Thursday, October 30, 2008

China Wary of Hiring Foreign Players for WCBA



The article is here, in its translated form.

The article discusses the difficult position that Chinese teams find themselves in when trying to hire American or European players. The problem is that hiring these players "is somewhat like gambling", according to the writer.

From the fractured translation, it seems that Chinese teams obviously want to finish on top of the standings, and they're looking for inside players to do that - particularly for players above 1.9 meters tall (above 6'3" tall). One WNBA player said that she'd come to China to play, but only for $100,000. Sometimes everything is lined up - the player has their visa, etc. - but the deal just falls through.

Chinese teams particularly want centers, but there aren't very many centers of high caliber anywhere around the world. It's implied that some coached just simply don't have confidence that things will work out even if they do get "foreign aid"...in which case, Jennifer Lacy and Ann Strother should consider themselves lucky.

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