointment, Collins took his skills to professional leagues in the Philippines, Turkey and Argentina. In 2004 he went to the Philadelphia 76ers' summer league. Last month Collins, who'd just been cut from the Florida Flame of the NBA's development league, signed to play in China for a monthly salary of $15,000.
That's well below the NBA annual minimum of $385,277 but a small fortune in China. Collins' teammates make around $1,000 a month, an amount equal to China's annual per capita income.
Mengzi lies in the heart of an agricultural belt, closer to Vietnam than Beijing. It's a 3 1/2-hour drive past mist-shrouded hills and verdant terraced fields just to reach the provincial capital Kunming. "When I first got here, I thought they had me playing in the middle of nowhere. I thought I'd be living in a hut," Collins says with a laugh.
Instead, he's ensconced in the four-star Tian Yuan Hotel, where he passes the time playing PlayStation, watching DVDs and patronizing the bowling alley and swimming pool. He misses the Olive Garden's pasta and garlic bread, but packages from home filled with Cream of Wheat, strawberry Pop Tarts and tropical grape Kool-Aid keep him going.
Off-court socializing is limited by his lack of Chinese and his teammates' lack of English. So he concentrates on his game. "I'm simple. I just want to play basketball," he says.
Collins says he's seen "three or four" NBA-caliber players in the Chinese league. He's particularly high on two of his teammates, Yu Junkai, a point guard who leads the league in three-point shots, and Zhang Nan, a wiry rebounder.
But he's not here to scout. In fact, he's quietly holding onto his own dreams. "Of course I have aspirations and dreams of getting to the NBA," he says. "If they want me, it's not hard to find me. All I can do is put up the stats."
That he has done. Since arriving last month, Collins has averaged almost 28 points and 17.5 rebounds while playing almost 45 minutes a game. And despite the culture shock, he says he's thriving both professionally and personally.
"Sometimes you need isolation, do that training like Rocky did. It's good to be by yourself (and) get a chance to grow," he says. "Sometimes, solitude is good."