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February 07, 2012

Yao Ming talks European basketball

He is not only one of the biggest athletes on earth, 2.29 meters tall and 140 kilograms, but Chinese basketball star Yao Ming has become an icon to countless of millions of young people in his native country and beyond. When he was a kid himself, however, Yao was impressed by some of the few European players he saw in China. On the eve of the CBA-Euroleague Challenge, in which he will lead Team China against CSKA Moscow, Benetton Basket Tamoil and Sydney Kings, Yao spoke with Euroleague.net about the opportunity that the tournament gives his national team and his impressions of European Basketball. "I think that to prepare for the 2008 Olympics next year, this is a very good chance for us to improve ourselves by playing against some of the best teams in this world, like Benetton from Italy and CSKA from Moscow," Yao said. "I think that we can learn a lot of things from these games."

Curiously enough, one of Yao's heroes when he was young was none other than Saulius Stombergas of Lithuania, who would go on to win the Euroleague title in 1999 with Zalgiris Kaunas, which was coached then by Team China's current head coach, Jonas Kazlauskas.

"We don't have much live TV in China for the European teams, but we know some players. I can go back to 10 or 11 years ago, when I was still playing in China, the year before I started my career, actually, we had a Lithuanian player, Saulius Stombergas, in the CBA," Yao said. "I think that until now he remains one of the best players to come from Europe or even America to play in China - the best one, really, in CBA history. So, people don't know the teams, but they know the players, like Sabonis and Spanoulis, my former teammate from last year."

Since he was a teenager, as a member of Team China, Yao has played regularly in the World Championships and Olympics against European competition.

"I think that European teams have a couple of different styles," he said. "Some, like those from Greece, play good organized games, using the full shot clock of 24 seconds. You have to play a lot of attention on defense, because they keep moving the ball until they find the best chance to take a shot. Some other teams, like Slovenia, play more like a U.S. team. They play very physical and try to score as much as they can. And France, I don't know much about except they left a big impression on me in 2000 when Antoine Rigaudeau made six three-point shots in a row to beat us."

Besides the fact that the CBA-Euroleague Challenge will help his team prepare to host the Olympic games next summer, Yao thinks that Chinese players would do well to consider playing in Europe in the future.

"Going to play in a high-level league will always helps players," he said. "Your teammates will help you improve quicker, and when you play against good teams, you improve, too. They will always have teammates in China, but when you are there, the stronger opponent and also the stronger teammates will help you improve quicker."

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Euroleague.net